Thomas Edison had an amazing career. He made thousands of inventions. But four were considered the greatest inventions that he made. Of that four was his phonograph. How it worked, shocked Edison and his crew. It worked by speaking into a cylinder in which the vibration moves a needle up and down. Then someone pulls out a pin and cranks the handle to play the sound back. Another invention was the electric light bulb. The light bulb had been around for a while. But the light bulbs at that time were very expensive, burned off easily, gave off poor light, and were not very safe because they were a fire hazard. Edison’s light bulbs were cheaper to produce, safer, burned longer, more efficient, and economic. Another invention was the motion picture or kenograph. It works like a standard camera, but with a twist. It works by someone taking pictures with it, and then the person who took the pictures would crank a handle to make the pictures come to life. The last of the four was his magnitistic iron ore separator. When Thomas Edison went to New York for business purposes, he noticed that a nearby river was flowing rapidly. So Edison thought of an invention that could use the currents to produce electricity.
Inventions
“In all, Edison was awarded 1,093 U.S. patents across a wide variety of technologies. Including his foreign patents, successfully filed in other countries, his total is 2,332. What makes him such an important figure in the world of invention is the depth and breadth of his work. He patents whole systems and the components that support such systems. His patents can be grouped into eight categories, whose total productive output can be “roughly approximated” as:
• Electric light & power [425]
• Phonographs and recorded sound [200]
• Telegraphy and telephony [185]
• Batteries [145]
• Mining and iron ore milling [50]
• Cement [ 40]
• Miscellaneous [50]
• Motion pictures [10]
Edison appears to have had two great periods where his patent applications soared, 1872-1890, and 1897-1912; but throughout his career there is a steady flow of ideas and concepts for new products. He meticulously records his work in 4,000 notebooks to protect his intellectual property, influencing generations of inventors and entrepreneurs who would follow in his footsteps.”
Download and Read Thomas Edison’s Patents:
Patent #90,646 – June 1, 1869 – Improvement in Electrographic Vote-Recorder
Patent #91,527 – June 22,1869 – Improvement in Printing-Telegraphs
Patent #96,681 – November 9, 1869 – Automatic Electrical Switch for Telegraph Apparatus
Patent #111,112 – January 24, 1871 – Improvement in Governors for Electro-Motors
Patent #114,656 – May 9,1871 – Improvement in Telegraphic Transmitting Instruments
Patent #114,657 – May 9,1871 – Improvement in Relay-Magnets for Telegraph Instruments
Patent #128,608 – July 2, 1872 – Improvement in Printing-Telegraph Instruments
Patent #130,795 – August 27, 1872 – Improvement in Electro-Magnets
Patent #131,334 – September 17, 1872 – Improvement in Rheotomes or Circuit-Directors
Patent #132,455 – October 22, 1872 – Improvement in Paper for Chemical Telegraphs
Patent #133,841 – December 10, 1872 – Improvement in Type-Writing Machines
Patent #141,777 – August 12,1873 – Improvement in Relay-Magnets
Patent #142,999 – September 23, 1873 – Improvement in Galvanic Batteries
Patent #146812 – January 27, 1874 – Improvement in Telegraph-Signal Boxes
Patent #147,917 – February 24, 1874 – Improvement in Duplex Telegraphs
Patent #150,848 – May 12, 1874 – Improvement in Chemical or Automatic Telegraphs
