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 uses and advantages of the STROBORAMA instrument for slow-motion study of mechanical parts.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 155\3\ scan0136 | |
| Date | 1st March 1937 guessed | |
| DIRECT OR POSITIVE SYNCHRONISATION: Where organs, running at erratic speeds, are to be observed, means are provided for the contact breaker element of the synchroniser control to be removed for direct coupling to the object under investigation. When thus applied, a stationary image is produced, but different phases in the cycle of movement of the object can be investigated at will by partial rotation of the contact breaker element, which can be effected whilst the object is running. USES OF THE STROBORAMA: The "STROBORAMA" for the first time places in the hands of the research engineer, the physicist, and the chemist, an inexpensive, practical, accurate and direct means of making an exact analysis of motion. It is primarily a practical instrument of research. Not only can it be set in operation in less than two minutes but, due to the independent synchroniser, it can be used to study mechanisms or phenomena where no provisions could be made to drive the synchroniser from the object to be observed. While the value of slow-motion pictures is not questioned, the STROBORAMA has a decided advantage over photography, because it provides a means for the direct observation of mechanism, retaining their true shapes, sizes, reliefs, and depths. Photography, still or animated, is usually taken from one position, and the resulting pictures not only are flat and lack perspective, but effects occurring transversely are not recorded on a picture and often remain undiscovered. The STROBORAMA permits observations to be made from any position with respect to the mechanism under observation. It may be observed in three dimensions, and no parasitic effects can remain hidden. The observations may be conducted for great lengths of time, - a valuable feature in analysing faulty operation due to an effect, perhaps easily seen, but produced by a cause very difficult to assign. If the observer sits down and thinks while watching the effect at length, he will in time discover the cause. The STROBORAMA is now successfully used in mechanical industries, hydraulics, aerodynamics, physics, etc. Its applications are universal. It can be applied wherever fast periodic motion occurs. AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRIES: The STROBORAMA is a marvellous instrument of research for the slow-motion study of all kinds of engines while operating under actual working conditions. Faulty operation of all moving parts may easily be seen: bouncing of valves; fluttering of valve lifters; jumping of valve lifter away from cam profile; vibration and surging of valve springs. The sixteen valve springs of an "L" head, straight-eight engine can be illuminated all at once, observed and their actions compared. Two graduated discs, fixed one at each end of a crankshaft, show by their angular variation, the amount of torsion in the crankshaft in any phase of a complete cycle. Through convenient windows set in the crankcase, the enclosed parts of an engine may be studied, showing flexions of the crankshaft and of the connecting rods, and motion of connecting rod bearing on the crank pins; the flow of lubricating oil on the moving parts; the oil being made to appear stationary in their trajectories. A special leaflet entitled "Torsional Crankshaft Vibration seen through the STROBORAMA is available on request. For the manufacture of wire springs, and especially of valve springs, the Stroborama is invaluable, because it permits comparative observation of as many as twenty springs of slightly different specifications, mounted side by side, and all actuated in perfect phase by a master mechanism. Comparative observation of coil vibrations and surging at all ranges of speed permits the observer to make a quick but accurate selection of the best spring. The STROBORAMA could also be of service to check up one out of a thousand springs manufactured during regular production. Mesh and whip of timing chains can lead to very valuable information. Whipping of fan belts; wedging of "V" fan belts in grooved pulleys. Study of fan blade design. Study of Propeller shafts whip and vibrations; study of universal joints action. Vibration periods of suspension springs, either free or when used with shock absorbers. | ||