From steam to spark plug and patent problems
Fuel engines
piston engine
One piston engine is a engine which is constructed with one or more pistons and cylinders and who uses it to Busy to convert into a rotating movement. er to exist four-stroke engines and two-stroke engines with internal combustion; also a stirling engine hot air engine can be equipped with pistons. The steam engine one might consider the first piston engine, although the word is not usually used in that context. This engine type is mainly used in cars, motorcycles, simple airplanes, aggregates, etc.
Cylinders
Cylinders of engines with a displacement of less than a 1 cc (model airplanes), a few cc's to hundreds litres (ship diesel engines). Larger cylinders usually provide a greater efficiency and smaller cylinders a greater specific power. In practice it has been established that cylinders with a capacity between 300 and 400 cc deliver the greatest specific power.
An engine can have any number of cylinders that can be in various configurations relative to each other: in-line engines, boxer engines, radial engines (also radial engine called), V-motors, U-motors and W motors. The number of cylinders depends on the required power and whether this is constructively possible. Engines with, for example, 11 or 15 cylinders do occur in practice, but are often not used for constructive reasons.
Compression Ratio
The disadvantage of a mixture engine is the limitation in the maximum achievable compression ratio, this because of knock hazard. For gasoline, the maximum (safe) compression ratio is around 15:1. Some of today's high-performance supersport motorcycles already have a 14:1 compression ratio as standard, without the addition of special additives to push the knock, or detonation limit, even further. Diesel engines achieve a significantly higher thermal efficiency because the compression ratio can rise to 40:1. The logical consequence of this is that a mixture engine is not the most economical design. A second disadvantage is that the fuels are highly flammable and therefore evaporate at low temperatures. There is already a risk of explosion with an LPG engine at an outside temperature of 10°C. The fuel tank of a mixture engine is heavy duty. An important advantage of the mixture engine is the lighter version, which benefits the cost price.
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The spark plug
In 1859 Belgian French Jean Lenoir patented an electric spark plug in his first combustion engine, which he invented in 1858. The engine ran on natural gas and had no compression. In 1863 he showed a version with carburetor and liquid fuel mounted in vehicle. This vehicle has covered a documented distance of 18 km, making it the first petroleum spark ignition vehicle to hit the road. The Benz Patentwagen was therefore not the first motor vehicle! It was not until 1898 that three patents were obtained by Nikola Tesla (US), Frederick Richard Simms (GB) and Robert Bosch (GB). The first high voltage spark plug (Gottlob Honold, engineer at Bosch), patented on 07-01-1902, allowed the gasoline engine to become the standard.
Two-stroke vs four-stroke
The four-stroke engine has an intake stroke in which air and fuel are sucked in, followed by the compression stroke, followed by the power stroke in which the mixture is ignited. This causes the piston to move downwards with force, after which the exhaust stroke follows. In real-life, the motor is less efficient than is theoretically possible. Theoretically, the power of a four-stroke engine at the same speed would be half that of an otherwise comparable engine two-stroke engine be under ideal conditions. This is because on a four-stroke engine, every four piston strokes is one power stroke and in a two-stroke engine one for every two piston strokes. However, the efficiency of a two-stroke engine is lower because the combustion gases are less well replaced by the fresh fuel mixture within the cylinder during the purge. However, with a four-stroke engine, the flush is more complete, which means that the cylinder filling better than a two-stroke engine. This allows more fuel to be burned in the cylinder, so that more work is done per work process than by the two-stroke engine. Because the four-stroke engine requires a valve mechanism, but also because it performs twice as many working strokes, a four-stroke engine comparable in power is heavier than a two-stroke engine. The valve train also makes the four-stroke more complicated to manufacture. However, consumption is lower than that of a two-stroke engine. The exhaust gases are less polluted than with two-stroke combustion, this is due to the use of mixture lubrication (fuel with oil) in a two-stroke engine and the lesser flush. It sound of a four-stroke engine can be damped more easily with a damper than with a two-stroke engine, which loses a lot of power with increasing back pressure of the damper because the mud gets worse.
