Mini legend - NOT Alec Issigonis...
Turbo Mini Forums

Before you read the article, can you guess what he "designed"...

"Cramming steel rods, ball-bearings and grooves into a tight metal ball, it transferred power from the Mini's engine through nearly 90 degrees to the car's Lilliput-size front wheels."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/...hero-car-design

Pottsy

PS He's so little known, he doesn't even feature in Wikipedia!

So what universal joint did he actually design?

In boost we trust

CV joint,

although it is pretty much the same as the rezzeppa joint iirc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constant-velo...first_CV_joints

I thought it was the "pot joint" - didn't reaise it had an "official" name; the Rzappa joint. Cheers!

As seen in this thread;

Edited by Pottsy on 24th Nov, 2009.

pot joint wasnt on the mini until mid 70's

That's why I'm a bit confused (easily done) - is the "current" Mini CV joint effectively a Rzappa joint in a casing, or a Universal Joint? (Like a Cardan shaft).

My folks used to have a Wolseley Hornet with the old 4-sided-star 'joint' things running on needle rollers as a U.J. () , so I knew the pot joint had come along later to replace that (and the cruder 4-sided rubber jobby (.)) - none of which stacks up with our man Bill Cull saving the day in '59.

So - did he invent "a CV joint", based on the Rzappa principle?

Interesting Guardian article, unfortunately not written by an engineer - needed some pictures!

Its the Constant Velocity joint. Later development gave us the Offset Sphere sliding Joint or Pot jont as its become known.

Both of these joints transmit the drive torque evenly at any angle up to its limit, where as the old Hardy spicer or Universal joints tend to transmit the drive torque unevenly with drive angles over aproximately 5 degrees, causing the driven shaft to accelerate and decelerate twice in one rotation. This was overcome by using two opposing joints to cancel effect at the driven ends and it was not so much of a problem with straight drive lines.

That is where the theory of keeping the drive line as straight and level as possible came from. It doesnt matter so much with CV and pot joints.