When most people think of safety improvements, they conjure up images of
seat belts, air bags, etc. However, there is one that we hardly ever
think of although we use it everytime we get into our cars. This is the
electric stater or self starter. Today, we take the starting of
automobiles for granted. Simply place the key in the ignition, turn, and
VROOM, the engine starts.
However, this was not always the case. Cars in the early parts of the
century had to be started by hand. This was accomplished by turning a
crank, usually located in the front of the automobile. When the crank
was turned, it moved the pistons in the automobile's engine until enough
momentum was built up to keep the engine going on its own. The crank was
extremely hard to turn and required enormous amounts of energy. This
could cause safety problems (sore back); but the greatest danger was that
the crank could kick back and hit the driver. This happened to a friend
of Henry Leland, head of Cadillac in the 1910's. This incident lead
Leland to push for the development of the electric starter. Once
finished, the engine could be started with a push of a button or the turn
of a key which eliminated the risk of these kickbacks.
In order to start the engine of a car, a great deal of power is required. In order to understand why this power is needed, it is important to understand how the engine itself works. The engine has four cycles that it goes through. These are the intake phase, compression phase, explosion phase, and outtake phase. The intake phase is when gas enters the cylinder. The cylinder is similiar to a tin can and has a piston that moves up and down inside of it. When the gas is entered from the top, the piston is moving towards the bottom. The next phase is compression. This is when the piston moves upward and the gas becomes compressed. The third phase is explosion. During this stage, the gas is ignited, causing the piston to be forced downward. It is during this phase that the power is created that turns the crankshaft, which in turn, turns the wheels. During the outtake phase, the exhaust that was created leaves the cylinder. This whole process needs someway to get started. This is where the electric starter comes in. To begin the above process, a great deal of power is required to start moving the pistons. The electric starter is designed to deliver this power. The starter motors turns and moves the pistons to begin the cycle. This motor depends on the magnetic fields that are created as current passes through a wire. Since the motor must be very powerful, it needs a lot of current and a lot of wire. The more current and the more wire, the higher the magnetic field and the stronger the motor. When the ignition is started, current from the battery flows through these wires and the starter motor begins to turn. The turning gear that is attached to the motor meshes with the flywheel gear. The flywheel gear then moves the pistons in the cylinders, setting the engine in motion.
The electric starter or self-starter was invented by Charles F.
Kettering. It is often thought of as an invention of convenience, but it
was also one of safety. In fact, the safety issue was the main reason
that Kettering developed the device.
Before the invention of the electric starter in 1911, automobiles had to
be started using a handcrank. This device was usually located on the
front of the car and required enormous amounts of efforts to turn. The
device was also dangerous. Henry Leland, head of the Cadillac Motor Car
Company, found this out the hard way. In 1910, a friend of Leland's
stopped to help a lady whose car had become stalled on Detroit's Belle
Isle Bridge. While trying to turn the crank, it kicked back, breaking
the man's jaw. He later died from the injury. Shocked from hearing the
news, Leland told Kettering that if he could produce a self-starter, then
he would use it in next year's Cadillacs.
Kettering and about a dozen assistants (known as the Barn Gang since they
worked out of a barn) immediately set to work on this task. There had
been many attempts at producing an electric starter before, but none of them
were successful. Most designs at that time called for the use of an
electric motor attached to the engine's flywheel. However, in order to
fit in the car's engine compartment, the device would have to be small,
and therefore it would be unable to produce a sufficient enough amount of
torque. Kettering realized this and he also knew that the motor would
only have to produce short bursts of power, rather than operate at normal
speeds for extended lengths of time. With this in mind he created a
powerful motor, that only produced this power for a shor time. While the
car was running,
Kettering felt that the motor could also be geared down and act as a
generator, thereby recharging the battery so that it would have enough
power for the next start.
The main problem with a generator was keeping it from overcharging the
battery. Kettering solved this problem by developing a carbon-block
rheostat. This device disconnected the generator when the battery was
fully charged.
With his invention perfected and small enough to fit under a hood,
Kettering sent a self-starting Cadillac to Leland. In June, Leland
approved its use in the 1912 model. The self-starter amazed nearly
everyone, including Thomas J. Warson who would later become head of
International Business Machines. Kettering and Warson meet at a railroad
station in Dayton. Kettering offered Warson a ride home and the two
walked over to the car and climbed in. At this time, the public knew
nothing of the starter and Warson wondered why Kettering had forgotten to
get out and crank the engine. Then, to Warson's amazement, Kettering
simply pushed a button and the engine started. The electric starter
brought to an end the days when drivers would have to get out and turn
a crank to start their cars. It also brought to an end the injuries that
resulted from kickbacks of the crank and greatly improved automobile
safety.
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