The history of the light bulb
The invention of the incandescent light bulb has a long life story starting from the early 1800s. Up until the early 1800’s the only available artificial light sources were oil lamps, gas lamps (where available) and candles. All these sources of light were a hazard to the user and property and were all dangerous in their own way.
1809
An English chemist named Humphrey Davy, the inventor of the miners “Davy” lamp started out on the long and sometimes frustrating project of inventing a practical incandescent light source. Later to be known as the Light Bulb. Sir Humphrey Davy, who was also a close personal and professional friend of the great chemist and physicist Michael Faraday, concocted a giant battery in the basement of Britains Royal Society. It was made of 2,000 pairs of plates and took up 889 square feet of floor space and was said to be what the world’s most powerful battery at the time. Sir Humphrey used this battery to induce current between two charcoal strips, the current flowing through the two strips produced an intense incandescent light, creating the world’s first arc lamp.
1820
British scientist Warren De la Rue made the first known attempt to produce an incandescent light bulb. De La Rue enclosed a platinum coil in an evacuated tube and passed an electric current through it. The design was based on the thought that the high melting point of platinum would allow it to operate at high temperatures and that the evacuated chamber would contain less particles of gas to react with the platinum, thus improving its expected life. Although it was a very efficient design, the platinum was and still is now extremely expensive to obtain making the design impractical for commercial use.
1835
James Bowman Lindsay demonstrated constant electric lighting system using a prototype light bulb at a public meeting in Dundee. After losing interest he later went on to other projects involving wireless telegraphy.
1840
English physicist and chemist Joseph Wilson Swan joined the running to produce a workable electric light.
1850
Edward Shepard invented an electrical incandescent arc lamp using a charcoal filament. Joseph Wilson Swan started working with carbonized paper filaments the same year
1854
Henricg Globel, a German watchmaker, invented the first true light bulb. He used a carbonized bamboo filament placed inside a glass bulb. The bamboo filament tended to last about forty hours before burning out. In a suit filed by rivals seeking to get around Edisons light bulb patent, the German-American inventor Heinrich Göbel claimed he had developed the first light bulb in 1854: a carbonized bamboo filament, in a vacuum bottle to prevent oxidation, and that in the following five years he developed what many call the first practical light bulb. Lewis Latimer demonstrated that the bulbs Göbel had supposedly built in the 1850s had actually been manufactured much later. The judge found the glassblower who had actually constructed the fraudulent exhibits for Göbel. In a patent interference suit in 1893, the judge ruled that Göbels claim was "extremely improbable”
1860
Joseph Wilson Swann patented an incandescent lamp with a filament made from carbonized paper in a partial vacuum. This was the world’s first electric light bulb. The bulb consisted of a filament contained in a partial vacuum. Unfortunately there was limited oxygen in the bulb and the filament glowed white hot. The bulb was developed and later re launched in 1878.
1875
Herman Sprengel invented the mercury vacuum pump making it possible to develop a practical electric light bulb. Making a good vacuum inside the bulb possible.
1875
Henry Woodward and Matthew Evans patented a light bulb. Their light bulb comprised a glass tube with a carbon filament. They purged the tube with inert nitrogen to get a longer burn life in the filament. Their light bulb was sufficiently promising; they were able to sell their patent to Thomas Edison.
1878
Sir Joseph Wilson Swan (1828-1914), an English physicist, was the first person to invent practical and longer lasting electric light bulb in 1878 he demonstrated his new version. This was a year earlier than Thomas Edison, who had independently chosen the same textile for the filament in his light bulb, after he and his assistants had exhaustively tested 6000 alternative plant fibres from every corner of the Earth, before settling on cotton as the best. Swan’s bulb lasted (12 hours). Thomas Edison founded the Edison Electric Light Company. Hiram S. Maxim started a light bulb company in 1878 to exploit his patents and those of William Sawyer. His United States Electric Lighting Company was the second company to sell practical incandescent electric lamps, after Edison.
1879
Thomas Edison invented a carbon filament that burned for forty hours. Edison placed his filament in oxygen less bulb. (Edison evolved his designs for the light bulb based on the 1875 patent he purchased from inventors, Henry Woodward and Matthew Evans. After many experiments with platinum and other metal filaments, Edison returned to a carbon filament. The first successful test was on October 22, 1879 and lasted 13.5 hours. Edison continued to improve his designs and by November 4th 1879 he had filed for U.S. Patent for an electric lamp using a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected to platina contact wires. A practical version of Joseph Wilson Swann’s bulb became available in Britain. From this year he began installing light bulbs in homes and landmarks in England, and by the early 1880s he had started his own company.
