Elisha Otis: Difference between revisions
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==Biography== |
==Biography== |
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Otis was |
Otis was born near [[Halifax, Vermont]].<ref name="Invent.org Article">{{cite web|url=http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/115.html|title=Invent Now Hall of Fame|accessdate=2007-12-18|author='''Invent Now'''}}</ref> He moved away from home at the age of 19, eventually settling in [[Troy, New York]], where he lived for 5 years employed as a wagon driver. In [[1834]], he married [[Susan A. Houghton]], and gave birth to their first child. Later that year, Otis suffered a terrible case of [[pneumonia]] which nearly killed him, but he earned enough money to move his wife and three year old son to the [[Vermont Hills]] on the [[Green River]]. He designed and built his own [[gristmill]], but did not earn enough money, so he converted it into a [[sawmill]], but still did not attract customers. Now having a second son, he started building wagons and carriages, which he was fairly skilled. His wife then died, leaving Otis with two sons aged seven and two. At thirty-four years old, and hoping for a fresh start, he married [[Betsy A. Boyd]] and moved to [[Albany]], [[New York]]. He got a job as a bedstead maker for [[Otis Tingely]]. He was skilled as a craftsman, and, tired of working all day to make only twelve bedsteads, he invented and patented a rail turner. It could produce bedsteads four times faster than a person could manually do; about fifty. His boss gave him a $500 bonus, and Otis then moved into his own business. At his leased building, he started designing a safety brake that could stop trains instantly and an automatic bread baking oven. The city of [[Albany]] then cut off his power source by diverting the stream he was using for the population’s fresh water supply. In [[1856]], having no more use for Albany, he first moved to [[Bergen]], [[New Jersey]] to work as a mechanic, then to [[Yonkers]], [[New York]] as a manager of an abandoned [[sawmill]] which he was supposed to convert into a [[bedstead]] factory. He was forty, and when he started to clean up the factory, he wondered how he could get all the old debris up to the upper levels of the factory. He heard of hoisting platforms, but they often broke, and he didn’t want to take any chances. He and his sons, who were also tinkerers, designed their own “safety elevator” and tested it successfully. He thought so little of it he neither patented it nor requested a bonus from his superiors for it, nor try to sell it to anyone else. After having several sales, and after the bedstead factory declined, Otis took the opportunity to make an elevator company out of it, later called [[Otis Steam Elevator Works]]. No orders came over the next several months. Then, the [[1854 New York World’s Fair]] offered a great chance at publicity. <ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Article on Elisha Otis">{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9057648/Elisha-Graves-Otis|title=Encyclopædia Britannica Article on Elisha Otis|accessdate=2007-12-18|author=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}}</ref> At the [[New York Crystal Palace]], Elisha Otis amazed a crowd when he ordered the only rope holding the platform on which he was standing cut.<ref name="Invent.org Article">{{cite web|url=http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/115.html|title=Invent Now Hall of Fame|accessdate=2007-12-18|author='''Invent Now'''}}</ref> The rope was severed by an axeman, and the platform fell only a few inches before coming to a halt. After the World’s Fair, Otis received continuous orders, doubling each year. Elisha started developing different types of engines, like a three-way steam valve engine which could make the elevator transition from up, down, and to stop it at lightning quick speeds. In his spare time, he designed and experimented with his old designs of bread-baking ovens and train brakes, and patented a steam plow in 1857, a rotary oven in 1858, and, with Charles, the oscillating steam engine in 1860.For the remainder of his life, all the major corporations purchased Otis’s invention and recognized his genius. Then, on [[April 8]], [[1861]], Otis contracted [[diphtheria]] and died. |
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<ref name="Invent.org Article">{{cite web|url=http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/115.html|title=Invent Now Hall of Fame|accessdate=2007-12-18|author='''Invent Now'''}}</ref> |
<ref name="Invent.org Article">{{cite web|url=http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/115.html|title=Invent Now Hall of Fame|accessdate=2007-12-18|author='''Invent Now'''}}</ref> |
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Otis sold his first safety elevators in 1853.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Article on Elisha Otis">{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9057648/Elisha-Graves-Otis|title=Encyclopædia Britannica Article on Elisha Otis|accessdate=2007-12-18|author=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}}</ref> The first passenger elevator was installed by him in [[New York]] in 1857. After Otis's death in 1861, his sons, Charles and Norton, built on his heritage, creating Otis Brothers & Co. in 1867.<ref name="PBS Inventors Article">{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/otis_hi.html|title=Inventor Article on Elisha Otis|accessdate=2007-12-18|author=[[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]]}}</ref> |
Otis sold his first safety elevators in 1853.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Article on Elisha Otis">{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9057648/Elisha-Graves-Otis|title=Encyclopædia Britannica Article on Elisha Otis|accessdate=2007-12-18|author=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}}</ref> The first passenger elevator was installed by him in [[New York]] in 1857. After Otis's death in 1861, his sons, Charles and Norton, built on his heritage, creating Otis Brothers & Co. in 1867.<ref name="PBS Inventors Article">{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/otis_hi.html|title=Inventor Article on Elisha Otis|accessdate=2007-12-18|author=[[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]]}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 08:27, 8 December 2008
Elisha Graves Otis | |
|---|---|
 Elisha Graves Otis | |
| Born | August 3 1811 |
| Died | April 8 1861 |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Engineering career | |
| Projects | elevators |
Elisha Graves Otis (August 3 1811 — April 8 1861), son of Stephen Otis Jr. and wife Pheobe Glynn, invented a safety device that prevented elevators from falling if the hoisting cable broke.[1] He worked on this device while living in Yonkers, New York in 1852, and had a finished product in 1854.
