Hungarian Heritage Review, 1988 (17. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1988-05-01 / 5. szám
Special J)[eature-(li)f-$l]e-,JHontl] tion (“Bányászát, ere- es szenelokeszites”) in Lajos Ligeti, ed., A magyar tudomány tiz eve, 1945-1955 (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1955. pp. 283-287). Sándor Rejtő (1853-1928) while a professor at the Budapest University of Technical Sciences established, partly using devices and instruments of his own design, the University’s widely known Laboratory for Testing Materials. Rejto’s theory of the behavior of structural materials produced an international echo. He developed entirely new theses of mechanical technology (inner friction, lasting changes of form) and devised a unique microscope as well as tensiometer for material testing. Sándor Rejtő also worked out a novel technique for the malleable transformation of metals. His inventions and innovations were introduced into many industrially developed countries. For his successful research work, the New York Congress (held September 3-7, 1912) of the International Association for Testing Materials elected him its honorary chairman. Rejtő published many items, monographs as well as articles, in the field of mechanical technology in Hungarian and foreign languages. One of his outstanding books on mechanical technology appeared in German under the title,Einige Prinzipien der theoretischen Mechanischen Technologie der metalle (Berlin, 1927). Having completed his studies at the Budapest University of Technical Sciences, Donat Banki (b. 1859) was assistant professor there from 1879 to 1880 and full professor from 1899 until his death in 1922. With the aid of Janos Csonka he constructed the world-renowned Banki-Csonka engine whose most significant innovation was the first petrol (gasoline) carburetor for which they obtained a patent in 1893. A year later Banki obtained a patent for the first highpressure combustion engine (internal combustion engine). Banki’s water-turbine, named after him, opened new vistas in the development of hydroelectric power plants. The major foci of his literary endeavors encompassed the theory of gas engine and the basic principles of designing steam and hydraulic engines. One of his chief works on hydraulics and hydraulic engines (Gyakorlati hydraulika es hydrogepek; jegyzet, vols. 1-2, Budapest, 1901-1902) is still in the form of university lecture notes. His Neue Wasserturbine (Berlin, 1917) captured the interest of technologists even decades after his death (Cf. the relevant study by Charles Arthur Mockmore and Fred Merryfield entitled The Banki Water- Turbine (Corvallis, Engineering Experiment Station, Oregon State System of Higher Education, Oregon State College, 1949, 30 p.). Janos Csonka was born on January 22, 1852 in Szeged, Hungary. His father, Vince, was a well-known master machine builder-smith, who spoke fluent Latin, and who with the help of his apprentices and assistants constructed a wide variety of mechanisms from windmills and watermills to medical instruments. Janos Csonka was an autodidact. Unlike his brother who became a chemical engineer, he did not enroll in any university but spent several years traveling and working in Western Europe, particularly in Paris, London, Vienna and Zurich. While an employee of well-known factories there he studied the technology of machine construction, preparing numerous notes and sketches and perfecting his knowledge of languages. In 1876 he accepted a position in Budapest as head of the training shop at the József Nádor Műegyetem (Budapest University of Technical Sciences). The youngest of many applicants for the job, who included several engineers with extensive backgrounds in industry, Csonka occupied this position for 48 years and was instrumental in the education of two generations of engineers. In 1883 he built a new type of gas engine for the training shop. He manufactured each part himself, even the mold for cylinder casting. In contrast to other contemporary gasengines, this one was already a four-cycle engine with intake and discharge valves. Subsequently he built several newer and better engines, some of which could be fueled either by gas or gasoline. In 1887 Janos Csonka was joined in his work by Donat Banki, who later became a distinguished professor at the university. Their collaboration proved to be exceptionally fruitful. One of their inventions was the gas and kerosine hammer (1888), later manufactured by the Berlin Anhaltische Maschinenbau A.G. In 1893, as we have already referred to, they produced the Banki-Csonka engine. A measure of their progress is the fact, that they patented engines at a time when the original patent of the Offo engine still exerted strong restrictions on engine manufacturers. The most significant feature of the Banki-Csonka engine was a constant fuel lever atomizer which they constructed in 1891 and which they named “carburetor.” It was operated by the suction effect produced by the piston. The first model already had float valve control, a needle valve and a butterfly valve. (Their carburetor was patented half a year before Maybach — who is sometimes erroneously considered its inventor — built his first similar device.) The classic simplicity of this invention — its functioning automatically and with scarcely any moving parts — insured its general acceptance. Today, almost a century after it was conceived by Csonka, it is still an essential part of all gasoline engines. The Banki- Csonka engine was simple and in efficiency and operational safety it surpassed the original Otto engine as well as all contemporary ones. It has a vertical cylinder, an enclosed crank case, and the use of valves was far in advance of other designs. The engines but employed the asymmetric crank shaft design of Westinghouse steam engines, a never before utilized concept in gasoline engines which was consequently incorporated into combustion engines throughout the world. Another remarkable innovation of this engine was the “automatic tube ignition”, which eliminated the then customary flame ignition, a perennial fire hazard. As a result, the new and highly combustible fuel — gasoline — could now be safely used. As an even more important innovation, they raised the compression ratio, which led to lower fuel consumption. Janos Csonka ranks among the first to employ aluminum in the construction of gasoline engines and to use the high voltage magneto ignition for gasoline engines. In 1896 the collaboration between Banki and Csonka became less intimate and in 1898 ceased altogether. Csonka —continued next page 20 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW MAY 1988