The patent on the automobile
George B. Selden, Patent Attorney
Inspired by George Brayton's combustion engine, which is shown was started in Philadelphia in 1876 at the Centennial Exposition, Selden with the development of a smaller lighter version. He succeeded in this in 1878, 8 years before the public introduction of the Benz Patent Motorwagen in Europe, with production of a single cylinder 200 kg version with a packed crankshaft, front wheel drive, clutch, foot brake, muffler and drive shaft. He was assisted in this by Frank H. Clement and his assistant William Gomm. He applied for a patent on May 8, 1879. The witness he asked for was a local bank employee, George Eastman, who later became famous for the Kodak camera. His application was not only for the engine, but also its use in a four-wheeled vehicle. He added many changes to this, making the whole process take 16 years. The patent (No. 549,160) was granted on November 5, 1895.
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At about this time, the American auto industry was booming and George Selden, despite never producing a working car, had a entitled claim to own the patent for the automobile. He never managed the finances except for one time. He was able to get $5,000 from a Rochester business friend. However, he shared his vision that they would still see more cars driving around than horse and carts now. His business friend wanted nothing to do with that. When they met again after 25 years, his business friend wanted to shake his hand and admitted he was wrong. Selden said he wasn't as crazy as he and the others thought and walked away. In 1899 he sold his rights to banker William C. Whitney (of the Electric Vehicle Co). Initially for the development and construction of electric taxis. Whitney and Selden teamed up to collect royalties from other start-up automakers. If you paid you became a member of the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers and you were also entitled to a share of the royalties. Most of the members were from the east coast. Midwestern manufacturers of cheaper vehicles were not members. After the lost lawsuit against Ford he focused with his in 1906 Founded 'Selden Motor Vehicle Company' in Rochester (after taking over the Buffalo Gasoline Motor Company, one of the first manufacturers to file a lawsuit over patent infringement) on trucks and renamed his company "Selden Truck Sales Corporation." He suffered a stroke in late 1921 and died in January 1922 at age 75. It is estimated that he would have received $1.2 million in royalties from this would have been paid at least half to George Day, manager of the ALAM. He would have been left with between $200,000 and $600,000. Not bad for a man who ultimately didn't really help the auto industry.
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The inventors of the techniques that led to the car
Isaac de Rivaz (1752-1828)
Rivaz invented the first hydrogen combustion engine in 1806 and a simple automobile powered by this hydrogen combustion engine in 1807 (Patent 731 dated 30-01-1807). This made him slightly ahead of the Niépce brothers who used their engine in a boat and received the patent on 20-07-1807). As early as 1775 he foresaw the development of the automobile. He tries with all his might to build one. The first were equipped with steam engines. He is inspired by Volta's gun to build the first combustion engine. Volta's gun concerns Volta's research on the ignition of gas mixtures using sparks in a toy gun with a cork. In 1813 he builds a larger vehicle. The engine consists of a vertical cylinder of 1.5m in length and a stroke of 97cm. With each stroke, the 6-meter cart with wheels of 2m diameter travels a distance of 6 meters. So there was no crankshaft, no connecting rod and no in-cylinder compression. His proposals are considered utopian and they can never compete with the advantages of steam engines. The fuel he used was hydrogen, gasoline was only used later, from 1870 when the carburetor was also invented.
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Philippe le Bon (1767-1804)
In 1801, Le Bon invents an engine that is an improvement on Robert Steele's design. This used coal gas that was ignited by an electric spark. This was the first attempt at an internal combustion engine.
