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).
Various chassis lubrication systems, including pump types, tank designs, and warning signals.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 27\1\ Scan330 | |
| Date | 10th September 1929 guessed | |
| - 5 - In practice on cars with the vac. pump connected direct to the intake manifold the maximum observed variation in oil discharged per hour under all sorts of conditions of driving has been 1-1/2 to 1. The greater discharge occurs under heavy-traffic city conditions, which are also those which appear to demand the greater consumption of oil in a given time, because of long rests when the oil tends to pass out of the shackles etc. The pump driven by a multiple reduction gear from the engine, hitherto only used by Duesenberg, is going to be abandoned by them and a vacuum-operated oil-pump substituted. The European form of vacuum-operated oil pump in which a "vacuum-switch" is used on the dash to allow the engine to draw up the (large) pump plunger, giving hand-lubrication without effort or dash-fittings, has not been used in this country. To go to so much trouble and expense without achieving an automatic system does not appear worth while. (3) Warning Signal for Empty tank - With automatic systems it appears that the popular device is going to be a glass bowl, so that oil level is always visible. Bijur has developed a metal tank with a device which clatters when the oil level drops, but it is not favored because it sounds like something wrong with the car. (4) The cheaper systems use a 1 pint oil tank, but for a large car Bijur favors 1 quart. The best scheme uses a tank built into the engine oil filler spout, so that every time oil is put in the engine, a pint remains in this tank for use on the chassis. This is the best scheme but requires that the system should be accumulator-fed as a continuous system cannot use engine oil successfully. It would be possible to work out such a tank in conjunction with the oil filler, whereby all fittings except the accumulator would be removed from the dash, and even the filling would be automatic. The standard HP. accumulators are now made in two sizes 25 cc and 10 cc and can be adjusted to give any desired "shot" from 25 down to 6 cc. - continued - | ||