Using common language in conversation automotive terms- ICE, "automatic", air conditioning, disc brakes, ESP - we do not even think about the history of their occurrence. We decided to restore justice and remember when and on which cars the innovations that we use every day appeared.
ICE vehicles
When: 1885
Nikolaus Otto, who built the first four-stroke engine in 1878 internal combustion, undoubtedly gave a big impetus to the automotive industry. However, no less important was the invention by Karl Benz in 1885 of a car with an internal combustion engine.
However, this fact can hardly be called indisputable: many scientists and engineers from different countries came to a self-propelled carriage with an internal combustion engine almost simultaneously. For example, the Austrian Siegfried Markus in 1883 and the German Gottlieb Daimler in 1886. Nevertheless, Benz is considered to be the main innovator. By the way, the first single-cylinder ICE of his "Motorvagen" developed less than one horsepower.
The first mass-produced passenger car with diesel engine became the Mercedes-Benz 260D in 1936. Turbodiesel appeared almost 40 years later: in 1979, the Peugeot 604 became the “pioneer”.
Headlights, starter and ignition
When: 1912
Where: Cadillac Model 30 Self Starter
All these attributes that are completely familiar to a modern car appeared more than a century ago, in 1912, on the same car - the Cadillac Model 30 Self Starter ("self-starting"). Moreover, in its headlights there were lamps already with a reliable tungsten filament.
Thanks to this car, drivers forgot about acetylene and carbide, about inefficient carbon filament lamps and about the "crooked starter" used to start the engine before. In addition, there is an opinion that it was the starter that “killed” the electric vehicle market that was emerging at that time - after all, before that it was not so easy to operate a car with an internal combustion engine.
Transmission
When: 1898
Where: Renault Voiturette
On December 24, 1898, Louis Renault accepted the challenge to drive his Voiturette up the steep Parisian Rue Lepic in Montmartre. Thanks to the presence of the gearbox, he succeeded - and he immediately received the first 12 orders for his "carriage".
In 1899 Louis and his brothers founded Renault Freres, which launched the production of the Voiturette Type A model, equipped with a fairly powerful (1.75 horsepower) De Dion-Buton engine and the world's first gearbox (three forward, one back). Direct transmission scheme with cardan shaft still used on rear wheel drive vehicles.
Most common nowadays front-wheel drive the Americans came up with back in 1929, embodying the idea on the Cord L29 car. But for real mass production front-wheel drive cars began only in the second half of the last century
"Machine"
When: 1939
Where: Oldsmobile Custom 8 Cruiser
It is not surprising that the “automatic” was invented by lazy Americans living in a country of straight, like an arrow, highways.
The first lucky ones in 1939 were the buyers of the Oldsmobile Custom 8 Cruiser model, equipped as standard with a four-speed HydraMatic transmission with a fluid coupling.
Drum brakes, independent suspension, self-supporting body
When: 1922
Who: Lancia Lambda
As with the starter and headlights, all these innovations appeared on one car, and at the same time - it was a Lancia Lambda.
It was first used on Lambda load-bearing body, for the first time drum brakes were used on all wheels (for rear wheel drive vehicles), and independent suspension front wheels. In total, about 13,000 copies of Lancia Lambda were sold.
An all-wheel drive car with an internal combustion engine - Spyker 60 HP - appeared much earlier, in 1903. By the way, with locks of all three differentials.
hydraulic booster
When: 1951
Who: Chrysler Crown Imperial
In the first quarter of the 20th century, only biceps helped to turn the "steering wheel" - no amplifiers were provided. Later, in the 30s, complex and noisy pneumatic systems appeared that made the lot of drivers easier, but special comfort did not provide.
And only in 1951, Chrysler Corporation attached the world's first hydraulic booster Hydraguide to its huge fashionable Chrysler Crown Imperial sedan. In Europe, power steering first appeared among the French, on Citroen models DS 19 in 1954.
Disc brakes
When: 1958
Where: Citroen DS 19
The same Citroen DS 19, but four years later, in 1958, became a "pioneer" in another area: cars with disc brakes.
By the way, the list of innovations of the DS 19 did not end there: it had front-wheel drive, excellent aerodynamics (Cx = 0.3), hydropneumatic suspension of all wheels and a steering wheel with a single spoke. Not surprisingly, on the first day of sales, Citroen received 12,000 applications for a new model.
