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).
Explanation of the operation of a clutch mechanism involving rollers and conoids.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\R\2October1927-November-1927\ 100 | |
| Date | 18th July 1927 guessed | |
| - 2 - as shown by the full curves AC, BD{Mr Berend}, VV in fig.4, the rollers touching the conoids along the whole length of the former. This will be referred to as the "home" position. Suppose the outer member of the clutch to be slightly withdrawn in the direction towards X (fig. 4), so that it is now shown by the dotted lines C1A1, D1B1 in fig. 4, then, if the rollers remained in the same position, their envelope would still be AC, BD.{Mr Berend} It therefore appears that the outer conoid has been removed from contact with the rollers; the latter are therefore loose in the race, except near the neck AB, where, owing to the shape of the conoids (which are here parallel to the shaft), the loosening is very slight. If, however, the withdrawal is sufficient, the rollers will be entirely loose, the outer and inner members will revolve independently in either sense, and the clutch will be out of action. -I- Imagine now the outer member gradually pushed home (or it may be the inner member which moves: relative axial displacement of the two is alone effective), owing to the shape of the conoids already mentioned, the outer conoid will begin to act, through the viscosity of the lubricant present, upon the parts of the rollers in closest proximity, as at the section AB, and will grip them sufficiently to make them roll transversely at this section. If the direction of rotation of the outer member is as shown by the arrow in fig. 4, this rolling will cause both members of the clutch to move into the home position and the clutch will lock. Before this happens, however, the accelerating friction torque will be brought to bear upon the inner member, in two ways. | ||