George Devol
George Charles Devol, Jr. (born February 12, 1912 in Louisville , Kentucky - † August 11, 2011 in Wilton , Fairfield County , Connecticut ) was an American inventor.
Life
He was interested in technical things from childhood and got his first hands-on experience at Riordan Prep .
He founded United Cinephone Corp in 1932 . He stopped developing talkies when he learned that RCA and Western Electric were working in the same area. He then built the Phantom Doorman photoelectrically operated doors , manufactured by Yail & Towne , and other products using photocell and electron tube controls. He also developed a barcode system for sorting packages. He also developed orthoplane lighting for the textile industry. The most important product was registrations for printing machines and packaging machines. He also developed wireless machine controls that were used during the war as distance detonators for anti-aircraft grenades.
During World War II he sold his cinephone shares and turned to Sperry Gyroscope , where he became head of the Special Projects department , which developed test equipment for radar and microwave devices. He then moved to the Auto Ordnance Company , which built Thompson submachine guns , for which he founded the subsidiary General Electronics Industries in Greenwich (Connecticut) in 1943 , which was the largest manufacturer of radar and anti-radar equipment by the end of the war. After disagreements, he briefly moved to the RCA.
In 1946 he applied for a patent for a magnetic recording device for machine control and a digital playback device. In 1946 he was also part of Percy Spencer's team that developed the microwave oven for the Speedy Weeny hot dog machine . In the early 1950s, Remington Rand licensed his digital recording system and became head of the Magnetics division, which developed magnetic recording systems for business data, which it proved too slow to do.
In the meantime, the transistor was invented. In 1954 he applied for US Patent No. 2,988,237 for his Universal Automation ( Unimation ). In his search for sponsors, he turned to Manning, Maxwell and Moore in Stratford (Connecticut) , the chief engineer of the Aviation Department Joseph Engelberger was very interested. Shortly after Devol sold its patents for its robot to Manning, Maxwell and Moore , the company was acquired by Dresser Industries . Since Dresser was not interested in the aviation department and its robot patents, they looked for a new financier to take over the department, and they found Consolidated Diesel Electronic (Condec) (see Adept Technology ). They agreed to finance further development. The new Condec division became Unimation Incorporated in Danbury, Connecticut, with Engelberger as president. In 1961 they delivered their first Unimate robot to General Motors. In 1975 they made their first profit. In 1978, Victor Scheinman developed the PUMA (Programmable Universal Machine for Assembly) at Unimation Inc.
Devol later received further patents on visual and tactile sensors for robots, coaxial connectors, disposable packaging and magnetostrictive manipulators or on the field of microrobotics he had created .
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/business/george-devol-developer-of-robot-arm-dies-at-99.html?_r=1
- ↑ http://www.gallawa.com/microtech/history.html
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Devol, George |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Devol, George Charles Junior (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American inventor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 12, 1912 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Louisville , Kentucky , USA |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 11, 2011 |
| Place of death | Wilton , Fairfield County , Connecticut , USA |