Showing posts with label Mercedes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mercedes. Show all posts

Aug 10, 2018

Wordology, Pink Noise

Mercedes provides your ears with an extra layer of audio protection called pink noise designed to keep your hearing intact by the extremely loud sounds typically associated with a vehicle crash.
The crunching metal, breaking glass, and the explosive deployments of airbags can hit 165 decibels or higher, and has the potential to permanently damage a passenger’s hearing. Pink noise, which Mercedes calls “Pre-Safe Sound” is unique in that its power is inversely proportional to the signal. When it hits the ear, it triggers muscles in the ear to contract by reflex, automatically bracing the inner ear and eardrum for the extremely loud noise of the crash by reflecting some of the sound before it reaches the point where it could cause problems.

Once the vehicle’s sensors have detected that a collision is unavoidable, a comprehensive system of safety features is activated within the short time before an impact occurs. It takes just 150 milliseconds to deploy the reversible seat belt tensioners and other safety features. The duration of a human blink is 100 milliseconds.

Jun 8, 2012

Daimler and Benz History

Long before there was Daimler Benz and Mercedes, there were two car companies. At the same time that Karl Benz was developing his three-wheeler in Mannheim, Germany, in the 1880s, Gottlieb Daimler was creating the world's first four-wheeled automobile with an internal combustion engine in Stuttgart, 75 miles away.

Incidentally, Benz' wife, Bertha used her dowry to pay off his debts and keep him in business. She also undertook the world’s first long-distance car journey, and is acknowledged as the first lady motorist in history.

Daimler received his patent for a "vehicle with gas or petroleum drive machine" in 1885. Benz built three gas engine models between 1885 and 1887, and received the patent for his design in 1886.

In the United States at the time, cars powered by steam, gasoline, and electricity were all proliferating on the roadways.

In April 1900, Emil Jellinek, an Austrian businessman made an agreement with DMG (Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, or Daimler Motor Company) to buy and resell its cars. He decided to use his young daughter's name, Mercedes, as a product name. Jellinek ordered 36 vehicles at a total price of 550,000 marks, equivalent to over 2 million dollars today. A few weeks later, he placed a new order for another 36 vehicles.

This first ‘Mercedes’ was developed by Wilhelm Maybach, the chief engineer at DMG, and it is regarded today as the first modern automobile.

After various iterations, in November 1921, DMG applied for patents for a three-dimensional three-pointed star enclosed in a circle and it became a registered trademark in August 1923. Daimler and Benz merged in 1926.  Now you know how all the names and pieces fit together.