Lanchester's prodigious patent production-line

26th September 2017

Between 1888 and 1946 Frederick Lanchester (and his brothers) successfully patented over 200 hundred inventions. They are all available to search in the patent area of the online archive but the sheer variety as well as quantity can be overwhelming!

His first invention – a draughtsman’s drawing aid to rule equidistant lines – was registered in November 1888 when he was just 22 years old. Automotive patents include power-steering from 1903, four-wheel-drive from 1904 and petrol-electric hybrid propulsion from 1910. But he didn’t stop there, with aeronautical patents preceding the Wright Brothers with ideas for fantastic flying machines from 1897 and even more bizarre creations including a rotating fireplace from his brother Frank!
We are going to be featuring a Lanchester Patent of the Day (#LPOD) on Twitter and Facebook to showcase some of these incredible inventions.
So we start with a bang with our first LPOD from 26th September  1917 – “Patent for improved fuse mechanism for explosive asphyxiating or incendiary projectiles for the use of artillery” where he proposes to use a gyroscope to control the timing of the fuse in a shell!
Follow our Twitter and Facebook page to see more fascinating patents to come with our Lanchester Patent of the Day.
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