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Arthur Constantin Krebs | |
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 Then managing director of thePanhard & Levassor Co. in 1910 | |
| Born | (1850-11-16)16 November 1850 |
| Died | 22 March 1935(1935-03-22) (aged 84) |
| Occupations | Officer and industrialist |
| Known for | Thefirst fully controlled free-flights withLa France airship, the first fully functional submarine with theGymnote experimental submarine, thefirst automatic carburetor, theTire flexible coupling. |
| Children | Antoine, Hervé,Louis, Anne-Marie, Arthur,Jean, Alain,Marguerite |
| Relatives | CommanderLéonce Krebs(elder brother),Charles de Fréminville(brother in law) |
| Awards | ThePonti Prize from theFrench Academy of Sciences (together withC. Renard). |
| Website | rbmn.free.fr |
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Arthur Constantin Krebs (16 November 1850 – 22 March 1935) was a French officer and pioneer in automotive engineering.
Collaborating withCharles Renard, Krebs pilotedthe first fully controlled free-flight made in the French ArmyairshipLa France, which was designed in 1884. The flight[1] covered 8 km (5.0 mi) in 23 minutes. The flight landed back at its starting point.[2] On its seven flights theLa France dirigible returned five times to its starting point.
Krebs and Renard shared the 1886 Ponti prize of the FrenchAcadémie des sciences for their contribution toaerostation.
Krebs inspiredJules Verne. In Verne's 1886 novelRobur The Conqueror, he writes of "the striking experiments of Captain Krebs and Captain Renard".
In 1888 Krebs andGustave Zédé designed the first modern French submarine, theGymnote. The submarine was fitted with the first navalperiscope and the first naval electricgyrocompass. The latter allowed theGymnote to force a naval block in 1890.
From 1884 to 1897 Arthur Krebs modernized theVille de Paris fire department; not only its equipment but its organisation as well. His work left a lasting impression in this elite corps.
In May 1896 Arthur Krebs patented a new automobile, fitted with an electromagneticgearbox and a layout of the front wheels which re-centred them when the steering wheel was left alone. Today this is known as theCastor angle. ThePanhard et Levassor company acquired a license to build 500 cars under the name ofClement-Panhard between 1898 and 1902 featuring this innovation.
Krebs succeeded Levassor as Panhard et Levassor's general manager from 1897 to 1916. He transformed the Panhard et Levassor Company into one of the largest and most profitable automobile manufacturers before World War I.
In 1898 Krebs replaced the tiller with an inclinedsteering wheel for the Panhard et Levassor car he designed for the Paris-Amsterdam race which ran from 7 to 13 July 1898. Fernand Charron won that race on a four-cylinder Panhard et Levassor.At the end of 1898, C S Rolls introduced the first car in Britain fitted with wheel steering[3] when he imported a 6 hp Panhard et Levassor from France.
In 1902 Krebs invented the automatic diaphragm carburettor which gave cars continuous power during acceleration by providing a constant air-fuel ratio at all times; this also led to dramatic improvement in fuel economy.
In 1906 Krebs traveled to the United States to plead in theSelden Case, associated withHenry Ford.
Krebs introduced many improvements in car design: the steering wheel (1898), non-reversible steering (1898), engine balance (1898), nickel steel alloys and other special steel alloys (1901), the shock absorber (1906), multi-disc clutch (1907), the electric brake dynamometer for testing high performance engines (1905), the enveloping (globoid)worm geardifferential (1915).
Also, Krebs contributed significantly to improve theSysteme Panhard (engine in front, rear wheel drive) which became universally adopted before World War II.
In 1909 Krebs became interested in the Knight patent (sleeve valve engine). He was also the first person in France to build that type of engine which Panhard et Levassor would produce during the thirty years leading up to World War II.
He made contributions to automotive racing with his powerful cars and motorboats.
In 1911 Krebs invented the first elastomericflexible coupling (cf. John Piotrowski). It is known in French as theFlector joint. This device is still widely used today in industry for power transmission as atyre coupling.
The truck was meant for military and civil purposes. In 1911, jointly with the Chatillon Co, Krebs designed theTracteur Chatillon-Panhard all-terrain truck. The truck had four wheel drive and four wheel steering and many were used during World War I as artillery tractors.
Krebs also utilized his former military membership to supply the French Army with engines and vehicles including the 1904 GentyArmored car, the1916 St Chamond tank, the Chatillon-Panhard 4x4 truck, and others.
In 1960, the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) namedKrebs Glacier, a glacier flowing west into the head of Charlotte Bay on the west coast of Graham Land in the Antarctic continent, after Krebs.
In 1934, several months before Arthur Krebs's death, he was made a Commandeur of theLegion of Honour for his work in Aeronautics and for his contributions to the automotive industry.
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