Elmer A. Sperry
Elmer Ambrose Sperry founded the Sperry Gyroscope Company.
Sperry started out as an electric automobile manufacturer. At one point he drove John D. Rockefeller around Cleveland and was advised that he should look into gasoline power. He also visited the 1900 Exposition universelle and demonstrated an automobile there.[1]
Sperry developed a gyroscope for marine use in the 1900s and in 1909 began working on airplane gyroscope stabilization. He had been asked to work on aviation by Stanley Beach of Scientific American and gave a talk to the New York City Aero Club (= Aero Club of New York?) in fall 1908. Beach made some attempts to fly with a Sperry gyroscope but these were largely unsuccessful.[2]
Elmer and his son Lawrence Burst Sperry returned to the problem more seriously in 1912, making a more serious technical study of the problem, collaborating with Glenn Curtiss, and filing Patent US-1914-1368226.[3]
We have a case in which Elmer Ambrose Sperry, assigning patent rights to the Sperry Gyroscope Company, makes reference to one of his own patents, by patent number and by date granted, and which also makes reference to two other patent, not necessarily his own, or even directly pertaining to the company, referring to these via serial numbers and filing dates.[4] The patent in question, Patent US-1914-1360694, was filed well before the patents to which the document refers, though it was granted, and the document was printed, after, of course. This all highlights a retrospective analysis of the innovations involved, relative to any proprietary interests. The references via serial number never make our digital-era processes easier, of course. The inventors may or may not have been inventors subsequently involved with the Sperry Gyroscope Company.
Patents whose inventor or applicant is Elmer Ambrose Sperry or Elmer A. Sperry
- Patent US-1911-1279471 (English title: Gyroscopic Compass, Filing date: 1911-06-21)
- Patent DE-1911-288818 (English title: Device for correcting readings from a gyro-compass, Filing date: 1911-07-07)
- Patent US-1912-1186856 (English title: Gyroscopic Apparatus, Filing date: 1912-07-11)
- Patent GB-1913-2294 (English title: Improvements in or relating to Gyroscopic Apparatus, Filing date: 1913-01-28)
- Patent US-1914-1274622 (English title: Speed and Direction Indicator for Aircraft, Filing date: 1914-05-12)
- Patent US-1914-1368226 (English title: Aeroplane-stabilizer, Filing date: 1914-07-17)
- Patent US-1914-1360694 (English title: Navigational Apparatus, Supplementary to patent: Patent US-1912-1186856, Filing date: 1914-11-13)
- Patent GB-1915-10377 (English title: Automatic Means for Stabilising Aircraft, Supplementary to patent: Patent US-1914-1368226 • Patent GB-1913-2294, Filing date: 1915-07-16)
- Patent US-1918-1418335 (English title: Automatic pilot for aeroplanes, Filing date: 1918-11-19)
Publications by or about Elmer Ambrose Sperry or Elmer A. Sperry
- Sperry, 1912, Active type of stabilizing gyro (Simple title: Active type of stabilizing gyro, Journal: Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers)
- American Society of Aeronautic Engineers, 1915, The American Society of Aeronautic Engineers appoints Henry A. Wise Wood and Elmer A. Sperry as its representatives for Advisory Board (Simple title: The American Society of Aeronautic Engineers appoints Henry A. Wise Wood and Elmer A. Sperry as its representatives for Advisory Board, Journal: Aerial Age)
- Sperry, 1916, Aeroplane propellers (Simple title: Aeroplane propellers, Journal: Aero World • Aerial Age)
- Hughes, 1971, Elmer Sperry (Simple title: Elmer Sperry)
- Hughes, 1971, Elmer Sperry (Simple title: Elmer Sperry)
- Davenport, 1978, Gyro (Simple title: Gyro!)
References
- ↑ Davenport, 1978, Gyro, pp. 26–27.
- ↑ Hughes, 1971, Elmer Sperry, p. 173–176.
- ↑ Hughes, 1971, Elmer Sperry, p. 181–184.
- ↑ Patent US-1914-1360694
Links
- w:Elmer Ambrose Sperry
- Thomas Parke Hughes papers, Hagley Museum & Library (Wilmington, Delaware). Contains author Hughes's collection of documents on Sperry, including diaries.
| Names | Elmer A. Sperry; Elmer Ambrose Sperry; Elmer Ambrose Sperry, Sr. |
|---|---|
| Birth date | October 12, 1860 |
| Death date | June 16, 1930 |
| Countries | US |
| Locations | New York |
| Occupations | engineer, entrepreneur, founder |
| Tech areas | Gyroscope, Stability, Automatic stability |
| Affiliations | Sperry Gyroscope Company |
| Wikidata id | Q761838 |
