Arthur Scherbius

Arthur Scherbius ( born October 30, 1878 in Frankfurt am Main, † May 13, 1929 in Berlin) was a German inventor and entrepreneur. He studied electrical engineering at the Technical University 1899-1903 Hanover, interrupted by two semesters ( 1901-1902 ) at the Technical University of Munich, 1903, he was in Hanover to Dipl. -Ing., 1904, he received his doctorate in the Doctor of Engineering ( Dr. -Ing. ). As a project engineer at the company Felten & Guilleaume Lahmayer he developed his thesis entitled " Proposals for the construction of an indirectly -acting water - turbine controller", which he completed on 14 July 1904.

First inventions

After a short period at Siemens Schuckert GmbH he made in 1905 invented independently and circuits for the regulation of induction motors. His patents he sold to the company A. G. Brown, Boveri & Cie. in Baden ( Switzerland ), where he remained until 1912, his inventions also built by 1906. Became famous for his " Scherbius circuit ", a cascade of three-phase and AC commutator motors, which made a low-loss speed control possible. This became widespread in Europe and the U.S. in drives for rolling mills, mining and metallurgy for pumping and water systems as well as for compressors and fans. Scherbius also dealt with mercury vapor rectifiers and served as a consultant for Siemens - Schuckert. In a doctoral thesis at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich Max Neumann describes both 1933 Brown Boveri and Scherbius patents.

In World War Scherbius was first used as a teacher for wireless telegraphy, then, from 1917, as an auxiliary plant manager in arms and ammunition procurement office ( Wumba ). After the armistice, he joined in late 1918 as a consultant in the technical department of the Reich Office recycling and has also worked in the Ceasefire Commission. At the same time he was concerned with the transfer of energy by means of high-voltage direct current, but the development of a high-voltage direct current machine was not able to finish.

In Sweden he had purchased patents, on whose principles he developed a small and inexpensive thermostats, whom he regarded as a key building block for electrical appliances. This he succeeded in creating a secure, temperature-controlled heating pad, which was manufactured in large numbers. In 1920 he founded with E. Richard Ritter in Berlin- Wannsee, the development company " Scherbius & Knight ." They called it the " Scherip " heating pad. Ernst Richard Knight, also an engineer, general agent for the Brown, Boveri and Cie had moved to Mannheim and 1909 in Berlin- Charlottenburg. The company representatives had a commission for heating and cooking appliances - short HOOKAH - launched. They operate their electrical factory in Wannsee on the Royal Route. Knights built 1926 on the grounds Lindenstr. 6, Berlin -Wannsee, a house that was peppered with the latest achievements of applied electricity. He allowed his partner Scherbius to build on his private estate another house. It was designed by the same architect Otto stray from Nowawes and similarly equipped.

The development of the ENIGMA

During the First World War Scherbius had become familiar with the problems of encryption gefunkter news and found so that a new field. The prototype Model A was still very large, weighing about 50 kg, and looked like a cash register. The then following models B and C were already worn and looked like a typewriter in a wooden box, which then only 34 x 28 x 15 inches measured and weighed 12 kilos. Already on 23 February 1918 he had his first patent for an encryption engine account, who worked on the rotor principle, and he " αίνιγμα " after the Greek word called (in German " enigma " ) ENIGMA.

Military and naval authorities and the Foreign Service, where Scherbius had seen his main customers, showed little interest, so he wanted to make it accessible to the public. The early 20s, he presented it at several conferences and post- exhibitions in Bern, Stockholm and Leipzig to the public. The Enigma was touted by Scherbius as a " device for the transmission of commercial communications and telegrams " and also marketed as. Because the information provided by the post office telegrams from unauthorized person can be listened to in a very simple manner, he recommended that the ENIGMA cipher. In the electronic journal of 1923, he describes the operation in detail and noted: " In addition to safety, the radiotelegraphy still the most stringent requirements on operational availability, in terms of speed, ease of use for the avoidance of error sources and light Ausmerzbarkeit of transmission errors must face. " In the last sentence of Article it says then: "The machine has been developed by the company Scherbius & Ritter in Berlin- Wannsee. The latest model pictured on the other hand has been built by the union Securitas, Berlin W 35, Steglitzer Str 2, which has taken over all the patents in order to use the assistance of the former company. "

Scherbius relinquished her rights to the Berlin company " union Securitas ", then the patent DRP 416 219 was granted to a " Chiffrierapparat " 1925. On 9 July 1923, the Securitas founded the cipher -Aktiengesellschaft in Berlin ( Steglitz W.35 St. 2), was employed in the Scherbius as director. His associate in this firm was the development engineer Willi Korn.

Scherbius died on 13 May 1929 after he had lost control of a horse-drawn carriage and had hit a wall, as a result of his case suffered internal injuries.

