Pneumatics is the technology of compressed air, but in some circles, it is more

fashionable to refer to it as a type of automation control. Pressurized gasgenerally air

that may be either of the dry or lubricated typeis used to actuate an end effector and
do work. End effectors can range from the common cylinder to more application-specific
devices such as grippers or air springs. Vacuum systems, also in the pneumatic realm,
use vacuum generators and cups to handle delicate operations, such as lifting and
moving large sheets of glass or delicate objects such as eggs.
Engineers commonly use pneumatics in industries that include medical, packaging,
material handling, entertainment and even robotics. And pneumatics can be useful in
very specific applications where hazards are criticalfor example, in a mine, where a
stray spark could mean disaster and lost lives.
By its nature, air is easily compressible, and so pneumatic systems tend to absorb
excessive shock, a feature useful in some applications. Most pneumatic systems
operate at a pressure of about 100 psi, a small fraction of the 3,000 to 5000 psi that
some hydraulic systems see. As such, pneumatics are generally used when much
smaller loads are involved.

A pneumatic system generally uses an air compressor to reduce the volume of the air,
thereby increasing the pressure of the gas. The pressurized gas travels through
pneumatic hoses and is controlled by valves on the way to the actuator. The air supply
itself must be filtered and monitored constantly in order to keep the system operating
efficiently and the various components working properly. This also helps to ensure long
system life.
In recent years, the control available within pneumatic systems (thanks to advanced
electronics and componentry) has increased a great deal. Where once pneumatic
systems could not compete with many comparable electronic automation systems, the
technology today is seeing a renaissance of sorts.
More and more, pneumatics is being used in interesting ways that would have been
unthinkable a decade or two ago. Creative applications from robotics to pneumatic
muscles are consistently making the news, showing not only the creativity of the

engineering community, but also the inherent flexibility and adaptability of this important
technology.

What is Pneumatics?
Submitted by administrator on Tue, 06/17/2014 - 16:35
Did you know June 19 is a significant date in fluid power history?
Blaise Pascala French mathematician, inventor, writer, and physicistwas born on
this day clear back in 1623. He was also instrumental in experiments
in pneumatics that examined the behavior of air in a vacuum and validated the
work of the man who invented the barometer, Evangelista Torricelli. Because of
Blaise Pascal and his work, the scientific foundation of thermodynamics and fluid
power was set to build upon for those who followed.
What is Pneumatics? It basically boils down to using compressed air to do
work. If you think about it for a second you might be able to come up with a few
examples. Still scratching your head? Here are some to think about... Let's start in
everyone's favorite place, the dentist's office. Next time you go for a visit, look
around. You might not see any valves out in the open but they sure are there.
Pneumatic valves are sometimes used in the procedure chair to move compressed
air to an actuator to move you around. They control the speed of the drill that's
whizzing in to one of your molars. They are used to dispense air and water in to
your mouth as well and then suck out all the fun stuff once the dentist is done. If
you are lucky enough to get some laughing gas for your procedure, the dentist is
most likely using a pneumatic valve to dispense the gas, which makes you a much
happier person when all is said and done!
Examples of the use of pneumatics and pneumatic valves are all around us.
They are used in complex automated systems that package a lot of the food we buy
from the grocery store. They are used to automate the process of milking cows.
They are used to assemble semiconductors and computer chips, assist in the
making of potato chips, and even assist in the bottling of our favorite beverages! It's
crazy to think about how pneumatics and pneumatic valves affect us every day. Just

keep and eye out and an open mind as to the power of pneumatics and you will
notice its endless applications.

Pneumatics through the agesa timeline

of evolution
Posted by Mary Gannon on Wednesday, April 16, 2014 Leave a Comment

So much of todays modern machinery utilizes some form of pneumatic component

within its makeup and function. Yet it can be argued that the majority of people know
little about the industry and how components have evolved into being essential
elements the likes of jet engines.
To understand how pneumatic components have become important parts of many
inventions we use today, we need first to understand their history and how they evolved.
The origins
As with many forms of technology, the first use of a form of pneumatic technology dates
back many thousands of years. In this instance, a Greek mathematician by the name of
Hero of Alexandria wrote in the first century about how he used wind to generate power
and transport objects, however it wasnt until the 1600s that German physicist Otto von
Guericke first invented a vacuum pump that utilized air pressure.
The 1800s

A sketch of Ely Beachs pneumatic subway station.

