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Fluid Drive History
At Stettin, Germany the principle of fluid transmission of power was conceived and developed in 1905. The inventor was Dr. Herman Fottinger, who was an engineer employed by the Vulcan Engineering Company. He was working mainly on a problem of finding a suitable drive from a steam turbine to a relatively low speed propeller for ship propulsion. At that time, gears were not developed to the extent that they are today and were considered impractical.
two original patents were issued:
#221422: In Fottinger's name covering the torque converter and called Fottinger Transformator.
#238804: In the name of the Vulcan Company covering the turbo coupling or fluid coupling.
The torque converter development was considered to be the more valuable one and the fluid coupling was considered to be more of a curiosity and not of much practical use. Therefore, it lay neglected for some fifteen years.
From 1907 to 1912 the torque converter was developed on an impressive scale for construction in sizes up to 35,000 HP for turbine-driven vessels of the German Navy.
Around 1909, Dr. Fottinger left the Vulcan Company and became a professor in Berlin.
Over the years 1919 to 1922, the Vulcan Company at Hamburg, Germany developed the fluid coupling under the direction of Dr. Gustav Bauer. The fluid coupling was used also for Marine drives for use with helical reduction gears for the main propulsion system.
In 1928, Harold Sinclair and Anthony Vickers formed Hydraulic Coupling Company in order to develop and apply the fluid coupling to English vehicles and industrial drives. The first fluid couplings were called Vulcan-Sinclair drives.
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The torque converter development was considered to be the more valuable one and the fluid coupling was considered to be more of a curiosity and not of much practical use. Therefore, it lay neglected for some fifteen years.
From 1907 to 1912 the torque converter was developed on an impressive scale for construction in sizes up to 35,000 HP for turbine-driven vessels of the German Navy.
Around 1909, Dr. Fottinger left the Vulcan Company and became a professor in Berlin.
Over the years 1919 to 1922, the Vulcan Company at Hamburg, Germany developed the fluid coupling under the direction of Dr. Gustav Bauer. The fluid coupling was used also for Marine drives for use with helical reduction gears for the main propulsion system.
In 1928, Harold Sinclair and Anthony Vickers formed Hydraulic Coupling Company in order to develop and apply the fluid coupling to English vehicles and industrial drives. The first fluid couplings were called Vulcan-Sinclair drives.
The first variable speed fluid drive for a fan was purchased by the Davidson Company in 1930 for Lister Drive power station of the Liverpool Corporation. The drive was rated at 120HP at 485rpm and was used with great success until the station was dismantled in 1972 after 42 years of service.
In 1930, the Daimler Company adopted the fluid coupling for use in Daimler and Lanchester cars and trucks. These were successful and used for more than 20 years as standard equipment in London buses built principally by the Associated Equipment Company.
A significant factor in obtaining worldwide acceptance of fluid drives was a decision by Mr. Sinclair to grant licenses to various companies in other countries. Also in 1930, the American Blower Corporation was licensed to use the Vulcan-Sinclair couplings for industrial, non-vehicular applications. At about the same time, the Chrysler Corporation obtained license rights to use fluid drives for automotive applications. The Chrysler fluid drive was used in Dodge, De Soto and Chrysler cars around 1940 and some 5,000,000 cars were built with this feature.
In 1932, American Blower installed the first American fan with a variable speed fluid drive at a western power station.
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