EASIER DRIVING

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19959, 17 November 1934, Page 10

EASIER DRIVING

A NEW TRANSMISSION Although some modern cars contain devices that simplify handling, and appreciably reduce the modicum of skill required in driving, or increase the effectiveness of the engine by the provision of a wider range of gear ratios, the multiciplicity of gears remains. A device which may well succeed and which is now being tested by one leading British commercial vehicle manufacturer, is more ambitious in principle, as it aims at the reduction in the number of gear-wheels. The mechanism is hydraulic, and the only controls are a long lever and an accelerator pedal. There is a singlestage centrifugal pump, which can be interconnected with the engine by means of a clutch by a lever at the driver’s left hand. When this clutch is engaged the pump is rotated and forces fluid through a three-stage turbine. The turbine is connected with the ordinary propeller shaft, tak-

ing the drive to the back axle. When the engine is just turning over, and the pump is engaged, there is not sufficient power to revolve the turbine, but so soon as the engine is accelerated, the turbine is rotated and the vehicle moves away from rest. Between the turbine and the back axle there is a free wheel, so that in traffic when the converter is in operation, and the engine retarded, the vehicle will over-run the converter and thus save fuel consumption. When a speed of about 15 to 20 miles an hour is attained the lever at the driver’s left hand is moved, and by disengaging the clutch, working the converter and putting another clutch into operation forms a solid drive through to the back axle. The converter gives a gear ratio of to 1. With the exception of the reverse there are no gears in the converter, and consequently it is silent in operation. The system also prevents over-speeding of the engine.