Technology

The main feature of the new Daimler engine is the absence of poppet valves as with all other engines. In their place, two movable grey cast iron sleeves A and B are arranged in an outer cylinder with a water jacket. These sliding sleeves are actuated by separate eccentrics on the half-shaft W, although connecting rods C and D are attached to the lugs X and Z by piston pins. L is located in the water jacket of the cylinder head, resembling an inverted piston and carries the spark plug and a wide sealing ring J. This ring consists of two halves and is pressed outwards against the inner walls of sleeve A by an inner ring K, which resembles an ordinary piston ring.

The working cycle is as follows:

The piston moves downwards during the expansion stroke until it reaches the point where it must blow out. At this stage, sleeves A and B have moved downwards until the lower lip of the outlet port F of the inner sleeve passes behind the compression ring K. The further downward movement of sleeves A and B brings the two ports F F completely into line with the outlet port G in the cylinder. This port remains open until the piston reaches the upper part of the ejection stroke when it is closed by the upper lip of port F in sleeve B, which coincides with the lower lip of outlet port G in the water-coated cylinder.

When the piston starts the suction stroke downwards, the openings F F move away from each other and the opening in A is closed by the side wall of B. This same movement brings the two openings H H into alignment with the inlet opening I, allowing the cylinder to be filled with gas from the carburettor.
When the piston moves downwards during the intake stroke, the sleeves have already reached the bottom of their exhaust stroke and start to move upwards. The movement of sleeve A is timed to move the inner port H upwards behind ring J, shortly after the piston has reached the bottom end of the intake stroke. This closes the cylinder and seals it tightly while the piston returns on the compression stroke, the ring J pressing firmly over ports F and H until the expansion stroke occurs when the working cycle is repeated.

After several months of careful experimentation, we introduced the removable Rover wheels last season, which proved an immediate success. Both their simplicity and their other advantages such as safety and easy dismantling were the reason for this decision.

As you can see from the pictures on this page, there are no unnecessary or complicated parts. The hub body or carrier is mounted on ball bearings on the stub axle or positively connected to the driving axle. Six studs are mounted on the hub body which have the dual function of holding the wheel in position and transmitting the drive.

The wheel itself is constructed with steel side cover plates, which are held together by bearing bolts. In the rivets, the above-mentioned sliding bolts are held in position by these retaining nuts, which are tightened or loosened with a spanner and hold the outer hub plate and the dust cap in position. To remove the wheel it is sufficient to remove the nuts and pull the wheel body off the studs. The spare wheel, which is normally carried on the running board on the outside of the car, is simply placed on the hub and the removed wheel takes its place on the running board. The large removable dust cap shown in our illustration provides plenty of lubrication.