The history of the automobile
The automobile was not invented in a single day by a single inventor. Over 100,000 patents made the modern automobile. However, we can speak about the first theoretical plans for a motor vehicle that had been worked out by both Leonardo da Vinchi and Isaac Newton.
In 1769, the very first self-propelled road vehicle was a military tractor invented by French engineer and mechanic, Nicolas Joseph Cugnot (1725 - 1804). Cugnot used a steam engine to power his vehicle. It was used by the French Army to pull artillery at a “high” speed of 2 1/2 mph on only three wheels. The vehicle had to stop every ten to fifteen minutes to repair steam engine.
In 1771, Cugnot drove one of his road vehicles into a stone wall, and he became the first person to get into a motor vehicle accident.
Steam engines powered cars by burning fuel that heated water in a boiler, creating steam that expanded and pushed pistons that turned the crankshaft, which then turned the wheels. After Cugnot several other inventors designed steam-powered road vehicles. Historians, who consider that early steam-powered road vehicles were automobiles, feel that Nicolas Cugnot was the inventor of the first automobile.
So why do so many history books say that the automobile was invented by either Gottlieb Daimler or Karl Benz? It is because both Daimler and Benz invented highly successful and practical gasoline-powered vehicles. Daimler and Benz invented cars that looked and worked like the cars we use today. However, it is not right to say that either man invented "the" automobile.
An internal combustion engine is any engine that uses the explosive combustion of fuel to push a piston within a cylinder - the piston's movement turns a crankshaft that then turns the car wheels with the help of a chain or a drive shaft. The different types of fuel commonly used for car combustion engines are gasoline (or petrol), diesel, and kerosene.
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In 1885, German mechanical engineer, Karl Benz designed and built the world's first practical automobile powered by an internal-combustion engine. It was a three-wheeler; Benz built his first four-wheeled car in 1891.
In 1885, Gottlieb Daimler (together with his design partner Wilhelm Maybach) patented the engine that was small, lightweight, fast, used a gasoline-injected carburetor, and had a vertical cylinder. On March 8, 1886, Daimler took a stagecoach and adapted it to hold his engine, thereby designing the world's first four-wheeled automobile.
In 1889, Daimler and Maybach built their first automobile; they did not adapt another purpose vehicle as they had always been done before. The new Daimler automobile had a four-speed transmission and reached speeds of 10 mph.
Daimler founded the Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft in 1890 to manufacture his designs. Eleven years later, Wilhelm Maybach designed the Mercedes automobile.
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Словарь к тексту: to invent – изобрести single – один, единственный patent – патент vehicle – транспортное средство self-propelled – самоходный, самодвижущийся military – военный tractor – тягач, трактор steam engine – паровой двигатель pull – тянуть mph – миль в час (сокращение) repair – ремонтировать, чинить accident – авария to power – приводить в движение to burn – гореть fuel – горючее, топливо to heat – нагревать boiler – паровой котел to expand – расширяться piston – поршень crankshaft – коленчатый вал gasoline-powered – с бензиновым двигателем internal combustion engine – двигатель внутреннего сгорания explosive – взрывчатый combustion – горение cylinder – цилиндр drive shaft – карданный вал gasoline (petrol) – бензин diesel – дизель (здесь – дизельное топливо) kerosene – керосин design – план, чертеж, схема stagecoach – дилижанс, почтовая карета adapt – приспосабливать, подгонять gasoline-injected carburetor – карбюратор с бензиновым впрыском four-speed transmission – четырехступенчатая коробка передач |
Henry Ford
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Automobile manufacturer Henry Ford was born July 30, 1863, on his family's farm in Dearborn, Michigan. At an early age, he showed an interest in mechanical things and a dislike for farm work. In 1879, sixteen-year-old Ford left home for the city of Detroit to work as a machinist’s assistant for three years. In 1891, Ford became an engineer with the Edison Illuminating Company in Detroit and then in 1893 a Chief engineer. It gave him enough time and money for his personal experiments on internal combustion engines. These experiments ended in 1896 when he completed his own gasoline engine vehicle – the Quadricycle. Ford set up the Ford Motor Company in 1903. With the introduction of the Model T in 1908 Henry Ford realized his dream of producing an automobile for masses that was reasonably priced, reliable, and efficient. This vehicle immediately became a great success and started a new era in personal transportation. It was easy to operate, maintain, and handle on rough roads. Ford revolutionized manufacturing. He combined precision manufacturing, standardized and interchangeable parts, a division of labour, and, in 1913, a constantly-moving assembly line. Workers remained in place, adding one component to each automobile as it moved past them on the line. Delivery of parts by conveyor belt to the workers was carefully timed to keep the assembly line moving smoothly and efficiently. The assembly line reduced production costs for cars by reducing assembly time. Ford's production of Model Ts made his company the largest automobile manufacturer in the world. In 1914, Ford began paying his employees five dollars a day, nearly doubling the wages offered by other manufacturers. He cut the workday from nine to eight hours in order to convert the factory to a three-shift workday. Ford's mass-production techniques finally allowed to manufacture a Model T every 24 seconds. His innovations made him an international celebrity. |
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Ford's affordable Model T greatly changed American society. As more Americans owned cars, the United States saw the growth of suburban areas, the creation of a national highway system, and a population excited with the possibility of going anywhere anytime.
The T in Model T
Henry Ford and his engineers used the first 19 letters of the alphabet to name their automobiles, although some of the cars were never sold to public.
“You can paint it any color, so long as it's black”
Over 19 years, Ford built 15,000,000 automobiles with the Model "T" engine, the longest run of any single model apart from the Volkswagen Beetle. Henry Ford had succeeded in his quest to build a car for the masses.
In 1932, Henry Ford introduced his last engineering triumph: his one piece V-8 engine.
On January 13, 1942, Henry Ford patented a plastic-bodied automobile - a car 30% lighter than metal cars.
Henry Ford established schools in several areas of the country that provided educational experiences based on traditional one room school techniques, modern teaching methods, and "learning through doing".
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Словарь к тексту to manufacture – производить vehicle – транспортное средство completion – завершение introduction – введение to set up – основать, создать production – производство reasonably – разумно reliable – надежный efficient – эффективный success – успех to maintain – поддерживать в рабочем состоянии to handle – управлять to combine – сочетать a division of labor – разделение труда assembly – сборка assembly line – линия сборки в поточном производстве, конвейер delivery – доставка to add – добавить to reduce – уменьшить production costs – издержки производства employee – служащий to offer – предлагать shift – смена to own – владеть highway – автомагистраль to afford – позволить affordable – доступный, по средствам |