Who Invented The Spark Plug?

Haveyoueverwonderedwhoinventedthesparkplug?Adevicethatproducesasparkattherequiredtimetoignitethecombustiblemixture.

Ifyouweretolookatasparkplug,it'sprettyobviousthatthey'dbeenmeanttomakethingsgobetter.Youmightthinksomeoneinventedthemspecificallyforcars,butyou'dbewrong.Thehistoryofthesparkplugsuggeststhatitsinventorhadsomethingelseinmind.

Sparkplugsfirstappearedsometimearoundthe1800s,andweredesignedtomakeexplosionshappenwheretheywoulddothemostgood.Theinventionofapracticalgasoline-poweredinternalcombustionenginewasonlyafewyearsaway,andinventorsweretryingeverythingpossibletoimproveit.

Timetomeettheinventors...

Year:1839

Inventor:EdmondBerger

SomehistoriansbelievethatthesparkplugwasfirstthoughtofbyEdmondBergerin1839,whotookstepstoimprovetheefficiencyofearlyinternalcombustionengines.Itisalsosaid,ifitdidexist,thesparkplugwaslikelytobeexperimental,astheinternalcombustionenginewasnotinventedtill1860.Also,therearenopatents,recordsorreportssupportingBerger'sinvention,yetheiscreditedforpioneeringworkinthisfield.

BrightSparkMoment:EdmondBergerwasanimmigrantfromTogo-oneofthesmallestcountriesinAfrica.

Year:1859

Inventor:JeanJosephÉtienneLenoir

ThefirstpracticaluseofanelectricsparkplugwasbyBelgian-FrenchinventorJeanJosephÉtienneLenoirin1859inhisgas-firedengine,whichburnedamixtureofcoalgasandair.HisinventionwasgrantedapatentonJuly131886(Patentnumber:US345596AforGasEngine).

Clickheretolearnmoreaboutthepatent.

Lenoir'senginewascommercializedinsufficientquantitiestobeconsideredasthefirstinternalcombustionpistonengine.Priordesignsforsuchengineswerepatentedasearlyas1807byDeRivaz;aFrench-bornSwissinventorknownforinventingahydrogen-poweredinternalcombustionenginewithelectricignition.However,nonehadbeencommerciallysuccessfuluntilLenior'sinventioncamealong!

SeveralotherinventorsfollowedhisleadandsoonbothsidesoftheAtlantichadinventorsbuildinggasengines.OneofthosewasGeorgeBraytonfromMassachusetts,whoisusuallycreditedwiththeinventionofthefirstAmericaninternalcombustionengine.

BrightSparkMoment:TheACF(AutomobileClubdeFrance)on16July,1900awardedLenoirwithanaward,whichwasavermeilplatewiththeinscription,"Inrecognitionofhisgreatmeritsasaninventorofthegasengineandbuilderofthefirstcarintheworld."And3-weekslater(4August),Lenoirdied.

Year:1872

Inventor:GeorgeBrayton

ThenextinventorwasAmericanGeorgeBraytonwhoinventedBraytoncycleenginein1872.Thiswasatwo-strokeenginethatinitiallyusedvaporizedgasandlaterKeroseneandoil.TheenginewasknownasBrayton'sReadyMotorwhereitusedonecylinderforcompression,areceiverreservoir,andaseparatepower/expandercylinderinwhichtheproductsofcombustionignited/expandedforthepowerstroke.Heisalsocreditedforinventingthefirstcommercialliquid-fueledinternalcombustionengine.

BrightSparkMoment:Braytoncycleenginesweresomeofthefirsttobeusedformotivepower.Theworld'sfirstsuccessfulself-propelledsubmarine,theFienianRambyJohnPhillipHollandin1881usedaBraytonEngine!

Year:1876

Inventor:NikolausOtto

NikolausAugustOttoisaccreditedwithcreatingthefirstlargestationarysingle-cylinderinternalcombustionfour-strokegasolineengine(theOttoengine),inwhichtheignitionofthecompressedfuel-airmixtureisinitiatedbyatimedspark.

TheOttoenginewastheprototypeoftoday'sinternalcombustionengines.Hisdesignincludedall4operationsofaninternalcombustionengine(intake,compression,powerandexhaust),whichhasbeenappliedtoallenginesofthistypesince.

BrightSparkMoment:NicolausOttoandEugenLangen,sonofaSugarIndustrialiston31March1864launchedNAOtto&CieinCologne,Germany.ThiswastheWorld'sfirstenginefactorythatfocusedondesignandproductionofinternalcombustionengines.Over50,000engineswereproduced!

Year:1898

Inventor:NikolaTesla

OnAugust16,1898,patentnumberUS609,250wasgrantedtoNikolaTeslaforanelectricaligniterforgas-engines.

Clickheretolearnmoreaboutthepatent.

HelicensedhispatenttoDuryea,thefirstAmericanfirmtobuildgasolineautomobiles.Duryeamadechangesandimprovementsandproducedaninitialrunof500carspoweredbytheTeslacoilignition.

Tothinkofit!TheTeslaignitionsystemisstillinusetoday.Thefour-strokeenginehasanelectricignitionsystemthatprovidescurrentforeachcylinder'ssparkplugindependently.

BrightSparkMoment:Tesla'sinventionsmadehimAmerica'smostimportantinventoratthetime,buthediedpennilessinaNewYorkhotel.Recently,hehasbeenreferredtoasthe"Manwhoinventedthe20thCentury."

