Sunday, December 16, 2012

Famous Engineers




____________

A

Akhil Madhani - Robot that operates inside human body
Alfred Nobel
Alois Langer - Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator.
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Aeronautical engineer, President of India

_____________

B

Boris Yelsin - President, Russia
Bradford Parkinson, Dr. - GPS
Buzz Aldrin - Second man to walk on moon
_____________

C

Charles Kao - Fibre optics
Charles Townes - Nobel Laureate
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_____________

D

Deve Gowda - Civil engineer, Prime Minister of India
_____________

E


Earl Bakken - External wearable pacemaker

____________

F

Frank Gilbreth - Motion Study, Therbligs
Frederick Winslow Taylor - Scientific Management

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G

George De Mestral - Velcro
Godfrey Hounsefield - Nobel Laureate

_____________

H

Harrington Emerson - Principles of Efficiency
Helen Greiner - Robot
Henri Fayol - General and Industrial Management
Henry Ford
Hideki Shirakawa - Nobel Laureate
Hu Jintao - President,China
_____________

I
Ivan Getting - GPS
Jairam Ramesh - Cabinet Minister India
_____________

J

Jack Kirby,  Dr.
Jack Welch - CEO, GEC
Jerome H. Levenson - Bar code system (more than 500 patents)
Jimmy Carter - President, USA

_________

K


Ken Kutaragi - Playstation
Kurien Verghese - Amul Man, India

____________
L
Lee Iacocca - CEO,Chrysler
Leonid Brezhnev - President, USSR

_____________

M
Manohar Parricker - Chief Minister, Goa, India
Martin Cooper, Dr. - Mobile phone
Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya - Engineers day in India
_____________
N

N.R. Narayana Murty - Chairman, Infosys, India
Neil Armstrong - First man to walk on moon
Nolan Bushnell - Video Games,Atari
_____________

O

_____________

P

Paul Latter, Prof - Nobel Laureate
_________

Q




____________

R

_____________

S

Sreedharan, E. - Metroman of India
_____________

T

Theodore Maiman - Operable laser
Tim Berners Lee - Internet - WWW - Nobel Laureate
Tony Faddell - Invention - IPod
_____________

U

_____________

V

_________

W


Walter Brattain - Nobel Laureate
Willem Kolff - Kidney dialysis machine
Wilson Greatbatch - Medical cardiac pacemaker

____________
X


_____________
Y

Yasser Arafat

_____________

Z

_____________




Resources

Famous Engineers of 19 century - 1888 book
http://archive.org/details/famousengineerso00laysiala
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Saturday, December 15, 2012

Solar Home Lamps - India - 2012


Solar home lamps are being supplied in Haryana with a subsidy of 2500 per lamp. Each lamp costs Rs, 3900

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/subsidised-solar-lamps-for-haryana-households/390350/

Solar Street Lights - 2012


Sirsa District, Haryana installed Solar street lights in all villages of the district.(2012)

6600 systems sanctioned. May be 5000 installed (to be checked)

Specifications

The systems comprise of a 74 W solar panel, 11W CFL and 12V battery. The
project falls under the Off-grid solar photo voltaic applications scheme which is a part of the
Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. Each system costs Rs 18900 along with a 2 year warranty period. With an additional Rs 100 the manufacturers have included a maintainance contract for 3 years.


http://re.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/28th%20september-sirsa%20report.pdf


Details of NABARD Empanelled Solar systems suppliers in India
http://mnre.gov.in/file-manager/UserFiles/list_manufacturers_SPV_NABARD.pdf

Solar Street Lights from Ammini

http://www.ammini.com/group.aspx?type=product&gname=Solar%20Street%20Lighting%20System%20(CFL)&gid=290

11 W CFL street lights

http://www.ammini.com/details.aspx?type=product&gname=Solar%20Street%20Lighting%20System%20(CFL)&pid=120255&product=Suntron-11W

