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The Speedometer, Disc Breaks & Windscreen Wipers

Today, Speedometer, Disc Breaks & Windscreen Wipers are integral parts of any vehicle. Without these instruments, a vehicle cannot be complete. Do you know who discover Speedometer, Disc Breaks & Windscreen Wipers? Let’s dig out some historical information as below.

The Speedometer 1902

The speedometer was invented at around the same time by the British company Thorpe & Salter and a Strasbourg engineer, Otto Schulze. A flexible cable attached to the transmission (or a front-wheel) caused a magnet to rotate. This, in turn, induced an eddy current in a small aluminum cup (the ‘speedcup’) mounted above it, which was linked to a pointer.
The faster the magnet spun, the stronger the current is generated. The magnetic field pulled the cup and the pointer in the direction of its rotation, indicating the car’s speed on a graduated scale.
Noble Marque – In the Bugatti Type 38 roadster, the speedometer and other instruments were set into a fine walnut dashboard.
Noble Marque – In the Bugatti Type 38 roadster, the speedometer and other instruments were set into a fine walnut dashboard.

Disc Brakes 1902

Disc brakes were the brainchild of British engineer Frederick W Lanchester. They were based on a simple principle: a disc was attached to the hub of a car’s wheel; when D: the brake was applied, hydraulically operated pads pressed against this disc, slowing the wheel’s rotation. But for want of steel that could withstand this kind of treatment, Lanchester’s invention lay dormant until the early 1950s.
Since then, and particularly as a result of innovations introduced by the Dunlop Company, disc brakes have become widespread. They are more efficient and reliable than drum brakes, being less prone, for example, to deforming and overheating. In the 1980s composite materials such as carbon fiber and Kevlar brought further improvements in disc-brakes performance.
Quick Stop: A disc brake from around the 1960s when discs were fast replacing the older drum brake system in cars.
A disc brake from around the 1960s when discs were fast replacing the older drum brake system in cars.

The Man and his Marque

Frederick Lanchester 1868-1946 was an automobile and aviation pioneer. In 1896, he built the first practical automobile in Britain. He tried to improve it thereafter with innovations such as an improved epicyclical gearbox, fuel injection, and turbochargers. The car firm bearing his name was founded in 1900 and went on manufacturing automobiles until 1956.

Windscreen Wiper 1903

Windscreen wipers were mainly the work of two American women. In 1903 Mary Anderson devised a basic wiper consisting of two strips of rubber mounted on a pivoting arm, operated manually by a handle inside the vehicle. Before this, when rain or snow fell, drivers simply stuck their heads out of the side window to see where they were going.
From 1916, Anderson’s wiper became a standard feature on American cars. The next year Charlotte Bridgwood, head of a manufacturing firm in New York, patented her electric Storm Windshield Cleaner. Electric windscreen wipers became commonplace from 1923 onwards.
Clear Vision
The clear vision intermittent wipers, with an adjustable delay between wipes, were introduced in 1969. Rain-sensing wipers which come on automatically and also change speed to cope with heavier downpours arrived in 1983.
Today, Speedometer, Disc Breaks & Windscreen Wipers are integral parts of any vehicle. Without these instruments, a vehicle cannot be complete.

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