1880
Hiram S. Maxim made their first commercial installation of incandescent lamps at the Mercantile Safe Deposit Company in New York City in late 1880, six months after the Edison incandescent lamps had been installed on the steamer Columbia. In October 1880 Maxim patented a method of coating carbon filaments with hydrocarbons to extend their life. Lewis Latimer, his employee at the time, developed an improved method of heat treating the filament which reduced breakage and allowed the filaments to be molded into novel shapes, such as the characteristic "M" shape of Maxim filaments. Edison continued to improve his light bulb until it could last for over 1200 hours using a bamboo-derived filament manufactured as a 16 watt lamp. After many experiments with different types of metal Edison returned to a carbon filament. Edison was granted a U.S. Patent for an improved electric lamp. U.S. patent (granted as U.S. Patent 0,223,898 on Jan 27, 1880)
1882
In Britain, Edison’s and Swan’s companies merged into the Edison and Swan United Electric Company known as Ediswan, which was then eventually incorporated into Thorn Lighting Ltd. Edison was initially against this combination, but after Swan sued Edison and won, Edison was eventually forced to cooperate, and the merger was made. Eventually, Edison acquired all of Swans interest in the company. Swan in June 1882. Sold his United States patent rights to the Brush Electric Company he later wrote that Edison had a greater claim to the light than he, in order to protect Edisons patents from claims against them in the United States. On January 17, 1882, Latimer received a patent for the "Process of Manufacturing Carbons", an improved method for production of the light bulb filaments. This was purchased by the United States Electric Light Company. Latimer patented other improvements such as a better way of attaching filaments to their wire supports.
1883
The United States Patent Office made a ruling that Edisons patents were based on the prior art of William Sawyer and were invalid. Litigation continued for a number of years. Edison’s progress should not be disparaged his ideas may have not all been his but He behaved perfectly legally at all times and improved the originals greatly, allowing them to become widespread in use. And although he did not get there first, his original had also been slightly better than the competition.
1889
October 6 a judge ruled that Edisons electric light improvement claim for "a filament of carbon of high resistance" was valid. In the 1890s, the Austrian inventor Carl Auer von Welsbach worked on metal-filament mantles, first with platinum wiring, and then osmium, and produced an operative version in 1898.
1897
German physicist and chemist Walther Nernst developed the Nernst lamp, a form of incandescent lamp that used a ceramic globar and did not require enclosure in a vacuum or inert gas. Twice as efficient as carbon filament lamps, Nernst lamps were briefly popular until overtaken by lamps using metal filaments.
1898
Carl Auer von Welsbach produced an operative version of a lamp using metal-filament mantles, first with platinum wiring, and then osmium.
1901
Peter Copper Hewitt invented a lamp using a mercury vapour, which emitted a bright blue/white light. Later, a brighter sodium vapour lamp was invented.
1903
Willis Whitnew invented a filament that would not make the inside of a light bulb turn dark. It was a metal-coated carbon filament (a predecessor to the tungsten filament).
1906
The General Electric Company was the first to patent a method of making tungsten filaments for use in incandescent light bulbs. The filaments were costly. General Electric introduced the tungsten filament, which had a high melting point.
1910
William David Coolidge (1873-1975) invented an improved method of making tungsten filaments. The tungsten filament outlasted all other types of filaments and Coolidge made the costs practical.
1928
The first frosted light bulbs were produced U.S. patent (No. 1,687,510). An American chemist Marvin Pipkin who worked at the Incandescent Lamp Department of the General Electric Company patented a process for frosting the inside of light bulbs without weakening them and gave them sufficient strength for commercial handling. Marvin Pipkin, proved The advantages of frosting the inside of a bulb instead of the outside are less absorption of light and less collection of dust. The previous etching processes tended to weaken the glass.
1930
Photographic flash bulbs and fluorescent bulbs were invented.
1940s
The invention of soft incandescent light bulbs
1947
American chemist Marvin Pipkin patents a process for coating the inside of lamps with silica. For most lighting applications, it is desirable to provide some form of light diffusion in the outer bulb to reduce glare and produce a softer, more even illumination. Coating the inside of the light bulb with silica proved to be a very effective way of achieving these criteria.
1950s
The 1950s saw the arrival of quartz glass, this was later to be used in halogen bulbs.
1960s & 1970s Metal halide lamps, ellipsoid reflectors and mirrors, which produced brighter lamps. were developed
1991
Philips invented a light bulb that lasts 60,000 hours. The bulb uses magnetic induction. Later Philips invented a full spectrum light bulb.
1990s to Today
The past 2 decades have brought a big leap in technology with the introduction of such products as compact florescent lights, tri phosphorous coatings of lamps and now the latest Light emitting diodes or L.E.D’s. Technology is an ever evolving phenomenon and the limits are endless. Now with energy prices, running costs and carbon emissions at the fore front of our minds the emphasis of lighting design and manufacture is towards a efficient and versatile lamp that suits many applications. 5 years ago a compact florescent light bulb that dimmed would only be pipe dream now the technology is here. Currently engineers are working on a dimmerable LED’s that can run 90% less power than a standard equivalent light bulb. At Litebulbs we are at the cutting edge of these advancements and aim to deliver high specification light bulbs using market leading technology at a competitive price.
Did You Know
The filament in a standard light bulb is made of a long but incredibly thin length of tungsten metal. In a typical 60 watt light bulb, the tungsten filament is about 6 and a half feet (2 metres) long but only one 100th of an inch thick. The tungsten is arranged in a double coil in order to fit it all in a small space. Then this coil is wound to make a larger coil. In a 60-watt bulb, the coil is less than an inch long.