Hugo Lentz (1859–1944) was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

, born in

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

. He was the inventor of many award-winning improvements to the

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

. The correct spelling of his name is Lenz but it has been

Anglicised Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

to Lentz in English-speaking countries.

Life and career

Lentz was born on 21 July 1859 in

. When he was six years old, his father died and the family returned to relatives in Germany. He became an engineer in the

Prussian Navy The Prussian Navy (German language, German: ''Preußische Marine''), officially the Royal Prussian Navy (German Language, German: ''Königlich Preußische Marine''), was the naval force of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1701 to 1867. The Prussian N ...

. In 1888, Lentz founded his own machine factory in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. At an exposition in honour of

Alessandro Volta Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (, ; ; 18 February 1745 – 5 March 1827) was an Italian chemist and physicist who was a pioneer of electricity and Power (physics), power, and is credited as the inventor of the electric battery a ...

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

in 1899, his first steam engine won the first prize. At the

Exposition Universelle (1900) The Exposition Universelle of 1900 (), better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate develop ...

in Paris, it won the ''Grand Prix'' while Lentz himself was awarded the gold medal. From 1907, ''Davey, Paxman & Co'',''History of Paxman's Ownership and Corporate Identity''
at www.paxmanhistory.org.uk. Accessed on 21 Feb 2013. and later the ''Erie City Iron Works'' in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

built Lentz's steam engines. In total, Lentz acquired some 2000 patents. He is best known for his steam

valve gear The valve gear of a steam engine is the mechanism that operates the inlet and exhaust valves to admit steam into the cylinder and allow exhaust steam to escape, respectively, at the correct points in the cycle. It can also serve as a reversing ...

with oscillating and rotating cams to actuate

poppet valve A poppet valve (also sometimes called mushroom valve) is a valve typically used to control the timing and quantity of petrol (gas) or vapour flow into or out of an engine, but with many other applications. It consists of a hole or open-ended ch ...

s. He also developed an eponymous form of locomotive boiler, the Lentz boiler, with a corrugated tubular furnace. Lentz died on 21 March 1944.

References

External links

A History of Lentz Valve Gear on British Steam Locomotives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lentz, Hugo Locomotive valve gear 1859 births 1944 deaths 19th-century German inventors Cape Colony engineers Immigrants to the Austrian Empire Immigrants to the German Empire