Ancient Origins

The origins of the scarf, much like the origins of many modern items, date all the way back to Ancient Egypt. Queen Nefertiti is said to be the original wearer of a scarf as it is believed that she wore one beneath an extravagant jeweled headpiece.

Another possible origin of the scarf was in Ancient China. Fringed rectangular scarves were discovered on the sculptures of Ancient Chinese soldiers. In addition, during Emperor Cheng’s rule around 230 B.C. scarves were used as part of a military uniform in order to denote military rank.

Finally, for another one of the early iterations of the scarf, one would look at Ancient Rome. Rather than a military accessory, scarves were used as ‘sweat cloths’ by the Ancient Romans. When men were engaged in strenuous physical labor, they would keep a scarf on their person in order to wick away sweat. They would be worn either around the neck, over the shoulder, or knotted around their waist like a belt.

Fashion Accessory

As history progressed, there came a period where the scarf began to be viewed as more of a fashion accessory. Napoleon is said to have sent his first wife, Josephine, a cashmere scarf from India. Right around the same time, the Third Duke of Krakow allegedly created the first knit scarf. The accessory really became popular with Queen Victoria’s ascension in the 1800s. The Queen is said to have worn silk scarves as a fashion accessory, popularizing them among nobility as they were more expensive and differentiated them from the lower class.

Utility

The perception of scarves shifted once again during the First World War. Knitting became perceived as one’s ‘patriotic duty’ rather than a mere hobby and tons of scarves, gloves, and socks were knitted and sent to servicemen during this period. Troops were often battling harsh, wet, and cold conditions and accessories such as scarves were often lifesaving for them during the war. White silk scarves were even worn by pilots who used the soft fabric as a means to avoid neck chafing. During this time, silk began to be produced in the west and was used for many purposes including bags for gunpowder charges as silk leaves no residue when burnt.

Fashion & Functioin

Since silk had started to emerge in the west during wartime, many clothing brands began to produce silk accessories. One of the first groups to produce silk scarves after the war was Liberty of London, who specialized in bright prints which starkly contrasted the melancholy of the wartime.

Most notably, however, was when Thierry Hermes created the first luxury silk scarf in 1937. The company purchased raw silk directly from China, which was spun into yarn and then woven into a fabric that was twice as strong and heavier than any scarves that had preceded it. The designs also included hand-painted details, hand-rolled edges, and an Equestrian feel. These scarves became extremely popular and desirable, truly shifting the perception of scarves and fashion drastically.

With the introduction of Hermes’s designs, scarves were now viewed as a desirable fashion accessory. The problem was that they were purely for the elite as Hermes’s silk designs were very expensive. This changed with the introduction of rayon, also known as viscose. This slippery fiber with a semi-synthetic material was nicknamed the ‘artificial silk’ because it mimicked the look and feel of silk at a fraction of the price. This allowed scarf accessories to become more accessible to the masses.

The shift toward materials such as cotton, linen, and wool happened during World War II when women were encouraged to take up men’s jobs in factories. Instead of wearing scarves around their necks where they could be a possible safety hazard, women were encouraged to tie their hair up in a scarf, keeping themselves warm while preventing their hair from getting tangled into any equipment. From then on, scarves of various materials and styles became a staple of both fashion and function for women and men around the world.

The post The Evolution of the Scarf appeared first on Inventionland.

Early Origins

The earliest origins of sunscreen, much like many products, date back to the ancient Greeks and Egyptians. In order to protect their skin from the sun’s harmful rays, the Greeks used olive oil and the Egyptians used extracts of jasmine, rice, and lupine plants. Although many of these are still active ingredients in skincare we use today, these ingredients don’t hold up as far as sun protection against our now chemically derived products. But those didn’t begin to circulate in our societies until the 20th century.

The Many Inventors Behind Sunscreen

The trek toward the invention of sunscreen started with H.A. Milton Blake, a chemist, who began experimenting with a sunburn cream in the 1930s. Then in 1938, a Swiss chemistry student named Franz Greiter suffered a sunburn while climbing Mount Piz Buin and he set out to create his own sunscreen product.

