G'day
MaxWell, that's pretty damn brilliant.
Pace, owned by
Victa at this time, certainly looked to inventions
that gave them an advantage.
And
Pace was given autonomy from
Victa - to pursue different designs.
Full credit to Merv there!
The
handle adjuster was a good one let down by plastics that did fail.
This was a popular replacement part in the day.
Supa-Swift took advantage of the same patent but made the adjusters
as die-cast pieces. These rarely failed.
The
catcher design is unique to pace. It had
some merit but the age of the
plastic catcher - just a few years' away - killed the idea.
Finally, the
friction drive ...To my knowledge, no manufacturer took up this one. I note the patent was lodged
a few months after Rover's posi-drive system. Both used friction. Rover's was
external to the rear wheels; Thompson's was internal (within the wheel).
I guess the drive system was not adopted because it lacked a differential.
And all friction drives have high-wear components.
Sincere thanks for giving new life to
George Milroy Thompson.

Great research!
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Jack