Handwritten cover page: "carburation and injection" file on a Roussillon article (1974)

In this document

This item is a handwritten cover page placed on a sheet of grid paper, stapled or simply superimposed on a printed article that it partially covers.

The handwritten text indicates: "Extraits de magazines techniques concernant la carburation et injection" (Excerpts from technical magazines concerning carburation and injection) — a phrase that seems to designate a documentary file compiled by Paul Magès or his professional circle, grouping together several technical press clippings.

Also noted, at the top left, is a handwritten reference "19189" on a small slip of paper, with the mention "T12D" circled, as well as a "1974" mention underlined, superimposed directly on the printed title of the covered article.

The article masked underneath

Underneath this cover sheet appears, as a watermark and in fragments visible on the edges, an article from the journal Ingénieurs de l'Automobile (issue "1-74", therefore 1974), titled "Contribution à la mesure du débit d'air aspiré [...] au moyen de cols soniques" (Contribution to the measurement of intake air flow [...] by means of sonic nozzles), signed by Dr Ing. Guy Roussillon p. 1.

The typewritten text specifies that these are excerpts related to a doctoral thesis defended "during [date cut off]", whose jury notably included Messrs. A. Fortier (chairman), R. Comolet and R. Vichnievsky p. 1. The author is presented there as head of research at the Peugeot Automotive Study Centre p. 1.

The body of the text, very incomplete (numerous "[cut off]" or illegible passages), evokes the introduction of the subject: methods of measuring air flow by venturi, causes of measurement error, and the difficulty of qualifying an air flow regime as "permanent" due to fluctuations linked to reciprocating machines, turbines or superchargers p. 1. A technical diagram and several mathematical formulas are visible but too partial to be restored.

Context

Ingénieurs de l'Automobile was, in the 1970s, a reference technical journal for engineers in the French automotive sector. The question of the precise measurement of the air flow drawn in by an engine was then crucial for the optimisation of carburation, and subsequently for the first petrol injection systems, in full development among European manufacturers at this period — Citroën, Peugeot or even suppliers like Bosch.

In 1974, Paul Magès was still at Citroën, where he would end his 49-year career a few months later, in September of the same year, before retiring to Ramatuelle (photographs of Paul Magès' retirement). This context sheds light on the interest of an engineer still active at the Citroën design office for such fundamental research work on the internal aerodynamics of engines, even if nothing in the document explicitly mentions Magès or Citroën.

Archivist's perspective

This handwritten cover page seems to have been designed as a filing divider, intended to announce the content of a larger file devoted to carburation and injection. The fact that it entirely covers the Roussillon article suggests that it served as a protective cover or visual summary for a set of clippings gathered over time.

The reference "19189" and the marker "T12D" probably testify to a personal or professional filing system, the exact logic of which remains to be reconstructed.

This document naturally finds its place next to the complete article it covers, "Contribution à la mesure du débit d'air aspiré...", as well as the handwritten "Carburation" divider, which could belong to the same thematic filing system.