Patent #154,788 – September 8, 1974 – Improvement in District Telegraph Signal-Boxes
Patent #169,972 – November 16, 1875 – Improvement in Electric-Signaling Instruments
Patent #200,521 – February 19,1871 – Improvement in Phonograph or Speaking Machines
Patent #201,760 – March 26, 1878 – Improvement in Speaking-Machines
Patent #203,017 – April 30, 1878 – Improvement in Telephone Call-Signals
Patent #203,329 – May 7, 1878 – Improvement in Perforating-Pens
Patent #205,370 – June 25, 1878 – Improvement in Pneumatic Stencil-Pens
Patent #210,767 – December 10, 1878 – Improvement in Vocal Engines
Patent #214,637 – April 22, 1879 – Improvement in Thermal Regulators for Electric Lights
Patent #217,781 – July 22, 1879 – Improvement in Sextuplex Telegraphs
Patent #218,166 – August 5, 1879 – Improvement in Magneto-Electric Machines
Patent #218,866 – August 26, 1879 – Improvement in Electric Lighting Apparatus
Patent #222,390 – December 9, 1879 – Improvement in Carbon-Telephones
Patent #223,898 – January 27, 1880 – Electric Lamp
Patent #228,329 – June 1, 1880 – Magnetic Ore-Separator
Patent #228,617 – June 8, 1880 – Brake for Electro-Magnetic Motors
Patent #230,621 – August 3, 1880 – Addressing-Machine
Patent #238,868 – March 15, 1881 – Manufacture of Carbons for Incandescent Electric Lamps
Patent #239,148 – March 22, 1881 – Treating Carbons for Electric Lamps
Patent #239,151 – March 22, 1881 – Method of Forming Enlarged Ends on Carbon Filaments
Patent #239,153 – March 22, 1881 – Electric Lamp
Patent #239,374 – March 29, 1881 – Regulating the Generation of Electric Currents
Patent #240,678 – April 26, 1881 – Webermeter
Patent #242,901 – June 14, 1881 – Electric Meter
Patent #248,425 – October 18, 1881 – Apparatus for Producing High Vacuums
Patent #248,430 – October 18, 1881 – Electro-Magnetic Brake
Patent #248,431 – October 18, 1881 – Preserving Fruit
Patent #248,434 – October 18, 1881 – Governor for Electric Engines
Patent #248,435 – October 18, 1881 – Utilizing Electricity as a Motive Power
Patent #251,552 – December 27, 1881 – Underground Conductor
Patent #263,132 – August 22, 1882 – Electro-Magnetic Railway
Patent #263,144 – August 22, 1882 – Mold for Carbonizing Incandescents
Patent #263,149 – August 22, 1882 – Commutator for Dynamo or Magneto Electric Machines
Patent #265,775 – October 10, 1882 – Electric-Arc Light
Patent #271,614 – February 6, 1883 – Shafting
Patent #273,489 – March 6, 1883 – Turn-Table for Electric Railways
Patent #273,491 – March 6, 1883 – Regulator for Driving Engines of Electrical Generators
Patent #273,492 – March 6, 1883 – Secondary Battery
Patent #273,493 – March 6, 1883 – Valve-Gear for Electrical Generator-Engines
Patent #273,715 – March 13, 1883 – Art of Malleableizing Iron
Patent #278,418 – May 29, 1883 – Apparatus for Translating Electric Currents from High to Low Tension
Patent #293,433 – February 12, 1884 – Insulation of Railroad-Tracks Used for Electric Circuits
Patent #295,990 – April 1, 1884 – Type-Writer
Patent #304,084 – August 26, 1884 – Device for Protecting Electric-Light Systems from Lightning
Patent #314,115 – March 17, 1885 – Chemical Stock Quotation Telegraph
Patent #340,707 – April 27, 1886 – Telephonic Repeater
Patent #340,709 – April 27, 1886 – Telephone-Circuit
Patent #350,235 – October 5, 1886 – Railway-Telegraphy
Patent #365,465 – June 28, 1887 – Valve-Gear
Patent #378,044 – February 14, 1888 – Telephone-Transmitter
Patent #380,100 – March 27, 1888 – Pyromagnetic Motor
Patent #382,414 – May 8, 1888 – Burnishing Attachment for Phonographs