In the meantime, an airman and pharmacist named Benjamin Green was also in the process of creating his own version of sunscreen. He used a greasy substance called ‘red vet pet’ (red veterinary petrolatum) to protect himself and other soldiers from UV rays during WWII. Rather than being the traditional sunscreen we know as translucent, it was a heavier substance that was meant to act as a physical barrier between your skin and the sun.

Both men were working furiously to perfect their products and get them on the market. Green ended up mixing his original ‘red vet pet’ with cocoa butter and coconut oil and his product would later be bought by Coppertone and become the sunscreen we still know today. Greiter ended up coming out with a product called ‘Gletsher Creme’ or ‘Glacier Gream’ and was eventually picked up by a company called Piz Buin, which was named after the mountain trek that inspired his invention.

Although both men came out with their products around roughly the same time, Greiter’s most important contribution was that he invented the SPF rating in 1962. This is the measure of the fraction of sunburn producing UV rays that reach the skin. The SPF calculation was then adopted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1978 and it changed the way sunscreen was labeled. Once the rules had been adopted, the FDA issued a set of comprehensive guidelines to help consumers identify suitable sunscreen products.

All of these names have been tossed about in regard to who actually invented sunscreen and, since there seemed to be a case of parallel thought, it’s hard to say who was actually the first to invent it. But one thing we do know is that we couldn’t be more grateful for their invention on these 90 degree summer days.

The post Invention Spotlight: Sunscreen appeared first on Inventionland.

It makes sense…because of the nature of gunpowder and other ingredients, fireworks can’t be mass-produced by means of automation, as even the tiniest spark from any machine could cause a catastrophic explosion. Before you watch your favorite fireworks display, take a look at how these fascinating little rockets are made:

First, The Main Fuse…

The basic construction of a firework is an exterior shell with several separate compartments. The burning fuse explodes one compartment at a time, creating those staggered bursts you see in the sky. For safety, the naturally colorless glue used throughout production is tinted blue while liquid but dries clear. The first compartment of the firework is the lift charge, a gunpowder bag with a long, fast-action fuse placed at the base of the shell that launches the firework about 1000 feet into the air. While the first compartment dries, the second compartment is built, where a powdered explosive is spooned into the center and then capped. A brown cardboard shock absorber is added to shield this section from the first compartment explosion, followed by a corrugated cardboard disc and a plastic spacer.

These barriers allow approximately one and a half seconds for the fuse to burn through these two components, creating a slight delay between the explosion of the first and the second compartments. Gluing the second compartment together is tricky: if it’s too tight it’ll stifle the explosion, but it also has to be tight enough to withstand the delay.

Next, Stars and Comets…

A sleeve is glued onto a case, then filled with hundreds of stars. Stars are carefully formulated and measured explosives that give the firework its beautiful flashes of color (fitting name, right?). Coloring agents range from magnesium for white, to copper salts for blue, to charcoal for orange. These are very delicate and must be handled carefully, or they could detonate.  Comets (which leave the long trail of sparks) are then added to give another dimension of decoration to the firework.

Finally, the two compartments are assembled and the remaining space is filled with the same combination of ingredients. Once the shell is full, the cover is glued into place. The tighter the seal on the compartments, the more the internal pressure will build…which makes for a more spectacular explosion.

Ready to Launch

The lift charge, which was created first and dried while the other compartments were being built, is now ready to be placed at the base of the shell.  At this point, the fireworks are wrapped in craft paper and a label using international color codes identifies the size and type of shell to the pyrotechnic engineer who will set up the display.

Finally, Thank Your Local Fireworks Pyrotechnician

We know what you’re thinking… “That’s fascinating, but how do all those explosives dazzle the audience?” The actual choreography of the display is thanks to a fireworks pyrotechnician, but the basic delivery is the same: When the computer system sends the electrical pulse that lights the main fuse, it starts a chain reaction. The secondary fuse running down the outside of the shell will ignite the lift charge, sending the firework almost 1,000 feet into the sky. Meanwhile, the time-delayed fuse inside the shell burns a few seconds slower, allowing the firework to reach altitude before detonating the gunpowder, comets, and stars for a bright, sparkling, almost magical display that, upon viewing, can’t help but leave the audience feeling a little more patriotic.