Following the work of Guericke, the 1800s proved to be a pivotal century in the
evolution of pneumatics as many more became aware of how compressed air could be
used to great effect. Just a few of the many developments during the 1800s include:

The compound air compressor, which compresses air in a series of cylinders, was first

patented in 1829.
1872 saw this form of compressor technology improved further as the cylinders were

cooled by water to improve efficiency. This also resulted in the invention of water-jacketed
cylinders.
The first major functional development came in 1867 when an American inventor,

Alfred Beach, built a pneumatic subway train in New York. He showed how passengers could
be transported along a pipe through pneumatic power, with the subway running one block in
1870 to become the first of its kind in America. Permission to extend the line wasnt granted
though, meaning the subway had to be terminated after just a few months of operation.
The late 1800s saw John Wanamaker, an illustrious American merchant, become the

first to introduce pneumatic tubes in the United States Post Office to quickly transport letters
from one area of the building to another. He introduced the same system in his department
store, Wanamakers, to transport cash to and from cashiers along with important documents
from one part of the store to a different area.
The pneumatic drill was invented in 1871 by Samuel Ingersoll, with a pneumaticpowered hammer following later in 1890 from Charles Brady.

The 1900s
The 1900s saw further evolution for pneumatics as components were used for the first
time in jet engines in the form of centrifugal and axial-flow compressors. Further
developments took place throughout the century with advancements in labor-saving
devices in the form of machinery that would assist or even reduce the need for
manpower as well as automatic machinery, tools and control systems.
Towards the end of the 1960s, the first digitally controlled pneumatic components began
to enter the market, once again revolutionizing the way in which this highly effective
equipment played a part in our everyday lives.
Pneumatics today

A modern tie-rod pneumatic cylinder from Norgren.

The pneumatics industry continues to evolve today with the leading names continuing to
produce components that offer that little bit more to improve efficiency, performance and
functionality. Here are just a couple of the ways in which pneumatics plays an important
role today:

Pneumatics plays an essential role in airplanes to stabilize gauges in the event of an

electrical failure. This in turn enables the pilot to still have a clear understanding of and
control over the important figures that will help him land the plane safely.
Modern pneumatic cylinders offer fast, accurate power for low-pressure applications,
giving a variety of industries, from packaging to amusement park rides and medical devices
to automation control, simple, safe and powerful controls.

It is clear that pneumatics have a rich history that dates back many years and at present
seems to show no sign of slowing down with innovative pneumatic solutions being
developed and released on a regular basis. With such an important role to play in of
many different industries, pneumatics is sure to continue on through the ages for some
time yet.
This post was written by Oliver Kyle in partnership with BL Pneumatics;
suppliers of a vast array of pneumatic components and devices from the
leading manufacturers for use in a range of applications.
BL Pneumatics
www.blpneumatics.co.uk

Denis Papin
Born: 22-Aug-1647
Birthplace: Blois, France
Died: c. 1712
Location of death: London, England
Cause of death: unspecified
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Inventor
Nationality: France
Executive summary: Steam engine
innovator
Denis Papin, one of the inventors of the
steam-engine, was a native of Blois, where
he was born on the 22nd of August 1647. In
1661 or 1662 he entered upon the study of
medicine at the University of Angers, where
he graduated in 1669. Some time prior to
1674 he removed to Paris and
assisted Christiaan Huygens in his experiments with the air-pump, the results of
which, Expriences du Vuide, were published at Paris in that year, and also in the form
of five papers by Huygens and Papin jointly, in thePhilosophical Transactions for
1675. Shortly after the publication of the Expriences, Papin, who had crossed to
London, was hospitably received by Robert Boyle, whom he assisted in his laboratory
and with his writings. About this time also he introduced into the air-pump the
improvement of making it with double barrels, and replacing by the two valves the
turncock hitherto used; he is said, moreover, to have been the first to use the plate and
receiver. Subsequently he invented the condensing-pump, and in 1680 he was
admitted, on Boyle's nomination, to the Royal Society. In the previous year he had
exhibited to the society his famous "steam digester, or engine for softening bones",
afterwards described in a tract published at Paris and entitled La Manire d'amollir les
os et de faire couire toutes sortes de viandes en fort peu de tems et peu de frais,
avec une description de la marmite, ses proprits et ses usages. This device consisted
of a vessel provided with a tightly fitting lid, so that under pressure its contents could
be raised to a high temperature; a safety valve was used, for the first time, to guard
against an excessive rise in the pressure. After further experiments with the digester he
accepted an invitation to Venice to take part in the work of the recently founded

