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An engine in the broadest sense, is something that produces an output effect from a given input. The origin of is called a Prime Mover ; alternatively, a Motor is a device which produces kinetic energy from a preprocessed "fuel" (such as electricity, a flow of hydraulic fluid or compressed air). Unfortunately some everyday English language confusion exists about this terminology demarcation that sometimes leads to expensive errors. For example, a service specialist (an electrical engineer) might be called upon to travel some way to examine a faulty "motor" - to find on arrival at the site that the so-called "motor", is in fact, a rather large diesel Engine that he has no knowledge of, as its operating principles lie outside his area of specialisation. An ordinary car (up to the present time: 2007) has a starter motor, a windscreen wiper motor, windscreen washer motor, a fuel pump motor and motors to adjust the wing mirrors from within the car and a (motorised) radio antenna - but the power plant that propels the car is an engine. Again an aircraft will have many motors installed for operation of its many auxiliary operations and services, but aircraft are propelled by engines, in this case, jet engines. USAGE OF THE TERM Originally, early at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in everyday language Engine an engine was any sort of mechanical device that converted some form of energy into mechanical or motion force. The term "gin" as in Cotton Gin is recognised as originating from the Old French word 'engin' as a short form of its usage. Practically every device from the Industrial Revolution was referred to as an engine, and this is where the Steam Engine gained its name. The term has more recently become popular in Computer Science in terms like " Search Engine ", "3-D graphics Game Engine ", " Rendering Engine " and " Text-to-speech Engine ", even though these "engines" are not mechanical and cause no mechanical action (this usage may have been inspired by the " Difference Engine ", and early mechanical computing device). Military devices such as Catapult s are referred to as '' Siege Engine s''. In more recent usage, the term is used to describe devices that perform Mechanical Work , follow-ons to the original steam engine. In most cases the work is supplied by exerting a Torque , which is used to operate other machinery, generate Electricity , Pump water or Compress Gas . In the context of propulsion systems, an air breathing engine is one that uses atmospheric air to oxidise the Fuel carried, rather than carrying an oxidiser, as in a Rocket . Theoretically, this should result in a better Specific Impulse than for Rocket Engine s. Antiquity Engines using Human Power , Animal Power , Water Power , Wind Power and even Steam Power date back to antiquity. Human power was focused by the use of simple engines, such as the Capstan , Windlass or Treadmill , and with ropes, Pulley s, and Block And Tackle arrangements, this power was transmitted and multiplied. These were used in Cranes and aboard Ship s during Ancient Greece , and in Mine s, Water Pump s and Siege Engines in Ancient Rome . Early Oared Warships used human power augmented by the simple engine of the Lever -- the Oar itself. The writers of those times, including Vitruvius , Frontinus and Pliny The Elder , treat these engines as commonplace, so their invention may be far more ancient. By the 1st Century AD, various breeds of Cattle and Horse s were used in Mill s, using machines similar to those powered by humans in earlier times. According to Strabo , a water powered mill was built in Kaberia in the Kingdom Of Mithridates in the 1st Century BC . Use of Water Wheel s in mills spread through Europe over the next few centuries. Some were quite complex, with Aqueduct s, Dam s, and Sluice s to maintain and channel the water, and systems of Gears , or toothed-wheels made of wood with metal, used to regulate the speed of rotation. In a poem by Ausonius in the 4th Century , he mentions a stone-cutting saw powered by water. Hero Of Alexandria demonstrated both wind and steam powered machines in the 1st century, although it is not known if these were put to any practical use. Modern ]] English inventor Sir Samuel Morland allegedly used Gunpowder to drive water pumps in the 17th Century . For more conventional, reciprocating Internal Combustion Engine s the fundamental theory for Two-stroke Engine s was established by Sadi Carnot , France , 1824, whilst the American Samuel Morey received a Patent on April 1 , 1826 . (Dugald Clark) Sir Dugald Clark (1854 – 1932) designed the first two-stroke engine in 1878 and patented it in England in 1881. Automotive production has used a range of energy-conversion systems. These include electric, Steam , Solar , Turbine , rotary, and piston-type internal combustion engines. The petrol internal combustion engine, operating on a four-stroke Otto cycle, has been the most successful for Automobile s, while diesel engines are used for trucks and buses. Karl Benz was one of the leaders in the development of new engines. In 1878 he began to work on new designs. He concentrated his efforts on creating a reliable gas two-stroke engine that was more powerful, based on Nikolaus Otto 's design of the four-stroke engine. Karl Benz showed his real genius, however, through his successive inventions registered while designing what would become the production standard for his two-stroke engine. Benz finished his engine on New Year's Eve and was granted a patent for it in 1879 . In 1896, Karl Benz was granted a patent for his design of the first engine with horizontally-opposed pistons. Many BMW motorcycles use this engine type. His design created an engine in which the corresponding pistons move in horizontal cylinders and reach top dead centre simultaneously, thus automatically balancing each other with respect to their individual momentums. Engines of this design are often referred to as flat engines because of their shape and lower profile. They must have an even number of cylinders and six, four or two cylinder flat engines have all been common. The most well-known engine of this type is probably the Volkswagen beetle engine. Engines of this type continue to be a common design principle for high performance aero engines (for propellor driven aircraft) and, engines used by automobile producers such as Porsche and Subaru. Continuance of the use of the internal combustion engine for automobiles is partly due to the improvement of engine control systems (onboard computers providing engine management processes, and electronically controlled fuel injection). Forced air induction by turbocharging and supercharging have increased power outputs and efficiencies available. Similar changes have been applied to smaller diesel engines giving them almost the same power characteristics as petrol engines. This is especially evident with the popularity of smaller diesel engine propelled cars in Europe. Larger diesel engines are still often used in trucks and heavy machinery. They don't burn as clean as gasoline engines, however they're far more powerful. The internal combustion engine was originally selected for the automobile due to its flexibility over a wide range of speeds. Also, the power developed for a given weight engine was reasonable; it could be produced by economical mass-production methods; and it used a readily available, moderately priced fuel - petrol. |
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