Friday, November 30, 2012

Locomotive Engine - History

Bread Making Machinery




1928: First bread slicing machine, invented by Otto Rohwedder, US
1930: Sliced bread first appeared in shops in UK
1933: Sliced bread became popular. About 80% of US bread is pre-sliced.
1941: Calcium added to UK flour to prevent rickets
1954: Conditions in bakeries regulated by the Night Baking Act
1961: The Chorleywood Bread Process introduce
1985: September 3, Patent issued http://www.google.com/patents/US4538509
1995: Patent issued http://www.google.com/patents/US5435235
2012: Microzap, Texas, USA announces that technology available for keeping bread quality for 60 days.
http://www.microzap.net/process.html


How bread is made?
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-2/Bread.html#b

Bread That Last 60 Days - Process Developed



Microzap, American company based in Texas, announced that  it has developed a technique that will keep the bread mould free for two months.

This novel and unique approach is currently patent pending.

http://www.microzap.net/about-microzap.html

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Yoshiro Nakamatsu - Dr. Nakamats - Patent Factory



Dr. Yoshiro Nakamatsu is a Japanese inventor and a prolific patenter. He has more than 3000 patents to his credit. He has 100 people working for him to take care of his existing patents and create new ones.

He has two popular and money making patents - floppy disc (patent in 1952) and lovejet, a libido boosting potion sold online.


http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Dr-Nakamats-the-Man-With-3300-Patents-to-His-Name-179976641.html

http://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/10/news/10iht-matscon.ttt.html


Recent inventions

glove for attaching smartphone - Smarte
http://dr.nakamats.com/shop/life-item/smarte.html

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Meat Slicing Machine - Development History


1873
4 November 1873, the first U.S. patent was issued for a meat-slicing machine to Anthony Iske of Lancaster, Pennsylvania (No. 144,206).


1898


Sausage or Meat Cutting Macine

United States Patent 600128

Filing date: September 19, 1896

Issue date: March 1, 1898

Inventor: JOHN RUNSER

Assignees: WILLIAM S. BEALE AND LILLIE G. BEALE

http://archive.org/stream/UnitedStatesPatent600128/USP600128.txt

1996
Patent Number 5481466
Joseph Carey
http://www.google.com/patents/US5481466

Bakemax Meat Slicer - Operation Manual
http://www.bakemax.com/wp-content/files/manuals/Meat%20Slicer/MEAT%20SLICER%20-%20BMMSM01_05.pdf

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Patents Issued Statistics



US Patents

2011
Total patents granted 247,713

2010
Total patents granted : 244,341

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/us_stat.htm

inventions - 2012



Collection will include items in news in 2012

Google's Virtual Reality Goggles
Lytro's Lightfield Camera
Mocrosoft Windows 8
Tweel

Inventions - Up to 1900




1791: Artificial teeth: Nicholas Dubois De Chemant  Article on artificial teeth http://www.noeliaanderson.com/123-artificial-teeth/

1793: Cotton gin: Eli Whitney

1798: Vaccination: Edward Jenner
1798: Lithography: Alois Senefelder

1801: Jacquard loom: Joseph Marie Jacquard
1802: Screw propeller steamboat Phoenix: John Stevens
1802: Gas stove: Zachäus Andreas Winzler
1804: Locomotive: Richard Trevithick
1805: Submarine Nautilus: Robert Fulton
1807: Steamboat Clermont: Robert Fulton
1808: Band saw: William Newberry

1809: Arc lamp: Humphry Davy
1814: Steam Locomotive (Blücher): George Stephenson
1816: Miner's safety lamp: Humphry Davy
1816: Stirling engine: Robert Stirling
1816: Stethoscope: Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec
1816: The Bicycle

1817: Draisine or velocipede (two-wheeled): Karl Drais
1817: Kaleidoscope: David Brewster
1821: Electric motor: Michael Faraday
1823: Electromagnet: William Sturgeon
1824: Portland cement: William Aspdin

1826: Photography: Joseph Nicéphore Niépce
1826: Internal combustion engine: Samuel Morey
1827: Friction match: John Walker

