Deutsche Industriemesse Hannover I960
Lecture by Dr.-Ing. Hans Schernberg, Deputy Member of the Board of Management of Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft, at the press reception on April 23, 1960
Ladies and Gentlemen!
The external reason for today's invitation from Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft to you, as trade journalists from the relevant press, is the presentation of our new Berlin engine series (MB 851 to 854 and 861 to 864), which will be delivered in air-cooled and, in parallel, water-cooled versions in the 20 to 80 hp power class. We will also be presenting our new large-bore MB 835 engine with 1,400 to 1,800 hp from the Untertürkheim large-bore engine plant. For this reason, I would like to give you some explanations about the technology of the new models and also take this opportunity to say something about the historical development and current status of our stationary engine construction.
Many speeches in our company begin with: "Even Gottlieb Daimler . . . I would like to remind you that Gottlieb Daimler began his engine construction with an air-cooled single-cylinder. I can show you a further developed version, which was installed in the first motorcycle, in a photograph from a patent specification from 1883. The patent claim here specifies the version that is still widely used today, in which the cooling fan is located directly on the crankshaft. This, as well as other patent specifications, shows that Daimler was intensively involved with air cooling.
Typical of Daimler's efforts and the Daimler Motorengesellschaft he founded, is that he not only focused on the use of his high-speed engine for the carriage that had been in use until then, which subsequently evolved into the automobile, but also for all vehicles and for stationary installation purposes. The patent specification from 1886, for example, shows that his engines were also installed in boats. Here, he even anticipated the technology of the time by patenting the recoil effect of the exhaust! Among the wide range of applications for his high-speed engines, rail vehicles of all kinds, even trams, and pump units for fire departments, etc., should also be mentioned. Daimler had also already planned his engines for aviation, supplying one of the first airships in 1888 and later a variety of aircraft models. While Benz initially devoted himself more to the development of the automobile itself with innovations for engines and chassis, Daimler motorized more broadly. You can see from this that engine construction for stationary and built-in purposes is already an old tradition of our company, to which we have always remained true