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Jean-Joseph Etienne Lenoir (1822-1900)
Belgian inventor who moved to France in the early 1850s and invented the first internal combustion engine in 1859, bringing together the inventions of others with his own ideas. The engine had internal combustion, spark ignition and two-stroke. He was granted patent 43624 for it in November 1859, valid for 15 years, and it was declared 'patent for a gas and expanded air engine'. In 1860 he invents the spark plug with electric ignition, he integrated the spark inductor of Heinrich Daniel Ruhmkorff. He also used the ignition coil invented by Ruhmkorff. The ignition of a mixture of fuel and air by a spark was described as early as 1777 by Volta, the Italian physicist, then by Isaac de Rivaz for an internal combustion engine in 1807. Lenoir has applied all this in boats and cars. In 1862, he was the first person to drive a car with an internal combustion engine. In 1884 he built his first four-stroke engine based on the principle of the 'cycles of Beau de Rochas (1862)'. Rochas had never built a motr but did have the patent on the 4 stroke engine (Nr. 52.593 16-1-1862). Lenoir is considered one of the 100 greatest inventors of all time. Today's cars owe their overhead valves, spark plug ignition and rocker arms to Lenoir.
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George Brayton's 'Ready Engine'
In 1872 Brayton (1830-1892, Boston, USA) patented a constant pressure two-stroke internal combustion engine using vaporized fuel. Later even from kerosene and (diesel) oil. This engine was known as the 'Ready Motor' and eventually formed the basis for the gas turbine. The 'Ready Engine' had one cylinder for the compression and a compression chamber and one separate cylinder in which the products expanded for the power stroke. No spark plug was needed, it had a constant flame to ignite every stroke. He demonstrated that extending the compression stroke through the constant injection of fuel produced more power per unit of fuel consumed. However, much of this gain has been negated by the lack of an adequate method of compressing the ignition fuel mix. Tests were carried out in passenger transport vehicles. Financing Problems and too much wheel slip in cold weather killed the project. The engine was also built in England and converted to a spark ignition by the Scotsman Dugal Clerk. The size was an issue. A 10hp engine had a capacity of 19.3 liters. and weighed 1,814 kg. The engines were known for easy starting and stable operation. In a horizontal version, several boats were propelled with it. In that application, size didn't matter that much. Its engines powered vehicles, boats and submarines before Otto and Diesel were successful. Meanwhile, the Otto engine became increasingly popular. The compression of the Brayton engine was quite low, there was a lot of friction and heat loss between the two cylinders. However is becoming the Ready Motor considered to be the first safe and practical oil engine, actually the forerunner of the diesel engine.
The Rivaz car
Nikolaus August Otto
Nikolaus August Otto (1832-1891)
Lenoir's two-stroke fuel engine inspired Otto to implement the Rochas four-stroke cycles in 1876, as did Lenoir in 1884.
In 1864 Carl Eugen Langen comes into contact with Nikolaus August Otto, who in his spare time works to improve the naturally aspirated engine of the Belg Etienne Lenoir. The technically trained Eugen Langen sees the potential of Otto's developments and, one month after their meeting, founds the first engine factory in the world, NA Otto & Cie. The first engine was a colossus that had to move 500 kg per horsepower. On the Parisian world exhibition of 1867 won the improved gas engine, the flugkolbenmotor, the gold medal. It used three times less fuel than Lenoir's engine. After the first factory went bankrupt, Langen founded in deutz with loan capital de Gas engine factory Deutz, the present Deutz AG, which later became the group Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz (KHD) which in turn turned into IVECO. Otto's debts worth 18,000 talern (Prussian currency) were taken over by Eugen Langen. To ensure production, Langen . recruited Gottlieb Daimler, responsible for production, and Wilhelm Maybach, responsible for the construction. In 1874 the company reached a monthly production of 80 engines with a total of 5000 units. Now Otto was able to make his old idea of a four-stroke engine ready for production, which happened in 1876. He now had competition from the hot air machine, which was less environmentally friendly but could also be fired with wood, peat or coal. By the end of 1876, Maybach had already ensured that the engine could go into production not only in Deutz, but also abroad through the use of licenses. The first Deutzer A-Motor had 3 hp, the following year already 5 hp. Before his death, Otto was already experimenting with a 100 hp engine.