Patent #382,416 – May 8, 1888 – Feed and Return Mechanism for Phonographs
Patent #382,417 – May 8, 1888 – Process of Making Phonogram-Blanks
Patent #382,419 – May 8, 1888 – Process of Duplicating Phonograms
Patent #386,974 – July 31, 1888 – Phonograph
Patent #393,463 – November 27, 1888 – Machine for Making Phonogram-Blanks
Patent #397,280 – February 5, 1889 – Phonograph Recorder and Reproducer
Patent #397,705 – February 12, 1889 – Method of Winding Field-Magnets
Patent #425,761 – April 15, 1890 – Incandescent Lamp
Patent #430,279 – June 17, 1890 – Voltaic Battery
Patent #434,586 – August 19, 1890 – Electric Generator
Patent #434,587 – August 19, 1890 – Thermo-Electric Battery
Patent #434,589 – August 19, 1890 – Propelling Mechanism for Electric Vehicles
Patent #438,305 – October 14, 1890 – Fuse-Block
Patent #439,391 – October 28, 1890 – Junction-Box for Electric Wires
Patent #457,343 – August 11, 1891 – Magnetic Belting
Patent #465,970 – December 29, 1891 – Armature Connection for Motors or Generators
Patent #470,927 – March 15, 1892 – Driving Mechanism for Cars
Patent #470,928 – March 15, 1892 – Alternating-Current Generator
Patent #470,930 – March 15, 1892 – Dynamo-Electric Machine
Patent #472,288 – April 5, 1892 – Dust-Proof Bearing for Shafts
Patent #476,984 – June 14,1892 – Expansible Pulley
Patent #476,985 – June 14, 1892 – Trolley for Electric Railways
Patent #479,184 – July 19, 1892 – Fac-Simile Telegraph
Patent #493,426 – March 14, 1893 – Apparatus for Exhibiting Photographs of Moving Objects
Patent #506,215 – October 10, 1893 – Method of Making Plate Glass
Patent #589,168 – August 31, 1897 – Kinetographic Camera
Patent #641,281 – January 16, 1900 – Expanding Pulley
Patent #657,922 – September 18, 1900 – Apparatus for Reheating Compressed Air for Industrial Purposes
Patent #661,238 – November 6, 1900 – Machine for Forming Pulverized Material Into Briquets
Patent #678,722 – July 16, 1901 – Reversible Galvanic Battery
Patent #722,502 – March 10, 1903 – Means for Handling Cable-Drawn Cars on Inclines
Patent #750,102 – January 19, 1904 – Electrical Automobile
Patent #772,647 – October 18, 1904 – Photographic Film for Moving-Picture Machines
Patent #775,600 – November 22, 1904 – Rotary Cement-Kiln
Patent #909,169 – January 12, 1909 – Waterproofing-Paint for Portland-Cement Structures
Patent #956,317 – April 26, 1910 – Tube-Sealing Machine
Source: www.Thomas Edison.org
http://www.thomasedison.org/index.php/education/edison-patents/
“In all, Edison was awarded 1,093 U.S. patents across a wide variety of technologies. Including his foreign patents, successfully filed in other countries, his total is 2,332. What makes him such an important figure in the world of invention is the depth and breadth of his work. He patents whole systems and the components that support such systems. His patents can be grouped into eight categories, whose total productive output can be “roughly approximated” as:
• Electric light & power [425]
• Phonographs and recorded sound [200]
• Telegraphy and telephony [185]
• Batteries [145]
• Mining and iron ore milling [50]
• Cement [ 40]
• Miscellaneous [50]
• Motion pictures [10]
Edison appears to have had two great periods where his patent applications soared, 1872-1890, and 1897-1912; but throughout his career there is a steady flow of ideas and concepts for new products. He meticulously records his work in 4,000 notebooks to protect his intellectual property, influencing generations of inventors and entrepreneurs who would follow in his footsteps.”
