Lewis Latimer
September 4, 1848 – December 11, 1928
As the first pay phone was being installed many citizens were in the mitts of experiencing a wave of technology that was unlike any other. It that same space in time Lewis Latimer learned the art of mechanical drawing while working at a patent firm. Over the course of his career as a draftsman, his thorough knowledge of electric lighting and power guided Thomas Edison through the process of filing patent forms properly at the U. S. Patent Office, protecting the company from infringements of his inventions. Latimer worked closely with Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell, ” Latimer improved the newly-invented incandescent light bulb by inventing a carbon filament (which he patented in 1881). In 1882, Latimer developed and patented a method of manufacturing his carbon filaments (patent #252,386). Later, the stronger tungsten filament replaced the carbon filament (invented by W. D. Coolidge). Latimer also invented a threaded wooden socket for light bulbs.In addition to designing his own inventions, Latimer developed the first toilet that could be used in trains (1874, patent #147,363 – called “Water closet for railroad cars”), and a forerunner of the air conditioner (1886, patent # 334,078 – called “Apparatus for cooling and disinfecting”).
Sources Biography.com