1830: Lawn mower: Edwin Beard Budding
1830: Stenotype on punched paper strip: Karl Drais
1831: Multiple coil magnet: Joseph Henry
1831: Magnetic acoustic telegraph: Joseph Henry (patented 1837)
1831: Reaper: Cyrus McCormick
1831: Electrical generator: Michael Faraday, Ányos Jedlik
1834: The Hansom cab is patented
1834: Louis Braille perfects his Braille system
1834: Refrigerator: Jacob Perkins
1834: Combine harvester: Hiram Moore
1835: Revolver: Samuel Colt
1835: Electromechanical Relay: Joseph Henry
1835: Incandescent light bulb: James Bowman Lindsay
1836: Sewing machine: Josef Madersberger

1837: US electric printing press patented by Thomas Davenport (February 25)
1837: Steel plow: John Deere
1837: Standard diving dress: Augustus Siebe
1837: Camera Zoom Lens: Jozef Maximilián Petzval
1837: Magnetic telegraph: Samuel Morse
1838: Electric telegraph: Charles Wheatstone (also Samuel Morse)
1838: closed diving suit with a helmet: Augustus Siebe
1839: Vulcanization of rubber: Charles Goodyear
1840: Artificial fertilizer: Justus von Liebig

1842 Superphosphate fertilizer: John Bennett Lawes
1842: Anaesthesia: Crawford Long
1843: Typewriter: Charles Thurber
1843: Fax machine (kind of like a telegraph back then): Alexander Bain
1843: Ice cream maker: Nancy Johnson

1845: Pneumatic tire: Robert Thomson (inventor)
1846: Sewing machine (different model): Elias Howe
1846: Rotary printing press: Richard M. Hoe

1849: Safety pin: Walter Hunt
1849: Francis turbine: James B. Francis
1849: Telephone: Antonio Meucci
1852: Airship: Henri Giffard
1852: Passenger elevator: Elisha Otis
1852: Gyroscope: Léon Foucault

1855: Bunsen burner: Robert Bunsen
1855: Bessemer process: Henry Bessemer
1856: Celluloid: Alexander Parkes

1858: Undersea telegraph cable: Fredrick Newton Gisborne
1858: Mason jar: John L. Mason
1859: Oil drill: Edwin L. Drake
1859: Lead acid battery: Gaston Plante
1860: Linoleum: Fredrick Walton
1860: Repeating rifle: Oliver F. Winchester, Christopher Spencer
1860: Self-propelled torpedo: Giovanni Luppis

1861: Ironclad USS Monitor: John Ericsson
1861: Siemens regenerative furnace: Carl Wilhelm Siemens
1862: Revolving machine gun: Richard J. Gatling
1862: Mechanical submarine: Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol
1862: Pasteurization: Louis Pasteur, Claude Bernard
1863: Player piano: Henri Fourneaux

1865: Roller Coaster: LaMarcus Adna Thompson
1865: Barbed wire: Louis Jannin
1866: Dynamite: Alfred Nobel
1868: Practical typewriter: Christopher Sholes, Carlos Glidden and Samuel W. Soule, with assistance from
1868: Air brake (rail): George Westinghouse
1868: Oleomargarine: Mege Mouries

1869: Vacuum cleaner: I.W. McGaffers
1870: Magic Lantern projector: Henry R. Heyl
1870: Stock ticker: Thomas Alva Edison
1871: Cable car (railway): Andrew S. Hallidie
1872: Adding machine: Edmund D. Barbour
1873: Railway knuckle coupler: Eli H. Janney
1873: Modern direct current electric motor: Zénobe Gramme
1874: Electric street car: Stephen Dudle Field
1875: Dynamo: William A. Anthony
1875: Magazine (firearm): Benjamin B. Hotchkiss
1876: Carpet sweeper: Melville Bissell
1876: Gasoline carburettor: Daimler
1876: Loudspeaker: Alexander Graham Bell

1877: Stapler: Henry R. Heyl
1877: Induction motor: Nikola Tesla  http://nraoetkc.blogspot.in/2012/07/induction-motor-invention-nikola-tesla.html
1877: Phonograph: Thomas Alva Edison
1877: Microphone: Emile Berliner
1878: Cathode ray tube: William Crookes
1878: Rebreather: Henry Fleuss
1879: Pelton turbine: Lester Pelton
1879: Cash register: James Ritty
1880: Photophone: Alexander Graham Bell
1880: Roll film: George Eastman
1880: Safety razor: Kampfe Brothers
1880: Seismograph: John Milne

