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| Dobereiner's Lamp, the first lighter. (Picture from: http://www.chemgapedia.de/) |
Did you know that first lighter was invented before the commercial match? Lighter was invented in 1816, better known by the name "Dobereiner's Lamp", according to the name of its inventor, Johann Wolfgang Dobereiner (1780-1849). These lighters used a fine platinum wire to ignite hydrogen gas in the lighter.
Another difference is that these matches using platinum as a catalyst (used to initiate the chemical changes of the fuel to the fire).
In 1908, then created a match small enough to fit in a pocket. Flint which is cheaper than platinum shifts the position of the lighter in the middle to lower.
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| The first Zippo lighter. |
With advances in technology, Flint replace platinum as the catalyst. In the 1920s, still a little lighter for wealthy middle-class smokers. This is a serious setback for the average smoking blue-collar workers.
But at the year 193O's, George G Blaisdell make a change. He improved ergonomics mild cases. He designed a perforated hood for the axis, a windproof lighter.
In addition, it modifies the fuel chamber to be more efficient, and adding a flip-top hinged lid. And then enter the world of Zippo lighters / gas lighters. After the emergence of Zippo, similar companies began to appear.
This competition causes prices to fall dramatically. Fuel used in most of the lighters in the 1930s was naphtha, liquid oily derived from petroleum.
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| Piezoelectric lighter. (Picture from: http://faculty-science.blogspot.com/) |
The technology used then is piezoelectric which were first discovered in the early 1800s, but its potential was first discovered by French scientists, Ronson wherein the piezoelectric effect is used in this machine to make an igniter for lighters which convert the energy into an electric spark. *** [SEPTI | PIKIRAN RAKYAT 02082012]
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