Nicolaus Otto
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Nicolaus August Otto (June 14, 1832 - January 28, 1891) was the German inventor of the internal-combustion engine, the first engine to burn fuel directly in a piston chamber. Up until his invention, all engines were external-combustion engines and fuel was burned in a separate compartment.
As a young man Otto began experimenting with gas engines and in 1864 joined with two friends to form his own company. The company was named N. A. Otto & Cie., which was the first company to manufacture internal-combustion engines. The company exists today as Deutz AG.
Otto's first atmospheric engine was completed in May 1867. Five years later Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach joined his company for a while and together they produced the idea of the four-stroke cycle or, Otto cycle engine, which was first described in 1876.
This engine was designed as a stationary engine and in the action of the engine, the stroke is an upward or downward movement of a piston in a cylinder. Used later in an adapted form as an automobile engine, four up-down strokes are involved: (1) downward intake stroke—coal-gas and air enter the piston chamber, (2) upward compression stroke—the piston compresses the mixture, (3) downward power stroke—ignites the fuel mixture by electric spark, and (4) upward exhaust stroke—releases exhaust gas from the piston chamber. Otto only sold his engine as a stationary motor.
In 1879, working independently in another part of Germany, Karl Benz was granted a patent for his internal combustion engine.
In 1882 Daimler and Maybach left Deutz-AG-Gasmotorenfabrik and in 1890 would found the Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (Daimler Engines Company) or DMG. Its purpose was the construction of small, high speed engines based on the same technology.
In 1885 Karl Benz used his engine to propel a three-wheeled automobile that was granted a patent dated January 29, 1886. In the same year, Benz began production and sold automobiles.
The Otto Cycle engine patent was invalidated in 1886 when it was discovered that another inventor, Alphonse Beau de Rochas, had already described the four-stroke cycle principle in a privately published pamphlet.
In 1885 Daimler and Maybach designed and built a motorcycle with an engine of the Otto Cycle type that they patented. In 1886 they placed a stationary engine into a stagecoach as an experiment and, in 1889, designed and built their first automobile. DMG was founded in 1890. In 1892 they first sold an automobile to a customer.
According to recent historical studies, the Italian inventors Eugenio Barsanti and Felice Matteucci patented a first working efficient version of an internal combustion engine in 1854 in London (pt. Num. 1072). It is claimed that the Otto engine is in many parts at least inspired from this precedent invention [link], but, as yet there is no documentation of knowledge about the Italian engine by Otto.
In 1900 Daimler died and in 1909 Maybach left Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft. In 1926, their successors at DMG merged with the Karl Benz company forming, Daimler-Benz.
External links
- [U.S. Patent 0194047] -- 1877
- [U.S. Patent 0365701]
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