1881: Metal detector: Alexander Graham Bell
1882: Electric fan: Schuyler Skaats Wheeler
1883: two-phase (alternating current) induction motor: Nikola Tesla
1884: Linotype machine: Ottmar Mergenthaler
1884: Fountain pen: Lewis Waterman
1884: Punched card accounting: Herman Hollerith
1884: Trolley car, (electric): Frank Sprague, Charles Van Depoele

1885: Automobile patent granted (internal combustion engine powered): Karl Benz, first automobile put into production
1885: Maxim gun: Hiram Stevens Maxim
1885: Motorcycle: Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach
1885: Alternating current transformer: William Stanley
1885: Safety bicycle: John Kemp Starley
1886: Dishwasher: Josephine Cochrane
1886: Gasoline engine: Gottlieb Daimler
1886: Improved phonograph cylinder: Tainter & Bell
1887: Monotype machine: Tolbert Lanston
1887: Contact lens: Adolf E. Fick, Eugène Kalt and August Muller
1887: Gramophone record: Emile Berliner
1887: Ceiling fan: Philip Diehl
1888: Polyphase AC Electric power system: Nikola Tesla (30 related patents.)
1888: Kodak hand camera: George Eastman
1888: Ballpoint pen: John Loud
1888: Harvester-thresher: Matteson (?)
1888: Kinematograph: Augustin Le Prince
. 1888: Pneumatic Tyre: John Boyd Dunlop

1891: escalator: Jesse W. Reno
1891: Thermal cracking process: Vladimir Shukhov
1891: Zipper: Whitcomb L. Judson
1891: Carborundum: Edward G. Acheson
1892: Color photography: Frederic E. Ives
1892: Automatic telephone exchange (electromechanical): Almon Strowger - First in commercial service.

1893: Carburetor: Donát Bánki and János Csonka
1893: Wireless communication: Nikola Tesla
1893: Radio: Nikola Tesla
1894: Radio transmission: Jagdish Chandra Bose in Bengal
1895: Diesel engine: Rudolf Diesel
1895: Radiotelegraph: Guglielmo Marconi
1896: Vitascope: Thomas Armat
1897: Modern escalator: Jesse W. Reno



Sources
sitemaker.umich.edu/annarborag/files/inventions_during_presidential_terms_1-24.doc

Invention time line
http://www.inventionreaction.com/invention-timeline/

Tweel - Tyre + Wheel - Invention from Michelin


Tweel is an integrated tyre and wheel combination that does not use air and promises performance beyond that of pneumatic tyres. It is developed by Michelin and is presently being used in low weight vehicles.



______________

______________

YouTube Video uploaded by YouTube Partner AutomotiveTV
______________

How Tweel Works?
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/tweel-airless-tire.htm

More about Tweel from Michelin itself
http://www.michelintweel.com/

30 October 2012
Michelin began commercial sales of Tweel for Skid-Steer loaders

Pneumatic Tyres and Tubes - Product and Manufacturing Process - History



John Boyd Dunlop was a veterinary surgeon. His son was prescribed exercise on tricycle and to make it more comfortable, he developed a canvas tube filled with air and bonded together with liquid rubber. He patented the idea. In 1889, he persuaded a cycling sportsman to use his tyres and the championship was won that cyclist. The tyres became famous and popular. Dunlop sold his patent in 1896 for 3000 pounds.

http://www.ulsterhistory.co.uk/johndunlop.htm
http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/pneumatictire.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/making_history/makhist10_prog10e.shtml


New Concept in Tyre Tweel
________________

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Monday, October 29, 2012

Sony Watchman



Came to know about Sony Watch through a comment by a participant in Research Methodology, Review of Research in  Management class, October 2012. Then saw it listed as one of 100 all time great inventions, Times list.

What is Sony Watch Man - A portable TV. It is similar in concept to Sony Walkman.

