Sketch of regulator lever and erased sheet bearing a reference "(2)"

In this document

Page 46 — mechanism sketch

The page presents a pencil technical sketch occupying the upper half of the sheet, representing a horizontal linear mechanism connecting several elements: on the left a device with vertical lines evoking springs or an adjustment system, in the center a pulley/cam assembly with a cylindrical part connected to bent tubing, a spindle-shaped part (connecting rod) with an axis crossing marked with a cross, on the right a striated spring/damper assembly connected to a bent tube descending downwards, and at the bottom right a gear wheel with a small reservoir attached to its perimeter p. 46.

The word "levier" (lever) is legible, accompanied by an uncertain inscription that could be read as "régulate[ur]" (regulator) p. 46. Other handwritten inscriptions, along the tube at the top right and at the bottom of the page, remain illegible p. 46.

Page 47 — erased sheet

This sheet, with "very difficult" legibility, bears at the top left, on a torn/folded corner, an uncertain inscription that could be read as "19-2-8" followed by "(2)" p. 47. A faint sketch, visible through transparency, seems to show a rectangular part pierced with two columns of holes, surmounted by a lever or a horizontal rod p. 47.

None of these uncertain elements can be accepted as an established fact.

Context

The term "regulator" and the presence of a lever associated with tubing recall, in the mechanical vocabulary of the time, pressure or flow regulation devices — components found in the hydraulic and pneumatic systems developed at Citroën in the 1930s-1950s, a period when Paul Magès was designing the beginnings of the hydropneumatic suspension. This connection, however, is based on general knowledge and not on the document itself, which does not explicitly name any Citroën system.

Archivist's perspective

This diptych of pages well illustrates the material difficulties of preserving the Magès archives: a relatively legible technical sketch p. 46 sits alongside a nearly erased sheet, of which only a fragmentary date and a reference "(2)" remain p. 47.

The drawn mechanism — lever, pulley, striated spring, gear wheel — evokes, without certainty, a study of mechanical regulation linked to research on suspension or lubrication components found in other items of the collection, such as the sketch of the oil reservoir: needle, seals and attachment or the sketch of the air/oil tube replacing the oil dipstick, which share the same logic of fluid circulation and reservoir-shaped auxiliary parts.

The reference "(2)" suggests that this sheet belonged to a numbered series, of which the "(1)" element has not been identified in this lot. In the absence of a reliable date indicator, the dating remains cautiously unspecified.