Photographs of the constant-depression carburettor prototype

In this document

This archive is a series of five colour photographs, without any transcribed text or caption. All views show mechanical metal parts (brass/bronze for the golden parts, lighter alloy for certain bodies), placed on a background of crumpled white fabric — a shooting setup visibly intended for photographing spare parts or a disassembled prototype.

Overview (p. 1)

The first photograph shows an assembled object, featuring a copper-coloured circular part with threaded rods and bolts, surmounting a light cylindrical body equipped with vertical rods, as well as a funnel-shaped piece ending in an oval flange pierced with two mounting holes p. 1. Traces of oxidation, patina and brazing are visible p. 1.

Disassembled parts (p. 3-5)

The following pages show detached elements of the same assembly: a circular piece pierced with a large central hole with an oblique threaded rod, and a housing featuring a central cavity surrounded by concentric grooves p. 3; two cylindrical bronze housings, one with a central bore and a flange, the other containing a dark conical piece inserted with a fine metal tip p. 4; finally four aligned pieces, including a conical piece with a pierced collar, a cylindrical body with an angled pipe and threaded rod, a small cut-out flat piece, and a hollow cylindrical piece with longitudinal slots p. 5.

Page 2 contains no distinct transcribed element; it is attached to the series for consistency with the title on the archive box ("WEB 103").

No date, no inscription, no name appears on these views.

Context

The title of the archive box indicates that these are photographs of a constant-depression carburettor prototype. This type of carburettor, the principle of which is based on maintaining a stable depression in the venturi to regulate fuel intake, was the subject of numerous developments in the 20th-century automotive industry — notably at Citroën, where Paul Magès joined in August 1925 and led the bulk of his engineering career (49 years, until his retirement in September 1974: Photographs of Paul Magès' retirement (1974)), mainly known for the invention of the hydropneumatic suspension whose first plans date from 1944 (Hydropneumatic suspension plans with differential interaction (17 February 1944)).

However, there is no explicit mention of Citroën, Magès, or a specific project context in the transcribed pages: this connection remains a hypothesis of external reading of the document, based on the archive collection in which the item is kept.

Archivist's perspective

These five photographs document, it seems, the stages of disassembly or manufacture of a mechanical brass/bronze prototype: an assembled overview p. 1, then sets of increasingly fragmented detached parts (p. 3 to 5). This progression could correspond to a photographic report intended to document the construction or study of a component, a common practice in automotive design offices of the time, where Magès notably held positions as a technical writer and then as deputy head of the Super-Control at Citroën.

The total absence of text, date and scale strongly limits the analysis: it is not possible to confirm with certainty, from the document alone, the exact nature of these parts or their precise relationship with a constant-depression carburettor — only the indication on the box allows for this identification.

It would be useful to compare this archive with any technical plans or calculation notes relating to this same prototype, if they exist in the collection, in order to confirm the identification of the parts visible here.