Nicolaus Otto

Nicolaus Otto was a German engineer who developed a practical four-stroke internal-combustion engine. The engine’s operating sequence became known as the Otto cycle.

Four-stroke engine: An internal-combustion engine that completes a power cycle in four piston strokes: intake, compression, power, and exhaust. Otto’s engine established the practical four-stroke sequence.
Étienne Lenoir: A Belgian engineer who built an early commercially produced internal-combustion engine in the 1860s. Lenoir’s engine inspired Otto’s early work on gas-powered engines.
Gottlieb Daimler: A German engineer who developed high-speed internal-combustion engines and helped advance the automobile. Daimler worked at Otto’s Deutz company before pursuing independent engine development.
Automobile: A road vehicle propelled by an onboard engine or motor. Otto’s engine became a major power source for early automobiles.
Otto cycle: An idealized thermodynamic cycle modeling spark-ignition engines, with heat added at constant volume. The cycle bears Otto’s name and idealizes the engine’s operation.
Eugen Langen: A German entrepreneur and engineer who partnered with Otto in developing and manufacturing gas engines. Langen supported Otto’s engine enterprise and shared recognition for an earlier gas-engine design.
Wilhelm Maybach: A German engineer and designer known for developing engines with Gottlieb Daimler. Maybach worked with Otto and Daimler at Deutz before joining Daimler’s later projects.
Internal-combustion engine patent disputes: Legal conflicts over patents covering the design and operation of early internal-combustion engines. A challenge to Otto’s patent drew on Beau de Rochas’s earlier four-stroke description.
Internal combustion engine: An engine that produces power by burning fuel inside a working chamber. Otto’s four-stroke design belongs to this broader engine family.
Deutz AG: A German engine manufacturer founded in Cologne in 1864 as N. A. Otto & Cie. Otto and Langen established the company to develop and produce engines.

Linked from 8 pages