The Eighth Tribe, 1978 (5. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1978-01-01 / 1. szám

HISTORY OF HUNGARIAN TECHNOLOGY —

RUDOLF FROMMER (1868-1939) was a mechanical engineer and inventor of the Frommer pistol. For his first patent he submitted an application under the title “an automatically cocked and loaded safety

AMERICAN RESPONSE

DONÁT BÁNKI (1859-1922), engineer and university professor, invented the carburetor in 1893 in collaboration with János Csonka. With his turbine invention, he not only succeeded in substantially increasing (up to 84-87 percent) the effectiveness of hydraulic energy utilization, but he also opened up new ways for using this type of energy in small hydroelectric plants through the use of the modern double-flow turbine he invented. America soon became aware of the possibilities this turbine held. Professors C. A. Mockmore and F. Merryfield, in their book “The Bánki Water Turbine” published in

The Bánki water turbine

1940, stated that the Bánki turbine occupies a prominent place among the known types of water turbines, in that it offers the advantage of both a simple design and also economic operation. Following a series of measurements made on the Bánki turbine during 1948 and 1949, Oregon State University recommended that it be used in a wide variety of areas.

KÁROLY ZIPERNOWSKY (1853-1942) MIKSA DÉRI (1854-1938)

OTTÓ TITUS BLÁTHY (1860-1939)

The members of this triumvirate of Hungarian engineers had their names inscribed forever in the golden book of electrical engineering when they invented the closed-core transformer in 1885. This transformer not only enabled high-voltage alternating current to be transmitted, but also made it possible for electrical engineering to develop in almost limitless directions. The term “transformer” was also coined by the three Hungarian

inventors. It is to their credit that at the time when the world’s leading electrical engineers (Shuckert, Siemens, Crompton and Edison) saw the promise for future progress in the direct current, the three Hungarian engineers had the foresight and courage to apply alternating current. The inventors worked in the Ganz Factory in Hungary, a plant that produced and is still producing their transformers and selling them to users in all parts of the world. The transformer was granted a patent in the United States under the title “Electric Distribution by Alternating Current. K. Zipernowsky, M. Déri, O. T. Bláthy, M. S. Patent No. 392090 filed September 2, 1886, Patent issued on October 30, 1888 (filing series No. 212490)”. A prototype of the first series, having great museal value, was one of the most interesting exhibits at the Memorial Exhibition on Electricity held in Washington in 1965.

The transformer constructed by Zipernowsky, Déri and Bláthy

device for guns.” Up to 1930 Frommer had more than a hundred patents filed all over the world, including the United States. Frommer’s pistol was the first with rigid locking, self loading and long recoil. Frommer also worked on the improvement of hunting rifles. The names mentioned above are just a few selected at random from the long list of Hungarian inventors. Others include SÁNDOR ASBÓTH, who drew up the urban development plans for New York City on Manhattan Island, ÁGOSTON HARASZTHY, the famous viniculturist who played such an important role in establishing viniculture in California, JÓZSEF GALAMB, the creator of the Model-T Ford, and the many scientists and inventors still active today.

Credit: Hungarian Foreign Trade 1977 No. 3