Academy of the Philosophical and Mathematical Sciences; here he remained until

1684, when he returned to London and received from the Royal Society an
appointment as "temporary curator of experiments", with a small salary. In this
capacity he carried on numerous and varied investigations. He discovered
a siphon acting in the same manner as the "sipho wirtembergicus" (Phil. Tr., 1685),
and also constructed a model of an engine for raising water from a river by means of
pumps worked by a waterwheel driven by the current. In November 1687 he was
appointed to the chair of mathematics in the University of Marburg, and here he
remained until 1696, when he removed to Cassel. From the time of his settlement in
Germany he carried on an active correspondence with Huygens and Leibniz, which is
still preserved, and in one of his letters to Leibniz, in 1698, he mentions that he is
engaged on a machine for raising water to a great height by the force of fire; in a later
communication he speaks also of a little carriage he had constructed to be propelled
by this force. Again in 1702 he wrote about a steam "ballista", which he anticipated
would "promptly compel France to make an enduring peace." In 1705 Leibniz sent
Papin a sketch of Thomas Savery's engine for raising water, and this stimulated him to
further exertions, which resulted two years afterwards in the publication of the Ars
nova ad aquam ignis adminiculo efficacissime elevandam (Cassel, 1707), in which his
high-pressure boiler and its applications are described. In 1707 he resolved to quit
Cassel for London, and on the 24th of September of that year he sailed with his family
from Cassel in an ingeniously constructed boat, propelled by paddle-wheels, to be
worked by the crew, with which he apparently expected to reach the mouth of the
Weser. At Mnden, however, the vessel was confiscated at the instance of the
boatmen, who objected to the invasion of their exclusive privileges in the Weser
navigation. Papin, on his arrival in London, found himself without resources and
almost without friends; applications through Sir Hans Sloane to the Royal Society for
grants of money were made in vain, and he died in total obscurity, probably about the
beginning of 1712. His name is attached to the principal street of his native town,
Blois, were also he is commemorated by a bronze statue.
The published writings of Papin, besides those already referred to, consist for the most
part of a large number of papers, principally on hydraulics and pneumatics,
contributed to the Journal des savans, theNouvelles de la rpublique des lettres,
the Philosophical Transactions, and the Acta eruditorum; many of them were
collected by himself into a Fasciculus dissertationum (Marburg, 1695), of which he
published also a translation into French, Recueil de diverses pices touchant quelques
nouvelles machines (Cassel, 1695). His correspondence with Leibniz and Huygens,
along with a biography, was published by Dr. Ernst Gerland (Lebnizens und Huygens
Briefwechsel mit Papin, nebst der Biographie Papins (Berlin, 1881)

Born: 22 August 1647 in Blois, France

Died: 1712 in London, England

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Denis Papin's father was also named Denis Papin so we will refer to him as Denis Papin Sr.
Denis Papin Sr (born 21 October 1608, died 1688) was the eldest of the ten children of Jacques
Papin and Jehanne Dufour. He became a royal counsellor and revenue collector for the district of
Blois. Denis Papin Sr married Madeleine Pineau, whose family had a tradition of being medical
practitioners, around 1640. They had thirteen children with Denis, the subject of this biography,
being their fourth child and eldest son. His date of birth is unknown and the date we have given,
22 August 1647, is actually the date of his baptism. He was presented for baptism by his uncle,
Isaac Papin who was 26 years old at the time. The family were Huguenots, a French branch of
Protestants, and were protected from persecution by the Edict of Nantes which was passed in
1598.
When he was six years old, Denis was put into the care of his uncle Nicolas Papin (born 22
January 1625). Nicolas Papin was a medical doctor in Saumur, about 100 km west of Blois, and
had married there in 1647 and had three children born in 1648, 1649 and 1653. In Saumur there
was a Huguenot Academy and Denis studied at this school. In 1661, he began his studies of
medicine at the University of Angers which had colleges of Law, Theology, Arts and
Medicine,and attracted students from the whole of France. He graduated with a medical degree
on 4 June 1669 but [13]:... he came away with a low opinion both of the teaching and of his fellow students but
considered it worthwhile to obtain the degree of M.D.

