LETTING IN THE CLUTCH

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11649, 13 October 1923, Page 14

LETTING IN THE CLUTCH

• DEVICE TO PREVENT STRESS. ? While experienced drivers should 1 never be guilty of letting in the clutch ' too rapidly when starting from rest or - changing gear, it frequently happens • that novices either stop the engine or ' get the car away with a jerk. That this throws undue stresses on the transmission may be easily imagined, and to prevent it a simple damping device has recently been provisionally protected' by an English inventor, Lieutenant- ; Commander A. E. Seccomhe, R.N., which is similar in action to the damping devices frequently used to prevent j doors from slamming. The device consists of a pump cylinder pivoted' to a bracket attached to ' the steering column. The leather cup ' pison and rod are attached to a suit- . able clip to the clutch pedal, while the ; upper end of the cylinder carries a ‘ needle valve through which a copper pipe connects the pump cylinder to the ? induction manifold. When the clutch pedal is depressed to disengage the clutch, no resistance ’ is offered to its movement, as the air 'beneath the piston passes by the cup leather to the top of the piston. When ’ tile (net is removed from the pedal, ’ allowing it to rise, the air is imprisoned in the cylinder, from which it can only escape through the regulating needle valve, thus ensuring gradual engagement of the clutch. ■ As the air imprisoned in the pump , cylinder does not escape to the atrnosI phere, but to the induction pipe, a rather quicker engagement of the I clutch is given when changing speed . than when first starting the vehicle , from rest. When changing up, the depression in the induction pipe is com- ; paratively high, as the accelerator pedal is, of course, released, and therefore the escape of air from the pump cylinder is hastened and a quicker engagement of the clutch follows. As regards changing down, the action of the device facilitates single clutching, hut in no way prevents double clutching if the latter is desired. A short run on a car equipped with this damping device proved that the claims made for it as" to smooth clutch engagements are borne out in practice, and with a fierce clutch its use should be. beneficial, states the “Auto-car.”