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).
The features of a Delco contact breaker, a four-pole generator, and various ignition systems.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 35\5\ scan 030 | |
| Date | 17th April 1918 | |
| Contd. -7- Oy6/FMP17.4.18. (a) it does not rust. (b) it has a rapid increase of resistance at red heat like iron wire and therefore tends to prevent running down battery if switch left on. This I think is the most notable feature in the Delco contact breaker used for aero engines. It is not employed on motor car engines, where the universal practice of fitting electrical starters renders it unnecessary. The generator is a simple four-pole machine with former wound armature. Brushes are a graphite copper mixture, made by the Morganite poeple of a gray color and silky feel, like hard graphite. Before the war Bronskol brushes were used, but since that time the Morganite people have developed metal graphite mixtures which are superior to the German product. The rockers are held on simple pivoted arms and pressed down by clock springs of round wire. The generator was originally only fitted with a cut-out, as it was considered that a regulator was unnecessary, because the engines run at practically a constant speed. Now, however, it has been thought desirable to fit a voltage regulator, which is of the trembler type used on the Bijur machine, with a non-inductive resistance across the contacts of the trembler, to serve as a capacity for damping out the spark at the contact. X.3374. After we had inspected the Liberty ignition, I was shown some of the automobile starting, lighting and ignition sets, as used on the Packard, Stutz, Cadillac and other automobiles. The Co... | ||