Technical diagram sheet – Test 43204, signed by M. Magès

In this document

Header and administrative frame

The page bears the pre-printed banner "STÉ AME A. CITROËN" with boxes for "No" and "PAGE No" p. 5. A graduated ruler runs along the edges, a sign of design office tracing paper p. 5. A "MODIF." box appears at the bottom of the page, with no visible annotation p. 5.

Fig.1 — mechanical assembly in cross-section

The first diagram shows a stack of three hatched mechanical blocks connected by tubes and bellows. The upper block (reference 13) is traversed by a rod with a threaded or striated portion (19) and a cross-section indication "C-C" p. 5.

It extends towards a second block containing internal striated elements (51) and two small spring-loaded pistons (49, 55 on the left; 50, 56 on the right) p. 5.

Pipework (45, 46) connects this block to a third, equipped with a spring mechanism and a valve or tap (references 42, 47, 48, 54, P1, P2) p. 5.

A long horizontal cylinder at the bottom, with a central rod and striated portion (44), is connected by a vertical tube annotated by hand "43 bis" p. 5.

Fig.2 — symmetrical spring block

The second diagram represents a rectangular block with a central striated axis and two symmetrical springs marked F1 and F2, as well as two vertical rods and references 57, 58 p. 5. A brown stain partially covers the bottom of the drawing.

Handwritten mentions

The sheet bears the mention "Essai 43204" and the signature "M. Magès" at the bottom of the page p. 5.

Context

This type of tracing sheet, with a graduated ruler and "MODIF." box, corresponds to the common practices of post-war automotive design offices for drafting and developing mechanical parts.

Paul Magès, an engineer at Citroën, is notoriously the inventor of the hydropneumatic suspension equipping the DS presented in 1955; the cross-section diagrams showing hatched blocks, springs and valves are typical of the hydraulic components (cylinders, valves, shock absorbers) he was developing at that time, although no part name is given in the document itself.

Archivist's perspective

The number "Test 43204" suggests that this is a document linked to a numbered test campaign, probably internal to the design office, but its precise nature (tested part, expected result) is not specified in the sheet.

The presence of two figures — a complex multi-stage assembly (Fig.1) and a simpler symmetrical spring block (Fig.2) — suggests that these diagrams illustrate two views or two variants of the same hydraulic sub-assembly, although this cannot be stated with certainty from the document alone.

This technical document seems to belong to the same working environment as other items in the Magès collection concerning hydropneumatic components, such as the patent application for a three-way valve or the handwritten note on the characteristic curve of a shock absorber, which fall within the same period of research on suspension components, without a direct documentary link being established here.