| Dynamometers have been a part of performance | | | | Electric motor/generator types are a variation on the |
| measurement since the days when the presence of | | | | adjustable speed drive, using solid state components |
| horsepower was usually accompanied by four hooves | | | | rather than the physical relationship between |
| and a tail. This versatile tool is applied around the world, | | | | electromagnets to create measurable power transfero |
| as companies like Taylor Dynamometer build on past | | | | Fan, hydraulic and water brakes use air, water or |
| innovations with new breakthroughs in data gathering | | | | hydraulic fluid to deliver physical resistance to the |
| and system control technology. | | | | power applied by an engine or motor under test. The |
| - 1828 Gaspard de Prony invented the de Prony | | | | amount of resulting force absorbed by the fluid is |
| Brake, one of the earliest dynamometers | | | | measured to provide an indication of the power applied |
| - 1838 Charles Babbage, known to historians as the | | | | to the system |
| Father of the Computer, introduces a dynamometer | | | | The best resource for details on dynamometer |
| car to measure the pulling power of English railroad | | | | function and application is a Taylor Dynamometer |
| locomotives | | | | application specialist. Contact us for full details on |
| - 1877 William Froude of Great Britain invents the first | | | | putting the latest in dynamometer technology to work |
| hydraulic dynamometer, with the first commercial | | | | in your application. |
| models produced in 1881 | | | | Eddy Current Dynamometer History |
| - 1921 Professor E.V. Collins of Iowa State College | | | | The story of the eddy current dynamometer is a tale |
| develops a draft horse dynamometer, used to | | | | of two Danish boys from Wisconsin, growing up in a |
| measure a horse's capability to pull the era's heavy | | | | time when innovations required an inquiring mind and a |
| metal farm implements | | | | machine shop rather than a supercomputer and a |
| - 1930 Using designs pioneered through a collaboration | | | | doctoral degree. Martin Phillip Winther arrived at Ellis |
| with Rudolph Diesel, John Taylor forms the Taylor | | | | Island, New York in 1892 from his native Denmark. The |
| Dynamometer and Machine Company to produce | | | | family ultimately settled in Kenosha Wisconsin, where |
| engine dynamometers | | | | Martin and his American-born brother Anthony began |
| - 1931 Martin and Anthony Winther introduce the first | | | | their working lives as laborers at the Jeffry Company, |
| eddy current dynamometer | | | | makers of the Rambler automobile. At Jeffry, the |
| Throughout the past seven decades of continued | | | | brothers were involved in the engineering of a |
| dynamometer development, Taylor has maintained its | | | | four-wheel-drive truck, which led them to break away |
| status as a leader in advancing power measurement | | | | and found the Winther Motor and Truck Company in |
| technology. Contact us to learn about the latest | | | | 1917. While Winther Motor and Truck made several |
| developments in dynamometers and engine | | | | types of motor vehicles (including light trucks, fire |
| diagnostics, or to inquire about a specific dyno product | | | | engines and a sporty automobile) the firm's chief |
| or application. | | | | product was innovation. Beginning around 1920, Martin |
| How Dynamometers Work | | | | and Anthony Winther were granted patents for almost |
| All dynamometers perform the same essential | | | | 300 mechanical devices. These included the first |
| function, measuring the torque, rotational speed and | | | | successful air conditioning system for Pullman railroad |
| power output of a combustion engine, electric motor or | | | | cars, a four-wheel-drive post hole digger for |
| other power source. While the outcome is the same, | | | | AT&T, the first induction coupling, a magnetic |
| many technologies are used to achieve the desired | | | | clutch, a cycle-car, variable-speed transmission gears, |
| result. | | | | as well as a giant press drive, brakes and couplings for |
| Two Main Types | | | | the oil field industry. |
| Most dynamometers can be placed within two distinct | | | | Although prolific, only one of the Winther brothers' |
| categories. Engine dynamometers are designed for | | | | inventions proved to have lasting impact. They are |
| coupling directly to the driveshaft of an engine under | | | | chiefly known for the invention of the eddy current |
| test, and chassis dynamometers measure the power | | | | dynamometer, a type of high speed, high power |
| output of a drive train by using rollers turned by the | | | | dynamometer capable of far surpassing the products |
| tires of a vehicle under test. In addition to the two | | | | then available in terms of power handling capability. |
| traditional types, Taylor offers a line of portable | | | | The eddy current dyno was able to turn fast enough |
| dynamometers that attach directly to the flywheel of | | | | to test the turbine engines used in aircraft, wind tunnels |
| an engine. This allows accurate measurement of | | | | and high speed automobiles of the day. The eddy |
| engine output without removal of an engine from its | | | | current dynamometer was the chief product of the |
| drive train. | | | | Dynamatic Corporation, founded by the Winthers in |
| A Variety of Designs | | | | 1932. The firm was successful for many years both |
| The work of handling and measuring input power is | | | | before and after the brothers sold their interest to |
| performed by instruments with a variety of different | | | | Eaton Corporation in 1946. Variations on the eddy |
| designs:o Eddy current dynamometers present a | | | | current design still serve as the basis for |
| measurable resistant force to engines under test by | | | | dynamometers today. The designs continued use is a |
| harnessing the magnetic flux between fixed and | | | | testament to the ingenuity of two men who never |
| rotating electromagnets spun by the engine under | | | | rose above the eighth grade in formal education, yet |
| test.o A variant of the eddy current design, powder | | | | parlayed their considerable on-the-job insight into a |
| dynamometers create flux through the application of a | | | | lasting legacy of technical achievement. |
| fine magnetic powder between the rotor and coilo | | | | |