The post Invention Spotlight: Fireworks appeared first on Inventionland.

History

The earliest known kit car was designed in 1896. Thomas Hyler-White developed a vehicle that could be assembled at home and published the blueprints in The English Mechanic magazine. Sixteen years later, the “Lad’s Car” could be bought either preassembled or in kit form in the United States. While this means the concept was around since the dawn of the automobile, it wasn’t until the 1950s that it began gaining popularity.

As a refresher, the 1950s was an era of wealth and relaxation for much of the world. Coming off the heels of World War II, Americans had excess money and free time. This same period saw advancements in technology and plastics, particularly the introduction of fiberglass. These factors combined made kit cars an appealing hobby to consumers- a symbol of wealth while also being something to do on the weekends. (It’s worth noting that in the UK, partially-assembled cars were sometimes labeled as kit cars to avoid purchase tax.)

Kit Cars Today

In the modern day, most kit cars are recreations of classic cars. Replicas of the AC Cobra and Lotus 7 are among the more popular models, but any classic automobile can feasibly be rebuilt using a kit. Unlike the originals, however, the copies are made of fiberglass instead of sheet metal. While not exact, it’s still enough that most enthusiasts are willing to put the time into building them. And the build time can range anywhere from a 100 to 1,500 hours, with some modern kits taking upwards of 5,000 hours because of complexity.

The most surprising thing about kit cars is that they’re street legal. Few would think that something built by one person would pass the required safety tests to be used as a traditional vehicle. There are also safety concerns, mainly due to lack of quality control. How do they know the car was assembled with the same care and precision as those from a factory? While a valid worry, most countries where kit cars are popular have laws in place to maintain order. For example, the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) allows each state in the US to set up their own ways to register these automobiles for inspection and license plates.

For those interested in building kit cars, be prepared to shell out both time and money. Prices can be in the tens of thousands for the kits alone. Other resources, like tools and materials, add to the rising cost. This is on top of the dedication of time and energy discussed previously. However, there are plenty of dedicated retailers both online and brick-and-mortar stores, which makes tracking down the perfect kit easier. And it’s comforting to know your efforts won’t waste away in a garage when you’re done, provided you apply for registration.

Building kit cars isn’t a hobby for everybody. The average person with moderate free time would probably be better off just working with a scale model car. But those willing to push themselves to build a full-size, working vehicle should be commended. It takes a lot of skill to create something as complex as an automobile, even with a guide.

Just remember to buckle your seatbelt.

The post The Kit Car: DIY Vehicles appeared first on Inventionland.

It Started With da Vinci

There’s a good reason for that, though: there is no single inventor. Many different people designed and built precursors to modern automobiles. Some may say the idea should be credited to Leonardo da Vinci, who made models of various transport vehicles. However, because he never successfully built a full version, it’s harder to say he “invented” it. Da Vinci merely laid the groundwork for others to follow.

In 1769, Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot from France built the first self-propelled, steam-powered vehicle. It was a three-wheeled tractor meant for military use and reached a top speed of 2.5 MPH. While not a car, it was an automobile that could be driven on the roads. Cugnot was followed by Robert Anderson, a Scotsman who created an electric carriage sometime between 1832-1839. During that period, American Thomas Davenport worked on his own electric vehicle.

Three Wheels or Four?

However, all three men are largely overshadowed by Karl Friedrich Benz, who unveiled his gas-powered vehicle in around 1885-1886. This is largely considered the first “real” automobile, with an internal combustion engine that is still widely used today. It had three wheels, four cycles, and the engine and chassis formed a single unit. In other words, it most closely resembled what we consider to be a modern car, just minus one wheel.

Around the same time, also in Germany, Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach built their own gasoline-powered automobile. This one did have four wheels and was named the “Cannstatt-Daimler.” They would reuse the engine for many other vehicles over the years, including trolleys and the world’s first motorboat. Eventually, Benz and Daimler merged their companies, becoming what is today known as Mercedes-Benz.

