invention of no avail

- invention covered by a patent

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SUBJECT AREA: Electronics and information technology, Recording

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Of English descent, Smith embarked on an education in mechanical engineering, graduating from West Jersey Academy, Bridgeton, New Jersey, in 1859. In 1863 he established a machine shop in Bridgeton, New Jersey, that became the Ferracute Machine Company in 1877, eventually specializing in the manufacture of presses for metalworking. He seems to have subscribed to design principles considered modern even in the 1990s, "always giving attention to the development of artistic form in combination with simplicity, and with massive strength where required" (bibliographic reference below). He was successful in his business, and developed and patented a large number of mechanical constructions.

Inspired by the advent of the phonograph of Edison, in 1878 Smith obtained the tin-foil mechanical phonograph, analysed its shortcomings and performed some experiments in magnetic recording. He filed a caveat in the US Patent Office in order to be protected while he "reduced the invention to practice". However, he did not follow this trail. When there was renewed interest in practical sound recording and reproduction in 1888 (the constructions of Berliner and Bell \& Tainter), Smith published an account of his experiments in the journal Electrical World. In a corrective letter three weeks later it is clear that he was aware of the physical requirements for the interaction between magnetic coil and magnetic medium, but his publications also indicate that he did not as such obtain reproduction of recorded sound.

Smith did not try to develop magnetic recording, but he felt it imperative that he be given credit for conceiving the idea of it. When accounts of Valdemar Poulsen's work were published in 1900, Smith attempted to prove some rights in the invention in the US Patent Office, but to no avail.

He was a highly respected member of both his community and engineering societies, and in later life became interested in the anti-slavery cause that had also been close to the heart of his parents, as well as in the YMCA movement and in women's suffrage.

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1 usefulness.

2 utility (program) (computing).

3 benefit, earnings, utility, profit.

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► nombre femenino

1 utility, usefulness

■ de gran utilidad very useful

2 (beneficio) profit

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1) [gen] usefulness

2) LAm (Com, Econ) profit

3) (Inform) utility

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a) ( de aparato) usefulness

b) utilidades femenino plural (AmL) (ganancia, beneficio) profits (pl)

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= expediency, helpfulness, usefulness, utility, utilisability, fruitfulness.

Ex. And we have all of the ingredients for the creation of an atmosphere in which the proponents of expediency could couch their arguments in terms of cost effectiveness.

Ex. Sometimes, in the interest of comprehension or helpfulness, modifications to the standard pattern are desirable.

Ex. Some feel that the non-expressive nature of the notation limits the scheme's usefulness in computerised data bases.

Ex. Situations where subdivisions might have had some utility are served by the co-ordination of index terms at the search stage.

Ex. Utilisability is the extent to which research results are adapted to the characteristics of the intended users and their circumstances.

Ex. The fruitfulness of our life depends in large measure on our ability to doubt our own words and to question the value of our own work.

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* contorno de utilidad = utility contour.

* curva de utilidad = utility contour.

* demostrar su utilidad = come into + Posesivo + own.

* de utilidad general = all-purpose.

* de utilidad inmediata = immediately useful.

* ejecutar una utilidad = run + utility.

* poca utilidad = unhelpfulness.

* programa de utilidades = utilities.

* ser de utilidad = be of use.

* ser de utilidad a = be of service to.

* utilidades = toolbox [tool box].

* ver la utilidad = see + the point.

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a) ( de aparato) usefulness

b) utilidades femenino plural (AmL) (ganancia, beneficio) profits (pl)

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1 (de un aparato) usefulness

no le veo la utilidad a ese aparato I can't see the point of this machine

tener coche, viviendo en el campo, es de gran utilidad it's very useful to have a car when you live in the country

2 utilidades fpl ( AmL) (ganancia, beneficio) profits (pl)

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a) ( de aparato) usefulness;

◊ un coche me sería de mucha utilidad a car would be of great use to me

◊ utilidades sustantivo femenino plural (AmL) (ganancia, beneficio) profits (pl)

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♦ nf

1. [cualidad] usefulness;

dudo de su utilidad I doubt it will be much use;

el libro me fue de gran utilidad the book was very useful

2. [beneficio] profit

3. Informát utility (program)

♦ utilidades nfpl

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1 usefulness;

ser de gran utilidad be very useful;

de utilidad pública of public benefit;

una asociación de utilidad pública a registered charity, a charitable organization

utilidades pl L.Am. profits

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utilidad nf

1) : utility, usefulness

2) utilidades nfpl

: profits

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utilidad n usefulness

SUBJECT AREA: Paper and printing

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Fourdrinier's father was a paper manufacturer and stationer of London, from a family of French Protestant origin. Henry took up the same trade and, with his brother Sealy (d. 1847), devoted many years to developing the papermaking machine. Their first patent was taken out in 1801, but success was still far off. A machine for making paper had been invented a few years previously by Nicolas Robert at the Didot's mill at Essonnes, south of Paris. Robert quarrelled with the Didots, who then contacted their brother-in-law in England, John Gamble, in an attempt to raise capital for a larger machine. Gamble and the Fourdriniers called in the engineer Bryan Donkin, and between them they patented a much improved machine in 1807. In the new machine, the paper pulp flowed on to a moving continuous woven wire screen and was then squeezed between rollers to remove much of the water. The paper thus formed was transferred to a felt blanket and passed through a second press to remove more water, before being wound while still wet on to a drum. For the first time, a continuous sheet of paper could be made. Other inventors soon made further improvements: in 1817 John Dickinson obtained a patent for sizing baths to improve the surface of the paper; while in 1820 Thomas Crompton patented a steam-heated drum round which the paper was passed to speed up the drying process. The development cost of £60,000 bankrupted the brothers. Although Parliament extended the patent for fourteen years, and the machine was widely adopted, they never reaped much profit from it. Tsar Alexander of Russia became interested in the papermaking machine while on a visit to England in 1814 and promised Henry Fourdrinier £700 per year for ten years for super-intending the erection of two machines in Russia; Henry carried out the work, but he received no payment. At the age of 72 he travelled to St Petersburg to seek recompense from the Tsar's successor Nicholas I, but to no avail. Eventually, on a motion in the House of Commons, the British Government awarded Fourdrinier a payment of £7,000. The paper trade, sensing the inadequacy of this sum, augmented it with a further sum which they subscribed so that an annuity could be purchased for Henry, then the only surviving brother, and his two daughters, to enable them to live in modest comfort. From its invention in ancient China (see Cai Lun), its appearance in the Middle Ages in Europe and through the first three and a half centuries of printing, every sheet of paper had to made by hand. The daily output of a hand-made paper mill was only 60–100 lb (27–45 kg), whereas the new machine increased that tenfold. Even higher speeds were achieved, with corresponding reductions in cost; the old mills could not possibly have kept pace with the new mechanical printing presses. The Fourdrinier machine was thus an essential element in the technological developments that brought about the revolution in the production of reading matter of all kinds during the nineteenth century. The high-speed, giant paper-making machines of the late twentieth century work on the same principle as the Fourdrinier of 1807.

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