At this stage in his career, Papin intended to follow medicine so, after some months back in
Blois, he went to Paris in 1670 to begin life as a medical doctor. However, he was much more
interested in mathematics and mechanics than he was in medicine and soon he was bored with
medicine. He looked for ways to become involved in mathematics and approached Marie
Charron Colbert, the wife of the Controller-General of Finances, Jean-Baptiste Colbert. The
Charron and the Papin families were both from Blois so Marie Colbert was an obvious person for
Papin to approach looking for support. Now, from December 1666, Colbert had been organising
a small group of scholars to meet in the King's library. Christiaan Huygens, one of the leading
scientists of his day, had been persuaded to work in Paris and was a leading member of Colbert's
group. He was looking for an assistant so it was arranged for Papin to fill this role. He
assisted Huygens with air pump experiments from 1671 to 1674, during which time he lived
in Huygens's apartments in the Royal Library in Paris [8]:Under Huygens's supervision, Papin published a book, 'Nouvelles Expriences du
Vuide' (Paris, 1674), based on the experiments he had heard about during his apprenticeship.
This includedHuygens's design of the air-pump as well as many of his experiments with the
instrument that he had performed since 1668, including testing the reaction of animals and
plants inside the pump and observing the barometer in the apparently vacuous receiver. Indeed,
a section of Papin's book closely follows a lecture that Huygens delivered to the Acadmie
Royale in 1668. Dismissive of the debates in which Huygens had been involved, Papin preferred
instead to improve the instrument and to narrate observations of natural phenomena occurring
inside the rarefied space of the air-pump. Also in 1674, Boyle, unaware of Papin's book,
published a collection of short papers that included works about the 'hidden qualities of the
air" ... Huygens received Boyle's collection of papers in June 1675, and in the following month
Papin travelled to England with his own air-pump to engage directly with Boyle.
Huygens gave Papin a letter of introduction to Henry Oldenburg, secretary of the Royal Society.
In the letter he asked Oldenburg to arrange for Papin to be introduced to Boyle and Brouncker.
He also asked Oldenburg if he could find some way of letting Papin establish himself in England.
Oldenburg arranged accommodation for Papin, organised for him to undertake temporary work
as a tutor, and introduced him to Boyle. Papin joined the congregation of Huguenots in
Threadneedle Street but, at this stage, he seemed to want to concentrate on learning English
rather than on discussing science. Although the Royal Society of London was operating at this
time, meetings were infrequent and Boyle did not attend them. By the autumn of 1675, however,
Papin began to try to interest Boyle in his work. He did this by writing a number of papers
with Huygens which he published in the Transactions of the Royal Society. At a meeting of
the Royal Society in February 1676, Oldenburg reported on both Boyle's experiments and those
of Papin and some of the experiments were demonstrated at the Society meeting. Papin had
invented a double-barrelled air pump which was particularly effective. Boyle offered Papin a
position as his assistant and this was gladly accepted. The two began to carry out experiments
but, after Boyle became ill, Papin carried on the work on his own [17]:-