From that point onwards, most early automobiles used gasoline as fuel. For instance, George Baldwin Selden patented a carriage with a built-in combustion engine in 1895. It was never manufactured, but Selden did collect royalties. Two years prior, Charles and Frank Duryea made the first successful gas-powered car and set up America’s first car manufacturing company.

Henry Ford and the Future

Of course, all these men have been greatly overshadowed by Henry Ford and his Model T. While Ford did not invent the automobile, he’s widely considered to have perfected it (for the time) and made it accessible to the greater public. The Model T itself was awarded Car of the Century in 1999, and standardized many features we now take for granted, like different speed gears and parking brakes. For this reason, fairly or not, Henry Ford is believed to be the father of the modern automobile.

Plenty of other advancements have happened in the world of automobiles. Pickup trucks and vans became available and eventually commonplace. Station wagons grew in prominence before falling out of fashion. Peugeot produced the first hardback convertible in 1934. Tesla has released a line of plug-in, all-electric vehicles, with the Tesla Model S being named the new Car of the Century. (Time will tell if it’ll keep that title.)

The history of the automobile is complex, with no one person behind it. Perhaps that’s why it has evolved and changed greatly over the years. Whether you credit its invention to Ford, Benz, da Vinci, or somebody else, one thing is agreed upon: the world would be drastically different without it. For that, we have a long list of names to thank.

The post Inventing the Automobile appeared first on Inventionland.

Built-in Apps and the App Store

In 1997, the Nokia 6110 included a built-in version of the basic arcade game “Snake,” which many consider the first mobile app. The first iPod would also come with built-in games: Solitaire and Brick.

Back in 1983, however, a young Steve Jobs first envisioned the App Store…or at least a very basic version of it. Jobs imagined a place where software could be bought over phone lines. Shortly after Apple’s introduction of the iPod, the iTunes store launched, acting as a precursor to the Apple App Store. The iPhone was released in June 2007 to critical and commercial success. Native apps were developed, and just over a year later…the App Store was launched.

The original App Store launched with 500 apps, meaning there is no “true” first app. Nevertheless, as new varieties of smartphones were unveiled, different app clients were introduced. Google Play, the Amazon App Store, and Blackberry’s App World also give more people the ability to enjoy various apps on their phones. It’s also worth mentioning that each store had both paid and free apps from the beginning, meaning premium and “freemium” content was always a factor.

Angry Birds

Also noteworthy? Angry Birds. The first installment in the wildly popular franchise was released in December 2009 and quickly became a runaway hit. By 2015, over three billion downloads were amassed between all entries in the series, making it the most successful freemium software of all time. Countless spinoffs and merchandise were created. Movies, theme parks, and soft drinks were everywhere; and while not as popular as they were at their peak, these birds still dominate the market today.  They even made it to NASA:

App was voted “Word of the Year” for 2010, on the eve of some of the biggest changes in the app market. Apple revealed almost 300,000 jobs were added to the US economy since the iPhone’s debut, calling it “the app revolution.” Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion in April 2012, an unprecedented move in the world of technology. Flappy Bird was introduced and quickly pulled from the market, but not before becoming an enduring meme.

2014 showed a shift in app usage, from fun games and social media to entire lifestyles. Snapchat reported 700 million photos were shared each day. Smartphones continue to sell, and apps alongside them. Not that you need a phone to use apps anymore, thanks to smartwatches, smart appliances, and smart clothes (well, maybe not the latter…yet). Apps have become so integral to everyday life that there are few who don’t use them on a regular basis. On a personal level, apps allow for families and friends to connect even when miles apart. They also keep you in touch with professional colleagues and informed of what developments are happening, even when you’re not on the clock.

Apps aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. They’ve become so ubiquitous it’s difficult to imagine what the world would be like without them. In 2009, Apple ran a commercial saying “There’s an app for that.” A self-fulfilling prophecy or a prediction of what was to come? You decide.

