From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Letter discussing technical issues with the American Bosch Battery Ignition system, specifically the governor and contact maker.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 61b\4\ scan0022 | |
| Date | 7th March 1921 | |
| Cyl - G 7321 March 7, 1921 Mr. Claude Johnson, Managing Director, Rolls-Royce Ltd., London, England. Attention: Messrs. Royce & Hives. Dear Sir:- X.4275. Re: American Bosch Battery Ignition In continuation of my letter of March 4, '21 on this subject, replying to Mr. Royce's letter of Feb. 16, I wish to add the following notes: (1) Governor: While the out of balance torque of the American Bosch governor is not considered serious by the makers, they are working experimentally on an improved design having two ring governors moving in opposite directions, to give perfect balance. X.800 (2) Contact Maker: The danger referred to by Mr. Royce, of the engine backfiring, we believe to refer to the short rotor in the distributor which will fire if the engine swings backward, when the contact breaker is in the normal "make" position. We should be glad if Mr. Royce would confirm that this is the trouble referred to. We understand that the way to overcome it is to put a "trailing edge" on the rotor, so that if the engine swings backward it will not fire in the correct cylinder but will fire in a cylinder in which the piston is rising and thus "stall" the engine. Would Mr. Royce please confirm that this is correct? The American Bosch Company are anxious to meet us on this point, though it is a trouble which has not been dealt with by makers in this country, where hand starting is such a rarity. We would like to help them in this matter, as we think they may ultimately prove capable of producing a battery | ||