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Granville WoodsAmerican inventor
Date of Birth: 23.04.1856
Country:  USA |
Content:
Biography of Granville Woods
Granville Woods was an American inventor born on April 23, 1856, in Columbus, Ohio. He started working at the age of 10, first in a mechanical workshop, then as a fireman and engineer on a railroad in Missouri, and later on a rolling mill. From 1876 to 1878, he studied electrical engineering and mechanics at a college in the eastern states. Woods worked as an engineer on the Cincinnati railroad.
Early Inventions
In 1884, Woods obtained his first patent for inventing a special device for a steam boiler furnace. In 1885, he invented the "telegraphony," a system that allowed sound transmission over telegraph lines. In 1887, he patented an induction telegraph for receiving and transmitting messages from moving trains. Among his other inventions were electro-mechanical and electromagnetic brakes for railways in 1887, a roller top contact for supplying electric power to trams from overhead wires in 1888, and a fuse for preventing electrical shocks in case of accidental contact with the contact wire in 1889.
Later Inventions and Career
Woods eventually sold his patents to companies such as General Electric and other major corporations. In the early 1890s, after moving to New York, Woods and his brother patented emergency braking systems and devices for supplying power to electric transportation from a third contact rail. He also invented a device for smoothly dimming the lighting in a theater, a frequency regulator for electric motor rotation in 1896, and a poultry farm incubator in 1900.