The post The History of Mobile Apps appeared first on Inventionland.

MICROWAVE OVEN

One day in 1945, an employee of the Raytheon Corporation named Percy Spencer was experimenting with a magnetron vacuum tube. When he noticed the candy bar in his pocket starting to melt, he tested some popcorn with the device. When it began to pop, he knew he found something huge. Raytheon began selling the Radarange in 1947, and it flopped commercially. A cheaper, smaller version came out in 1967 to much better reception and now over 95% of homes in the United States have a microwave.

ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS

While you should always wash your hands before eating, there are cases where a bathroom break would change the course of history. For example, if chemist Constantin Fahlberg had washed his hands before dinner in 1879, he would’ve cleaned all the coal tar off his skin. Then he would’ve never tasted how sweet his food was due to the saccharin from the tar. (This is the exception, though- please practice good health and grooming habits.)

POTATO CHIPS

George Crum was the Gordon Ramsay of his day, easily angered but resourceful. When a customer complained that their French fries were too thick and soggy, Crum angrily sliced potatoes as thin as he could, fried them, and served with salt. The customer loved them. That day in 1853, the world’s favorite snack food, the potato chip, was born…entirely out of rage and spite.

IMPLANTABLE PACEMAKER

The idea of a pacemaker wasn’t new before 1956, but few could think of a practical way to insert one into the human body. Wilson Greatbatch, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Buffalo, wasn’t looking to create an artificial heartbeat. He just needed a resistor to build a heart rhythm recorder. The resistor was the wrong size, and when installed, made the circuit produce intermittent electrical pulses. It reminded him of a heartbeat and he began experimenting further and eventually the implantable pacemaker evolved.

POPSICLES

Eleven-year-old Frank Epperson wanted to try some soda pop, the latest beverage craze, in 1905. Instead of spending his money, though, he’d experiment and make his own at home. He mixed powder and water and nearly hit the jackpot- until he left the concoction on the porch overnight. The mixture froze overnight, stirring stick stuck inside… the perfect handle for the new frozen confection he just created.

RADIOACTIVITY

Chalk this one up to both Mother Nature and Henri Becquerel. The chemist was trying to make fluorescent materials produce X-rays through sunlight in 1896. Unfortunately, it was a week of clouds and overcast, forcing him to leave the supplies in his drawer. When the sun finally came out, he opened the drawer to find the uranium rock he was using imprinted in a nearby photographic plate- all without any exposure to light.

SLINKY

Navy engineer Richard James wanted to use springs to keep sensitive instruments steady during World War II. When he dropped one of the springs, it righted itself and landed upright…much to James’ amusement. It caught on among other members of the Navy and children alike, thus creating what might be the simplest toy in existence.

STAINLESS STEEL

Metallurgist Harry Bearly was hired by a 20^th-century arms manufacturer to create a gun barrel that was rust-resistant. He did so but conducted a few experiments on his own on the side. When the metal held up against corrosives like lemon juice, he saw the potential for food-grade silverware, and the elimination of nightly washing, polishing and putting away of the silverware was currently used. Stainless steel appliances, however, were still a bit beyond his imagination.

The post The Best Accidental Inventions appeared first on Inventionland.

VAXXWAGON

For many developing countries, being able to distribute vaccines is a challenge. If the medicine gets too warm, it could lose its effectiveness. Anurudh Ganesan, a then 15-year-old student, knew firsthand how lucky he was to have received a polio vaccination in his home country of India. The struggles his grandparents went through to get him the shot led him to build the VAXXWAGON, a modified bicycle with a thermos kept cold by user pedaling.

BAND-AIDS

Mr. and Mrs. Earl Dickson lived at the turn of the century and were, by all accounts, quite a loving pair. Mr. Dickson was indeed so caring he sought to help his wife deal with the many cuts and burns she gave herself while making dinner. Using his skills and resources from working at Johnson & Johnson, he attached gauze to pieces of surgical tape, prepared for whenever she was injured. The result? The earliest adhesive bandages.

