1. History

2. Patents

3. Further reading

4. References

Tesla Electric Light and Manufacturing Company was an electric lighting company in Rahway, New Jersey that operated from December 1884 through 1886.

History

Based at the site where 1571-1579 Irving Street now stands, on Irving Street between Coach and Elizabeth,^[1] Rahway, New Jersey, Tesla Electric Light and Manufacturing Company was started in December 1884 after the inventor Nikola Tesla left Thomas Edison's employment following a disagreement over payment.^[2] The company was formed in a partnership between Tesla, Robert Lane and Benjamin Vale with Tesla given the task of designing an arc lighting system, a fast growing segment of the new electric light industry used mostly for outdoor lighting. Tesla designed an arc lamp with automatic adjustment and a fail-switch as well as improved dynamos. These were the first patents issued to Tesla in the US.^[3] By 1886 he had installed a central station based system in Rahway lighting streets as well as a few factory buildings.

The investors showed little interest in Tesla's ideas for new types of motors and electrical transmission equipment and, with the market already heavily controlled by Brush Electric Illuminating Company and the Thomson-Houston Electric Company, they came to the conclusion it was better to develop an electrical utility than invent new systems.^[4] By the fall of 1886 they had formed the Union County Electric Light & Manufacturing Company spelling the end for Tesla Electric Light and Manufacturing and leaving Tesla penniless. Tesla even lost control of the patents he had generated since he had assigned them to the company in lieu of stock.^[5]

Patents

Tesla had already been issued the following patents:

• {{US patent|334823}} - Commutator for Dynamo Electric Machines - 1886 January 26 - Elements to prevent sparking on dynamo-electric machines; Drum-style with brushes.
• {{US patent|350954}} - Regulator for Dynamo Electric Machines - 1886 October 19 - Automatic regulation of energy levels; Mechanical device to shift brushes.
• {{US patent|335786}} - Electric arc lamp - 1886 February 9 - Arc lamp with carbon electrodes controlled by electromagnets or solenoids and a clutch mechanism; Corrects earlier design flaws common to the industry.
• {{US patent|335787}} - Electric arc lamp - 1886 February 9 - Arc lamp's automatic fail switch when arc possesses abnormal behavior; Automatic reactivation.
• {{US patent|336961}} - Regulator for dynamo electric machines - 1886 March 2 - Two main brushes connected to helices coil ends; Intermediate point branch shunt connection for third brush.
• {{US patent|336962}} - Regulator for Dynamo Electric Machines - 1886 March 2 - Auxiliary brush[es] shunting a portion or whole of the field helices coil; Regulates energy flow; Adjustable level of current.

Further reading

• Tesla: Life and legacy: [https://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_america.html Coming to America], PBS.
• [https://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/am_stock_pop.html Stock certificate for the Tesla Electric Light and Manufacturing Company]. Tesla: Life and legacy: Coming to America, PBS.
• "Nikola Tesla: Research in High Frequency Phenomena, 1894." Nikola Tesla: Recognized Genius. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2014. .

References

Notes

Sources

• National Electric Light Association Convention (1890) Page 18

• The Hidden Step
• The Hidden Treasure
• The Hidden (video game)
• The Hidden Web
• The Hidden Window Mystery
• The Hidden Words
• The Hide-and-Seek's Sonatina
• The Hideous Sun Demon
• The Hiding Place
• The Hiding Place (biography)
• The Hiding Place (book)
• The Hiding Place (Book)
• The Hiding Place (film)
• The Hiding Place (novel)
• The Hierophant (album)
• The Hierophant (Tarot card)
• The Hi-Fi Nightingale
• The Hi-Fives
• The Higgins
• The High
• The High and Mighty (song)
• The High and the Mighty (album)
• The High And The Mighty (album)
• The High and the Mighty (Donnie Iris song)
• The Highbury Working