Biography
Otis was born near Halifax, Vermont.[1] He moved away from home at the age of 19, eventually settling in Troy, New York, where he lived for 5 years employed as a wagon driver. In 1834, he married Susan A. Houghton, and gave birth to their first child. Later that year, Otis suffered a terrible case of pneumonia which nearly killed him, but he earned enough money to move his wife and three year old son to the Vermont Hills on the Green River. He designed and built his own gristmill, but did not earn enough money, so he converted it into a sawmill, but still did not attract customers. Now having a second son, he started building wagons and carriages, which he was fairly skilled. His wife then died, leaving Otis with two sons aged seven and two. At thirty-four years old, and hoping for a fresh start, he married Betsy A. Boyd and moved to Albany, New York. He got a job as a bedstead maker for Otis Tingely. He was skilled as a craftsman, and, tired of working all day to make only twelve bedsteads, he invented and patented a rail turner. It could produce bedsteads four times faster than a person could manually do; about fifty. His boss gave him a $500 bonus, and Otis then moved into his own business. At his leased building, he started designing a safety brake that could stop trains instantly and an automatic bread baking oven. The city of Albany then cut off his power source by diverting the stream he was using for the population’s fresh water supply. In 1856, having no more use for Albany, he first moved to Bergen, New Jersey to work as a mechanic, then to Yonkers, New York as a manager of an abandoned sawmill which he was supposed to convert into a bedstead factory. He was forty, and when he started to clean up the factory, he wondered how he could get all the old debris up to the upper levels of the factory. He heard of hoisting platforms, but they often broke, and he didn’t want to take any chances. He and his sons, who were also tinkerers, designed their own “safety elevator” and tested it successfully. He thought so little of it he neither patented it nor requested a bonus from his superiors for it, nor try to sell it to anyone else. After having several sales, and after the bedstead factory declined, Otis took the opportunity to make an elevator company out of it, later called Otis Steam Elevator Works. No orders came over the next several months. Then, the 1854 New York World’s Fair offered a great chance at publicity. [2] At the New York Crystal Palace, Elisha Otis amazed a crowd when he ordered the only rope holding the platform on which he was standing cut.[1] The rope was severed by an axeman, and the platform fell only a few inches before coming to a halt. After the World’s Fair, Otis received continuous orders, doubling each year. Elisha started developing different types of engines, like a three-way steam valve engine which could make the elevator transition from up, down, and to stop it at lightning quick speeds. In his spare time, he designed and experimented with his old designs of bread-baking ovens and train brakes, and patented a steam plow in 1857, a rotary oven in 1858, and, with Charles, the oscillating steam engine in 1860.For the remainder of his life, all the major corporations purchased Otis’s invention and recognized his genius. Then, on April 8, 1861, Otis contracted diphtheria and died. [1] Otis sold his first safety elevators in 1853.[2] The first passenger elevator was installed by him in New York in 1857. After Otis's death in 1861, his sons, Charles and Norton, built on his heritage, creating Otis Brothers & Co. in 1867.[3]
Otis's invention increased public confidence in elevators, and enabled a building trend: the skyscraper.[3] The company he founded became known as the Otis Elevator Company,[2] the largest elevator company in the world. Today, it is a division of United Technologies Corporation.
Today, the Otis family owns a home along the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.[4]
See also
External links
- Elisha Otis Induction from Invent Now Hall of Fame
- Elisha Otis Article from Encyclopædia Britannica
- Elisha Otis from PBS
References
- ^ a b c d Invent Now. "Invent Now Hall of Fame". Retrieved 2007-12-18.
- ^ a b c Encyclopædia Britannica. "Encyclopædia Britannica Article on Elisha Otis". Retrieved 2007-12-18.
- ^ a b PBS. "Inventor Article on Elisha Otis". Retrieved 2007-12-18.
- ^ BookRags. "Elisha Otis Biography". Retrieved 2007-12-18.