MADAME CJ WALKER

The daughter of former slaves, Sarah Breedlove Walker struggled during her life but never lost hope. After developing a lotion to deal with her hair loss, she began selling her product door-to-door before establishing a college in Pittsburgh. The Walker System, as it came to be known, revolutionized the sales industry and gave African-American women a chance to provide for themselves. Today, she’s recognized as the first female African-American self-made millionaire.

LEONARDO DA VINCI

The creations of Leonardo da Vinci are well-documented and discussed, but few talk about just how ahead of his time he was. From birth, he was considered different (being born out of wedlock during an age of strict religious ideas). His interpretations of religion in paintings like The Last Supper flew in the face of societal norms. And of course, his inventions- including scuba suits and modern tanks- are still being perfected today. He may be a Renaissance man, but his work is far from ancient.

GUNPEI YOKOI

Long before they manufactured video games, Nintendo made Hanafuda cards. One day, the president visited the factory Gunpei Yokoi was working at and noticed a toy Yokoi had made. The extending arm, later dubbed the Ultra Hand, was then rushed into production and became a smash for Nintendo. Yokoi continued to develop toys for Nintendo, including the first in the lucrative Game Boy line of consoles. He’s also known for the creation of the control pad, a staple on many gaming consoles to this day.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

When he wasn’t busy being a founding father, Benjamin Franklin enjoyed experimenting. His discovery of electricity, if somewhat misattributed, is common knowledge. But what about the Franklin stove? The lightning rod? Indeed, not all of his ideas were amazing- he wanted to make the national bird the turkey, for example- but what makes him inspiring was his stance on his inventions. He never patented his inventions because he believed everybody should be able to use them.

DISHWASHER

Josephine Cochrane wanted to make life easier for her servants by lessening the work they had to do to clean the dishes. She built a machine with a motor spinning a wheel inside of a copper boiler. This was the first automatic dishwasher to use water pressure. After her alcoholic husband left her with debt after his death, she patented the creation in 1886 and used it to open her own factory and revolutionize households forever.

The post Inspiring Inventors and Inventions appeared first on Inventionland.

STRING LIGHTS

While they might be a hassle to get untangled, prior to their release, people would decorate their trees with live candles. As you can imagine, this was actually pretty dangerous, so Edward Johnson sought to create a safer alternative. Johnson, the protégé of Thomas Edison, debuted his electric Christmas lights to the public in the late 1800s and the tradition of wrestling with them each year has persisted ever since.

GIFT CARDS

These popular stocking stuffers and gifts from relatives you don’t really speak with first debuted in 1998. Nancy Gensburg and Carol Jacobsohn of Swift Gifts in Illinois combined the magic of modern credit cards with store-specific gift certificates and gift cards were born. They were an instant hit and now most retailers have some version of a gift card.

YULE LOGS

Few people burn actual yule logs anymore. The tradition started as a pagan ritual to celebrate the winter solstice, usually burning pine, birch, oak, or aspen (with each type of wood having a different meaning). The modern equivalent is the yule log cake or “Buche de Noel.”  A chocolate sponge cake is rolled around cream and decorated to look like a traditional yule log. It was first created by a French pastry chef in the late 1880s.

THE DREIDEL

Before becoming the game of choice at Hanukah gatherings, the dreidel started as a top popular in Germany during Christmastime. The Jewish community soon adopted the toy, changing the letters on the top from German to Yiddish. Some stories also suggest that they were used as a cover-up after illegally reading the Torah while hiding from the Seleucids.

CANDY CANES

White sugar candy sticks were popular treats, but in 1670 the choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral decided to bend them to look like shepherd’s crooks. They were handed out to children to keep them quiet during services. It wasn’t until the 1900s that the peppermint flavor and iconic red stripes were added, making them the wintertime snack we all know and love.

GREETING CARDS

Surprisingly, Hallmark had nothing to do with the first Christmas card, although they did help popularize them years later. The first card was designed in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole and his friend, artist John Horsley. The inscription was a simple “A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.” Believe it or not, the card was actually quite controversial because it included an image of a child being given a glass of wine. But one controversial card didn’t stop this fad. Today, thanks to sites like Shutterfly, many families send out personalize cards with family photos so you can see just how much everyone has grown in the last year.

