Joseph Bramah
Joseph Bramah
Born	April 13, 1748 Wentworth, Yorkshire
Died	December 9, 1814 Pimlico
Nationality	England
Known for	hydraulic press

Joseph Bramah (April 13, 1748^[1] – December 9, 1814), born Stainborough Lane Farm, Wentworth, Yorkshire, England. Events 1111 - Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. 1204 - The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople Year 1748 ( MDCCXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Yorkshire is a historic county of Northern England and the largest in Great Britain. Events 536 - Byzantine General Belisarius enters Rome while the Ostrogothic garrison peacefully leaves the city Year 1814 ( MDCCCXIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Pimlico is a small area of central London in the City of Westminster that is primarily residential and well known for its collection of small hotels and impressive England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A hydraulic press is a hydraulic mechanism for applying a large lifting or compressive force Events 1111 - Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. 1204 - The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople Year 1748 ( MDCCXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Events 536 - Byzantine General Belisarius enters Rome while the Ostrogothic garrison peacefully leaves the city Year 1814 ( MDCCCXIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Yorkshire is a historic county of Northern England and the largest in Great Britain. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland He was an inventor and locksmith. An inventor is a person who creates or discovers a new method form device or other useful means Locksmithing began as the science and art of making and defeating locks He is best known for having invented the hydraulic press. A hydraulic press is a hydraulic mechanism for applying a large lifting or compressive force Along with William George Armstrong, he can be considered one of the two fathers of hydraulic engineering. Sir William George Armstrong 1st Baron Armstrong ( November 26 1810 &ndash December 27 1900) was a Tyneside industrialist who

Contents 1 Early life 2 Improved water closet 3 Bramah Locks company 4 Machine tools 5 Hydraulic press 6 Other inventions 7 Death 8 Patents 9 Notes 10 References

Early life

He was the second son in the family of three sons and two daughters of Joseph Bramma (note the different spelling of the surname), a farmer, and his wife, Mary Denton. He was educated at the local school in Silkstone and on leaving school he was apprenticed to a local carpenter. Silkstone is a village in South Yorkshire, England, situated in the foothills of the Pennines, between the towns of Barnsley and Penistone On completing his apprenticeship he moved to London, where he started work as a cabinet-maker. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. In 1783 he married Mary Lawton of Mapplewell, near Barnsley, and the couple set up home in London. Mapplewell is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, in South Yorkshire, England. Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, and west of Doncaster They subsequently had a daughter and four sons.

The couple first of all lived at 124 Picadilly, but later moved to Eaton Street, Pimlico.

Improved water closet

His first successful invention whilst in London was an improved water closet. A flush toilet or Water Closet (WC is a Toilet that disposes of human waste by using water to flush it through a drainpipe to another location He found that the current model of water closet being installed in London houses had a tendency to freeze in cold weather. He designed a new model in which the usual slide valve was replaced by a hinged flap that sealed the bottom of the bowl. He obtained a patent for his design in 1778 and began making water closets at a workshop in Denmark Street, St Giles The design was a success and production continued well into the 19th century.

His original water closets are still working in Osbourne House, Queen Victoria's home on the Isle of Wight. Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, England. Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901 was from 20 June 1837 the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The Isle of Wight is an English Island and county in the English Channel between three and five miles (8 km from the south coast of the

Bramah Locks company

After attending some lectures on technical aspects of locks, Bramah, designed a lock of his own. He received a patent for his new lock in 1784. As a result, Bramah started the Bramah Locks company at 124 Picadilly. which survives today.