In 1876 the four-stroke principle was first described for a patent, in 1886 the patent application was declared invalid because the principle had already been described by Beau the Rochas had been described. Otto could not keep his patent and an incomparable battle began.
Nikolaus had a son, Gustav, who founded Gustav Otto Flugmachinenwerke in 1911. His company becomes BMW AG on 21-07-1917.
Wilhelm Maybach and Gottlieb Daimler
Maybach and Daimler left Otto's company for personal reasons. They received 113,000 gold marks in Deutz shares for all the patents they developed and applied for. In 1883 they realized their own ideas of a light fast-running petrol engine intended for mobile use. They set up the Daimler Motoren Gesellchaft. They started building engines for universal applications on land, at sea and in the air. Each of these applications was a line, the three lines forming a three-pointed star, the logo of Mercedes-Benz. For the first time she managed to use liquid fuels by inventing the carburetor. This had great advantages in terms of storage and transport. In November 1885 she built the first small engine she built in a wooden bicycle. This created one of the first motorcycles, the Reitwagen. It was driven for a distance of 3 kilometers with an average speed of 12 km/h. In March 1887 an engine was built into a carriage that reached a speed of 16 km/h on the same journey. In the meantime, Carl Benz had made his first drive in June 1886 with his Patentwagen, slightly earlier and generally recognized as having built the first car.
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However, the brothers are enthusiastic and build the engines in boats and airplanes. In 1887 they already sold their patents abroad and in 1889 they were exhibited at the World Exhibition in Paris. In that year she also built the first own car under license in France (1890 Panhard & Levassor and Peugeot), the UK (1896 Daimler Coventry) and the US (1891 Steinway) were sold. In 1894 came the Fenix engine (with camshaft, carburettor with nozzle, etc). This engine was what they needed. Many French manufacturers bought these engines. Some participants in the first car race in the world (Paris-Rouen) in that year had such an engine on board. In 1900 Daimler died of heart disease. However, Maybach goes ahead and designs the first Mercedes. This is no longer derived from the carriage and is seen as a modern car. Top speed was 65.5 out of 35 horsepower. The prototype could not be marketed as Daimler because the Daimler name was already licensed for all of France to Panhard & Levassor. The name Mercedes was then chosen. Due to a fire in Cannstatt, where production had taken place until then, production moved to Stuttgart. In 1906 Maybach . developed an engine that would give aviation a huge leap forward, a 120 hp racing engine and dual ignition. Because DMG did not give him a good position, he resigned and went into business with Graf von Zeppelin. After the 1st WWII, no aircraft are built more in Germany and in 1921 he therefore starts the production of luxury automobiles. His V12 design was lightly built for use in the Zeppelins (one Zeppelin with V12 made it to the edge of the Atmosphere) but also in the DS7- Zeppelin from Maybach himself. It was the first German V12. Due to the crisis and pressure from the banks, DMG merged with Benz & Co in 1926, creating Daimler Benz AG. Maybach died in 1929.
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Edouard Delamare-Deboutteville
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According to the French they would put the first car on the road in 1884 and not Carl Benz in 1885. Edouard was 23 in 1879 when he invented a universal machine that could cut, mill and drill. He became interested in the internal combustion engine as a drive for his machine but also for vehicles. He knew the patents of Rochas, Lenoir and Otto. In 1883 he built a 1 cylinder 4 stroke engine with ignition coil with spark plug and battery ignition, overhead valves and a high compression. He builds this into a tricycle that crashes, however. The new engine also received piston rings, air or water heating for the carburetor, muffler and a progressive clutch. It is certain that a four-wheeled vehicle was built, but it cannot be proven that it has actually driven. His patent was never noticed or used. Too bad, because many of his developments had been useful to Daimler and Benz, who had solved some things rather simply. Unfortunately, he had to give up his experiments to continue earning a living. He is his engines continue to develop but only for industrial use and no longer for cars.
Daimler Reitwagen
Daimler Advertisement from 1905