Knight & Kilbourne Company

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Knight & Kilbourne Company
legal form Company
founding 1905
resolution after 1912
Seat Chicago , Illinois , USA
management Charles Yale Knight
Branch Engines , automobiles , engineering, patent exploitation

Knight & Kilbourne Company was an American manufacturer of engines and automobiles .

Company history

Charles Yale Knight developed the valve motor in 1903 or 1904 . Together with the investor LB Kilbourne he founded the company in 1905 in Chicago , Illinois . Together they made engines and automobiles. The brand name was Silent Knight , also spelled Silent Knight . Vehicle production ended in 1907. In total, fewer than 50 vehicles were built, which, however, also served for further promotion of the patent. It is unclear when the company was dissolved.

vehicles

Only one model was on offer. It had a four-cylinder engine with 114.3 mm bore , 139.7 mm stroke and 5734 cm³ displacement . The engine was specified with 30/40 hp and made 30  hp . The chassis came from Garford . The wheelbase was 284 cm. The only body shape was an open touring car with five seats. The original price was 3500 US dollars .

The vehicles did not prove themselves. One source thinks they were poorly assembled.

One vehicle took part in the Glidden Tour in 1906 , but it was canceled on the first day.

Patent exploitation

Knight's valve motor patent was just one of several. International recycling was probably more important in the company than the automobiles it produced itself. Indeed, the Knight system became the most widely used of its kind. In the UK , Knight's first patent was issued in 1905 for the one valve per cylinder design. Another one for one with two slides followed in 1908. From 1907 Charles Knight toured Europe and sold licenses for his engine. Licensees in the United States included Willys-Overland ( John North Willys was a strong proponent of the principle and the Willys-Knight was the most common vehicle of its kind) and FB Stearns Company (Stearmns-Knight). British Daimler acquired the exclusive rights for Great Britain; other customers were in particular Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft , Minerva Motors and Panhard & Levassor .

In 1911, the Knight & Kilbourne Company sued Argyll Motors for patent infringement because this Scottish motor vehicle manufacturer was using unlicensed Burt-McCollum valve motors. In July 1912, Knight & Kilbourne lost that lawsuit.

literature

  • Beverly Rae Kimes, Henry Austin Clark Jr .: Standard catalog of American Cars. 1805-1942. Digital edition . 3. Edition. Krause Publications, Iola 2013, ISBN 978-1-4402-3778-2 , pp. 1348 (English).
  • George Nicholas Georgano (Ed.): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile . Volume 3: P-Z . Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , pp. 1450 (English).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Beverly Rae Kimes, Henry Austin Clark Jr .: Standard catalog of American Cars. 1805-1942. Digital edition . 3. Edition. Krause Publications, Iola 2013, ISBN 978-1-4402-3778-2 , pp. 1348 (English).
  2. ↑ George Nicholas Georgano (Ed.): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile . Volume 3: P-Z . Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , pp.  1450 (English).
  3. ↑ a b c Knight and Kilbourne Patents Co. Grace's Guide
  4. ^ Knight Engine . Grace's Guide