A carburetor (North American spelling) or carburettor (Commonwealth spelling), is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It was invented by Karl Benz before 1885 and patented in 1886. It is colloquially called a carb (in North America and the United Kingdom) or carby (chiefly in Australia).[citations needed]
The word carburetor comes from the French carbure meaning 'carbide'. To carburete means to combine with carbon. In fuel chemistry, the term has the more specific meaning of increasing the carbon (and therefore energy) content of a fuel by mixing it with a volatile hydrocarbon.
The carburetor was invented by Karl Benz before 1885 and patented in 1886. It was apparently also invented by the Hungarian engineer Donát Bánki in 1893.[citations needed] Frederick William Lanchester of Birmingham, England experimented early on with the wick carburetor in cars. In 1896 Frederick and his brother built the first petrol driven car in England, a single cylinder 5 hp (4 kW) internal combustion engine with chain drive. Unhappy with the performance and power, they re-built the engine the next year into a two cylinder horizontally opposed version using his new wick carburetor design. This version completed a 1,000 mile (1600 km) tour in 1900 successfully incorporating the carburetor as an important step forward in automotive engineering.
Carburetors were the usual fuel delivery method for almost all gasoline (petrol)-fuelled engines up until the late 1980s, when fuel injection became the preferred method of automotive fuel delivery. In the US market, the last carbureted car was the 1991 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor equipped with the 351 in³ (5.8 L) engine, and the last carbureted light truck was the 1994 Isuzu. Elsewhere, Lada cars used carburetors until 1996. A majority of motorcycles still utilize carburetors due to lower cost and throttle response problems with early injection set ups, but as of 2005, many new models are now being introduced with fuel injection. Carburetors are still found in small engines and in older or specialized automobiles, such as those designed for stock car racing. (Wikipedia)
