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Emile Berliner | |
|---|---|
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| Born | (1851-05-20)May 20, 1851 |
| Died | August 3, 1929(1929-08-03) (aged 78) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place | Rock Creek Cemetery Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Alma mater | Cooper Union Institute |
| Occupation | Inventor |
| Known for | Disc record,microphone |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 7 includingHenry Berliner |
| Awards | Elliott Cresson Medal (1913) |
Emile Berliner (bornEmil Berliner; May 20, 1851 – August 3, 1929) was a German-American inventor and businessman who invented the lateral-cut flat discrecord, also known as a "gramophone record," used with agramophone. He founded theUnited States Gramophone Company in 1894;[1] TheGramophone Company in London, England, in 1898;Deutsche Grammophon inHanover, Germany, in 1898; andBerliner Gram-o-phone Company of Canada inMontreal in 1899 (chartered in 1904). Berliner also invented what was probably the first radial aircraft engine (1908), ahelicopter (1919), and acoustical tiles (1920s).[citation needed]
Berliner was born inHanover, Germany, in 1851 into a Jewish merchant family.[2][3] He completed an apprenticeship to become a merchant, as was family tradition. While his real hobby was invention, he worked as an accountant to make ends meet. To avoid being drafted in theFranco-Prussian War, Berliner migrated to the United States of America in 1870 with a friend of his father's, in whose shop he worked inWashington, D.C.[4] He moved to New York and, living off temporary work such as a paper route and cleaning bottles, he studied physics at night at theCooper Union Institute.[5]
After some time working in a livery stable, Berliner became interested in the newaudio technology of thetelephone andphonograph. He invented an improved telephone transmitter, one of the first types ofmicrophones. The patent was acquired by theBell Telephone Company (seeThe Telephone Cases), but contested, in a long legal battle, byThomas Edison. On February 27, 1901, theUnited States Court of Appeals would declare Berliner's patent void and awarded Edison full rights to the invention. "Edison preceded Berliner in the transmission of speech," the court would write. "The use of carbon in a transmitter is, beyond controversy, the invention of Edison".[6][7]
Berliner moved toBoston in 1877, where he became a United States citizen four years later. He worked for Bell Telephone until 1883, when he returned to Washington and established himself as a private researcher.
In 1886, Berliner began experimenting with methods ofsound recording and reproduction. He was granted his firstpatent for what he called the "Gramophone" in 1887. The patent described recording sound using horizontalmodulation of astylus as it traced a line on a rotatingcylindrical surface coated with an unresisting opaque material such aslampblack, subsequently fixed withvarnish and used tophotoengrave a corresponding groove into the surface of a metal playback cylinder. In practice, Berliner opted for the disc format, which made the photoengraving step much less difficult and offered the prospect of making multiple copies of the result by some simpler process such aselectrotyping, molding, or stamping. In 1888, Berliner was using a more direct recording method, in which the stylus traced a line through a very thin coating of wax on a zinc disc, which was then etched in acid to convert the line of bared metal into a playable groove.[citation needed]
By 1890, a Berliner licensee in Germany was manufacturing a toy Gramophone and five-inch hard rubber discs (stamped-out replicas of etched zinc master discs), but because key U.S. patents were still pending they were sold only in Europe. Berliner meant his Gramophone to be more than a mere toy, and in 1894 he persuaded a group of businessmen to invest $25,000, with which he started theUnited States Gramophone Company.[1] He began marketing seven-inch records and a more substantial Gramophone, which was, however, still hand-propelled like the smaller toy machine.[citation needed]
The difficulty in using early hand-driven Gramophones was getting the turntable to rotate at an acceptably steady speed. EngineerEldridge R. Johnson, the owner of a small machine shop in Camden, New Jersey, helped Berliner develop a suitable low-cost wind-up spring motor for the Gramophone, then to manufacture it. Berliner gave Frank Seaman the exclusive sales rights in the U.S., but after disagreements Seaman began selling his own version of the Gramophone, as well as unauthorized copies of Berliner's records; ultimately, Berliner was legally barred from selling his own products. The U.S. Berliner Gramophone Company shut down in mid-1900 and Berliner moved to Canada. Following various legal maneuvers, Johnson founded theVictor Talking Machine Company in 1901 and the trade name "Gramophone" was soon abandoned in the U.S., although its use continued in the UK and elsewhere. The Berliner Gramophone Co. of Canada was chartered on 8 April 1904 and reorganized as the Berliner Gramophone Co. in 1909 in Montreal's Saint Henri district.[citation needed]
Berliner also developed a rotary engine and an early version of thehelicopter. According to a July 1, 1909, report inThe New York Times, a helicopter built by Berliner and J. Newton Williams ofDerby, Connecticut, had Williams "from the ground on three occasions" at Berliner's laboratory in theBrightwood neighborhood of Washington, D.C.[8]
Between 1907 and 1926, Berliner worked on technologies for vertical flight, including a lightweight rotary engine. Berliner obtained automobile engines from theAdams Company in Dubuque, Iowa, whose Adams-Farwell automobile usedair-cooled three- or five-cylinderrotary engines developed in-house byFay Oliver Farwell (1859–1935). Berliner, his assistant R.S. Moore, and Farwell developed a 36-hp rotary engine for use in helicopters, an innovation on the heavier inline engines then in use.[9]
In 1909, Berliner founded theGyro Motor Company in Washington, D.C. The company's principals included Berliner, president; Moore, designer and engineer; and Joseph Sanders (1877–1944), inventor, engineer, and manufacturer. The manager of the company wasSpencer Heath (1876–1963), a mechanical engineer who was connected with theAmerican Propeller Manufacturing Company, a manufacturer of aeronautical related mechanisms and products in Baltimore, Maryland. By 1910, Berliner was experimenting with the use of a vertically mounted tail rotor to counteract torque on his single-main-rotor design, a configuration that led to practical helicopters of the 1940s.[9] The building used for these operations exists at 774 Girard Street NW, Washington, D.C., where its principal facade is in the Fairmont-Girard alleyway.[10] On June 16, 1922, Berliner and his son,Henry, demonstrated a helicopter for theUnited States Army.
Henry became disillusioned with helicopters in 1925, and the company shut down.[9] In 1926, Henry Berliner founded the Berliner Aircraft Company,[9] which merged to becomeBerliner-Joyce Aircraft in 1929.
Berliner's other inventions include a new type ofloom for mass-production of cloth and anacoustic tile.
Berliner, who suffered a nervous breakdown in 1914,[11] also advocated for improvements in public health andsanitation. He also advocated for women's equality and, in 1908, established a scholarship program, theSarah Berliner Research Fellowship, in honor of his mother.
Berliner was awarded theFranklin Institute'sJohn Scott Medal in 1897, theElliott Cresson Medal in 1913, and theFranklin Medal in 1929.[citation needed]
On August 3, 1929, Berliner died of aheart attack at his home at theWardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C., at the age of 78.[12] He is buried inRock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C., alongside his wife and a son,Herbert Samuel Berliner.[13]
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