According to Boyle's own testimony, this is what Papin did: he designed and constructed the
particular instrument used in these experiments; he operated the instrument, either by himself or
with the assistance of other technicians; he measured and recorded almost all of the
experimental phenomena; and he planned and organized a great part of the experiments to be
per formed. Moreover, he composed at least a significant part, and possibly almost all, of the
experimental reports.
Anita McConnell writes [13]:From July 1676 to February 1679 [Papin] worked closely with Boyle on experiments connected
with respiration, magnetism, air, and the chemistry of blood and various medicaments, which he
described in his 'Continuation of New Experiments' (1680).
He remained in this post until 1679 when he became Robert Hooke's assistant at the Royal
Society. In 1679 Papin invented the pressure cooker which he demonstrated to the Royal
Society [15]:The device exemplified the enormous elastic force that steam acquires when heated and
confined. The properties of this digester for cooking and extracting gelatine from bones by high
pressure steam contains all that is at present practised in the preparation of food by this method.
He published a work in English describing his digester in 1681, namely A new digester or engine
for softening bones, containing a description of its make and use. A French edition was published
in Paris in 1682. Papin was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1680 as a consequence of
his excellent work with Hooke and Boyle. His work for Hooke seems to have been mainly as a
low paid secretary and, on 1 March 1681, Papin returned to France to work with Huygens.
Although now established as a leading physicist, Papin did not entirely give up his interest in
medicine for in 1681 he wrote A Treatise on Painless Operations [7]:In it the author describes the different means which may be used to lull the sensibility of patients
and to spare them the pain of operations.
In 1681 Papin left for Italy where he was director of experiments at the Accademia publicca di
scienze in Venice until 1684. There had been an attempt by Giovanni Ambrosio Sarotti to turn
the Accademia in Venice into a Society modelled on the Royal Society in London and
the Acadmie Royale in Paris. Sarotti had met Papin in England at the time when Sarotti had
been elected to the Royal Society in 1679. In fact when Sarotti had returned to Venice, he took
with him one of Papin's air pumps. Sarotti had created a magnificent library which he opened for
scholars to use on three days each week. One of these days was a Monday and in the evening the
scholars would meet for discussions. Experiments were demonstrated at these meetings and

mathematics was discussed. However, lack of financial support ended Sarotti's attempt to create
a Venetian version of the Royal Society. After leaving Italy, there were religious reasons why
Papin could not return to France. He was a Calvinist, born into a Huguenot family, and after the
Edict of Nantes which had granted religious liberty to the Huguenots was revoked by Louis XIV
in 1685, he became an exile.
Papin returned to London in 1684 working again with the Royal Society until 1687. He was
appointed as temporary curator of experiments and over these years wrote many papers and gave
many demonstrations of experiments at Royal Society meetings. Some of his papers were
published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society but most were preserved
unpublished in the archives. In 1687 Papin left England and went to Hesse-Kassel where he was
appointed professor of mathematics at the University of Marburg [13]:Prospects of a better life opened up in 1687 with Papin's appointment as professor of
mathematics at the University of Marburg, in Germany. There he was reunited with other
Huguenots who had fled France, among them his cousin Marie Papin and her husband, Jacques
Maliverne, likewise a professor at the university, who shortly died, leaving his widow to support
their small daughter, Charlotte. Papin's desire to marry Marie was opposed by the local pastor
on the grounds of consanguinity and only achieved, on 1 January 1691, by special dispensation
from the landgrave of Hesse.
He held this post until 1696 when he worked for the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel until 1707. This
time in Hesse-Kassel was not a successful one for Papin who found himself in disagreement with
his colleagues. He returned to London, living in Westminster, having left his wife and stepdaughter in Germany.
We should mention Papin's friendship with Gottfried Leibniz and also the scientific controversy
between the two. They met and became friends in the 1670s when Papin was working
with Huygens. At this time Leibniz was a frequent visitor to Huygens' laboratory and so met
Papin on a regular basis. Their scientific controversy occurs in an exchange of letters in 16891691, beginning with a letter from Leibnizconcerning a paper by Papin which discusses the
motion of freely falling bodies. Leibniz ends his letter saying:We conclude against the Cartesians that quantity of motion should not always be conserved.
The way Papin reacted was both to reply with a letter but also to write further papers. The
controversy was over vis viva, what today we call kinetic energy, but the correspondence covered
many other topics as well. Further letters were exchanged in 1692. Alberto Guillermo Ranea
writes [14]:-

From January to November, 1692, they exchange about ten texts in which both Leibniz and
Papin try to give the main points of their arguments. We may conjecture that these texts were
intended to be published. But as Leibniz was firmly opposed to Papin's intention of submitting
the controversy to the scientific community, they remained unedited ... In November, 1692, their
correspondence suddenly stopped, presumably because of Papin's troubles with his new
appointment in Marbourg. Nevertheless, they later intensively argue over vis motrix from
July, 1695 until Papin's travel to Holland in 1700. ... Papin repeats the grounds of his position
throughout the controversy: if we are dealing with bodies which are raised to a certain height by
a motion acquired through a previous descent from the same height, we cannot assume that these
heights are proportional to the vires motrices, since the forces are diminished by the resistance
they must overcome, and not by the distance they traverse.
Papin is best known for his work as an inventor, particularly his work on the steam engine. We
have already mentioned his invention of the pressure cooker and, in 1690 he published his first
work on the steam engine in De novis quibusdam machinis. The purpose of the steam engine was
to raise water to a canal between Kassel and Karlshaven. He also used a steam engine to pump
water to a tank on the roof of the palace to supply water for the fountains in the grounds. In 1705,
when Leibniz sent Papin a sketch of a steam engine, Papin began working on that topic again and
wrote The New Art of Pumping Water by using Steam (1707). He designed a safety valve to
prevent the pressure of steam building up to dangerous levels.
Other inventions which Papin worked on were the construction of a submarine, an air gun and a
grenade launcher. He tried to build up a glass industry in Hesse-Kassel and also experimented
with preserving food both with chemicals and using a vacuum. In 1707 Papin built the first
paddle boat and that same year he returned to London where he lived in obscurity and poverty
until his death. Clearly he hoped to be employed by the Royal Society when he returned to
London in 1707 and he wrote many letters offering to present experiments to the Society. Isaac
Newton was, at this time, President of the Royal Societyand seems to have given no
encouragement for Papin's reemployment. In addition, the Society was itself in financial
difficulties and was not in a position to give Papin much in the way of financial assistance. Papin
continued to write papers, for example he sent eleven papers to the Royal Society in 1711. These
were read to the Society at their meetings but not published despite containing interesting ideas.
One important idea he produced was his Hessian Bellows, a machine designed to produce blasts
of air for melting ores. This idea became the basis of the blast furnace. The date given for his
death is only a guess since no records seem to exist of his last years in London. His last known
letter is dated 23 January 1712. The Society had voted to send him 10 for his services on 4
January 1712 but he had not received this payment at the time he wrote the letter on 23 January.
It is likely that, with no relatives or money known to those who found him after he died, they
would have him buried in an unmarked grave.
As to Papin's character, Alberto Guillermo Ranea writes that he was [14]:-

... a formidably obstinate character, a man incapable of conceding the least advantage to his
adversary, a skilled expert in the rules and tricks of the art of disputing.
Although Papin received little in the way of honours in his lifetime, mainly because the
importance of his work was not understood until 100 years after his death, nevertheless he has
been honoured more recently in his native town of Blois where a bronze statue has been erected
and one of the main streets is named after him. A Jean Monnet University building in St tienne
stands in the Rue Denis Papin. The Lyce Professionnel Denis Papin is in La Courneuve, not far
from Blois. There is a Rue Papin in Paris as well as a Rue Denis Papin in chirolles and in
Bgles, near Bordeaux. In July 2013 there were 300 year celebrations of Papin's life at Chitenay
in the Loir et Cher Department of France.

Nationality
French
Gender
Male
Occupation
physicist
Denis Papinwas an early pioneer in the study of steam pressure. In fact, Papin
is credited with making the first real developments with steam since the time
ofHero of Alexandria1,500 years earlier.
Papin was born in France on August 22, 1647. He studied medicine,
mathematics, and physics before assisting Christiaan Huygens andRobert
Boylewith theirwork on air pumps. Papin's best-known and most influential
invention was his1679 steam "digester," a direct forerunner of modernpressure
cookersand hospital steam sterilizers.
Papin evidently realized the connection between steam pressure and the
possibility of using it to move objects. His experiments showed that when
small amounts of water were heated at one end of a container, the resulting
steam would move an object at the other end. In 1690 he developed an
atmospheric engineusing this principle. He boiled water in a three-inch (7.6
cm)diametervertical tube. The tube was sealed at one end with a