Learn something more about it through a YouTube Video

________________

________________

YouTube video uploaded by a YouTube Partner YourGeekNeeds
_________________

Sony Watchman idea is still being pursued by some in the market place. TV broadcasters still are supporting a mobile TV product.
http://gigaom.com/video/broadcasters-hope-to-resurrect-the-sony-watchman/

Interesting Products and Brands




Automobile
Model T
Tata Nano
Steam Engine
Steam Locomotive


Amazon Kindle
Apple iPod
Audio Highway Listen Up
Bose Noise-Canceling Headphones
Diamond Rio PMP300
Genica GN803 Tavarua
Logitech Harmony
Mattel Electronics Football
MusicGremlin Wi-Fi MP3 Player
Nintendo Game Boy
Optical Media
Panasonic DVD-L10
Regency TR-1
Sony Discman D-50
Sony Walkman TPS-L2
Sony Watchman
TiVo
Zenith Space Command



Apple AirPort
Apple iPad
Apple PowerBook 100
Asus Eee PC 700
Commodore 64
Connectix QuickCam
DiskOnKey
Engelbart Mouse
Epson HX-20
GRiD Compass 1101
Hewlett-Packard HP-65
Iomega Zip Drive
LED
Lego Mindstorms 1.0
MicroSD
MITS Altair 8800
Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100
Texas Instruments SR-10




Apple iPhone
Ballpoint Pen
Bell 103
Bellsouth IBM Simon
BlackBerry 6210
Bluetooth Headset
Danger Hiptop, a.k.a. Sidekick
Fisher AG7 Space Pen
Motorola DynaTAC 8000x
Motorola Handie-Talkie HT 220 Slimline
Motorola PageWriter 2000
Motorola Razr V3
Motorola StarTac
Novatel Wireless MiFi
Olympus Zuiko Pearlcorder
Pager
Palm Pilot 1000
PhoneMate Model 400
Samsung Uproar
Sharp J-SH04
Speak & Spell
Lifestyle
Air Taser Model 34000
Casio G-Shock DW-5000C
The Clapper
Credit Card
Dyson Air Multiplier
Energizer Alkaline Batteries
Fuzzbuster
Hamilton Pulsar
Leatherman
Lithium-Ion Batteries
Magellan NAV 1000
Spot Personal Tracker
Velcro
Zippo
Cameras
Apple QuickTake 100
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Eye-Fi
Flip
Fujifilm Quick Snap Disposable Camera
Kodak EasyShare One
Kodak Instamatic 100
Nikon F
Pentax K1000
Polaroid SX-70
Sony Betamovie BMC-100P
Sony Mavica MVC-FD5

Black & Decker Cordless Electric Drill
Clock Radio
Dirt Devil Hand Vac
Electric Razor
iRobot Roomba
Modern-Day Can Opener
Power Strip
Smoke Detector

Breathalyzer
Broxodent Electric Toothbrush
Digital Thermometer
Hearing Aids
Heart-Rate Monitor
Jarvik 7
Pacemaker
Pedometer
SteriPEN

Apple Newton
Atari Lynx
Sony LIBRIé EBR-1000EP
Archos Gmini 400
Psion MC 400


http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2023689,00.html

Ball Point Pen - Product and Manufacturing Process History




29 October Engineering Knowledge History[1]

29 October 1945 - The first ball point pen in the U.S. went on sale at Gimbels Department Stores for $12.95.


The first successful sales of ballpoint pen happened on 29 October 1945. The day before, there was a full-page ad in the New York Times announcing the first sale of ballpoint pens in the United States. On the first day of sales, Gimbels sold the entire stock of 10,000 pens-at $12.50 each.

The pens were manufactured by a Chicago salesman named Milton Reynolds.  Reynolds had seen  a ball pen (Biro’s pen)  in a stores in Argentina and speculated on its popularity in America.  Many of the patents issued on ball pens had expired by then. So Reynolds developed his ball pen without any patent protection or support.  Reynolds made a  deal with Gimbels to sell ballpoint pens.  He set up a factory with 300 workers.

The subsequent demand was unprecedented. In the first three months,  two million pens were sold through 60,000 retail outlets in the United States and 37 foreign countries, for total revenues of $5.7 million, with a net income of $1.6 million.  Gimbel’s alone sold 100,000 pens[4].


The first patent for a ball point pen was issued to John Loud in 1988 (30 October 1988). See a discussion on the concept claimed in the patent. (http://www.americanbar.org/newsletter/publications/law_trends_news_practice_area_e_newsletter_home/business_slusky.html )

Manufacturing Process
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-3/Ballpoint-Pen.html




1. http://nraombakc.blogspot.in/2012/10/29-october-knowledge-history-science.html
2. http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/ballpen.htm
3. http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa101697.htm
4.Robert Sobel, When Giants Stumble: Classic Business Blunders and How to Avoid Them, Prentice-Hall Press, 1999, p.p. viii-xi

Sunday, October 28, 2012

3D Printing - Introduction and Videos



A Primer on 3D Printing
Ted Talk - Video Presentation

http://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_harouni_a_primer_on_3d_printing.html


How 3D Printing Works?
http://itg.beckman.illinois.edu/visualization_laboratory/equipment/3Dprinting/files/791_8914-3DPrintingWhitePaper.pdf

3D Printing Machines

MakerBot  MAKERBOT REPLICATOR™ 2
Desktop machine
http://store.makerbot.com/replicator2.html

See its demonstration in a 3D Printing YouTube Video

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Video uploaded by CNETTV - YouTube Partner
uploaded Jan 2012
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Monday, October 22, 2012

Engineering Science Lectures - Sonoma State University, USA





April 5th 2012: "Circuit Simulation for Computer-Aided Design"
Dr. David Root: Agilent Research Fellow, and
Dr. Radek Biernacki: Senior Member of Technical Staff,
both IEEE Fellows

____________

____________

Software Engineering - Proofs and Tests - Specifications and Use Cases.

National Science + Engineering Competition UK 2012-13



For students in age group 11 - 18 years
The Competition is open for entries from March - October each year, through either Regional Fairs or Online Applications. For the year 2012-13 The chosen Finalists are invited to showcase their work to thousands of people at The Big Bang Fair in March 2013.

There are many benefits to entering the competition, including improving your communication skills and honing your science/engineering knowledge. There are a range of fantastic prizes, including 'once in a lifetime' experiences and cash prizes.

Entries are now open for the Online Application of the Competition - applications close on 31 October 2012.

http://www.thebigbangfair.co.uk/nsec.cfm

YouTube Video of the final presentations in March 2012 for the last year competition

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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Lean Manpower Technologies - Rebirth of American Manufacturing Industry



Robots and Intelligent Computers are now a commercial reality.

USA does not need large manpower to manufacture things it wants now. All items which USA is presently importing from China and other countries presently due to the lack of manpower at home can be made now in USA only.

There is going to be a boom in US manufacturing industry.

Article in one of the sites on Forbes by Singularity University.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/singularity/2012/07/23/the-end-of-chinese-manufacturing-and-rebirth-of-u-s-industry/

Popular Science Invention Awards - 2007

Popular Science Invention Awards - 2010



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_________

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-05/june-2010-inventions-year

Popular Science Invention Awards - 2011

Popular Science Invention Awards - 2009

Popular Science Invention Awards - 2008

Popular Science Invention Awards - 2012

Monday, July 30, 2012

Henry Ford - Biography



Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863 as the first son of William and Mary Ford's six children. His father had a prosperous family farm in Dearborn, Michigan. At an early age, Henry showed an interest in mechanical things and pursued industrial work. In 1879, sixteen-year-old Ford went to nearby city of Detroit and worked as an apprentice machinist. After, three years as an apprentice, he returned to Dearborn and divided his time between operating or repairing steam engines, doing occasional work in a Detroit factory, and over-hauling his father's farm implements, as well as lending a hand with other farm work. He married Clara Bryant in 1888 and went into running a sawmill.


In 1891, Ford joined as an engineer with the Edison Illuminating Company in Detroit. He was promoted to Chief Engineer in 1893.  He devoted considerable time to his personal experiments on internal combustion engines. These experiments culminated in 1896 with the completion of a self-propelled vehicle-the Quadricycle. The Quadricycle had four wire wheels that looked like heavy bicycle wheels, was steered with a tiller like a boat, and had only two forward speeds with no reverse.



The Ford Motor Company was incorporated in 1903 with Henry Ford as vice-president and chief engineer. The  company produced very limited number of cars a day at the Ford factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit. Groups of two or three men worked on each car from components made to order by other companies.

Henry Ford focused on  producing an automobile that was reasonably priced, reliable, and efficient  and introduced  the Model T in 1908. This vehicle initiated a new era in personal transportation. It was easy to operate, maintain, and handle on rough roads, immediately becoming a huge success.

By 1918, half of all cars in America were Model Ts. To meet the growing demand for the Model T, the company opened a large factory at Highland Park, Michigan, in 1910. Henry Ford created in 1913, a continuous moving assembly line. Workers remained in place, adding one component to each automobile as it moved past them on the line. Delivery of parts by conveyor belt to the workers was carefully timed to keep the assembly line moving smoothly and efficiently. The introduction of the moving assembly line revolutionized automobile production by significantly reducing assembly time per vehicle, thus lowering costs. Ford's production of Model Ts made his company the largest automobile manufacturer in the world.

The company began construction of the world's largest integrated industrial complex along the banks of the Rouge River in Dearborn, Michigan, during the late 1910s and early 1920s. The massive Rouge Plant included facilities to produce many components and materials needed for automobile production: a steel mill, glass factory, and automobile assembly line. Iron ore and coal were brought in on Great Lakes steamers and by railroad, and were used to produce both iron and steel. Rolling mills, forges, and assembly shops transformed the steel into springs, axles, and car bodies. Foundries converted iron into engine blocks and cylinder heads that were assembled with other components into engines. By September 1927, all steps in the manufacturing process from refining raw materials to final assembly of the automobile took place at the vast Rouge Plant.

Mr. Ford retired as active head of the Ford Motor Company in 1918, at the age of 55, turning over the presidency to his son, Edsel.

Henry said and took step to realize it. "As long as I live I want to pay the highest wages in the automobile industry. If the men in our plants will give a full day's work for a full day's pay, there is no reason why we can't always do it. Every man should make enough money to own a home, a piece of land and a car."

He died on 7 April 1947

Sources

Autobiography by Henry Ford - My Life and Work
http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=1466207
http://books.google.co.in/books?id=tyKLU1xLeeAC

New York Announcement of Death of Henry Ford
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0730.html

http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/hf/
http://www.infoplease.com/birthday/July-30
http://www.edisonfordwinterestatesblog.com/2012/07/01/happy-birthday-henry-ford/




Corn Flakes - Will Keith Kellogg


In 1894,  Dr. John Harvey Kellogg was superintendent of a famous hospital and health spa in Battle Creek, Michigan and his younger brother, Will Keith Kellogg, was the business manager. The hospital stressed healthful living and served  its patients  a diet that eliminated caffeine, meat, alcohol, and tobacco.
To achieve that objective, the brothers invented many foods that were made from grains, including a coffee substitute and a type of granola, which they forced through rollers and rolled into long sheets of dough.

One day, after cooking some wheat, the men were called away to some other work and when they finally returned, the wheat had become stale. Still, they decided to force the tempered grain through the rollers anyway. The grain did not come out in long sheets of dough. Instead each wheat berry got  flattened and came out as a thin flake. The brothers baked the flakes and were delighted with the taste of flakes.  They realized they had discovered a new and delicious cereal. Will Keith Kellogg eventually opened his own cereal business, and it is a famous product even today.


Many of the history today lists credit 30 July 1898 as the day, the corn flake was invented.


Sources
http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/kellogg.htm
http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/kelloggcf.htm
http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/kellogg-company-history/




Sunday, July 29, 2012

Laroy S. Starrett - Inventor of Micrometer


Laroy S. Starrett was born on April  25, 1836, to Daniel D. and Anna Elizabeth Starrett.

