David Rogers
Danercon Ltd
Dedicated to
my son James
From personal experience there is nothing like receiving a copy of your first patent, especially so if the patent is filed in several countries. Whilst my own patents sank without trace barely making an impact, the inventions covered in this first volume of Inventions and their Inventors have all either been the seminal patents connected with a particular endeavour or have led to inventions that changed the modern world.
Arguably the Industrial Revolution in Britain started the trend to mechanisation and indeed industrialisation. To that end the patent awarded to Hargraves for a spinning device now known almost universally known as the Spinning Jenny is included in the clothes section as it was this that increased productivity beyond all levels known at that time.
As well as this early patent over one hundred and eighty inventions have been documented, each accompanied by a brief biographical sketch of the inventor(s). Not all of the inventions were patented, for example the piano and miner’s lamps of Cristofori and Davy respectively. However these inventions are worthy of inclusion even though the inventor was unable to profit from the hard work!
The Intellectual Property Office comment that patent artwork has the same copyright protection as other artwork. As far as possible the diagrams used with the patent abstracts are taken from the original patents, however there are inventions listed below whose inventor passed away less than seventy years ago. In most cases it has been difficult to contact the current copyright owner and so alternative diagrams/pictures have been used.
Dedication
Introduction
1 Communications
1.1 Computers
1.2 Printing and photography
1.3 Radio/telegraph/recording media
1.4 Telephone
1.5 Television
2 Domestic
2.1 Appliances
2.2 Clothes
2.3 Food
2.4 Household
2.5 Time
3 Games and hobbies
4 Manufacturing
4.1 Agriculture
4.2 Construction
4.3 Glass/rubber
4.4 Metals/ores/chemicals
4.5 Tools
5 Medical
6 Plastics
7 Power/lighting
8 Scientific
9 Transport
9.1 Aircraft/space
9.2 Bicycles
9.3 Engines/cars
9.4 Railway
9.5 Roads/bridges
9.6 Ships
10 Weapons
Inventors
Index