Year:1898

Inventor:FrederickRichardSimms

FrederickRichardSimms' patentGB24859/1898involvedamagnetoforaninternalcombustionengine.

Howitworks:Amagnetoisessentiallyageneratorwhichalsogeneratespulsesofhigh-voltageatthesecondaryterminalswhenthearmature(rotor)isturnedinsideitsmagneticfield.Thetiminganddurationofthesepulsesdetermineswhetherornottheyproduceasparkacrossthesparkplug'selectrodes.

BrightSparkMoment:Youknowthewords"petrol" and"motorcar",right?Butdidyouknow-itwasSimmswhocoinedthesewords!

Year:1901

Inventor:GottlobHonold

RobertBosch'sengineerGottlobHonoldin1901presentedhishigh-voltagemagnetoignitionsystem,basedonwhatwasknownaselectricarcignition.Bymeansoftwocoilsonthearmature,itgeneratedahigh-voltagecurrent.Thiscurrentwasconductedtoasparkplugviaacableconnection.Thehigh-voltagecurrentjumpedthegapbetweenitselectrodesintheformofaspark.

Also,thedesignofasparkplugwithtwodiscreteelectrodeshadbeenknownsinceabout1860;however,alltheignitionexperimentstillthenhadlittlelesssuccess.Honolddevelopedahighlyinsulatingceramicfortheinsulatingbodyandaheat-resistingalloyfortheelectrodes.

Thisinventionmadepossiblethedevelopmentofaspark-ignitionengine(SIengine).ASIengineisaninternalcombustionengineinwhichthesparkplugsignitethefuel-airmixtureineachcylinder.TheSIenginesystemhasbeenwidelyusedforoveracenturysincethen,andisstillinusetoday!

BrightSparkMoment:Honoldwasaninventorwhoexperimentedwithhigh-voltageignitionsystemsearlyinthedevelopmentofgasolineengines.HeworkedforBosch,andiscreditedfordevelopingthefirsthigh-voltagesparkplug.Withworld-changinginventionslikethis,itisnowonderwhyRobertBoschGmbHhasbecomeabehemothintheautomotivepartsindustry!Asyoucansee,thisinventionwasn'tjustaboutthesparkplug.Yetitstillwarrantsaspotforitsroleinpoweringenginesallovertheworld!

Year:1910

Inventor:AlbertChampion

In1910incorporatedtheChampionIgnitionCompany.In1922,hechangedthenametoACSparkPlugcompany.ThecompanyisnowknownasACDelcoandisownedbyGeneralMotors.Sowhat'sthebigdeal,right?

Championhadahigh-voltagesparkpluginhismind,andsetouttofindawaytomakeitwork.Heexperimentedwithdifferentalloysforelectrodesanddevelopedelectrodeshapesthatcoulddissipateheatgeneratedthroughanelectricarcduringignition.Healsocameupwithcoatingmaterialsthatwouldstanduptotheheat.HereareafewofChampion'ssparkplugpatents.AndnowyoudecideifChampionwasamanaheadofhistime!

Double-insulatedsparkplug

Applicationfiled:1919

Patentgranted:1924

Patentnumber:US1501021A.

Clickheretolearnmoreaboutthepatent

Self-cleaningsparkplug

Applicationfiled:1922

Patentgranted:1925

Patentnumber:US1537586A

Clickheretolearnmoreaboutthepatent

Terminalconnecterforsparkplugs

Applicationfiled:1925

Patentgranted:Year1927

Patentnumber:US1651374A

Clickheretolearnmoreaboutthepatent

BrightSparkMoment:thecurrent-dayChampioncompanythatproducessparkplugsisactuallynotnamedafterAlbertChampion.Itwascompletelyadifferentbusiness,andtheyproduceddecorativetilesinthe1920s.SohowdidChampion(thetilecompany)becomeChampionSparkPlugCompany?

Asyouknow,sparkplugsuseceramicsasinsulators,andasdemandgrewinthe1930s,Championchangedtheirbusiness-lineandstartedproducingsparkplugsintheirceramickilnsin1933.Bythistime,GeneralMotors(GM)hadboughttheACSparkPlugCompany.

GMCorp.couldnotcontinueusingtheChampionname,astheoriginalinvestorsinChampionIgnitionCompanysetupChampionSparkPlugCompanyascompetition.

JoboKuruvillaThinks!

Asfaraswhoinventedthesparkplug,noonepersoncantakefullcreditforitsinvention.EdwardBerger,ÉtienneLenoir,GeorgeBrayton,NikolaTesla,FrederickSimms,NikolausOtto,RobertBosch,AlbertChampion,OliverLodge,KenelmLeeGuinnessandmanyothersmadetheirownsignificantcontributionsandadvancementstotheinventionofthesparkplug.

Disclaimer:Asinterestingasitwouldbetoknowwhoinventedthesparkplugandwhen,itisverydifficulttofindasourcethathasthecorrectnameanddate.Alltheinformationfoundinthisarticlecomesfrommanydifferentsourcesandtheinformationwasclarifiedbyasparkplugexpert,whohasbeenintheindustryforover25years.Thisinformationcan'tbeguaranteedtobeaccurate.It'snotmeanttoprovidedefinitivefacts,butratherinformthereaderandencouragefurtherresearch-HappySparking!