In 1920 Mr. A. G. M. Michell formed a company, Crankless Engines (Australia) Pty. Ltd., to develop and design various types of crankless machines (Fig. 17). Sydney Walker, a longtime employee of the firm, describes this unique series of engines in his article Modest Man of Genius published in 1972.

The essential feature of crankless engines was application of the inclined slipper principle of the Michell thrust bearing invention to the process of converting reciprocating motion to rotary motion. By 1927 the company had constructed over eighty machines of various types but among which were crankless engines for automobiles. In 1927, the major project was to complete and test the new model 5 cylinder automobile engine. There had been a continuing attention to improving the crankless automobile engine since the first engine had been designed and built in Melbourne in 1923 for demonstration overseas.[13]

The early work of A. G. M. Michell, in which he undertook a mathematical development and subsequent practical demonstration of the thrust bearing (discussed later under Modern Shipping) was a discovery of great international importance and his later application of the same principle to automobile engines, pumps, aeroplane engines, compressors and gas engines was technically innovative and a remarkable achieve ment. A. G. M. Michell was an outstanding engineer whose fertile mind grasped the potential for new and better mechanical arrangements and must be acknowledged as a master in his field.

17 Five cylinder automotive crankless engine developed in Melbourne by AGM Michell 1921 (photo courtesy Museum of Victoria)

For a number of reasons, including the depression in the thirties, the Michell crankless engine was not generally used and certainly not in high volume automobile production. The concept and prototype development, however, remains the work of a gifted engineer.

Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering