|
What is a Speedometer?
Speedometer:
An instrument that measures the speed of your vehicle.Typically either mechanical or Electrical.
A mechanical spedometer utilizes a flexible cable that rotates a wheel & axle gear and in turn spins a magnet in the speedo head, which interacts electromagnetically with a metal disc with a needle attached to indicate speed.
The electrical speedometer did away with the cable and used generated electricity to drive the speedometer needle. Another approach was the moving coil instrument, which measured the current generated and moved a needle accordingly to indicate speed.
Quick History of the Speedometer
As collected from the web
The Chinese invented the speedometer. In 1027, Lu Taolung presented the Emperor Jen Chung with a cart that could measure the distances it spanned by means of a mechanism with eight wheels and two moving arms. One arm struck a drum each time a "li" (about a third of a mile) was covered. Another rang a bell every 10 li.
Benjamin Franklin invented a simple odometer attached to his horse drawn carriage. The instrument was designed to measure distances by counting the rotations of the axles of the wagon. The device was calibrated to signal a bell every twenty rods (1 rod = 25.5 yards). Historians speculate that Franklin as the postmaster used his odometer to establish mile markers along his postal route.
- Measuring speed wasn't much of an issue up until the arrival of steam trains in the early 1800s
- Charles Babbage, an English mathematician, designed the first speedometer for railroads in the mid-1800s.
Arthur Pratt Warner was an inventor of great importance with over 100 patents on file, among them the automotive speedometer.
Nikola Tesla, the most famous scientist at the turn of the 20th Century, patented the first speedometer for cars.
The first automobile to be fitted with a speedometer was the curved-dash 1901 Oldsmobile.
In 1902, a speeding car in Hackensack spooked a workhorse towing a landscaper and a helper on a lawn mower. The landscaper was seriously hurt, his aide killed. The incident prompted a call to regulate the speed of automobiles.
Samuel Smith developed the first British speedometer in 1904.
As early as 1908, speedometers were available on cars if the customer could afford such a luxury. Overland was the first car to have a speedometer as standard equipment. Cadillac was second.
With increased traffic density the authorities began to set speed limits, which required the driver have a speedometer to obey the law. They began to become standard equipment around 1920.
After World War I, the Warner Instrument Company of Beloit, Wisconsin became the largest manufacturer of speedometers.
VDO developed the first speedometer for bicycles in 1938.
Germany's VDO developed the electrical speedometer in the 1950s
By the 1980s the electronic speedometer was developed and information could be presented via digital or bar graph style liquid crystal displays, including the head-up display that projects speedometer numbers onto the windscreen.
Delving into dashboard design
From a simple plank to a high-tech information centre, the dash has come a long way
By Bob English
Thursday, September 25, 2003
"...The device that came to dominate the dash is the speedometer. Measuring speed wasn't much of an issue up until the arrival of steam trains in the early 1800s, although Leonardo DaVinci apparently designed a speed measuring device. Even early motorists weren't too interested, except for sporty types who wanted to see what speeds their mounts could attain. But as performance increased, a speedometer became a useful gadget to help the driver determine safe driving limits. With increased traffic density the authorities also began to set speed limits, which required the driver have a speedometer to obey the law. They began to become standard equipment before 1920.
The first speedometers were clockwork-based 'chronometric' devices. These are the kind with slim needles that flick around in such delightful fashion while measuring speed and engine revs on old British sports cars. One of my favourites is the impressive 300 mm-plus diameter tachometer that sits to the left of the wheel of the early '30s MG KC Magnette. Many of those early dashes presented marvelous displays of the instrument maker's art.
The real predecessor of the modern speedometer was patented just over 100 years ago by German Otto Schulze. It employed a flexible cable that was rotated by a wheel or axle gear and in turn spun a magnet in the speedo head, which interacted electromagnetically with a metal disc with a needle attached to indicate speed. Germany's VDO developed the electrical speedometer in the 1950s, which did away with the cable and used generated electricity to drive the speedometer needle. Another approach was the moving coil instrument, which measured the current generated and moved a needle accordingly to indicate speed. Along the way speed displays continued to employ the ubiquitous round clock-face dial needle, but also came with vertical and horizontal styles, some with tapes or rotating barrels. By the 1980s the electronic speedometer was developed and information could be presented via digital or bar graph style liquid crystal displays. A number of these styles are currently in use, including the head-up display that projects speedometer numbers onto the windscreen.
Today's instrument panel can be complex (but never as classy looking as in the past) with a profusion of information displays or very simple with all the information you require presented by warning LEDs and symbols or even text displays. New features include digital displays for climate control and entertainment systems, and screens that can display information about various in-car systems, plus navigation information". ...more
The "Home" of Speedometers.Com
and Speed-O-Meter.com
|
