Category Invensions & Discoveries

What is the backstory behind the invention of the Xerox machine?


Young Chester Carlson worked as a patent analyser for a manufacturer of electrical components. This required laborious paperwork – he had to submit multiple copies when registering his company’s inventions and ideas at the patent office. Each duplicate had to be written by hand. Carlson suffered from arthritis. He knew there had to be another way of doing his job.

Working in his kitchen during his free time, Carlson discovered that some materials changed their electrical properties when exposed to light called photo-conductivity. After years of research, he came up with a patent in 1942 for a reproduction technique based on this, which he named ‘electric photography. Another 20 years went by before he found a company interested enough to manufacture the machine. He was turned away by the likes of IBM, GE and RCA, until in 1960, the Haloid company finally thought his idea marketable.

The company was later named Xerox. The process became so popular all over the world that the word ‘xeroxing’ (a trademark) is used instead of the correct term-‘photocopying’!

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When and how the fist steam engines were built?

The invention of the steam engine during the eighteenth century had a fundamental effect on man’s progress. Some earlier forms of this machine had appeared during the previous century. The most famous were those of papin whose work provided a great stimulus for research into steam.

Papin built a boat with steam operated paddles, but builders of sailing boats were hostile to this new craft and papin could not make much progress with it. However, he had proved what a powerful force steam could be in locomotion. Thomas newcomen built a steam engine in 1705. It began to be used for pumping water out of mines about six years later, and by 1725 the engine was widely used in collieries. It continued in use for many years although it was not very efficient and worked slowly. It was James watt (1736-1819) who examined all the previous efforts and perfected them into a steam engine that worked fast and efficiently. For this engine watt invented a steam condenser that was separate from the cylinder which worked the piston.

The steam engine had a sensational success and proved itself enormously useful, especially in factories where it replaced machines that had previously been worked by water or animal power. It was eventually used as a locomotive to pull wagons.

 

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By whom the electric light bulb was born and how?

Thomas Edison had discovered in his experiments that there were certain bodies through which electric power flowed more easily. He called these good conductors and other bodies that resisted the flow of electric power he called bad conductors. When electricity tried to travel along a bad conductor the latter would resist so much that it glowed until became white-hot.

A carbon filament, for example, gave out a good deal of light; but the light did not last very long because the carbon would soon burn itself up as it was in contact with the oxygen in the air.

Edison then carried out an experiment inside a glass bulb from which he had removed all the air. This time the light of the glowing filament lasted much longer and the fist electric light bulb was born.

Carbon filaments have now been replaced by tungsten wire as its high melting point, low rate of evaporation and low electrical consumption make it most suitable for use in light bulbs. A further improvement has been the introduction of an inert gas in to the bulb. This was at first nitrogen but is now a mixture of 88 per cent argon and 12 per cent nitrogen.

 

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What are water trucks used for?

Water trucks are a vital part of mining and construction operations. Dust control, compaction, even fire prevention are among the uses of these powerful machines. Water trucks are different from regular trucks in that they have special tank specifications, custom chassis design and mounting apparatuses, and associated pumping equipment.

Water trucks come in a range of sizes and designs, with larger trucks able to haul as much as 36,000L. Some are even specially designed for mining applications and come with off-road tyres, safety equipment and are reinforced for stability over rugged terrain.

The spraying and filling capabilities also vary from truck to truck, depending on the purpose. For starters, filler pipes are typically mounted on the truck’s near side or via an opening on top of the tank. As for spaying capabilities, spray nozzles can be situated on the front, side and/or rear of the truck, and are typically controlled from inside the driver’s cab. There are also drip bars, hose reels, water cannons and more.

 

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How does a garbage truck work?

Basically, a garbage truck is a machine that making our waste squeeze and minimize the space that trash take.
A garbage truck that aims to reduce the size of your waste on landfills works easily. The garbage thrown into the garbage compactor is divided into small and collectible pieces with a metal mallet, then these garbage pieces are collected in groups in a bag or compacted.

Garbage trucks produced for the purpose of cleaning neighborhoods, streets, and cities are used by garbage disposal workers to clean the places we live in. The garbage collected by the sanitation engineers is loaded into the back of the garbage truck or the garbage containers are transported by the garbage machines and dumped into the back chamber of the garbage truck.

Later, the garbage loaded into the rear chamber of the truck is pushed to the middle part of the garbage truck by hydraulic cylinders. The press assembly at the rear of the truck shreds or compresses the waste. Later, when the garbage truck is full, the garbage collectors take it to waste collection centers. During unloading, the rear of the truck lifts up and the garbage is discharged from the rear chamber of the truck, accompanied by a hydraulic cylinder.

 

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How tow truck works?

A tow truck (also called a wrecker, a breakdown truck, recovery vehicle or a breakdown lorry) is a truck used to move disabled, improperly parked, impounded, or otherwise indisposed motor vehicles. This may involve recovering a vehicle damaged in an accident, returning one to a drivable surface in a mishap or inclement weather, or towing or transporting one via flatbed to a repair shop or other location.

Tow trucks are vehicles specially designed to take other cars or vehicles and bring them to another location. They are usually operated by private businesses or emergency services, depending on their intended use. Tow trucks can be used in accident recovery or vehicle repossession. Oversized tow trucks are typically used to haul several cars for transport or move even bigger vehicles such as aircraft and fire trucks.A tow truck works depending on the style of truck and their purpose. For emergency services, a tow truck could either be a flat-bed, wheel-lift, or a hook-and-chain truck.

The flatbed trucks are as the name implies: they are equipped with a large, flat surface on the back. Flat bed tow trucks have a pulley system that attaches underneath the front or back of the car. The bed would be angled down to form what looks like a ramp. As the tow truck driver actuates the pulley, the car is drawn onto the flat bed. The driver levels the bed out and secures the vehicle by the wheels onto the truck.

For the hook-and-chain tow truck, a boom is attached to the back of the tower’s vehicle. A chain with a hook at the end hangs from the boom. The tower can adjust the boom and the chain as needed. The chains and/or hook would be attached to the vehicle’s axle. The boom would lift the vehicle up and place the front wheels onto a rubberized area on the back of the truck, while the back wheels are free on the road.

Wheel-lift trucks are often used in repossessions because of their compactness and have less ability to damage a car. Wheel-lift tow trucks have a deployable attachment called a yoke on the back that touches only the wheels of the towed car. When activated, the yoke can be positioned under the front or rear wheels. The truck lifts the front or back of the car off the ground.

 

Picture Credit : Google