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1 Benz, Karl
[br]b. 25 November 1844 Pfaffenrot, Black Forest, Germanyd. 4 April 1929 Ladenburg, near Mannheim, Germany[br]German inventor of one of the first motor cars.[br]The son of a railway mechanic, it is said that as a child one of his hobbies was the repair of Black Forest clocks. He trained as a mechanical engineer at the Karlsruhe Lyzeum and Polytechnikum under Ferdinand Redtenbacher (d. 1863), who pointed out to him the need for a more portable power source than the steam engine. He went to Maschinenbau Gesellschaft Karlsruhe for workshop experience and then joined Schweizer \& Cie, Mannheim, for two years. In 1868 he went to the Benkiser Brothers at Pforzheim. In 1871 he set up a small machine-tool works at Mannheim, but in 1877, in financial difficulties, he turned to the idea of an entirely new product based on the internal-combustion engine. At this time, N.A. Otto held the patent for the four-stroke internal-combustion engine, so Benz had to put his hopes on a two-stroke design. He avoided the trouble with Dugald Clerk's engine and designed one in which the fuel would not ignite in the pump and in which the cylinder was swept with fresh air between each two firing strokes. His first car had a sparking plug and coil ignition. By 1879 he had developed the engine to a stage where it would run satisfactorily with little attention. On 31 December 1879, with his wife Bertha working the treadle of her sewing machine to charge the batteries, he demonstrated his engine in street trials in Mannheim. In the summer of 1888, unknown to her husband, Bertha drove one of his cars the 80 km (50 miles) to Pforzheim and back with her two sons, aged 13 and 15. She and the elder boy pushed the car up hills while the younger one steered. They bought petrol from an apothecary in Wiesloch and had a brake block repaired in Bauschlott by the village cobbler. Karl Benz's comments on her return from this venture are not recorded! Financial problems prevented immediate commercial production of the automobile, but in 1882 Benz set up the Gasmotorenfabrik Mannheim. After trouble with some of his partners, he left in 1883 and formed a new company, Benz \& Cie, Rheinische Gasmotorenfabrik. Otto's patent was revoked in 1886 and in that year Benz patented a motor car with a gas engine drive. He manufactured a 0.8hp car, the engine running at 250 rpm with a horizontal flywheel, exhibited at the Paris Fair in 1889. He was not successful in finding anyone in France who would undertake manufacture. This first car was a three-wheeler, and soon after he produced a four-wheeled car, but he quarrelled with his co-directors, and although he left the board in 1902 he rejoined it soon after.[br]Further ReadingSt J.Nixon, 1936, The Invention of the Automobile. E.Diesel et al., 1960, From Engines to Autos. E.Johnson, 1986, The Dawn of Motoring.IMcN -
2 Automotive engineering
See also: INDEX BY SUBJECT AREA[br]Austin, HerbertIssigonis, Sir Alexander Arnold ConstantineMorris, William Richard -
3 Land transport
See also: INDEX BY SUBJECT AREA[br]Austin, HerbertHamilton, Harold LeeIssigonis, Sir Alexander Arnold ConstantineMa JunMorris, William RichardSauerbrun, Charles de -
4 Maybach, Wilhelm
[br]b. 9 February 1846 Heilbronn, Württemberg, Germanyd. 14 December 1929 Stuttgart, Germany[br]German engineer and engine designer, inventor of the spray carburettor.[br]Orphaned at the age of 10, Maybach was destined to become one of the world's most renowned engine designers. From 1868 he was apprenticed as a draughtsman at the Briiderhaus Engineering Works in Reurlingen, where his talents were recognized by Gottlieb Daimler, who was Manager and Technical Director. Nikolaus Otto had by then developed his atmospheric engine and reorganized his company, Otto \& Langen, into Gasmotorenfabrik Deutz, of which he appointed Daimler Manager. After employment at a machine builders in Karlsruhe, in 1872 Maybach followed Daimler to Deutz where he worked as a partner on the design of high-speed engines: his engines ran at up to 900 rpm, some three times as fast as conventional engines of the time. Maybach made improvements to the timing, carburation and other features. In 1881 Daimler left the Deutz Company and set up on his own as a freelance inventor, moving with his family to Bad Cannstatt; in April 1882 Maybach joined him as Engineer and Designer to set up a partnership to