Gottlieb Daimler and his achievements

At the end of the 10th century, talented engineers from Germany Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, not knowing at first about the existence of each other, laid the foundation for the future of the automotive industry in their workshops. Benz before the others launched the prototype of the future car, and Daimler was the first to offer the emerging automotive industry a functional engine.

Geniuses are not born

The hereditary baker and viticulturist Johannes Daimler of the German Schorndorf, saw in his son Gottlieb, born March 17, 1834, the future successor of the family business or municipal employee. But fate decreed otherwise. The boy from the school years was fascinated by technology and exact sciences. After yielding to the wishes of his son, at the end of primary school, his father gave him as an apprentice to the armorer Raitele. By the age of seventeen Gottlieb Daimler mastered the specialty of the weapons master. In 1853, the young man, on the recommendation of fellow countryman and public figure F. Steinbeis, was recruited to the workshops of the railway repair plant in Strasbourg (France), where he acquired the necessary production experience for continuing education. In 1957, Gottlieb Daimler entered the Polytechnic Institute of Stuttgart. Two years later he received a diploma of an engineer, but, he said, continued to study all his life.

Towards the heights of engineering

The young specialist continued his labor activity at the same Strasbourg enterprise. Gottlieb Daimler became more and more convinced every day that an alternative to cumbersome and metal-consuming steam engines should be an easier and more convenient engine to operate. In search of like-minded German engineer, he changed several enterprises in France and England. In 1863, enriched by an advanced European experience, Daimler returned to his homeland. At the agricultural machinery plant in Reutlingen, he began as a draftsman, and a year later became technical director. But the main fateful milestone of this period is the acquaintance with the talented mechanic Wilhelm Maybach, who became a faithful friend and companion for life.

Work in Deutz

In 1872 Nikolaus Otto, the inventor of the internal combustion engine, and his financial partner Eugen Leigen sought for a competent and enterprising engineer for his "Gas engine plant in Doetz", capable of setting the commercial production of industrial engines. Their choice fell on Daimler and, as time showed, was absolutely true. The new technical leader brought with him a group of highly skilled workers and Maybach, who headed the design bureau. Despite the commercial success of the enterprise, the team-mates finally became convinced that the stationary gas engine has no future: at three-meter dimensions, the theoretical maximum power was limited to 3-4 liters. from.

On the way to a dream

The inventions of Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach did not find any response from the leaders of the "Doitz", and in 1872 like-minded people organized their own project, in which the first acted as the leader, and Maybach as the design engineer.

On the territory of the manor bought in the neighborhood of Stuttgart, the companions arranged workshops, where they worked hard to create a new engine. The first prototype, working on gasoline, was a high-speed (up to 900 r / s, which is quite good for that time) single-cylinder engine with a calylic ignition and a simple evaporative carburetor. Further work of inventors was reduced to minimization of the unit. A water cooling system was developed and a sealed engine crankcase was created. In 1885, Gottlieb Daimler received a patent for the use of modernized ICE in transport.

The first locomotive, motorcycle and car

In the same year, new engines were installed on the locomotive, serving the factory access roads at the Otto Deutz enterprise, and the passenger car of the Kirchheim Railway. Next, the inventors presented a prototype of a modern motorcycle - a motorized wooden bicycle that speeds up to 12 km / h.

The following year, an improved engine was installed on the first car of Gottlieb Daimler. "Motor coach", patented in 1986, was manufactured in Hamburg and assembled in Stuttgart workshops. The engine and steering under the leadership of Maybach were installed at the factory in Esslingen. Transmission was a belt transmission. The achieved speed of 16 km / h was considered a good result for the first sample.

In search of commercial partners

By 1888, modifications were made to motors for boats and airships. The initiatives and areas of application of the new internal combustion engines demonstrated by the partners did not arouse the interest of the entrepreneurs for a while. The situation was saved by the sale of boat engines, which the owners of small vessels were eager to buy.

The first commercial offer came from France. The products of Daimler began to be installed on their cars by the companies Peugeot and Panar and Levassor, but money for the production of new engines was constantly in short supply. This forced Gottlieb Daimler to attract local businessmen as investors and to organize in 1890 the joint-stock company Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft. The policy pursued by the actual owners of the firm, which amounted to the creation of stationary mechanisms, did not coincide with the views of Daimler and Maybach, but friends persistently engaged in the development of new engines for road transport.

The star will rise ...

Famous for the whole world three-beam star, symbolizing the use of their engines on land, in the water and in heaven, Daimler drew on the walls of his own home in 1880. The picture was prophetic. The victory of cars equipped with DMG engines on numerous races and runs led to a gradual increase in the sales of products. Designed in May 1893 by Maybach, the spray type carburetor and the spark-ignition system developed by Robert Bosch greatly improved the traction-speed characteristics and controllability of the ICE.

The car from the outlandish goods has turned into a necessary means of transportation. The power unit "Phoenix", engineered by Maybach, served as the basis for the production of a whole range of engines, up to 9 liters. from. In 1899, cars are equipped with a four-cylinder 24-horsepower engine.

The best or nothing

Gottlieb Daimler, the founder and CEO of DMG, died at the age of 66, in 1900. He did not live about a year before the appearance in the model range of his company of the legendary Mercedes brand, which set the beginning of the history of the most popular and respected automobile brand in the world. Since 1926, after merging with the firm of Carl Benz Benz & Cie in one concern, cars are produced under the brand name "Mercedes-Benz".

One can argue endlessly about who Gottlieb Daimler was, what he invented. Who did more for the establishment and development of Daimler Benz AG and the world automotive industry as a whole. The time and the deserved success of Mercedes cars equalized Gautlib Daimler's organizational abilities and dedication, the tirelessness and versatility of Karl Benz, the technical genius of Wilhelm Maybach.