Chapter 33 Searching for "Light"
Berlin Electric Company.
Located in the East City of Berlin, the location is not prominent and belongs to the transition zone between the downtown and the suburbs. A gray-white building is the office of the Berlin Electric Power Company.
After the completion ceremony of the castle, Ernst returned to Berlin because the first results of the Berlin Electric Company came out.
Under Ernst's reminder, the Berlin Electric Company has been focusing on one thing, experimenting with wick materials for electric lamps.
Ernst remembered the case of Edison improving the electric light. He experimented with many materials and finally selected carbonized cotton fiber. Later, he switched to bamboo fiber, which provided some convenience for the staff.
Ernst walked into the company and after questioning the employees, he learned that Carl von Linde was in the laboratory. Ernst came to the laboratory door and opened the door.
The laboratory was full of pulled wires, and various experimental equipment were placed in a haphazard manner. Ernst carefully crossed over the various equipment and saw Carl von Linde sitting upright in an armchair and drawing on a drawing. .
Ernst did not dare to disturb Carl von Linde. After all, the imagination of a genius is the most precious. What if he accidentally interrupted Carl von Linde’s precious train of thought? Then you will suffer a big loss.
Ernst quietly found a chair, sat down gently, and waited for Carl von Linde to finish his work.
In such a quiet laboratory, the only sounds that could be heard were the ticking of the clock and the rustling of pencils rubbing against paper.
After an unknown amount of time, Ernst was about to doze off. At this time, there was the sound of sorting papers, and Carl von Lind stretched himself and yawned.
At this time, Carl von Linde, who had completed his work, noticed that there was an extra person in the laboratory.
"Your Highness Ernst, why are you here? I'm so sorry, because I was too focused on work and didn't notice your arrival!"
Ernst stood up and stretched his muscles and said. "Mr. Linde, why didn't anyone ask for cleaning? The laboratory is too messy. Will this affect your research?"
Carl von Linde explained: "This is the case. I can organize my thoughts better only when I am alone, so I generally don't let others enter my room. And these instruments and tools are all part of the experiment. There are too few people in the company who know this, or they are not professional enough. I am worried that they will tamper with the equipment and cause my death. Some experiments were destroyed.
Of course, I also want to work in a tidy environment, but scientific research is like this. From time to time, inspiration bursts, and some experimental verifications make the instruments and wires more and more beautiful. So much so that I simply gave up on organizing the laboratory," explains Carl von Linde.
"So that's it!" Ernst suddenly realized that the world of genius is indeed unusual, and some people are just plain lazy.
"Mr. Linde, if you need anything, you can tell me in advance. Of course, the main reason I came here today is to check out the electric lights!" Ernst said.
Carl von Linde heard what Ernst said and began to show Ernst the results.
"Your Highness Ernst, please follow me!"
So, under the guidance of Carl von Linde, the two of them walked through the stairs and entered a laboratory on the first floor. Several work The personnel were refining something in the furnace. Ernst guessed that they were refining materials.
Carl von Linde came to the shelf and took down a box, which was full of elliptical spheres made of glass. Inside the sphere were strange-shaped wicks, which were purely handmade.
"Morgen Si, come over and demonstrate!" Carl von Linde called a staff member over.
Employees demonstrate how the ball works in front of Ernst.
"Boss, this is the socket. Below the light bulb is the plug. We plug the light bulb directly into the plug, and the current passes through the wick inside to emit light..."
As he said this, he turned on the light bulb. After plugging it into the socket, the light bulb in front of me immediately lit up, its wick burning red and emitting a dazzling light yellow light.
After waiting for a while, there was no abnormality in the lighting, and the staff breathed a sigh of relief. Ernst asked: "How long can this light stay on?"
"About six hours!" the staff member replied.
Carl von Linde explained: "Your Highness Ernst, the thing is like this. After you provided the correct ideas, we did make the finished product, but some hardware is still difficult to realize with the current scientific development."
“Just like this light bulb, its wick needs a complete vacuum environment to be used effectively. However, the current vacuum technology cannot achieve this, and there are no instruments or patents on the market that can achieve this purpose, so only Can you make do with it?"
Ernst asked: "Is there a solution?"
"This is what I was about to say. I am currently working on improving the existing market. I have been researching on vacuum technology for the past few days, but there has been no substantial gain yet.”
Ernst held his chin with his hand and thought about it carefully, although Carl von Linde. There are many achievements in the field of electric power applications, but when it comes to precision instruments, the Lenoir people study internal combustion engines all day long. The airtightness and reliability required by internal combustion engines are the ultimate, and there can be no mistakes. The research on machinery is more professional.
So he suggested: "How about this, Mr. Linde, vacuum technology has very high requirements for equipment. You also know that I have an energy and power company under my name. Their researchers have been working with machinery for a long time, and they are very familiar with machinery." The accuracy and quality requirements are very high, we can ask them if there is anything they can do about it!"
Carl von Linde agreed, after all, it is too difficult for one person to do this, It's still an area that I'm not very good at.
So Ernst and Carl von Linde took a carriage to the headquarters of Berlin Energy Power Company not far away. It was now afternoon, and Lenoir and others had not left yet.
"Mr. Lenoir!"
Ernst called over Lenoir and others.
"Your Highness Ernst, do you have anything to tell us from the company today?"
"It's like this..."
Ernst reported the situation encountered by Carl von Linde I talked to Lenoir and others, and introduced the senior executives of the two companies to get to know each other.
"Is that so?" After hearing this, Lenoir found a piece of paper and started drawing. After a while, he asked: "Mr. Linde, can you lend me your drawing?" ”
Fortunately, Ernst and Linde came with Linde’s research documents, and they handed these to Lenoir.
As time passed by with the hands, Lenoir suddenly understood.
“This is a good idea, Mr. Linde. This method is feasible, but the direction needs to be adjusted. The breakthrough point of the problem now is not the structure, but the research and development of materials, which I happen to have some experience in. ”
So the two big guys in different fields happily argued, and Benz and others also joined in. With the heated discussions among several people, the drawings were overturned and redrawn again and again.
Unconsciously, a group of people chatted until the evening. The moon was already hanging high in the sky. Ernst, a scumbag, could only order a cup of coffee and wait for the discussion of these big guys to end.
"...The last problem is solved, Mr. Linde!" Lenoir said excitedly.
"Great, this solves the biggest obstacle on the road to improving electric lights. Thank you so much, Mr. Lenoir!" Linde also said excitedly.
In the end, Lenoir, Linde and others concluded that improved vacuum technology would require at least three months of experiments to turn the principle into reality, and the two parties reached a short-term cooperation.
The patent for the new technology is jointly applied for by all researchers, and the ownership is with the Hechingen Bank. They can enjoy a 20% share in the future.
(End of this chapter)