"Turn signals"
When: 1939
Where: Buick Roadmaster
Perhaps if all modern drivers If we knew what motorists had to go through since the beginning of the 20th century in order to finally achieve the electric “turn signals” we are used to, then they would use them more often.
At first there were special flashlights, then mechanical pointers in the form of arrows indicating the direction of movement, and only in 1925 Edgar Waltz patented the modern "turn signal". But he was destined to appear on production cars only 14 years later - after the expiration of the patent. The first car with turn signals was the 1939 Buick Roadmaster.
"Wipers"
When: 1903/1917/1926
Women's contribution to history automotive safety- "wipers". In the winter of 1903, American Mary Anderson, watching her driver suffer in heavy snowfall(he constantly had to run out of the car and wipe the glass), could not stand it and came up with a mechanical drive, which she patented. In 1917, electric wipers were patented by another woman, Charlotte Bridgewood. For several years, her invention lay on the shelf, until in 1926 it was appropriated by Bosch. In the same year, electric "brushes" appeared simultaneously on a huge number of cars of different brands.
Three-point seat belts
When: 1959
Where: Volvo PV 544
Of course, who else, if not Volvo? Almost since its inception, the Swedish company has paid great attention to the safety of its cars, improving the body structure and security systems, and conducting a large number of crash tests.
Despite the fact that belts have been used by mankind in various fields since the end of the century before last, it is Volvo that owns the very mechanism that now saves the lives of many people in an accident - a three-point seat belt. This device first appeared on the Volvo PV 544. Before that, there were simple two-point belts, but they could not be compared in efficiency with the Swedish invention.
Air conditioner
When: 1939
Where: Packard Twelve Sedan
Nowadays, even budget cars flaunt climate systems. However, the world's first car with air conditioning was introduced only in 1939 on car exhibition in Chicago. It was a Packard 12.
The cost of the option was $ 274: at that time - more than a third of the price of a new full-size passenger car! To turn on the air conditioning, the driver had to turn off the engine and manually install the belt on the compressor pulley. In addition to the units located under the hood, the “refrigerator” itself occupied half the trunk and coped with its task extremely inefficiently.
The first audio systems in cars began to appear in the 30s of the last century. In the USA in 1930, sales of the Motorola radio system began for $ 110, in Germany in 1932 Blaupunkt "music" appeared on Studebaker cars, and a year later in the UK, Crossley cars received radios.
Navigation
When: 1981/1995
Where: Honda Accord and Vigor
“Yes, in my ‘Japanese’ this was already 20 years ago,” is the most common phrase that can be heard from any fan of right-hand drive foreign cars. Indeed, many of the "gadgets" and electronic systems that we use today first appeared on Japanese cars sold on local market. For example, the navigation system.
The first navigation devices for cars appeared quite recently - about 30 years ago. The Japanese pioneered Honda, offering as an option for its Accord and Vigor models in 1981 an Electro Gyrocator navigation system that worked ... without GPS! And generally without any reference to satellites.
To use the Honda navigator, the driver had to take a special plastic map of the area and place the cursor on the current position, and then the built-in gyroscope determined the direction of the car's movement and its speed, and the "navigation" drew the route. Difficult. And very expensive for that time - a quarter of the price of the same Accord.
The first built-in navigation for a car with GPS appeared in 1995 on an Oldsmobile 88 car.
The first similarity of the navigator - Plus Fours Routefinder - appeared in the 1920s. It was a paper card twisted between wooden sticks that were rotated by hand. Ten years later, the IterAvto device appeared, which did the same thing, but automatically, depending on the speed of movement.
Airbags
When: 1971/1972
Where: Ford Taunus 20M P7B and Oldsmobile Toronado
In 1967, US inventor Allen Breed came up with a bead sensor for detecting a car collision, which became a key element new system safety - inflatable pillows.
It was a highly demanded innovation - it would seem that now you can not buckle up! She first appeared on an experimental batch of Ford Taunus cars in 1971. The first mass-produced car with airbags a year later was the Oldsmobile Toronado coupe. But "pillows" became widespread only in the middle of the 80s. And yes, you still need to buckle up.
ESP
When: 1995
Where: Mercedes-Benz S 600
Bosch has been trying since the early 90s to get electronics to correct driver errors. Work on the creation of a stabilization system (or system exchange rate stability) led to the fact that in 1995 ESP first appeared on stock car, which was the most luxurious sedan from Stuttgart - the Mercedes-Benz S 600 in the monumental body of the W140.
