EASIER MOTORING

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVI, Issue 3441, 10 March 1932, Page 6

EASIER MOTORING

AUTOMATIC CLUTCHES.

American manufacturers are devoting considerable atention to the possibilities of automatic clutch operation. Two main systems are under consideration which have effect in engaging the clutch automatically when the engine is accelerated and disengaging it when the eccelerator is released, or when the engine speed falls below a predetermined rate. One design aims at engaging the clutch by centrifugal force applied to bobweights, which displace the usual clutch spring or springs; in the other device a vacuum servo is employed, which conies into effect to engage the clutch when the accelerator pedal is depressed and vice versa. Equipment of the latter type actually is being marketed in the United States by a well-known parts manufacturing firm, and is offered for existing cars as well as to makers for installation on new models.

While the general idea is approved by American technical writers, in discussing the problems involved it is considered by at least one competent authority that either system of automatic clutch operation is unsuitable for application in existing cars or even to new ones, unless the clutch plates, friction surfaces, and withdrawal mechanism are altered in design and material to obviate the risk of rapid wear to which such parts will be subjected. It is doubtful, too, whether an automatic clutch will be dependable in connection with gear changing; for, although at present the equipment for existing cars allows for the automatic feature to be put out of action, the ultimate intention appears to be to eliminate the clutch pedal. If that can be done without providing some mechanism or device additional to what has already been suggested, there is every likelihood of gear changing becoming more of an art than it is now.