WRAPPING PAPER

We have Hallmark to thank for wrapping paper, naturally. People traditionally wrapped their presents in fabric or plain papers, but the Kansas City, Missouri Hall Brothers store ran out of the latter one day in 1917. They started offering patterned envelope liners as an alternative. Shoppers loved it and gift wrap hasn’t been the same since. Today, you can find gift wrap decorated with everything from donuts to dinosaurs, and it’s become an art to match the gift wrap with the receiver’s personality.

ARTIFICIAL CHRISTMAS TREES

While going out as a family to pick out the perfect Christmas tree is considered iconic, nowadays many pull the artificial one from the basement. Early artificial trees were made in Germany out of wire covered in green-dyed feathers. In the 1930s, the plastic tree most are familiar with was introduced by Addis, a toilet brush company and the first trees were made out of, you guessed it–toilet brush bristles. We’ve come a long way since then and now you can get trees pre-lit, snow covered and in all colors of the rainbow.

The post Invention Spotlight: Holiday Inventions appeared first on Inventionland.

1) The Industrial Revolution

The first major shift in the manufacturing industry came during what we now refer to as the Industrial Revolution. This was a shift that occurred in the 18th century where, instead of items being produced by hand, processes were invented which allowed items to be produced by machines. It began in England in 1760, finally reaching the United States by the end of the 18th century.

The dramatic reduction of material cost and production time impacted several industries including the textile industry. Prior to this period, textiles were mainly made in people’s homes and merchants would provide the basic equipment and materials needed. This meant workers would make their own schedules, which made it difficult to regulate.

The shift from man to machine changed not only the production process, but caused a dramatic shift in the market as well. For example, prior to the Industrial Revolution, textiles were primarily hand spun and made of wool. Enter the spinning jenny, a machine which enabled an individual to produce spools of thread simultaneously. The power loom was also invented during this period, which mechanized the process of weaving cloth. The combination of these two inventions caused cotton to overtake wool in the textile field.

The iron industry also made some major developments during this period. According to the History website, an Englishman named Abraham Darby discovered a simpler and cheaper method to produce cast iron, using a coke-fueled furnace (rather than charcoal fueled, as was previously used).

In 1712, the steam engine was invented by Thomas Newcom and this began to be used to pump water out of mines. By the late 18th century, Newcom’s invention was improved upon by James Watt and it was now used to power machinery, ships and locomotives.

While the Industrial Revolution raised standards of living for the upper and middle class, the lower and working class still struggled. Because the demand was greater than the supply, new factories were forced to open and the hours for workers were extremely difficult. Unskilled workers were easily replaceable and children were employed and used for highly dangerous tasks like cleaning the machinery. The demand on workers during this era is what ultimately led to the 1833 Factory Act, which placed restrictions on the working hours of children and set standards to protect workers.

2) Assembly Line

The next shift in manufacturing was the introduction of the assembly line. The assembly line was first patented in 1901 by Ransom E. Olds, a car manufacturer. His method allowed his company to produce 20 units per day, which eventually increased their output by 500 percent in one year. Because they were creating more vehicles, this allowed them to drastically decrease their prices. The method used by Olds ended up serving as the model form when Henry Ford created his own system.

Ford is credited as the father of the assembly line as well as of automotive mass manufacturing. He improved on Olds’s system by using moving platforms and a conveyor system. The vehicles were towed by a rope which would move them from station to station. This way, workers could just assemble the different pieces as they arrived at their stations.

The plant was producing what they called the Model T car. Prior to this shift, cars were considered a luxury item. It was fairly expensive when they first released it, initially the cheapest price was $825 (which was equivalent to about $18,000 in today’s currency). But as production efficiency increased, they were able to drop prices drastically so the vehicles were more affordable.

