History Of Electric Bulb

The modern world is an electrified world. The light bulb, in particular, profoundly changed human existence by illuminating the night and making it hospitable to a wide range of human activity. The electric light, one of the everyday conveniences that most affects our lives, was invented in 1879 by Thomas A Edison. He was neither the first nor the only person trying to invent an “Electric Bulb”.

Milestones:

1850: Joseph W. Swan began working on a light bulb using carbonized paper filaments

1860: Swan obtained a UK patent covering a partial vacuum, carbon filament incandescent lamp

1877: Edward Weston forms Weston Dynamo Machine Company, in Newark, New Jersey.

1878: Thomas Edison founded the Edison Electric Light Company

1878: Hiram Maxim founded the United States Electric Lighting Company

1878: 205,144 William Sawyer and Albon Man 6/18 for Improvements in Electric Lamps

1878: Swan receives a UK patent for an improved incandescent lamp in a vacuum tube

1879: Swan began installing light bulbs in homes and landmarks in England.

1880: 223,898 Thomas Edison 1/27 for Electric Lamp and Manufacturing Process

1880: 230,309 Hiram Maxim 7/20 for Process of Manufacturing Carbon Conductors

1880: 230,310 Hiram Maxim 7/20 for Electrical Lamp

1880: 230,953 Hiram Maxim 7/20 for Electrical Lamp

1880: 233,445 Joseph Swan 10/19 for Electric Lamp

1880: 234,345 Joseph Swan 11/9 for Electric Lamp

1880: Weston Dynamo Machine Company renamed Weston Electric Lighting Company

1880: Elihu Thomson and Edwin Houston form American Electric Company

1880: Charles F. Brush forms the Brush Electric Company

1881: Joseph W. Swan founded the Swan Electric Light Company

1881: 237,198 Hiram Maxim 2/1 for Electrical Lamp assigned to U.S. Electric Lighting Company

1881: 238,868 Thomas Edison 3/15 for Manufacture of Carbons for Incandescent Lamps

1881: 247,097 Joseph Nichols and Lewis Latimer 9/13 for Electric Lamp

1881: 251, 540 Thomas Edison 12/27 for Bamboo Carbons Filament for Incandescent Lamps

1882: 252,386 Lewis Latimer 1/17 for Process of Manufacturing Carbons assigned to U.S. E. L. Co.

1882: Edison’s UK operation merged with Swan to form the Edison & Swan United Co. or “Edi-swan”

1882: Joesph Swan sold his United States patent rights to the Brush Electric Company

1883: American Electric Company renamed Thomson-Houston Electric Company

1884: Sawyer & Man Electric Co formed by Albon Man a year after William Edward Sawyer death

1886: George Westinghouse formed the Westinghouse Electric Company

1886: The National Carbon Co. was founded by the then Brush Electric Co. executive W. H. Lawrence

1888: United States Electric Lighting Co. was purchased by Westinghouse Electric Company

1886: Sawyer & Man Electric Co. was purchased by Thomson-Houston Electric Company

1889: Brush Electric Company merged into the Thomson-Houston Electric Company

1889: Edison Electric Light Company consolidated and renamed Edison General Electric Company.

1890: Edison, Thomson-Houston, and Westinghouse, the “Big 3″ of the American lighting industry.

1892: Edison Electric Light Co. and Thomson-Houston Electric Co. created General Electric Co.

By the time of Edison’s 1879 lamp invention, gas lighting was a mature, well-established industry. The gas infrastructure was in place, franchises had been granted, and manufacturing facilities for both gas and equipment were in profitable operation. Perhaps as important, people had grown accustomed to the idea of lighting with gas.

Incandescent lamps make light by using electricity to heat a thin strip of material (called a filament) until it gets hot enough to glow. Many inventors had tried to perfect incandescent lamps to “sub-divide” electric light or make it smaller and weaker than it was in the existing electric arc lamps, which were too bright to be used for small spaces such as the rooms of a house.

