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).
Technical assessment of a Leon Laisne vehicle's unconventional suspension, steering, and engine.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 128\1\ scan0070 | |
| Date | 11th November 1929 | |
| COPY: x353 1. 11.11.1929. LEON LAISNE. This suspension is quite unconventional. The springs are carried in tubular side members. The wheels are supported therefrom through bell cranked levers having about 4/1 ratio as shewn in the attached sketches. These levers are mounted in Timken taper roller bearings. Each spring consists of an inner and outer coil. The inner one is varied to adjust the suspension for different types of body work. Each spring is controlled on the rebound by a Lovejoy shock absorber contained in the tube. The manufactures give the weight of one tubular side member as 33 lbs. Under the tube is a tie rod, but its dispostion would not seem to give it much chance of being effective. Owing to the arrangments of the front crank levers, it will be clear that the pivots lean varies with the spring deflection. The pivots are set with considerable backwaid lean in the normal load position. Thus they can never lean forwards. The steering layout is interesting, the steering box being in the centre of the chassis behind the radiator (see sketch). The crown wheel casing is high, this reduces the angle at which the driving shafts work. The universal joints employed on these shafts are of the block type and rather excessively heavy. A Conventional 3-cyl. engine is fitted with normal gearbox and lockheed brakes. Considering the small resources of the firm, the whole chassis gives one the impression of | ||