They also kept prices low by eliminating some waste and sticking to one product. They would only have to build one model allowing the engineers to develop a system of interchangeable parts from that single prototype. This drastically reduced waste and improved the ease of the process, making it more possible for an unskilled workforce. According to History’s website, ads at the time stated, “No car under $2,000 offers more, and no car over $2,000 offers more except the trimmings.”

These vehicles were not only affordable, but they were of high quality. They had 22-horsepower, four-cylinder engines and were made with a brand new heat-treated steel, which made the vehicle lighter and stronger than the competition. Between 1908 and 1927, Ford manufactured around 15 million Model T vehicles.

3) Unified Assembly Line

The next major step was the creation of the Unified Assembly Line by Buick Motor Company. The plant was opened in Flint, MI and made headlines as it was able to turn around over 1,300 cars per day. It was built and designed by C.B. Durham, who wanted to obtain the most speed and economy in the assembly operation, while still maintaining quality standards.They were able to cut costs significantly by creating a system of elaborate and intricately designed conveyors in one unified line. A steady stream of finished and tested valve-in-head engines were transported from the engine plant, through a tunnel using a chain.

4) Lean Manufacturing

In 1948, Toyota Motor Corporation developed what they called “Lean Manufacturing”. This process was developed in order to improve the flow of production by identifying and eliminating waste. This system was a drastic change from previous systems as it required more persistence and detailed observation. This system was mostly confined to Japan until the 1970’s when the United Kingdom began to adopt their own system of lean manufacturing. By the 1990’s, the concept of lean manufacturing began to spread outside of the automobile industry. It’s now used in electronics, aerospace, healthcare, construction, and food manufacturing.

Over time, Toyota has worked at improving their own version of the lean manufacturing system, which they still use today. It’s now been renamed the ‘Just in Time System’ and it emphasizes making only “what is needed, when it is needed, and in the amount needed.” Their new system also states that they specialize in: “Producing quality products efficiently through the complete elimination of waste, inconsistencies, and unreasonable requirements on the production line.”

5) Robotics

Fast forward to present-day and our manufacturing systems are primarily machine-dominated. It may surprise you, but modern-day robotic thinking began all the way back in the year 1926 with a robot called Televox. This robot was introduced by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation and the robot could respond to the human voice and perform useful tasks. What set Televox–or Mr. Televox as he was called at the time–apart from other robots at the time were that most of them were very simple robots. They were designed to simply perform crowd-pleasing tricks like smoking a cigarette, firing a revolver, or whistling a pleasing tune. Most were also made with a series of gears and levers and they’d be voiced and controlled by their inventors.

This particular robot, designed by R.J. Wensley, was the first that could be put to real use. Wensley believed that robots could be used for more than just entertainment and Televox was a first approach at this new form of industry. According to an article by The New York Times, Wensley was quoted in 1933 as saying, “In time to come the only work to be done by men and women will be that which requires faculties of discernment, discretion, and judgment. All other work – anything repetitive, routine, standardized – can better be done by machines.”

From then, we’ve made steady progress toward more robotic assembly and manufacturing lines. The 1950’s and 1960’s were huge periods of experimentation and movement towards this future. The first industrial robot was called Unimate and it began work in the General Motors Assembly Line in 1961. George Devol, the creator of the device, went on to create the world’s first robot manufacturing company.

According to Robohub,  Stanford engineer Victor Scheinman created the Stanford Arm in 1969. This was a 6-axis robot which could move and assemble parts in a continuous repeated pattern. This invention drastically expanded robotic manufacturing in ways that are still applied to the modern assembly. At Philips Electronics factory in the Netherlands, for example, production is completed by a number of robot arms assigned to specific tasks.

Today, robotics have reached a new level of innovation. Companies such as Rethink Robotics are even attempting to develop adaptive manufacturing robots which are able to work next to humans. These robots would help to improve efficiency and increase productivity while also being low-cost and user-friendly.

It’s been quite a long journey, but we’re now at a point in human history where mass manufacturing allows products to be made quicker and easier than ever before. Given how far we’ve come, who knows what the future of manufacturing will hold in its (most likely) mechanical grip.

The post Manufacturing: From Past to Present appeared first on Inventionland.