Grace's Guide To British Industrial History

Registered UK Charity (No. 1154342)

Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 167,645 pages of information and 247,064 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.

Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 147,919 pages of information and 233,587 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.

Sprague Electric Co

From Graces Guide

1897 Robert C. Sprague, son of Frank Julian Sprague, founded the Sprague Electric Company which became a leading manufacturer of capacitors and other electronic components.

1899 The Sprague electric elevator was chosen by the engineers to the Central London Railway (Messrs. Fowler, Baker, and Mott) after a most exhaustive competitive trial. 'The successful application of electricity to liftwork is due to Mr. Frank J. Sprague, President of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and Technical Director of the Sprague Electric Company. The introduction of an endless path of ball bearings between the worm of a screw and the nut ....., by which device, friction between nut and screw was so far reduced as to admit of high-speed direct working without multiple gearing, was his first invention. Another device adopted by the Sprague Electric Company of a similar character, is the Hindley worm and wheel... ; the form of thread in this worm is such that the pressure between the surfaces of the worm and wheel is reduced below that at which oil is squeezed out, so that the gearing is always lubricated, and the friction minimised in high-speed working, which is the most economical for worm gearing. ....'[1][2]

1902 Merger into General Electric Co


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