Joseph Bramah : biography
Joseph Bramah (13 April 1748 – 9 December 1814), born Stainborough Lane Farm, Stainborough, Barnsley Yorkshire, England, was an inventor and locksmith. He is best known for having invented the hydraulic press. Along with William George Armstrong, he can be considered one of the two fathers of hydraulic engineering.
Hydraulic press
Bramah’s most important invention was the hydraulic press. The hydraulic press depends on Pascal’s principle, that pressure throughout a closed system is constant. The press had two cylinders and pistons of different 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 had many industrial applications and still does today. Of the period of time, to which end the things told of here are referring, the field of hydraulic engineering was within the province of an almost unknown science, and Bramah together with William George Armstrong were the two pioneers in this field.
The hydraulic press is still known as the Bramah Press after its inventor.
Death
One of Bramah’s last inventions was a hydrostatic press capable of uprooting trees. This was put to work at Holt Forest in Hampshire. While superintending this work Bramah caught a cold, which developed into pneumonia. He died at Holt Forest on 9 December 1814. He was buried in the churchyard of St Mary’s, Paddington.
In 2006 a pub in Barnsley town centre was opened named the Joseph Bramah in his memory.
Machine tools
Partly due to the precision requirements of his locks, Bramah spent much time developing machine tools to assist manufacturing processes. He relied heavily on the expertise of Henry Maudslay whom he employed in his workshop from the age of 18. Between them they created a number of innovative machines that made the production of Bramah’s locks more efficient, and were 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.
Patents
Bramah was a prolific inventor, and obtained 18 patents for his designs between 1778 and 1812.Skempton (2002), p.70
- 1778
- Flushing toilet (Pat. No. 1177) (not found)
- 9 May 1785
- Beer pump
- 1785
- Hydrostatical machine and boiler, propelling vessels, carriages, etc. (Pat. No. 1478)
- 1787
- Bramah Lock (Pat. No. 1478)Patent number wrong? Same as above.
- 1790
- Rotary engines (with Thomas Dickinson) (Pat. No. 1720)
- 1793
- Fire engines (Pat. No. 1948)
- Beer engines and brewing (Pat. No. 2196)
- 1795
- Hydraulic press (Pat. No. 2045)
- 1796
- First Pumper Fire Truck
- 1798
- Locks (Pat. No. 2232)
- 1802
- A planing machine for making gun stocks (Pat. No. 2652)
- 1805
- Improvements to paper manufacture and printing (Pat. No. 2840)
- 1806
- Printing and numbering of banknotes (Pat. No. 2957)
- Improvements to paper manufacture and printing (Pat. No. 2977)
- 1809
- Pens (Pat. No. 3260)
- Carriages (Pat. No. 3270)
- 1812
- Public water mains and high-pressure hydraulic mains (Pat. No. 3611)
- Carriages (Pat. No. 3616)
Bramah Locks company
After attending some lectures on technical aspects of locks, Bramah designed a lock of his own, receiving a patent for it in 1784. In the same year he started the Bramah Locks company at 124 Piccadilly, which is today based in Marylebone, London and Romford, Essex.
The locks produced by his company were famed for their resistance to lock picking and tampering, and the company famously had a "Challenge Lock" displayed in the window of their London shop from 1790 mounted on a board containing the inscription: