Charles Grafton Page
Charles Grafton Page ( born January 25, 1812 in Salem, Massachusetts, † May 5, 1868 in Washington, DC ) was an American inventor in the field of electrical engineering.
Life
Charles Grafton Page 1832 earned a degree in natural sciences at Harvard University, after which he studied medicine in Boston. From 1836 to 1841 he practiced as a physician, first in his native town of Salem, from 1838 in Virginia, next he undertook electrical experiments. In 1841 he gave up the medical profession and was one of two chief examiners at the USPTO ( United States Patent Office ) to Washington DC called. This office he held until 1852 initially, then again from 1861 until his death from. 1863 Union troops in the Civil War destroyed his laboratory in Washington, then turned his experiments a Page.
Importance
1836, five years after the discovery of electromagnetic induction by Michael Faraday, Charles Grafton Page invented the first powered with high voltage induction coil. Their technique was based on numerous firings in the automotive industry of the 20th century. In 1838 he constructed an electromagnetic piston engine, one of the first electric motors of the history of technology. His other inventions include the free triggering circuit breaker, a moving-coil galvanometer and a double helix for the induction magnetism. In the 1840s he designed technical equipment for the Morse code.
Page began in 1850 near Washington, D.C. with a government grant of $ 20,000 to build a locomotive driven by two electric motors. 15 kilowatt piston engines were principally of two coils with a bar anchor is embedded. This was moved by alternately switching the coils as in a reciprocating steam engine back and forth. This oscillating (English "reciprocating " ) movement was transferred to a crank shaft to the drive wheels of a three-axle truck. Were fed the engines of a huge, comprehensive 50 cell battery, which brought the car to a weight of 12 tons. In the test drive on April 29, 1851, this locomotive reached briefly a speed of 31 km / h, but by burning insulation and breaking under the vibration battery elements meant that the trip had to be canceled after 40 minutes far from the finish. This was the second electric locomotive that was tested in the open air on a real track. Previously, Robert Davidson machine " Galvani ", who worked on similar principles to Pages vehicle tested in 1842 on tracks in Scotland. Earlier designs of electrically powered rail vehicles by Thomas Davenport (Vermont 1835) and Johann Philipp Wagner ( Frankfurt 1840) did not get beyond the status of tested under laboratory conditions models.
Charles Grafton Page was co-editor of the American Polytechnic Journal, he wrote about 40 works (mostly essays ) to electro- technical topics. In 2006 he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Book publications
- Electricity vs. Steam (along with Thomas Hart Benton ). Towers, Washington, 1849
- Psychomancy Spirit - rappings and table - Tipping. Appleton, New York 1853
- History of Induction. The American Claim to the Induction Coil and Its Electrostatic Developments. Intelligencer Printing House, Washington 1867