The locks produced by his company were famed for their resistance to lock picking and tampering, the company famously had a "Challenge Lock" which was displayed in the window of their London shop from 1790 mounted on a board containing the inscription:

The artist who can make an instrument that will pick or open this lock shall receive 200 guineas the moment it is produced. Lock picking is the act of unlocking a lock by analyzing and manipulating the components of the lock device without the original key

The challenge stood for over 60 years until, at the Great Exhibition of 1851 an American locksmith by the name of Alfred Charles Hobbs was able to open the lock and, following some argument about the circumstances under which he had opened it, was awarded the prize. The Great Exhibition, also known as Crystal Palace, was an international exhibition that was held in Hyde Park, London, England, from 1 Alfred Charles Hobbs (1812 &ndash circa December 25, 1891) was an American Locksmith. Hobbs attempt still took him some 51 hours, spread over 16 days.

The Challenge Lock is in the Science Museum in London. An examination of the lock shows that it has been rebuilt since Hobbs picked it, originally it had 18 iron slides and 1 central spring. It was rebuilt to have 13 steel slides, each with its own spring.

Bramah received a second patent for a lock design in 1798.

Machine tools

Partly due to the precision requirements of his locks, Bramah spent a lot of his time developing tools to assist him in various manufacturing processes. He relied heavily on the expertise of Henry Maudslay whom he employed in his workshop from the age of 18. Henry Maudslay ( August 22, 1771 – February 14 1831) was a British Machine tool innovator Tool and die maker Between them they created a number of innovative machines that made the production of Bramah's locks more efficient, but which were also applicable to other fields of manufacture.

Just before Bramah died, his workshops also employed Joseph Clement who among other things made several contributions in the field of lathe design. Joseph Clement ( 1779 – 28 February 1844) was a British Engineer and Industrialist, chiefly remembered as the maker of Charles A lathe (ˈleɪð is a Machine tool which spins a block of material to perform various operations such as Cutting, Sanding, Knurling

Hydraulic press

Bramah's most important invention was the hydraulic press. A hydraulic press is a hydraulic mechanism for applying a large lifting or compressive force The hydraulic press depends on Pascal's principle, that pressure throughout a closed system is constant. The press had two cylinders and pistons of differing cross-sectional areas. If a force was exerted on the smaller piston, this would be translated into a larger force on the larger piston. The difference in the two forces would be proportional to the difference in area of the two pistons. In effect the cylinders act in a similar way that a lever is used to increase the force exerted. Bramah was granted a patent for his hydraulic press in 1795.

Bramah's hydraulic press turned out to have many industrial applications and still does to this day. At the time hydraulic engineering was an almost unknown science, and Bramah (with William George Armstrong) was one of the two pioneers in this field. Sir William George Armstrong 1st Baron Armstrong ( November 26 1810 &ndash December 27 1900) was a Tyneside industrialist who

The hydraulic press is still known as the Bramah Press after its inventor.

Other inventions

Bramah was a very prolific inventor. Not all of his inventions were as important as his hydraulic press. They included: a beer engine (1797), a planing machine (1802), a paper-making machine (1805), a machine for automatically printing bank notes with sequential serial numbers (1806), and a fountain pen (1809). A beer engine is a device for Pumping Beer, originally manually operated and typically used to dispense beer from a Cask or container in a pub's basement A banknote (often known as a bill, paper money or simply a note) is a kind of Negotiable instrument, a Promissory note made by a

Death

Bramah died at Pimlico on 9 December 1814 after catching a cold which turned to pneumonia. Pimlico is a small area of central London in the City of Westminster that is primarily residential and well known for its collection of small hotels and impressive He was buried in the churchyard of St Mary's, Paddington. Paddington is an area of the City of Westminster, in Central London, England.

In 2006 a pub in Barnsley town centre was opened named the Joseph Bramah in his memory. Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, and west of Doncaster

Patents

(incomplete)

1778 

Flushing toilet

21 August 1784 

Bramah Lock

9 May 1785 

Beer pump

1795 

Hydraulic press

Notes

References

• http://www.crypto.com/photos/misc/bramah/
• http://www.pioneers.historians.co.uk/bramah.html
• http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/Museum/locks/gazetteer/gazbra-bzz.htm
• http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/3236

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