Now Bosch is largest supplier sensors and control electronics of the stabilization system, which, depending on the brand, may be called differently: DSC (BMW), ESP (Mercedes-Benz), VSC (Toyota) and so on. However, its essence remains the same: to help correct the driver's mistake and prevent the development of skidding or demolition of the car. Besides, modern systems they know how to deal with the threat of a coup in high cars - for example, on SUVs.
ABS
When: 1966
Where: Jensen Interceptor FF
First attempts at implementation anti-lock braking system on cars were undertaken back in the 50s, when it was already actively used both on railways as well as in aviation. But the first car with ABS appeared only in 1966 - it was the British all-wheel drive coupe Jensen FF, which cost crazy money and eventually sold around the world in a ridiculous circulation of 320 pieces.
In the late 60s and early 70s, the American coupes Ford Thunderbird, Lincoln Continental, Oldsmobile Toronado, Chrysler Imperial, Cadillac Eldorado and the Japanese Nissan President coupe acquired ABS. In Europe electronic ABS from Bosch simultaneously used BMW and Mercedes-Benz in 1976 on their flagship models, the 7-series and S-class. Exactly ABS sensors and her executive mechanisms uses a stabilization system for its work.
Also the first
In the history of the automotive industry, there were not only individual inventions - some cars themselves represented one big innovation.
Selection by car
By parameters
The invention of the wipers
Until 1903, precipitation caused motorists a lot of trouble. To improve visibility, drivers had to stop and manually wipe the windows. This problem was solved by a young American woman. She invented windshield wipers.
The idea to make life easier for motorists came to Mary while traveling from Alabama to New York. It snowed and rained all the way. Mary Anderson saw drivers constantly stop, open the windows of their cars and clear snow from the windshield. Mary decided that this process could be improved and began to design a windshield wiper.
It turned out a device with a rotating handle and a rubber roller. The first windshield wipers had a lever that allowed them to be operated from inside the car.. With the help of a lever, a pressure device with an elastic band described an arc on the glass, removing raindrops, snow flakes from the glass and returned to its original position.
Mary Anderson received a patent for her invention in 1903.. Similar devices have been developed before, but Mary ended up with a device that actually works. In addition, its windshield wipers were easily removed.
At the beginning of the last century, cars were not yet very popular (Henry Ford did not create his famous car until 1908), so many scoffed at Anderson's idea. Skeptics believed that the movement of the brushes would distract drivers. However, by 1913, thousands of Americans had own cars, and mechanical wipers became standard equipment.
Automatic windshield wiper invented by another woman inventor - Charlotte Bridgwood. She headed the Bridgwood Manufacturing Company of New York. In 1917, Charlotte Bridgwood patented an electric roller windshield wiper called the Storm Windshield Cleaner.
Who?
There are several options. But where is the truth?
1. The most famous. Until 1903, precipitation caused motorists a lot of trouble. To improve visibility, drivers had to stop and manually wipe the windows. This problem was solved by a woman - a young American Mary Anderson. She invented windshield wipers.The idea to make life easier for motorists came to Mary while traveling from Alabama to New York. It snowed and rained all the way. Mary Anderson saw drivers constantly stop, open the windows of their cars and clear snow from the windshield. Mary decided that this process could be improved and began to design a windshield wiper.
It turned out a device with a rotating handle and a rubber roller. The first windshield wipers had a lever that allowed them to be operated from inside the car. With the help of a lever, a pressure device with an elastic band described an arc on the glass, removing raindrops, snow flakes from the glass and returned to its original position.
Mary Anderson received a patent for her invention in 1903. Similar devices have been developed before, but Mary ended up with a device that actually works. In addition, its windshield wipers were easily removed.At the beginning of the last century, cars were not yet very popular (Henry Ford did not create his famous car until 1908), so many scoffed at Anderson's idea. Skeptics believed that the movement of the brushes would distract drivers. By 1913, however, thousands of Americans had their own cars, and mechanical windshield wipers were standard equipment.
The automatic windshield wiper was invented by another woman inventor, Charlotte Bridgwood. She headed the Bridgwood Manufacturing Company of New York. In 1917, Charlotte Bridgwood patented an electric roller windshield wiper called the Storm Windshield Cleaner.
