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Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (born March 17, 1834, Schorndorf ; died March 6, 1900, Cannstatt , Stuttgart ) was an Engineer , Industrial Design er and Industrialist from Germany . He was a pioneer of Internal-combustion Engine s and Automobile development. Daimler and his lifelong partner Wilhelm Maybach were two workaholic inventors whose dream was to create small, high speed engines to be mounted in any kind of locomotion device, patenting, in 1885, the precursor of the modern petrol engine which they subsequently fitted to a Bicycle , supposedly the first Motorcycle , a Stagecoach or horseless carriage, and a boat. They purchased a stagecoach in March 1886 to convert to a motorized vehicle. Later, in 1890, they reorganized their business to form Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG). In 1924, the company entered into an agreement with Karl Benz 's Benz & Co. and in 1926 the two companies merged to become Daimler-Benz AG now part of DaimlerChrysler . EARLY LIFE (1834 TO 1852) Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler was the son of a baker named Johannes Däumler (Daimler) and his wife Frederika, from the town of Schorndorf . By the age of 13 (1847), he had completed his six years of primary studies in Lateinschule where he had also had additional drawing lessons on Sundays and expressed an interest in engineering. The next year, he started studying Gunsmith ing; building with his teacher, Riedel, a double- Barrel ed gun. Again, Daimler became restless in his studies as his main interest still lay in engineering. In 1852 when 18, he finally decided to take up Mechanical Engineering , and left his hometown. CAREER BEGINNINGS AND MAYBACH Gottlieb Daimler took up his first mechanical engineering work in industry at Graffenstaden but abandoned it in 1857 to begin studies at the Stuttgart Polytechnic. After this, Daimler travelled through several European countries. In France, he studied the novel gas engine of J J Lenoir and also worked in other factories including one in Strasbourg making locomotives and another making band saws. In the United Kingdom, Daimler helped start engineering works in Oldham , Leeds and Manchester (with Joseph Whitworth ). Later, he also worked in Belgium. Finally he returned to Germany, working as technical designer in a metal factory at Geislingen , with the father of his friend Heinrich Straub. At 29 years old, in 1863, Daimler started in a special factory, a Bruderhaus in Reutlingen . It had charitable purposes, with a staff made up of orphans, invalids and poor people. One of the orphans was Wilhelm Maybach a qualified Industrial designer aged 19 years who would become his lifelong partner. In his free time Daimler had fun designing machinery, agricultural equipment and also some scales. In 1867, he married Emma Kunz a pharmacist's daughter. They were to have 5 sons among whom was Paul Daimler . In 1869 (35), Daimler moved to Karlsruhe , to work at the engineering manufacturer Maschinenbau-Gesellschaft Karlsruhe AG Six months later, Maybach joined him as Technical Designer. Both inventors spent long nights discussing new designs for engines for pumps, lumber industries and metal pressing. THE OTTO FOUR-STROKE ENGINE (1876) In 1872 (at age 38), Gottlieb Daimler and Maybach moved to work at the world's largest manufacturer of stationary engines of the time, the Deutz-AG-Gasmotorenfabrik in Cologne . It was half-owned by Nikolaus August Otto who was looking for a new Technical Director. As Directors, both Daimler and Otto focused on gas-engine development while Maybach was Chief Designer. In 1876, Otto invented the Four-stroke Cycle also known as the ''Otto Cycle'' a system characterized by four piston strokes, intake, compression, power and exhaust. Otto intended that his invention would replace the steam engines predominant in those years, even though his engine was still primitive and inefficient. Otto's engine was patented in 1877, but the patent was soon challenged and overturned. Unknown to Daimler and Maybach, Karl Benz was concentrating all his efforts in Manheim, during 1878, on creating a reliable two-stroke gas engine based on Nikolaus Otto's design of the four-stroke engine. Benz finished his engine on New Year's Eve and was granted a patent for it in 1879. But, meanwhile, serious personal differences arose between Daimler and Otto, with Otto being jealous of Daimler, because of his university background and knowledge. Daimler was fired in 1880, receiving 112,000 Gold-marks in Deutz-AG shares in compensation for the patents of both Daimler and Maybach. Maybach resigned later. DAIMLER MOTORS: SMALL HIGH SPEED ENGINES (1882) After leaving Deutz-AG Daimler and Maybach founded their own company. In 1882, they moved back to Southern Germany, to Taubenheimstrasse , a smart suburb of Cannstatt , Stuttgart, purchasing a cottage with 75,000 Gold marks from the compensation from Deutz-AG. In the garden, they added a brick extension to the roomy glass-fronted summerhouse and this became their workshop. Eventually, their activities altered the neighbours who called the police and reported them as suspected counterfeiters. The police obtained a key from their gardener and raided the house in their absencebut found only engines. Thus was founded the Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (Daimler Engines Company) or DMG, with Maybach as Chief Designer. Its purpose was the construction of small, high speed engines for use on land, water and air transport. The three uses is the basis for the modern Mercedes-Benz logo of a three-pointed star. Daimler and Maybach spent long hours debating how best to fuel Otto's Four-Stroke design and turned to a byproduct of Petroleum The main distillates of petroleum at the time were lubricating oil, Kerosene (burned as lamp fuel), and Benzene (now known as Gasoline or Petrol), which up to then was used mainly as a cleaner and was sold in pharmacies. THE GRANDFATHER CLOCK ENGINE (1885) In late 1885, Daimler and Maybach developed the first of their engines which often considered the prototype of all modern Petrol Engines . It featured:
In 1885, they created the first Carburetor which mixed Gasoline with air allowing its use as fuel. In the same year Daimler and Maybach assembled a new and bigger version of their engine, still relatively compact, but now with vertical cylinder:
It was baptized the Grandfather Clock (Standuhr), because Daimler's thought that it resembled an ''old pendulum clock''. Karl Benz had built a three wheeled Automobile in 1885 and was granted a Patent for this first automobile, dated January 29, 1886. Soon after this in November 1885, Daimler installed a smaller version of his engine in a wooden bicycle, creating the first motorcycle (Patent 36-423: ''"Vehicle with gas or petroleum drive machine"''). It was named the "riding car" (Reitwagen). Maybach drove it for 3 kilometers, from Cannstatt to Unterturkheim , reaching 12 km/h (7 mph). On March 8, 1886, Daimler and Maybach secretly brought a coach made by Wilhelm Wimpff & Sohn to the house, telling the neighbours that it was a birthday gift for Mrs. Daimler, and into this Maybach supervised the installation of a larger 1.5 hp version of the Grandfather Clock engine. This "Reitwagen" became the first four wheeled vehicle to reach 16 km/h (10 mph). The engine power was transmitted by a set of belts. Like the motor cycle it was also tested on the road to Unterturkheim. Daimler and Maybach also used the engine in other types of transport including:
They sold their first foreign licenses in 1887 and Maybach went as company representative to the Paris World's Fair (1886 to 1889), to show their achievements. |
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