Abstract
The story of the attempts to replace the manually operated gear-box and clutch of the motor-car by automatic transmissions giving smoother and simpler driving without an unacceptable loss of efficiency is a long and intricate one and only the bare outlines can be given here. The two main types of automatic transmission now used involve:
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(a)
the combination of a hydraulic coupling with an automatically controlled epi- cyclic gear-box. This was the first fully automatic transmission to be introduced commercially, as the Hydra-Matic gear, by the General Motors Corporation of the United States;
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(b)
the combination of a hydraulic converter-coupling (i.e. a torque converter in which the reactor is mounted on a free wheel, so that the features of a torque converter and a hydraulic coupling are combined) also with an automatically controlled epicyclic gear-box.
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References
Föttinger, H., contribution to discussion on paper, ‘Recent Developments in Hydraulic Couplings’, Inst. Mech. Eng. Proc., 1935, pp. 158–61.
Heidt, P. M., Torque Converters, 1942.
Shorter, L. J., ‘Transmission Gear Developments’, Inst. Automobile Eng. Proc., 1937– 1938, P. 337.
M’Ewen, E., ‘Recent Developments in Automobile Transmissions’, Inst. Mech. Eng. (Automobile Division) Proc., 1947–48, p. 97.
Letter from C. A. Chayne, Vice-President, General Motors, Jan. 25, 1956.
Letter from A. W. Hallpike, May 30, 1956.
Letters from J. N. Fieldhouse, Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd., June 13 and 14, 1956.
Letter from E. W. Spannhake, June 26, 1956.
Chayne, C. A., ‘Automatic Transmissions in America’, Inst. Mech. Eng. (Automobile Division) Proceedings, 1952–53, Pt. 1.
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© 1969 John Jewkes, David Sawers and Richard Stillerman
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Jewkes, J., Sawers, D., Stillerman, R. (1969). Automatic Transmissions. In: The Sources of Invention. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-00015-9_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-00015-9_11
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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