Wilhelm Maybach - The Grandfather Clock Engine (1885)

The Grandfather Clock Engine (1885)

By the end of 1885, Maybach and Daimler developed the first of their engines, which is regarded as a precursor to all modern petrol engines. It featured:

• single horizontal cylinder
• air cooling
• large cast-iron flywheel
• revolutionary hot tube ignition (Patent 28022)
• exhaust valve controlled by a camshaft allowing high speeds
• a speed of 600 rpm, when at the time most engines could only achieve about 120 to 180 rpm.

In 1885, they created the first carburetor, which mixed evaporated gasoline with air to allow its efficient use as fuel. It was used that year on a larger but still compact version of the engine, now with a vertical cylinder, that featured:

• 1 Horsepower at 600 rpm output
• 100 cc engine displacement
• non cooled insulated cylinder with unregulated hot-tube ignition (patent DRP-28-022)

Daimler baptized it the Standuhr (Grandfather Clock) because of its resemblance to a pendulum clock.

In November 1885, Daimler installed a smaller version of the engine into a wooden bicycle, creating the first motorcycle (patent 36-423 - Vehicle with gas or petroleum engine), and Maybach drove it three kilometers from Cannstatt to Untertürkheim, reaching 7.5 mph (12 km/h). It became known as the Reitwagen.

On 8 March 1886, the inventors took a stagecoach built by Wilhelm Wimpff & Sohn inside the house, telling the neighbours that it was a birthday gift for Mrs. Daimler. Maybach supervised the installation of an enlarged 1.5 hp Grandfather Clock engine into the coach, and installed a belt drive to the wheels. The vehicle reached 10 mph (15 km/h) when tested on the road to Untertürkheim.

Maybach and Daimler went on to prove the engine in many other ways, including:

• On water (1887). It was mounted in a 4.5-metre-long boat which achieved 6 knots (11 km/h). The boat was called the Neckar after the river it was tested on and was registered as patent number DRP 39-367. Motor boat engines would become their main product until the first decade of the 1900s.
• More road vehicles, including street cars
• In the air. They built the first motorized airship, a balloon based on designs by Dr. Friedrich Hermann Wölfert from Leipzig. They replaced his hand operated drive system and flew over Seelberg successfully on 10 August 1888.

By 1887 they were licensing their first patents abroad, and Maybach represented the company at the great Paris Exposition Universelle (1889).