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).
Critique of Dr. Ebsworth's shock damper provisional patent and suspension theories.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 152\1\ scan0189 | |
| Date | 19th August 1935 | |
| X1293 To Sg. {Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} c. to E. {Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} c. to Hdy. {William Hardy} c. to Da. {Bernard Day - Chassis Design} c. to By. {R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} c. to Wor. {Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} Hs {Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} /Les.6/KW.19.8.35. Shock Damper Patent (Dr. Ebsworth). Re Sg. {Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} 8/E.23.7.35. Dr. Ebsworth has demonstrated to us the principle of his shock absorber provisional patents. Dr. Ebsworth's theories of suspension are based on very little practical experience, and from his cardboard models we are convinced that his shock absorber would be unsatisfactory in its complete form. There are no spring loaded valves, the escape of oil from the compression chambers is effected by restriction orifices which alter in area according to the deflection of the road springs. There was one feature, however, which might be useful to us in the future, and that is a device for resetting the damper loads according to how much the car is laden, so that the damper loads are increased automatically with more passengers and luggage. This is effected by a dash-pot which is spring loaded to follow the movement of the axle. As the piston of the dash-pot can only move very slowly, it cannot follow the actual axle movement, so it takes up the mean axle position. Fig. 1 shows the method used by Dr. Ebsworth and Fig. 2 shows a temporary method to test this characteristic on our own dampers. At the moment we do not think the advantages gained by such a device would justify the increased complication. However, when our autolock dampers are satisfactory for production, we hope to investigate the actual advantages. Hs {Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} /Les. | ||