movablepiston. The pistonroseas the water turned to steam. As the steam

cooled and condensed, atmospheric pressure forced the piston back to its
original position. Papin tried to use this concept to build a pump for removing
water from mines and joined efforts with the English engineer Thomas Savery.
He studied Savery's water pump and incorporated a piston, instead of
Savery's vacuum chamber, to provide suction.
In 1707 Papin again built upon Savery's work to create a boat propelled by
side paddles. While Savery proposed to power his boat with human muscle,
Papinpropelled his with paddles turned by aratchet mechanismthat was
powered bysteam. Unfortunately, thevesselwas destroyed by river boatmen
while enrouteto its demonstration on the Thames River in London, England,
and Papin couldnot afford to build another model.
In spite of the work done by Papin and Savery, it wasThomas Newcomenwho
actually used their ideas to create the first successful steam engine in 1712,
the same year Papin died in poverty and obscurity.

Read more:http://www.madehow.com/inventorbios/78/DenisPapin.html#ixzz4B8g9HD9O

Brief History of Pneumatics

Posted: February 18, 2012 in Pneumatics
Tags: branch circuits, clay pipe, compressor stations, drilling methods, mechanical
compressors,pneumatic drills

0
Pneumatics have been used for thousands of years, ever since hunters used the blow-gun to
take down their prey. Using their lungs, with a capacity around 6000 cubic inches per
minute, they could produce a pressure of 1 to 3 psi. The first compressors were seen around
3000 B.C. to provide small puffs of air to aid in starting a fire. These simple devices evolved
into larger, more sophisticated units used in metal smelting about 1500 B.C. Around the
18th century, mechanical compressors were capable of developing almost 15 psi. and were

able to do more useful work.

It was not until the late 18th century that pneumatics began to take off as they were
considered a serious industrial energy transfer medium. Many experiments were ran to test
the power and expandability of pneumatic systems. A notable experiment, and unsuccessful
one, was the attempt to power a mill with compressed air located at a waterfall 3,000 ft.
from the plant site. It was here that the experiment began to fail. Clay pipe, useful for
transporting water, was used to connect the compressor to the plant. To the dismay of
workers, the pressure needed wasnt enough because the clay pipe wasnt air tight and thus
a leakage occurred along the way.

Then came along the early 19th century. It was here that compressors were able to reach a
higher capacity of 90 psi. and thus more work could be done. Pneumatics were used to
power a tunneling project in Mt. Cenis, located in the Alps. If traditional drilling methods
were used (manual) the project would have taken upwards of 30 years. Using pneumatic
drills, operating on many miles of line, the tunnel was completed in just 14 years and it was
open to traffic in 1871. This project caught the attention of many government agencies and
they began to talk of compressor stations for city-wide power consumption.

Paris was actually the first city to try this in 1888 when a 65 horsepower (HP) rated
compressor fed 4 miles of main wire with 30 miles of branch circuits delivering 90 psi. By
1891 the capacity of the motor was increased to 25,000 HP. Making this compressed air

available everywhere was soon followed by pneumatic devices everywhere as well. During
this time many engineers began to debate on whether compressed air or electricity would
be the main source of power throughout a city and could be expanded into the future world.
A technological evolution began where both electricity and pneumatics found their right
homes. Electricity would become the most convenient on large-scale energy transmission
while pneumatics were used in more industrial applications including power, process, and
control services.

In recent years, compressed air has been applied to control circuitry, dental drills, surgery,
and many other industrial processes requiring high impacts or blows. Such devices are seen
day to day as impact wrenches or pneumatic staplers because they are durable and lightweight. I will introduce you to basic principles and components found in typical industrial
pneumatic systems. I will also help you understand basic pneumatic circuits that form the
muscle in varied applications.

