African Entrepreneurship Records

  Chapter 33 Searching for "Light"

  Berlin Power Company.

  Located in the eastern part of Berlin, the location here is not prominent, it belongs to the transitional zone between the downtown and the countryside. A gray and white building is the office of the Berlin Power Company.

  After the completion ceremony of the castle, Ernst returned to Berlin, because the first results of the Berlin Electric Power Company came out.

   Under the reminder of Ernst, the Berlin Electric Power Company has been focusing on one thing, experimenting with the wick material of the electric lamp.

  Ernst remembered the example of Edison’s improvement of electric lamps, and experimented with many materials. Finally, he chose carbonized cotton fiber, and later switched to bamboo fiber, so it provided some convenience for the staff.

   Ernst walked into the company, and after asking the staff, he knew that Carl von Linde was in the laboratory, so Ernst came to the laboratory door and pushed open the door.

  The laboratory is full of pulled wires, and various experimental equipment is placed in a haphazard manner. Ernst carefully passed the various equipment and saw Carl von Linde sitting in a chair and drawing on the blueprint.

Ernst didn't dare to disturb Carl von Linde. After all, the imagination of a genius is the most precious. If he accidentally interrupted Carl von Linde's precious train of thought, he would suffer a big loss. up.

   Ernst quietly found a chair, sat down gently, and waited for Carl von Linde to finish his work.

  In such a quiet laboratory, only the ticking of the clock and the rustling of the pencil on the paper can be heard.

   I don’t know how long it took, Ernst was about to doze off, when there was the sound of sorting papers, Carl von Linde stretched himself and yawned.

   At this time, Carl von Linde, who had finished his work, noticed that there was an extra person in the laboratory.

   "Your Highness Ernst, why are you here? I'm really sorry, because I was too focused on work and didn't pay attention to your arrival!"

   Ernst got up and stretched his muscles and bones, and said, "Why doesn't Mr. Linde ask for cleaning? The laboratory is too messy, will this affect your research?"

Carl von Linde explained: "It's like this. I can only organize my thoughts better when I am alone, so I generally don't let other people enter my room. And these instruments and tools are part of the experiment. There are too few talents in the company who understand this area, or they are not professional enough. I am worried that they will tamper with the equipment and cause some of my experiments to be destroyed.

Of course, I also want to work in a tidy environment, but scientific research work is like this. From time to time, inspiration bursts and some experimental verifications lead to more and more instruments and wires. Later, I simply gave up tidying up the laboratory. plan. ’ explains Carl von Linde.

   "That's it!" Ernst suddenly realized that the world of geniuses is really unusual, and some people are just plain lazy.

   "Mr. Linde, if you need anything, you can tell me in advance. Of course, I am here today mainly to see about the electric light!" Ernst said.

  Carl von Linde heard Ernst say this and began to show Ernst the results.

   "Your Highness Ernst, please follow me!"

  So, under the guidance of Carl von Linde, the two walked through the stairs and turned into a laboratory on the first floor. Several staff members were refining things in furnaces. Ernst guessed that they were refining materials.

  Carl von Linde came to the shelf and took down a box, which was full of oval spheres made of glass. Inside the sphere was a strangely shaped wick, all handmade.

   "Morgens, come and demonstrate!" Carl von Linde greeted a staff member.

  Employees demonstrate the working principle of the ball in front of Ernst.

   "Boss, this is the socket. The light bulb is under the plug. We directly plug this light bulb into the plug, and the current will emit light through the internal wick..."

   While speaking, he inserted the light bulb into the socket, and the light bulb in front of him immediately lit up, and the wick was burning red, emitting a dazzling light yellow light.

   After waiting for a while, the lighting did not appear abnormal, and the staff breathed a sigh of relief.

   Ernst asked: "How long will this light last?"

   "About six hours!" The staff replied.

  Carl von Linde explained: "Your Highness Ernst, the thing is like this. After you provided the correct idea, we did make a finished product, but some hardware is still difficult to realize with the current scientific development."

"Just like this light bulb, its wick needs a completely vacuum environment to be used effectively, but the vacuum technology of the current era can't do this, and there are no instruments and patents that can achieve this purpose on the market, so we can only make do with it. .”

   Ernst asked: "Is there a solution?"

   "That's what I'm going to say. I'm currently researching and improving the existing vacuum technology in the market. I've been doing research on it for the past few days, but I haven't had any substantial gains yet."

Ernst squeezed his chin with his hands and thought about it carefully. Although Carl von Linde had made many achievements in the field of electric power applications, when it comes to precision instruments, Lenoir and his gang study internal combustion engines all day long. Internal combustion engines require airtightness. Sex and reliability are the ultimate, no mistakes can be made, and the research on machinery is more professional.

So he suggested: "How about this, Mr. Linde, vacuum technology has very high requirements on equipment, and you also know that I have an energy and power company under my name. The accuracy and quality requirements are very high, we can ask if there is anything they can do about it!"

   Carl von Linde agreed. After all, it is too difficult to do this alone, and it is still a field that he is not very good at.

  So Ernst and Carl von Linde took a carriage to the headquarters of Berlin Energy Power Company not far away. It is now afternoon, and Lenoir and others have not left yet.

   "Monsieur Lenoir!"

   Ernst called Lenoir and the others.

   "Your Highness Ernst, do you have any orders from the company today?"

"Is such that…"

   Ernst talked about the situation that Carl von Linde encountered with Lenoir and others, and at the same time introduced the high-level executives of the two companies to get to know each other.

   "Is that so?" After hearing this, Lenoir found a piece of paper and began to draw. After a while, he asked, "Can Mr. Linde lend me your drawings?"

   Fortunately, Ernst and Linde came with Linde's research documents, and they handed these to Lenoir.

   Time passed by with the hands, and Lenoir suddenly realized.

   "This idea is very good, Mr. Linde. This method is feasible, but we need to adjust the direction. The breakthrough point of the problem now is not the structure, but the research and development of materials. I happen to have some experience in this regard."

  So two bigwigs from different fields happily argued, and Benz and others also joined in. With the heated discussions of several people, the drawings were overturned and redrawn again and again.

  Unknowingly, a group of people chatted until night, and the moon was already high in the sky. Ernst, a scumbag, could only call for a cup of coffee and wait for these bigwigs to finish their discussion.

   "...The last problem is solved, Mr. Linde!" Lenoir said excitedly.

   "Great, this solves the biggest obstacle on the road to improving electric lights. Thank you so much, Mr. Lenoir!" Linde also said excitedly.

  Finally, Lenoir, Linde and others concluded that the improved vacuum technology needs at least three months of experiments to turn the principle into reality, and the two sides reached a short-term cooperation.

  The patent of the new technology is jointly applied by all researchers, and the ownership is held by Hexingen Bank. They can enjoy a 20% share in the future.

  (end of this chapter)