Download and Read Thomas Edison’s Patents:
Patent #90,646 – June 1, 1869 – Improvement in Electrographic Vote-Recorder
Patent #91,527 – June 22,1869 – Improvement in Printing-Telegraphs
Patent #96,681 – November 9, 1869 – Automatic Electrical Switch for Telegraph Apparatus
Patent #111,112 – January 24, 1871 – Improvement in Governors for Electro-Motors
Patent #114,656 – May 9,1871 – Improvement in Telegraphic Transmitting Instruments
Patent #114,657 – May 9,1871 – Improvement in Relay-Magnets for Telegraph Instruments
Patent #128,608 – July 2, 1872 – Improvement in Printing-Telegraph Instruments
Patent #130,795 – August 27, 1872 – Improvement in Electro-Magnets
Patent #131,334 – September 17, 1872 – Improvement in Rheotomes or Circuit-Directors
Patent #132,455 – October 22, 1872 – Improvement in Paper for Chemical Telegraphs
Patent #133,841 – December 10, 1872 – Improvement in Type-Writing Machines
Patent #141,777 – August 12,1873 – Improvement in Relay-Magnets
Patent #142,999 – September 23, 1873 – Improvement in Galvanic Batteries
Patent #146812 – January 27, 1874 – Improvement in Telegraph-Signal Boxes
Patent #147,917 – February 24, 1874 – Improvement in Duplex Telegraphs
Patent #150,848 – May 12, 1874 – Improvement in Chemical or Automatic Telegraphs
Patent #154,788 – September 8, 1974 – Improvement in District Telegraph Signal-Boxes
Patent #169,972 – November 16, 1875 – Improvement in Electric-Signaling Instruments
Patent #200,521 – February 19,1871 – Improvement in Phonograph or Speaking Machines
Patent #201,760 – March 26, 1878 – Improvement in Speaking-Machines
Patent #203,017 – April 30, 1878 – Improvement in Telephone Call-Signals
Patent #203,329 – May 7, 1878 – Improvement in Perforating-Pens
Patent #205,370 – June 25, 1878 – Improvement in Pneumatic Stencil-Pens
Patent #210,767 – December 10, 1878 – Improvement in Vocal Engines
Patent #214,637 – April 22, 1879 – Improvement in Thermal Regulators for Electric Lights
Patent #217,781 – July 22, 1879 – Improvement in Sextuplex Telegraphs
Patent #218,166 – August 5, 1879 – Improvement in Magneto-Electric Machines
Patent #218,866 – August 26, 1879 – Improvement in Electric Lighting Apparatus
Patent #222,390 – December 9, 1879 – Improvement in Carbon-Telephones
Patent #223,898 – January 27, 1880 – Electric Lamp
Patent #228,329 – June 1, 1880 – Magnetic Ore-Separator
Patent #228,617 – June 8, 1880 – Brake for Electro-Magnetic Motors
Patent #230,621 – August 3, 1880 – Addressing-Machine
Patent #238,868 – March 15, 1881 – Manufacture of Carbons for Incandescent Electric Lamps
Patent #239,148 – March 22, 1881 – Treating Carbons for Electric Lamps
Patent #239,151 – March 22, 1881 – Method of Forming Enlarged Ends on Carbon Filaments
Patent #239,153 – March 22, 1881 – Electric Lamp
Patent #239,374 – March 29, 1881 – Regulating the Generation of Electric Currents
Patent #240,678 – April 26, 1881 – Webermeter
Patent #242,901 – June 14, 1881 – Electric Meter
Patent #248,425 – October 18, 1881 – Apparatus for Producing High Vacuums
Patent #248,430 – October 18, 1881 – Electro-Magnetic Brake
Patent #248,431 – October 18, 1881 – Preserving Fruit
Patent #248,434 – October 18, 1881 – Governor for Electric Engines
Patent #248,435 – October 18, 1881 – Utilizing Electricity as a Motive Power
Patent #251,552 – December 27, 1881 – Underground Conductor
Patent #263,132 – August 22, 1882 – Electro-Magnetic Railway
Patent #263,144 – August 22, 1882 – Mold for Carbonizing Incandescents
Patent #263,149 – August 22, 1882 – Commutator for Dynamo or Magneto Electric Machines
Patent #265,775 – October 10, 1882 – Electric-Arc Light
Patent #271,614 – February 6, 1883 – Shafting
