Magyar News, 2004. szeptember-2005. augusztus (15. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2004-12-01 / 4. szám
At the end of the nineteenth century there was a real road race to make “the” automobile. It wasn’t exactly about the best, it was just to make a car. Well the Hungarians didn’t have a choice, they had to do something about it. Looking at the French, German, American, two persons in Budapest decided to do something about it. Well who were these? They were Donat Banki and Janos Csonka. Donát Bánki, a mechanical engineer and designer employed by the Budapest GANZ Works, taught hydraulic engineering and the design of compressors and steam turbines at the Technical University Budapest, from 1899 until his death. János Csonka was a mechanical engineer and inventor. He had a sound elementary mechanical training. He was put in charge of the workshop at the Technical University of Budapest. Thanks to the joint efforts of these two men, Hungary embarked on the production of internal combustion engines. The success of their years of co-operation in the further development and improvement of the internal combustion engines was exemplified by the patent they obtained for their novel 4-stroke Bánki-Csonka engine. Their co-operation assumed historical importance thanks to their most significant "innovation", the invention of the carburetor. Bánki and Csonka designed and constructed the first constant level jet atomizer operated by the suction effect of the engine, and named it "carburetor". This invention was one of the claims of their patent application "innovations concerning petrol engines", submitted on 11th February, 1893. But the carburetor itself was constructed in 1891. The first model already had float valve level control, a Dónál Bánki childhood also contributed to the fact that after decades had passed, he began to engage himself in hydraulics. The student years in Pápa were followed by the ones in Budapest, where, having successfully passed his grammar school Regent Examination, he became a student of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Technical University. The period following the 1867 compromise was the age of modem industrial development, of the formation of largescale mechanical industry particularly. Mechanical engineer Donát Bánki, whose essay on gas engines won the Award of the Technical University in 1880. He was then 21 years old, This contributed to the international recognition of Hungarian industry, as this study of his was published not only in Hungarian but in German as well. He was a graduating student when professor Ignác Horváth assigned him as an assistant to the Department of Mechanics. As a young mechanical engineer, he was employed in the Hungarian Royal State Railway Machine Works in 1881, then he worked in the Ganz and Co. for 17 years. He started his factory career as a designer, and finished it as an engineer-inchief. It was here that he prepared and patented his first significant invention, the dynamometer and received the Hollán award in 1877. He received the Hollán Bánki ’s turbine invention brake control valve, and butterfly valve unit. The Bánki- Csonka engine was a classic. It was simple, inexpensive, and easy to operate in economic efficiency and operational safety, it surpassed not only the earlier Otto and Lenoir engines, but also contemporary ones. This thoroughly designed mechanism had an enclosed crank-case and vertical cylinders, and the use of valves preceded even the Otto designs. I understand that this technical language might be difficult to digest. But. How would one talk about ice cream without saying anything about the cream. Bánki and Csonka utilized the asymmetric crank drive of steam engines, an arrangement which became accepted throughout the world. In addition to the carburetor , the most important innovation of this engine was "automatic tube ignition", replacing the earlier open-flame ignition system by an extremely ingenious simple and safe enclosed combustion chamber. This, in turn, made possible the use of petrol as fuel, neglected formerly because of the explosion hazards. Even more important: the engine's higher compression reduced fuel consumption and greatly improved engine performance. Bánki designed the Bánki turbine on his own. Its greatest advantage was simplicity of production and the consequent low cost. Its efficiency was 84-87 percent, equivalent to that of other maximum efficiency turbines. Professors C. A. Mockmore and Fred Marryfield of the United States, when suggesting the general application of this turbine following their tests, said that it should be highly ranked among all water turbines because of its simple structure and remarkable economic efficiency. DONÁT BÁNKI He was bom in a small village in Komárom County called Bakonybánk on June 6, 1859. His father had been the head physician of the military during the 1848 revolution and war of independence; he guarded the spirit of 1848 even after decades had passed, and he raised his children in this spirit. Donát Bánki was nine years old when his father was transferred to Lovászpatona as a district medical officer. As the majority of children today, Bánki was also amazed by the enormous paddle wheel of the water mill at Lovászpatona. When he was a student in Pápa, he also went out to the mill there once in a while; then it was operating, now it can only be seen in ruins. These memories of THINK HUNGARIAN whon your foot io on tho gas podal Page 4 The Banki-Csonka carburator
