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MaxHeadRoom
- Joined Jul 18, 2013
- 30,772
Then there were those that came up with a creation that saved many lives, but got gypped out of the reward money. One reason was he had no formal education.
for e.g. John Harrison.
Edison is dead and now so is his Lightbulb!
- Thread starter SamR
- Start date
for e.g. John Harrison.
One interesting patent case was by Robert Kearns, who invented the intermittent windshield wiper.
He showed it to the automakers and they declined to pay him for the patent use, but then proceeded to install it on their cars.
He spent years and many millions of dollars fighting this in court (which he mostly won).
They even made a movie about it.
Interestingly, I built and installed one on my old 1964 Pontiac GTO which consisted of only a unijunction transistor timer triggering an SCR (I was a bad boy and didn't pay any royalties).
The SCR was reset by the automatic return contacts which closed each time the wiper started its sweep.
He showed it to the automakers and they declined to pay him for the patent use, but then proceeded to install it on their cars.
He spent years and many millions of dollars fighting this in court (which he mostly won).
They even made a movie about it.
Interestingly, I built and installed one on my old 1964 Pontiac GTO which consisted of only a unijunction transistor timer triggering an SCR (I was a bad boy and didn't pay any royalties).
The SCR was reset by the automatic return contacts which closed each time the wiper started its sweep.
> I suspect it'll be a fairly low resistance ~= filament value (@ hot) and could be hefty power.
> I'd measure the ac voltage to the system under standard operation.
Make a power supply to feed it separately, then power the light on its own.
I've done the load bypass on turn signal flashers.
Way easier than making a new flasher unit.
G. H. <<<)))
Incandescents get a bad rap - modern dimmers are all zero cross, so little RF noise.
AND bulbs last Stupidly long: my 1300 sq ft 2 bed, 1 bath, 2 car gar has burned 5 bulbs in 30 years here.
I have zero cross on Everything - closets, basement, All.
That, and being in SW Michigan, a little extra heat is a good thing 12 weeks out of 52.
It's the oldest rationale - "Follow the Money". My $.02 <<<)))
AND bulbs last Stupidly long: my 1300 sq ft 2 bed, 1 bath, 2 car gar has burned 5 bulbs in 30 years here.
I have zero cross on Everything - closets, basement, All.
That, and being in SW Michigan, a little extra heat is a good thing 12 weeks out of 52.
It's the oldest rationale - "Follow the Money". My $.02 <<<)))
That is a real shame. In the the end though, the needs of the many outweighed the wants of the one. If an idea produces a positive result continually for the planet and its inhabitants, then this result is the ultimate reward and speaks of the greatest legacy. Whoever really invented the lightbulb improved the lives of many probably forever and whoever else worked on the idea made it that much better for everyone. And so, today I live my life in relative luxury.
When I was a kid, 'coal oil' kerosene lamps were cheaper than “burning” electric lights on the farm per Gramp's.
https://www.blueridgenow.com/story/...oil-lamps-glimmered-in-farmhouses/2270526007/
Seems you can still buy them even if Edison bulbs are on the way out.
https://www.redhillgeneralstore.com/Oil-Lamp-Parts/Lantern-Oil.htm
I'm only 30 and its hard to imagine living like that. I truly have an appreciation for the modern world yet in 500 years all our cunning will still be obsolete and people will wonder how we ever lived like this.
Who invented the monkey wrench?
Charles Monkey invented the monkey wrench around 1858.
https://quickguidepro.com/who-invented-the-ratchet-wrench/
About two thirds way down.
I always thought the "Monkey Wrench" was just a dumb term, like the "Du-Ma-Fla-Chee". Or the "Thing-a-ma-Jig".
Charles Monkey invented the monkey wrench around 1858.
https://quickguidepro.com/who-invented-the-ratchet-wrench/
About two thirds way down.
I always thought the "Monkey Wrench" was just a dumb term, like the "Du-Ma-Fla-Chee". Or the "Thing-a-ma-Jig".
MaxHeadRoom
- Joined Jul 18, 2013
- 30,772
Part of my Electrical training was sometimes involved in wiring old English mansions etc that previously had only gas lighting, I made a LOT of pocket money selling the 'miles' of lead pipe that we removed in order to wire.
,
,
Unfortunately, things aren’t that simple but are they ever?
Somewhere in the vast foggy regions of my memory I thought I heard that Sears bought the idea for the ratchet for some few dollars and went on to turn that into a capital gain of large proportions. Apparently I was incorrect in that assumption, but I found that silly thing about the Monkey Wrench.
When I was a kid we had a relative that lived on a farm where the grandfather had been too cheap to pay to have electricity installed (the only one I knew without electricity). Sort of like going to Amish country I suppose.
They used gasoline mantle lamps, like the camping lamps you can still buy expect they had glass decorative shades, which give off a bright white light.
They used gasoline mantle lamps, like the camping lamps you can still buy expect they had glass decorative shades, which give off a bright white light.
Kerosene STINKS so "better" homes used lamp oil which is mostly odorless. Yes, there was some "Odorless" kerosene marketed but it wasn't truly odorless. The Aladdin Magical Mantle Lamps - Another quality product from Crownplace Brands, Ltd. (aladdinlamps.com) of Clarksville TN uses an element similar to those used in Coleman gasoline lamps but uses unpressurized lamp oil which generates many more lumens than the typical flat or round wick oil lamp and is silent unlike pressurized gas. We still have "Hurricane" lamps in our home that are used for extended power outages. They are HOT and hurricanes don't happen in the winter. So, the wife bought some battery power LED round hockey puck stick-ons that put out more lumens than the oil lamps.
I remember my dad telling us they didn't have running water until the 70's. That blew my mind considering he was born in 1964. Reminds me of bush people living in the forest completely isolated from the rest of the world. Now that I think about it I wonder if he meant electricity not water! I remember one story where they used old magazines for wiping at the outhouse. Outhouse? Lol.
We used those for fishing in Asia on the front of a boat overseas.
People also used hand-grenades for fishing but not like these idiots.
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We had running water as a kid. Fetch a pail of water from the well and run back to the house with it. I remember the day the indoor plumping was installed. The outhouse and 'slop bucket' in the back-room became bad memories.
Was that before or after you had electricity? Legitimate question.
Oh no...maybe vacuum tubes will be next...
If you mean incandescent tubes, yes, those will be regulated out.
LED tubes will be fine.
ak
No. I'm referring to tubes used in audio amplifiers.