Edison was neither the first nor the only person trying to invent an incandescent electric lamp. Many inventors had tried and failed some were discouraged and went on to invent other devices. Among those inventors who made a step forward in understanding the eclectic light were Sir Humphrey Davy,Heinrich Gobel, Warren De la Rue, Frederick de Moleyns, James Bowman Lindsay and James Prescott Joule .

Between the years 1878 and 1892 the electric light industry was growing in terms of installed lights but shrinking in terms of company competition as both Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse determined to control the industry and its advancement. They even formed the Board of Patent Control, a joint arrangement between General Electric and the Westinghouse Company to defend the patents of the two companies in litigation. This proved to be a wise decision as over 600 lawsuits for patent infringement were filed.

The easiest way to understand those turbulent times in the early lighting industry is to follow the company’s involved. Of the hundreds of companies in the business, we only cover the major players. We show the flow of inventor’s patents and inventor’s companies and how the industry ended up monopolized by GE and Westinghouse. Company names listed in GREEN ultimately became part of General Electric. Company names listed in RED ultimately became part of Westinghouse.

In the period from 1878 to 1880 Edison and his associates worked on at least three thousand different theories to develop an efficient incandescent lamp.

Edison’s lamp would consist of a filament housed in a glass vacuum bulb. He had his own glass blowing shed where the fragile bulbs were carefully crafted for his experiments. Edison was trying to come up with a high resistance system that would require far less electrical power than was used for the arc lamps. This could eventually mean small electric lights suitable for home use.

By January 1879, at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, Edison had built his first high resistance, incandescent electric light. It worked by passing electricity through a thin platinum filament in the glass vacuum bulb, which delayed the filament from melting. Still, the lamp only burned for a few short hours. In order to improve the bulb, Edison needed all the persistence he had learned years before in his basement laboratory. He tested thousands and thousands of other materials to use for the filament. He even thought about using tungsten, which is the metal used for light bulb filaments now, but he couldn’t work with it given the tools available at that time.

He tested the carbonized filaments of every plant imaginable, including bay wood, boxwood, hickory, cedar, flax, and bamboo. He even contacted biologists who sent him plant fibers from places in the tropics. Edison acknowledged that the work was tedious and very demanding, especially on his workers helping with the experiments. He always recognized the importance of hard work and determination. “Before I got through,” he recalled, “I tested no fewer than 6,000 vegetable growths, and ransacked the world for the most suitable filament material.”

Edison decided to try a carbonized cotton thread filament. When voltage was applied to the completed bulb, it began to radiate a soft orange glow. Just about fifteen hours later, the filament finally burned out. Further experimentation produced filaments that could burn longer and longer with each test. By the end of 1880, he had produced a 16-watt bulb that could last for 1500 hours and he began to market his new invention.

In Britain, Swan took Edison to court for patent infringement. Edison lost and as part of the settlement, Edison was forced to take Swan in as a partner in his British electric works. The company was called the Edison and Swan United Electric Company (later known as Ediswan which was then incorporated into Thorn Lighting Ltd). Eventually, Edison acquired all of Swan’s interest in the company. Swan sold his United States patent rights to the Brush Electric Company in June 1882.

In 1889 the Edison Electric Light Company merged with several other Edison companies to become the Edison General Electric Company. When the Edison General Electric Company merged with Thomson-Houston in 1892, a bitter struggle developed, Edison’s name was dropped, and Edison himself had no more involvement with the newly formed General Eclectic Company beyond defending his patents.

In 1903 Willis Whitnew invented a filament that would not blacken the inside of a light bulb. It was a metal-coated carbon filament. In 1906, the General Electric Company was the first to patent a method of making tungsten filaments for use in incandescent light bulbs. The filaments were costly, but by 1910 William David Coolidge had invented an improved method of making tungsten filaments. The tungsten filament outlasted all other types of filaments and Coolidge made the costs practical.

Electrical Engineering's Scope In The Indian Capital City

Today India is much ahead in the field of education taking leaps of development and it is through this effort that the country has earned itself a reputation of being the most sought after nations that provide one of the best scopes when it comes to pursuing a degree in engineering. India has many prestigious colleges and also an outstanding placement record along with a teaching faculty of world class educators. The capital regions of India like Delhi, Mumbai and Pune have some of the best options that rank high on the list of outstanding colleges for engineering across the world. 

