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).
Harmonic balancers on American engines and their potential application on a 'China' engine.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 181\M13\M13.2\ img088 | |
| Date | 27th August 1931 | |
| To R.{Sir Henry Royce} From Ha/Gry.{Shadwell Grylls} c. to SE. Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} c. to E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} c. to By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} Ha/Gry.{Shadwell Grylls}/WJ.27.8.31. X.634. X.5010 HARMONIC BALANCER (DAMPER). 'China' engine We do not know of any American car with its timing gears other than at the front of the engine. Buick, Marmon, and Cadillac use a harmonic balancer. Buick drive the auxiliaries by gear but Marmon and Cadillac employ a roller chain. All these cars are 8 or 16 cylinder. When Buicks made a 6 cyl. the fan pulley provided most of the inertia of the damper driven through rubber. An article we have found on the subject says that a suitable inertia for an 8 cyl. 3 1/2 litre engine is a steel disc 8 3/4" diameter by 1/4" thick. We think, in view of what other manufacturers do, we should try this type of balancer on a 'China' engine. Very little more inertia would be on the nose of the crankshaft than is now standard on the 25 H.P. and we would be able to get an idea of the necessary inertia and damping for a 6 cylinder engine in which the torsional vibrations are far more violent than in an 8 or 16 cylinder. Ha/H.Grylls. | ||