Ctesibius
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Ctesibius (Ktesibios)
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Ctesibius (Ktesibios)
(fl. Alexandria, 270 b.c.)
invention.
Ctesibius lived in Alexandria. The date 270 b.c. is fixed by an epigram by Hedylos,
quoted by Athenaeus,1 concerning a singing cornucopia he made for the statue of
Arsino, the sister and wife of Ptolemy II Philadelphus. Another date, under
Ptolemaeus VII Physkon (145116 b.c.), given by Athenaeus 2 from Aristokles, has
led Susemihl3 and other to assume a second Ctesibius at this date; it seems, however,
that the manuscripts are at fault and that Ptolemy I Soter is meant. 4
Ctesibius wrote a book about his inventions, 5 and Vitruvius,6 who possessed it, tells us
that he was the son of a barber. In his fathers shop he hung an adjustable mirror with
a counterpoise consisting of a ball of lead descending inside a tube; the ball
compressed the air, which escaped with a loud noise.
This showed Ctesibius that the air is a body and led to the invention of the cylinder
and the plunger.7 He developed the science of pneumatics, now called hydraulics,
probably in collaboration with Strato of Lampsacus, 8 who lived in Alexandria until
about 288 B. C. Vitruvius praises Ctesibius theoretical introduction to the subject. 9
Ctesibius invented an air pump with valves and connected it to a keyboard and rows
of pipes;10this organ is known as the water organ because the air vessel was actuated
by water. He also invented a force pump for water.11 Many of the toys described by

Philo of Byzantium and Hero of Alexandria in their Pneumatics were taken from
Ctesibius book; how many we cannot tell, since the book has been lost.
Another invention of Ctesibius was the water clock. 12 It depends on a clepsydra with
constant flow, i.e., a vessel with a hole in the bottom and an overflow, which gives it a
constant level and a constant flow through the hole. Ctesibius drilled the hole in gold
to avoid rust or verdigris, or in a precious stone to guard against wear; the water
flowed into a cylindrical container and lifted a float, which carried a pointer to mark
the hours. He equipped the float with a rack turning a toothed wheel and made the
clock work a number of parerga: whistling birds, moving puppets, ringing bells, and
the like. An attempt to regulate the flow to suit local hours failed, so he constructed
the parastatic clock, in which the pointer, moving at a constant rate, marks hours of
different length on a network of lines traced on a vertical cylinder, which was turned a
little every day.
Philo of Byzantium records two catapults invented by Ctesibius, one actuated by
compressed air13 and the other by bronze springs;14 neither seems to have survived him.
Athenaeus the Mechanic15 attributes to Ctesibius a scaling ladder enclosed in a tube, a
marvellous invention, but of no great use.
Ctesibius was an inventor of the first order; we owe to him the force pumps for air and
water and the hydraulic organ with its keyboard and rows of pipes; his water clock has
been superseded by the pendulum clock, but his parerga still survive in the cuckoo
clock.

Ctesibius
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the lunar crater, see Ctesibius (crater).

Ctesibius' water clock, as visualized by the 17th-century French architectClaude Perrault

Ctesibius or Ktesibios or Tesibius (Greek: ; fl. 285222 BC) was
a Greek inventor and mathematician in Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt.[1] He wrote the first treatises on
the science of compressed air and its uses in pumps (and even a cannon). This, in combination with
his work on the elasticity of air On pneumatics, earned him the title of "father of pneumatics." None
of his written work has survived, including his Memorabilia, a compilation of his research that was
cited by Athenaeus.

Contents
[hide]

1Inventions

2Reputation

3References

4Further reading

Inventions[edit]
Ctesibius was probably the first head of the Museum of Alexandria. Very little is known of his life but
his inventions were well known. It is said (possibly by Diogenes Laertius) that his first career was as
a barber. During his time as a barber, he invented a counterweight-adjustable mirror. His other
inventions include the hydraulis, a water organ that is considered the precursor of the modern pipe
organ, and improved the water clock or clepsydra ("water thief"). For more than 1,800 years the

clepsydra was the most accurate clock ever constructed, until the Dutch physicist Christiaan
Huygens detailed the use of pendulums to regulate clocks in the year 1656 AD, when he actually
built a working prototype.
Ctesibius described one of the first force pumps for producing a jet of water, or for lifting water from
wells, and examples have been found at various Roman sites, such as atSilchester in Britain. The
principle of the siphon has also been attributed to him.
According to Diogenes Laertius, Ctesibius was miserably poor. Laertius details this by recounting the
following concerning the philosopher Arcesilaus:
When he had gone to visit Ctesibius who was ill, seeing him in great distress from want, he secretly
slipped his purse under his pillow; and when Ctesibius found it, "This," said he, "is the amusement of
Arcesilaus."