INVENTOR’S CLAIMS

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 199, 20 May 1936, Page 11

INVENTOR’S CLAIMS

Device May Revolutionise Car Designs "Dominion” Special Service.—By Air Mail. London, April 4. In a few weeks’ time a powerful limousine will be driven from a little workshop yard near London out on to the Great West Road. There it will be put through a rigorous series of tests which may influence the whole trend of automobile design throughout the world. If the experiment is successful it will mean:—Four horse-power “baby" cars capable of speeds exceeding 60 miles an hour, and with a fuel consumption of 76 or SO miles to the gallon; speeds of 90 miles an hour and fuel consumption of 50 miles to the gallon for the present type of 10 h.p. family saloon: clutchless gear-chang-ing; and ten or 20-speed gear-boxes completely “crash-proof” and foolproof. The car on which the tests will be made will be a standard chassis by one of the most famous makers in England. The whole secret will be in its gear-box. giving 10 speeds and absolutely dead silent and positive, changes no matter how you juggle the shift lever. For six years the inventor. Mr. F. .1 Healer lias worked on the idea. He has spent more than £30.000 perfecting it. Now he is confident that he has produced a gear-box that will revolutionise motoring to such an extent that running a car will be cheaper than running a motor-cycle. He says: ‘‘The box gives an infinite variety of speeds. 1 have made them with as many as 20 speeds and they have been tested industrially. The box is absolutely crash proof, but even more important from an engineering point of view is its high efficiency. It is from 90 to OS per cent, efficient, which means that with this gear-box fitted to an ordinary 10 h.p. car you would got 9 h.p. through to the driving wheels. With some designs of gear-box as much as 50 per cent, engine efficiency is lost.”