He developed interest in mechanics and bought machines for his farm. He obtained a patent for  a meat chopper(May 23, 1865). After arranging for its manufacture, he sold it personally throughout the state of Maine. The venture proved so successful that he made a contract with the Athol (Mass.) Machine Co. to manufacture his meat chopper and other inventions of his own, among which were shoe studs and hooks, patented Jan. 28, 1868, and now used with slight modification the world over.  Subsequently, he established a business of his own and  began the manufacture of a combination square, consisting of a try-square with a movable head that may be clamped in any desired position along the blade, in Athol, Massachusetts, in 1880. First patented Feb. 26, 1879, his combination square  has become a most useful tool in the building trade. Gradually he added steel rules, surface gauges, screw pitch gauges and other small tools to his list.  The success and growth of the business have been continuous and  the plant at Athol, Massachusetts became  the largest in the world devoted exclusively to the manufacture of small tools and hacksaw blades, containing over five acres of floor space and employing over 1,000 hands. The factories are equipped throughout with machinery of the highest class and with every up-to-date appliance for the accurate production of fine mechanical tools. In 1912 the company was incorporated as the L. S. Starrett Co. with capital stock of $3,500,000 and of which Mr. Laroy S. Starrett was president until his death. 

It manufactured a large line of carefully adjusted rules, measures, gauges, squares, protractors, slide rules, calipers, dividers, pliers, hacksaws, wrenches, screw drivers and levels, all of which were originated or perfected by Mr. Starrett himself. He received over 100 patents for his inventions, the most important of which, besides those mentioned, were a center try-square designed to find the exact center of a circle, patented June 29, 1880; a surface gauge, patented Mar. 21, 1882; a beveling instrument, Aug. 7, and Dec 4, 1883; screw thread gage, May 19, 1885; calipers and dividers, Dec. 27, 1887; micrometer caliper square, Mar. 5, 1889; micrometer gauge, July 29, 1890; bevel protractor, May 10, 1892. 

THE L.S. STARRETT COMPANY  - Today



The L.S. Starrett Company was founded 1880 in Athol, MA, which is still the Company’s World Headquarters. Our founder, Laroy S. Starrett invented the combination square in 1877. He started the company to manufacture this product. The company grew rapidly with a broadening product line, additional employees and penetration into an increasing number of markets. 

Today, the company employs about 1,800 people worldwide. Most precision tools continue to be manufactured in the Athol plant.

Precision Tools, Gages and Instruments

The broad Starrett product line includes precision measuring tools (micrometers, calipers, rules, etc.), levels, electronic gages, dial indicators, gage blocks and granite surface plates and custom engineered products. The company offers metrology equipment including optical measuring projectors, vision systems and multi-sensor measuring systems, many of which are custom engineered. The precision group also includes M1 lubricant, precision ground flat stock and drill rod. Starrett hand measuring tools and other precision products are used by manufacturing companies of many types and sizes to ensure the quality of their products.

Saws & Hand Tools

Starrett is also a major, worldwide manufacturer of saw blade products. The saw blade product group includes three categories. Band saw blades are used primarily in manufacturing facilities. The Power Tool Accessories and Hand Saws group include hole saws, jig and reciprocating blades and hacksaw products. The jobsite and workshop group includes tape measures, levels, protractors and other tools used primarily on construction jobsites and workshops.


Starrett products are sold throughout the United States and worldwide through distributors, dealers, and retailers and online. In recent years, the Company has broadened its product offering through acquisitions and innovative product line expansion.

Today, Starrett has eight manufacturing locations worldwide: Brazil, The U.K. and China and five in the United States. See Manufacturing Facilities Worldwide for more detailed information. Annual sales of the company are in the vicinity of $250 million and the company is traded publicly on the NYSE.

Sources:

Saturday, July 21, 2012

The Brick-road-laying Machine - Tiger Stone



Henk van Kuijk, director of Dutch industrial company Vanku,  invented the Tiger Stone paving machine. The road-wide device is fed loose bricks, and lays them out onto the road as it slowly moves along. A quick going-over with a tamper, and you’ve got an instant brick road.

According to Vanku, a machine with two operators can pave at least 300 square meters (3,229 sq.ft.) of road per day, whereas a single conventional paver on their hands and knees manages between 75 and 100.

http://www.gizmag.com/tiger-stone-lays-paving-bricks/16951/