Patent #273,489 – March 6, 1883 – Turn-Table for Electric Railways
Patent #273,491 – March 6, 1883 – Regulator for Driving Engines of Electrical Generators
Patent #273,492 – March 6, 1883 – Secondary Battery
Patent #273,493 – March 6, 1883 – Valve-Gear for Electrical Generator-Engines
Patent #273,715 – March 13, 1883 – Art of Malleableizing Iron
Patent #278,418 – May 29, 1883 – Apparatus for Translating Electric Currents from High to Low Tension
Patent #293,433 – February 12, 1884 – Insulation of Railroad-Tracks Used for Electric Circuits
Patent #295,990 – April 1, 1884 – Type-Writer
Patent #304,084 – August 26, 1884 – Device for Protecting Electric-Light Systems from Lightning
Patent #314,115 – March 17, 1885 – Chemical Stock Quotation Telegraph
Patent #340,707 – April 27, 1886 – Telephonic Repeater
Patent #340,709 – April 27, 1886 – Telephone-Circuit
Patent #350,235 – October 5, 1886 – Railway-Telegraphy
Patent #365,465 – June 28, 1887 – Valve-Gear
Patent #378,044 – February 14, 1888 – Telephone-Transmitter
Patent #380,100 – March 27, 1888 – Pyromagnetic Motor
Patent #382,414 – May 8, 1888 – Burnishing Attachment for Phonographs
Patent #382,416 – May 8, 1888 – Feed and Return Mechanism for Phonographs
Patent #382,417 – May 8, 1888 – Process of Making Phonogram-Blanks
Patent #382,419 – May 8, 1888 – Process of Duplicating Phonograms
Patent #386,974 – July 31, 1888 – Phonograph
Patent #393,463 – November 27, 1888 – Machine for Making Phonogram-Blanks
Patent #397,280 – February 5, 1889 – Phonograph Recorder and Reproducer
Patent #397,705 – February 12, 1889 – Method of Winding Field-Magnets
Patent #425,761 – April 15, 1890 – Incandescent Lamp
Patent #430,279 – June 17, 1890 – Voltaic Battery
Patent #434,586 – August 19, 1890 – Electric Generator
Patent #434,587 – August 19, 1890 – Thermo-Electric Battery
Patent #434,589 – August 19, 1890 – Propelling Mechanism for Electric Vehicles
Patent #438,305 – October 14, 1890 – Fuse-Block
Patent #439,391 – October 28, 1890 – Junction-Box for Electric Wires
Patent #457,343 – August 11, 1891 – Magnetic Belting
Patent #465,970 – December 29, 1891 – Armature Connection for Motors or Generators
Patent #470,927 – March 15, 1892 – Driving Mechanism for Cars
Patent #470,928 – March 15, 1892 – Alternating-Current Generator
Patent #470,930 – March 15, 1892 – Dynamo-Electric Machine
Patent #472,288 – April 5, 1892 – Dust-Proof Bearing for Shafts
Patent #476,984 – June 14,1892 – Expansible Pulley
Patent #476,985 – June 14, 1892 – Trolley for Electric Railways
Patent #479,184 – July 19, 1892 – Fac-Simile Telegraph
Patent #493,426 – March 14, 1893 – Apparatus for Exhibiting Photographs of Moving Objects
Patent #506,215 – October 10, 1893 – Method of Making Plate Glass
Patent #589,168 – August 31, 1897 – Kinetographic Camera
Patent #641,281 – January 16, 1900 – Expanding Pulley
Patent #657,922 – September 18, 1900 – Apparatus for Reheating Compressed Air for Industrial Purposes
Patent #661,238 – November 6, 1900 – Machine for Forming Pulverized Material Into Briquets
Patent #678,722 – July 16, 1901 – Reversible Galvanic Battery
Patent #722,502 – March 10, 1903 – Means for Handling Cable-Drawn Cars on Inclines
Patent #750,102 – January 19, 1904 – Electrical Automobile
Patent #772,647 – October 18, 1904 – Photographic Film for Moving-Picture Machines
Patent #775,600 – November 22, 1904 – Rotary Cement-Kiln
Patent #909,169 – January 12, 1909 – Waterproofing-Paint for Portland-Cement Structures
Patent #956,317 – April 26, 1910 – Tube-Sealing Machine
Source: www.Thomas Edison.org
http://www.thomasedison.org/index.php/education/edison-patents/
Report by Gage Laswell for Mrs. Torres, AP Social Studies