develop lightweight high-speed engines suitable for vehicles. A motor cycle appeared in 1885 and a modified horse-drawn carriage was fitted with a Maybach engine in 1886. Other applications to small boats, fire-engine pumps and small locomotives quickly followed, and the Vee engine of 1890 that was fitted into the French Peugeot automobiles had a profound effect upon the new sport of motor racing. In 1895 Daimler won the first international motor race and the same year Maybach became Technical Director of the Daimler firm. In 1899 Emil Jellinek, Daimler agent in France and also Austro-Hungarian consul, required a car to compete with Panhard and Levassor, who had been victorious in the Paris-Bordeaux race; he wanted more power and a lower centre of gravity, and turned to Maybach with his requirements, the 35 hp Daimler- Simplex of 1901 being the outcome. Its performance and road holding superseded those of all others at the time; it was so successful that Jellinek immediately placed an order for thirty-six cars. His daughter's name was Mercedes, after whom, when the merger of Daimler and Benz came about, the name Mercedes-Benz was adopted.In his later years, Maybach designed the engine for the Zeppelin airships. He retired from the Daimler Company in 1907.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsSociety of German Engineers Grashof Medal (its highest honour). In addition to numerous medals and titles from technical institutions, Maybach was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Stuttgart Institute of Technology.Further ReadingF.Schidberger, Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach and Karl Benz, Stuttgart: Daimler Benz AG.1961, The Annals of Mercedes-Benz Motor Vehicles and Engines, 2nd edn, Stuttgart: Daimler Benz AG.E.Johnson, 1986, The Dawn of Motoring.KAB / IMcN
См. также в других словарях:
Benz, Karl — ▪ German engineer in full Karl Friedrich Benz born Nov. 25, 1844, Karlsruhe, Baden [Germany] died April 4, 1929, Ladenburg, near Mannheim, Ger. German mechanical engineer who designed and in 1885 built the world s first practical automobile to … Universalium
Benz, Karl — ► (1844 1929) Ingeniero alemán. Fue uno de los creadores de la industria del automóvil. Fundó las empresas automovilísticas Benz & Cie (1883) y Benz Söhne (1905) y construyó un motor de dos tiempos (1879) … Enciclopedia Universal
Benz,Karl Friedrich — Benz (bĕnts), Karl Friedrich. 1844 1929. German automobile pioneer credited with manufacturing the first vehicle powered with an internal combustion engine, patented in 1886. * * * … Universalium
Benz, Karl (Friedrich) — born Nov. 25, 1844, Karlsruhe, Baden died April 4, 1929, Ladenburg, Ger. German mechanical engineer who designed and built the first practical automobile powered by an internal combustion engine. The original car, his three wheeled Motorwagen,… … Universalium
Benz, Karl (Friedrich) — (25 nov. 1844, Karlsruhe, Baden–4 abr. 1929, Ladenburg, Alemania). Ingeniero mecánico alemán que diseñó el primer automóvil práctico propulsado por un motor de combustión interna. El vehículo original, su Motorwagen de tres ruedas, anduvo por… … Enciclopedia Universal
Benz — Benz, Karl … Enciclopedia Universal
Karl Friedrich Benz — Karl Benz. Vehículo Benz de 1885. Karl Friedrich Benz (25 de noviembre de 1844, Karlsruh … Wikipedia Español
Benz — AmE an informal name for a Mercedes Benz car →↑Merc Benz 2 Benz, Karl (1844 1929) a German engineer who built the first petrol driven car in 1885. His factory later joined with one started by Gottlieb Daimler, and became the Mercedes Benz car… … Dictionary of contemporary English
Benz — Benz, Karl, Ingenieur, geb. 26. Nov. 1844 in Karlsruhe, studierte an der dortigen technischen Hochschule, gründete 1872 in Mannheim eine eigne Werkstätte und baute 1880 einen Zweitaktmotor, den er in einen Wagen einbauen wollte. 1883 gründete er… … Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon
Benz & Cie, Rheinische Gasmotorenfabrik — Carl Benz Carl Friedrich Benz (Karl Friedrich Michael Benz) (* 25. November 1844 in Mühlburg (Karlsruhe); † 4. April 1929 in Ladenburg) war ein deutscher Ingenieur und Automobilpionier. Inhaltsverzeichnis … Deutsch Wikipedia
Karl Benz — Carl Benz Carl Friedrich Benz (Karl Friedrich Michael Benz) (* 25. November 1844 in Mühlburg (Karlsruhe); † 4. April 1929 in Ladenburg) war ein deutscher Ingenieur und Automobilpionier. Inhaltsverzeichnis … Deutsch Wikipedia