Patents to ENIGMA

N. V. " Securitas " in Amsterdam

  • DE383594 cipher; patented in the German Empire on 12 February, 1922 (PDF, 504 kB) issued on October 15, 1923; Applicant: Naamlooze Vennootschap Ingeniuersbureau " Securitas " in Amsterdam;
  • DE385682 cipher; Patent application filed May 10, 1922 ( PDF; 495 kB) issued on November 27, 1923; Applicant: Naamlooze Vennootschap Ingenieursbureau " Securitas " in Amsterdam; Patented in the German Empire from May 10, 1922
  • DE400795 cipher; Patent application filed on August 18, 1923 ( PDF; 181 kB) issued on August 19, 1924; Applicant: Naamlooze Vennootschap Ingenieursbureau " Securitas " in Amsterdam; Patented in the German Empire from August 18, 1923
  • DE411126 cipher; issued March 24, 1925 (PDF, 256 kB) applicant: Company Naamlooze Vennootschap Ingenieursbureau " Securitas " in Amsterdam; From the patent searcher is specified as the inventor: Paul Bernstein in Charlottenburg. Patented in the German Empire from from 18 August 1923.

Union Securitas in Berlin

  • DE409301 cipher; issued on July 15, 1926 (PDF, 557 kB ); Applicant: union Securitas in Berlin; Patented from the German Empire on 20 September 1921.
  • DE416219 Chiffrierapparat; issued July 8, 1925; (PDF, 339 kB) applicant union Securitas in Berlin; Patented from the German Empire from February 28, 1918
  • DE416833 Chiffrierapparat; Additional patent patent 416219 Issued on 27 July 1925 ( PDF, 87 kB ) Applicant: . Securitas union in Berlin; Patented in the German Empire from on June 2, 1918. Longest period February 22, 1936!
Chiffriermaschinen act -Ges. in Berlin
  • DE425147 cipher; Patent application filed on 26 September 1920 ( PDF, 768 kB) issued on February 13, 1926; Applicant cipher -Aktiengesellschaft in Berlin;
  • DE412582 blocking Chiffrierelementen in cipher; issued on 23 April 1925 ( PDF, 230 kB ) Applicant: Chiffriermaschinen act -Ges. in Berlin; Patented from the German Empire from March 25, 1924 1923
  • DE425566 Electrical ciphering and deciphering; issued on February 22, 1926 (PDF, 277 kB ) Applicant: Chiffriermaschinen act -Ges. in Berlin; From the patent searcher is specified as the inventor: Paul Bernstein in Charlottenburg. Patented from the German Empire from February 28, 1924
  • DE429122 cipher with a plurality of interchanging the characters causing Chiffrierwalzen; issued May 21, 1926 (PDF, 369 kB ) Applicant: cipher Aktiengesellschaft in Berlin; From the patent searcher is specified as the inventor: Paul Bernstein in Charlottenburg. Patented in the German Empire on the March 26, 1924
  • DE452194 electrical apparatus for encryption and decryption; issued November 14, 1928 (PDF, 413 kB ) Applicant: Chiffriermaschinen act -Ges. in Berlin; From the patent searcher is specified as the inventor: Willi grain; Patented from the German Empire from March 21, 1926
  • DE454392 circuit means for encryption and Dechiffriermaschinen; Notice of grant of the patent December 15, 1927 (PDF, 145 kB) issued July 24, 1928; Applicant: Chiffriermaschinen act -Ges. in Berlin; Patented in the German Empire on the January 30th, 1924
  • DE460457 Cipher for use in cipher; Notice of grant of the patent May 10, 1928 (PDF, 437 kB) issued June 1, 1929; Applicant: Chiffriermaschinen act -Ges. in Berlin; From the patent searcher is specified as the inventor: Willi Korn in Berlin- Friedenau; Patented in the German Empire on the March 11, 1926
  • DE541702 device for electrical Chiffrierschreibmaschinen; Notice of grant of the patent December 24, 1931 (PDF, 516 kB) issued January 15, 1932; Applicant: Chiffriermaschinen act -Ges. in Berlin; From the patent searcher as the inventors have been given: Dr. Arthur Scherbius in Berlin- Wannsee and Willi Korn in Berlin- Friedenau; Patented in the German Empire on the January 30th, 1929
  • DE550796 switching device for electrical encryption and Dechiffriermaschinen; Notice of grant of the patent April 28, 1932 (PDF, 376 kB) issued May 20 1932 Applicants: cipher - act -Ges. in Berlin; From the patent searcher has been specified as the inventor: Willi Korn in Berlin- Friedenau; Patented from the German Empire from February 3, 1929
  • DE554421 Electric Cipher; Day the notice of grant of the patent June 23, 1932 (PDF, 361 kB) issued July 8, 1932; Applicant: Chiffriermaschinen act -Ges. in Berlin; Patented in the German Empire on the January 31, 1928
  • DE534947 Electrical ciphering and deciphering; Issued October 6, 1931, the day the notice of grant of the patent September 17, 1931 ( 629 kB PDF); Applicant: cipher - act -Ges. in Berlin. From the patent searcher has been specified as the inventor: Willy Korn, Berlin-Spandau. Patented in the German Empire from November 9, 1928. The priority of the Exhibition on the opened on September 7, 1928 6 International Exhibition Berlin office is taken.
  • DE579555 Cipher with Chiffrierwalzen; Day the notice of grant of the patent June 8, 1933 (PDF, 502 kB) issued July 3, 1933; Applicant: Chiffriermaschinen act -Ges. in Berlin; ( The name specified as the inventor of the patent searcher has been removed ). Patented in the German Empire from November 17, 1928. The priority of the Exhibition on the opened on September 7, 1928 6 International Exhibition Berlin office is taken.

Patents abroad

  • No certification. FR561910 XVIII Department Office Products. 2 Appareils à Copier, Ecrire et Reproduire, Relire; II Machine Chiffreuse. (PDF, 389 kB) patent application filed February 7, 1923, Published October 30, 1923; Applicant: Naamlooze Vennootschap Ingenieursbureau " Securitas " living in the Netherlands; After stored in Germany patent. Postmarked by the Patent Office December 13, 1923.
  • GB193035 (compliant with Germany February 11, 1922 ) Ciphering Machine; (PDF, 567 kB) date of application for February 3, 1923, (lawyers Marks & Clerk ) granted July 3, 1924; Applicant: Naamlooze Vennootschap Engineering Bureau Securitas of No. 656 Prinsengracht Amsterdam. The reproduction of the drawings made ​​in the original size.
  • GB231502 Improvement in Ciphering Machine having a Plurality of Ciphering Rollers for Effecting substitution of the Signs; . Convention Date ( Germany) March 25, 1924 ( PDF; 561 kB) patent application (. Application No. 8027/25 ), date: 25 March 1926, granted ( granted) 29 October 1926; Applicant: ( Applicant ) Chiffriermachinen Aktiengesellschaft, of Steglitzerstr. 2, Berlin W35;
  • GB267472 Improvement in and Relating to Ciphering Machines; Convention Date ( Germany) March 10, 1926 (PDF, 475 kB) Application date ( UK) 17 January 1927, no. 1385/27. granted August 11, 1927; Applicant Chiffriermaschen Aktiengesellschaft, of Steglitzerstrasse 2, Berlin W35;
  • GB343146 Improvement in Coding Machines; Convention Date ( Germany) No. 16, 1928. (PDF, 633 kB) Application date ( UK) November 14, 1929, no. 34.841 / 29 Completely accepted 16 February 1931; Applicant cipher Aktiengesellschaft, of Steglitzerstrasse 2, Berlin, W35;
  • US1556964 Electric Ciphering Apparatus; Application date April 20, 1922 (PDF, 468 kB), granted 13 October 1925; Applicant: Arthur Scherbius of Berlin, Germany, assignor ( = assignor ) to the company Securitas union of Berlin, Germany A Company of Germany;
  • US1584660 Ciphering device; Application date 7 December 1922 ( PDF, 719 kB), granted 11 May 1926 Applicant: Arthur Scherbius, of Berlin -Wilmersdorf, Germany, assignor ( = assignor ) to the Naamlooze Vennootschap Ingenieursbureau " Securitas ' of Amsterdam;
  • US1657411 Ciphering Machine; Application date 6 February 1923 ( PDF, 718 kB), granted 24 January 1928; Applicant: Arthur Scherbius of Berlin -Wilmersdorf, Germany, assignor ( = assignor ) by Mesne Assignments to cipher Aktiengesellschaft, of Berlin, Germany; A Corporation of Germany;
  • US1733886 Device for Coding and Decoding. Application 21 May 1926 and in Germany 20 March 1926 (PDF, 728 kB). Granted 29 October 1926. Applicant Willi grain of Berlin- Friedenau, Germany
  • US1777425 Electric Cypher Writing Machine. Application date 25 March 1926, application in Germany 25 March 1924 ( PDF, 596 kB). granted 7 October 1930 Applicant: . Bernstein Paul of Berlin -Charlottenburg, Germany, assignor ( = assignor ) to the firm cipher Aktiengesellschaft, of Berlin, Germany.
  • US1938028 Electrical coding and decoding device. 7 claims ( CL36 -13) Application date November 5, 1929 and in Germany November 8, 1928 (PDF, 755 kB). Granted 5 December 1933 Applicant: . Willi grain of Berlin- Friedenau, Germany, assignor ( = assignor ) to the firm cipher Aktiengesellschaft, of Berlin, Germany.

Pictures of Arthur Scherbius

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