2. Less known. ..The rain lashed the windows of the car with such incredible force that it was unlikely that Mr. Oushi could see the cyclist who unexpectedly crossed his car and got wet to the skin. And on a cold autumn evening in 1916 in Buffalo, NY, a tragedy occurred: the aftar lost control and killed the cyclist with his car ....
The incident made Mr. Oushi think that if there had been a special cleaning device on the windshield of his car, this would hardly have happened. And soon, hitherto unknown American, who, however, was destined to become famous, organized the tricontinental corporation TRICO, which immediately set about developing the world's first windshield wipers.From that cold, rainy evening in 1916 to the present day, his firm has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into new windscreen wiper designs. And, in addition to the windshield wipers themselves, she developed leashes, motors, pumps and special liquids... In a word, everything that is so necessary for high-quality glass cleaning.
The brainchild of Mr. Oushi turned out to be very unique, because throughout his history he specialized in the production of only one product, designed to provide impeccable visibility, and he easily achieved it ...3. I read somewhere that some uncle invented, returning from the theater on a rainy evening.
Background.
It's hard for us to imagine today modern car without such a seemingly ordinary device as a windshield wiper mechanism. In ancient times, even at the dawn of the automotive industry, drivers had to drive in bad weather with a dirty windshield. This forced motorists to make frequent stops get out of the car in order to wipe the glass. It is noteworthy that the idea of creating a cleaner mechanism came to the mind of a woman. American Mary Anderson, in the distant 1903, making an ordinary trip around the city in the salon of a tram, drew attention to the fact that the carriage driver, despite bad weather had to drive with the windshield up. The mechanism proposed by the woman, together with a team of designers, was surprisingly simple and consisted of a rubberized scraper, which, by means of a manual drive, moved along the glass and returned to its original position thanks to a return spring. A decade later, all cars produced in the USA began to be equipped with such a device. Over time, the wiper mechanism has evolved, received an electric drive. The rubber scraper gave way to the modern brush.
Nowadays.
To date, most motorists know two types of brushes: frame (reinforcing) and frameless.
Frame brushes are the oldest and known type car wipers and consist of the so-called metal frame, which ensures that the rubber band is pressed against the glass at certain abutment points. Such a design has many disadvantages. First, there is not sufficient downforce rubber band to the glass, and secondly, the hinge joints of the mechanism tend to freeze in the cold, especially when water or snow gets in there. Popularity of this type wipers due to their cheapness. However, all large quantity modern motorists makes its choice in favor of a frameless design.
Frameless wiper is a metal plate covered with a rubber sheath. The design is devoid of the above disadvantages. Thus, a snug fit of the brush to the windshield is ensured. The mechanism is hidden under the shell, thereby eliminating the possibility of water ingress. Such wipers are noticeably more expensive than their outdated counterparts, but the money spent is more than paid off with the joy of an excellent view through the windshield in any bad weather.
At the end of the XIX century. the car was in the early stages of development. Solid carriages still resembled horse-drawn carts and moved at a leisurely pace. Most models had no roof or windows, so the headwind blew the driver and passengers straight in the face.
woman brings clarity
Over time there were windshields, however, the motorist was still dependent on the vagaries of the weather. In rain or snow, he had to stop all the time, get out of the car and wipe the glass in order to see the road. As a result, traveling by car turned into an unbearably slow and tedious undertaking. At the very least, Mary Anderson from Alabama felt unable to put up with this and decided to come up with something. through the frame windshield she missed the rod with the cleansing stick attached to it rubber band. The other end of the cord was attached to a handle inside the machine. By rotating it, it was possible to clear the glass from rain and snow. This is how the first one was invented. car windshield wiper swinging from side to side. In 1903, Anderson received a patent for this device.
The idea gets accepted
At first, the novelty was greeted with a condescending smile: firstly, it was invented by a woman, and secondly, it was believed that the swinging of the wipers in front of the eyes would interfere with driving. However, the ridicule soon died down: ten years later, somewhat improved windshield wipers were installed on almost every car. In the 1920s the first wipers appeared on sale with electric drive. Since then, they have been improved many times, but the basic principle of the device has remained practically unchanged to this day.
1908: Prince Heinrich of Prussia patents a manual windshield wiper that moves from top to bottom.
1926: Bosch introduces the electric car wiper with rubber nozzle.
1964: American Robert Kerne patented a windshield wiper with intermittent mode work.
