Nikolaus August Otto
Nikolaus August Otto was a German Inventor. He was born in 10th June 1832 in Holzhausen an der Haide, West Germany. His father was a postman named Phillip Wilhelm Otto. Although Otto’s father was dead soon after he was born, his mother (name unknown), who worked as a farmer raised him well in the area of technical education. But later due to economic conditions in 1848 his mother decided that it would be better if he worked as a merchant. Otto worked as a clerk in grocery store. He soon changed to grocery store in nearby Frankfurt as clerk.
His brother William Otto who owned textile business helped him by giving a job as Sales representative. He sold tea, sugar and kitchenware to grocery stores along the western border of Germany. Otto married to Anna Katherina Gossi-Rouply Otto in May 1886. It is said that they have got 7 children. One is Gustav Otto, who was born in January 1883, Cologne, Germany. Gustav was the founder of BMW (Bavarian Motor Works). He was dead due to suicide in February 1926. Nikolaus Otto’s wife Anna was dead in December 1914.
Nikolaus Otto worked as a traveling salesman until he became fascinated by his era's breakthroughs in gas and steam engines, especially inspiring Étienne Lenoir's development of an engine fueled by natural gas. He thought that a gaseous fuel would be more practical, so Otto began working on an engine fueled by liquid gasoline. Despite having no training or experience in mechanical design, he built his first experimental gasoline-powered engine in 1861, a device far more efficient than Lenoir's. These experiments were related to the present day’s famous four-stroke engines (inspired by Lenoir's two-stroke gas-driven internal combustion engine). In 1864 the duo started the world's first engine manufacturing company N.A. Otto & Cie (at present this company is called Deutz AG established in Köln), and several key developments towards the motorization of vehicles took place at Otto's small shop in Cologne. The company's early designers included Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach, and Franz Reuleaux. In 1867, the pair was awarded a Gold Medal at the Paris World Exhibition for their atmospheric gas engine built a year earlier.
In 1876, working with Daimler and Maybach, Otto built the first four-stroke piston cycle internal combustion engine, and this design (often called the "Otto cycle") formed the basis for Karl Benz's development of a two-stroke engine in 1879. He considered his work finished after his invention of the first magneto ignition system for low voltage ignition in 1884. In 1886, Otto's patent was overturned in favor of the patent granted to Alphonse Beau de Roaches for his four-stroke engine. However, Otto built a working engine while Roaches' design stayed on paper. At that time a German court invalidated the bulk of his patent rights, however this decision was widely viewed as unjust then and now. On October 23, 1877, another patent for a gas-motor engine was issued to Nikolaus Otto, Francis and William Crossley.
In its long corporate evolution, the engine manufacturing firm founded by Nikolaus Otto has been subsidized by different individuals. So the firm’s name was alternating in different years. The firm was known as Langen Otto & Roosen from 1869-72, Gasmotoren-Fabrik Deutz AG from 1872 to 1921, Motorenfabrik Deutz AG 1921-30, Humboldt-Deutzmotoren AG 1930-38, Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG or KHD 1938-97, and at present it is called Deutz AG since 1997.
Nikolaus August Otto was dead in 26th January 1891 in Cologne, Germany. It is told that he was dead after sinking into depression.
His brother William Otto who owned textile business helped him by giving a job as Sales representative. He sold tea, sugar and kitchenware to grocery stores along the western border of Germany. Otto married to Anna Katherina Gossi-Rouply Otto in May 1886. It is said that they have got 7 children. One is Gustav Otto, who was born in January 1883, Cologne, Germany. Gustav was the founder of BMW (Bavarian Motor Works). He was dead due to suicide in February 1926. Nikolaus Otto’s wife Anna was dead in December 1914.
Nikolaus Otto worked as a traveling salesman until he became fascinated by his era's breakthroughs in gas and steam engines, especially inspiring Étienne Lenoir's development of an engine fueled by natural gas. He thought that a gaseous fuel would be more practical, so Otto began working on an engine fueled by liquid gasoline. Despite having no training or experience in mechanical design, he built his first experimental gasoline-powered engine in 1861, a device far more efficient than Lenoir's. These experiments were related to the present day’s famous four-stroke engines (inspired by Lenoir's two-stroke gas-driven internal combustion engine). In 1864 the duo started the world's first engine manufacturing company N.A. Otto & Cie (at present this company is called Deutz AG established in Köln), and several key developments towards the motorization of vehicles took place at Otto's small shop in Cologne. The company's early designers included Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach, and Franz Reuleaux. In 1867, the pair was awarded a Gold Medal at the Paris World Exhibition for their atmospheric gas engine built a year earlier.
In 1876, working with Daimler and Maybach, Otto built the first four-stroke piston cycle internal combustion engine, and this design (often called the "Otto cycle") formed the basis for Karl Benz's development of a two-stroke engine in 1879. He considered his work finished after his invention of the first magneto ignition system for low voltage ignition in 1884. In 1886, Otto's patent was overturned in favor of the patent granted to Alphonse Beau de Roaches for his four-stroke engine. However, Otto built a working engine while Roaches' design stayed on paper. At that time a German court invalidated the bulk of his patent rights, however this decision was widely viewed as unjust then and now. On October 23, 1877, another patent for a gas-motor engine was issued to Nikolaus Otto, Francis and William Crossley.
In its long corporate evolution, the engine manufacturing firm founded by Nikolaus Otto has been subsidized by different individuals. So the firm’s name was alternating in different years. The firm was known as Langen Otto & Roosen from 1869-72, Gasmotoren-Fabrik Deutz AG from 1872 to 1921, Motorenfabrik Deutz AG 1921-30, Humboldt-Deutzmotoren AG 1930-38, Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG or KHD 1938-97, and at present it is called Deutz AG since 1997.
Nikolaus August Otto was dead in 26th January 1891 in Cologne, Germany. It is told that he was dead after sinking into depression.