Starting with the metropolitan city Delhi also the capital of India, this city is recognized as a leading centre for education and that too particularly the technical one. The institutes offer complete assistance along with practical training and are a blend of world class amenities along with the best infrastructure. 

Engineering colleges Delhi also put up an outstanding placement rate. Students who complete there engineering degree from the reputed colleges in India will definitely get a well furnished job from some of the best organizations. Some even make it to multinational Co. and hence settle abroad on the basis of their engineering degree. The capital colleges of engineering offer various courses in fields like mechanical, electrical, civil, chemical, aeronautical engineering and many more.

Electronic engineering is a budding scope across the region. This branch of engineering basically deals in on-linear and dynamic electrical components such as electron tubes, and many different semiconductor devices primarily including transistors, diodes and integrated circuits. These are assembled together to design electronic circuits, devices and systems, typically also including passive electrical components and based on printed circuit boards. To be more direct electronic engineering is that branch of technology which expands along analog electronics, digital electronics, consumer electronics, embedded systems and power electronics. Electronics engineering is all about managing and implementation of applications, principles and algorithms developed within many related fields. 

There are many electronic engineering colleges across the Indian nation with some prime learning centers also present in Delhi. Those who are looking for information about the best electronic engineering colleges can effectively go over the World Wide Web for the exact details about various colleges and their eligibility criterias. This way the entire process will be easier to undertake.

Choosing A Career In Electro-mechanical Technology

Being skilled in a variety of electrical, electronic and mechanical work can be a big advantage to any individual especially in these uncertain times. While some people possessing non-mechanical skills may not be fortunate to hang on to their present jobs or may be unlucky to get employed today, those with electrical and mechanical skills have a good chance of keeping a regular job and getting higher wages owing to the vital function they serve in major industries. 

The field of electro-mechanical technology (EMT) is currently experiencing rapid growth. This can be greatly attributed to the continuous advancement of technology in an effort to keep up with peoples changing technological needs and desires. Electro-mechanical technology refers to a combination of electrical, electronic and mechanical devices to be able to make automated systems for various purposes such as in product testing, manufacturing, electronic instrumentation and processes that utilize computers. 

Electro-mechanical devices can do numerous functions such as in the automation and control of the manufacturing process, documentation of distant stars via photographs and regulation of cancer treatments to name a few. Among their major uses are to measure the size, shape, color, weight or temperature of a certain product. 

A course in electro-mechanical technology normally includes electronics, hydraulics, pneumatics, sensor utilization and an understanding of the different types of motors. Students enrolled in this course are also taught about automation, computers, robots, motor controls, computer-controlled equipment, maintenance and mechanical drives. Most often, this course takes two years to complete with the graduate earning an associate degree in EMT. 

Completing this course will enable a graduate to design solutions for a variety of electro-mechanical equipment. Ideally, they should be able to design, develop, test and manufacture electrical and computer-controlled machines, supervise the use of automated devices or assist engineers who develop such equipment in performing tests, recording information and making written reports. Graduates of this course can land in industrial jobs such as being an electro-mechanical technician, industrial electrical technician, machine electrical assembly technician, maintenance electrician and mechanical maintenance technician. 

A degree in electro-mechanical instrumentation, for instance, will give people the ability to help engineers design automated systems utilizing computers, science-centered theories and math. Among the careers one can go into are radio installation, precision equipment repair and engineering technology. 

The U.S. Department of Labors Bureau of Labor Statistics has revealed that employment opportunities in the field of electro-mechanical technology will continue to grow into the future. The agency points to the fact that more industries notably those involved in computer and office machines manufacturing are installing electronic equipment in order to improve their productivity and the quality of the products they offer to consumers. 

People who have earned an EMT degree or are interested in getting one should know, however, that their education does not stop after graduation. Technology is constantly changing and those working in electro-mechanical jobs need to keep abreast with the latest trends. One way they can advance in their career is to specialize or pursue further studies.