你从未听说过的爱迪生发明

Without question， our lives would be very different without the inventions of Thomas Edison. This prodigious1） creator changed our culture in countless ways with the seemingly miraculous devices that flooded out of his New Jersey laboratory. But while the Wizard of Menlo Park2） is remembered for his major inventions， such as the incandescent3） electric light and the phonograph4）， his tireless mind also came up with some ideas that aren't so well-known―and some that weren't welcomed by the public.

Electrographic Vote-recorder

Edison was a 22-year-old telegraph operator when he received his first patent for a machine he called the electrographic vote-recorder. He was one of several inventors at the time developing methods for legislative bodies， such as the U.S. Congress， to record their votes in a more timely fashion than the time-honored voice vote system.

In Edison's vote-recorder， a voting device was connected to the clerk's desk. At the desk， the names of the legislators were embedded5） in metal type in two columns―"yes" and "no". Legislators would move a switch on the device to point to either "yes" or "no"， sending an electric current to the device at the clerk's desk. After voting was completed， the clerk would place a chemically treated piece of paper on top of the metal type and run a metal roller over it. The current would cause the chemicals in the paper to dissolve on the side for which the vote should be recorded. "Yes" and "no" wheels kept track of the vote totals and tabulated6） the results.

A friend of Edison's， another telegraph operator named Dewitt Roberts， bought an interest7） in his machine for $100 and tried to sell it to Washington to no avail8）. Congress wanted no part of any device that would increase the speed of voting―decreasing the time for filibusters9） and political wheeling and dealing―so young Edison's vote-recorder was sent to the political graveyard.

Pneumatic10） Stencil Pen

Edison invented the ancestor of the tattoo gun―the pneumatic stencil pen. This electric pen， which Edison patented in 1876， used a rod tipped with a steel needle to perforate11） paper for printing purposes. It's important on its own as one of the first devices that could efficiently copy documents.

In 1891， tattoo artist Samuel O'Reilly was awarded the first patent for a tattoo machine―a device allegedly12） based on Edison's stencil pen. O'Reilly apparently produced only one of the machines and that was for his own personal use―there is no record of his marketing his device.

Method of Preserving Fruit

Another Edison invention came about from the laboratory's work with glass vacuum13） tubes while developing the incandescent light bulb―a development， we should add， that is not solely Edison's. Many others were involved in the research and labor of the light bulb production―but Edison got the much-sought-after patents.

But getting back to our story. In 1881， Edison filed for a patent for a method to preserve fruits， vegetables， or other organic substances in a glass vessel. The vessel was filled with the items to be preserved， and then all the air was sucked from it with an air pump. The vessel tube was sealed with another piece of glass.

Concrete House

Not satisfied with having improved the average American's life with electric lights， movies， and phonographs， Edison decided in the early part of the 20th century to abolish city slums and get every working man's family into sturdy14）， fire-proof homes that could be built inexpensively on a mass scale. And what would those homes be made of？ Why， concrete， of course， using materials from the Edison Portland Cement company. Edison， recalling his own working-class upbringing15）， said he would take no profit if the venture succeeded.

Edison's plan was to pour the concrete into large， wooden molds the size and shape of a house， let it cure， remove the framework and―voila16）！ A concrete house， with decorative molding， plumbing17） pipes， even a bathtub， molded right in. Edison said these dwellings would sell for around $1200， about one-third the price of a regularly constructed house at the time.

But while Edison Portland Cement was used in a lot of structures around New York City during the building boom of the early 1900s， the concrete houses never caught on18）. The molds and equipment needed to make the homes required a huge financial investment that few builders were able to make. Image was another problem―not many families wanted the social stigma19） of moving to a house that was touted20） as getting people out of the slums. One other factor： some people thought the homes were ugly. While the company did build a few concrete houses around New Jersey―some still standing today―Edison's vision of concrete neighborhoods never took hold.

毫无疑问，如果没有爱迪生的发明，我们的生活将会大不相同。这位天才发明家凭借从他在新泽西的实验室里涌出的看上去不可思议的那些发明，以无数种方式改变了我们的文明。虽然这位“门罗公园的巫师”因他的那些重大发明而被人们铭记在心，比如白炽灯和留声机，但他那不知疲倦的大脑也想出过一些不那么出名和不受公众欢迎的点子。

电子计票器

当爱迪生凭借一种被他称为 “电子计票器”的机器获得生平第一项专利时，他还是一名22岁的电报员。当时，他正和其他几位发明人为一些立法机关（如美国国会）开发新的计票方法，用一种比由来已久的口头表决系统更有效率的方法记录投票情况。

在爱迪生的计票器中，一个投票装置被连接到计票员的桌子上。在这张桌子上有两组圆柱，一组代表“是”，一组代表“否”，上面都嵌有用金属字模制成的立法机关成员们的名字。立法机关成员们将通过扳动该投票装置上的转换器来指向“是”或者“否”，同时向计票员桌子上的设备发送一股电流。投票结束后，计票员会把一张经过化学处理的纸片放在金属字模上，让金属滚轮滚过。那股电流会使应该被记录的投票对应的纸上的化学物质溶解。代表“是”和“否”的两个滚轮会记录所有投票，并将结果制成表格。

爱迪生的一位名叫德维特・罗伯茨的朋友也是一位电报员，他花100美元买下了爱迪生这种机器的一份股权，还试图把电子计票器卖给华盛顿政府，却没有成功。国会一点都不想要任何能提高投票速度的东西，因为这会缩短冗长发言和耍弄政治手段的时间，所以年轻的爱迪生的这款电子计票器被送进了政治的坟墓。

气动铁笔

爱迪生发明了纹身枪的始祖――气动铁笔，后于1876年获得这款电子笔的专利。这种笔的笔杆尖端装有一个钢针，可以在纸上打孔，从而实现印刷的目的。作为率先实现高效拷贝文件的设备之一，这项发明本身意义重大。

1891年，纹身艺术家萨缪尔・奥赖利获得第一项纹身机专利――据说，这种设备正是基于爱迪生的铁笔设计的。但是很显然，奥利雷只生产了一台纹身机且仅供他个人使用，因为没有任何关于在市场大规模出售此种设备的记录。

水果保存法

发明白炽灯期间，爱迪生的另一项发明玻璃真空管也在实验室的工作中随之出现了。我们需要顺带说明一下，电灯泡的发明可不是爱迪生一个人的功劳，其他许多人都参与了这项研究，为电灯泡的发明付出了努力。但是，爱迪生获得了这些抢手的专利权。

不过还是要回到我们的话题。1881年，爱迪生为一种在玻璃容器里保存水果、蔬菜和其他有机物质的方法申请了专利。他将这种容器装满要保存的东西，然后用一个气泵抽走里面所有的空气，再用另外一块玻璃将这个容器密封。

混凝土房子

爱迪生业已用电灯、电影和留声机改善了美国民众的生活，但他并不满足于此，他下定决心要在20世纪初期废除贫民窟，让每一个工薪家庭都能住进坚固、耐火、成本低廉又可以大规模建造的房子。那这样的房子将用什么来建造呢？哎呀，当然是用混凝土啦，这是由爱迪生波特兰水泥公司生产的材料。爱迪生记得自己的工薪阶层出身，他说如果这个风险尝试成功，他不会从中牟利。

爱迪生的计划是把混凝土倒进尺寸和形状都和房子一样的大型木制模具中，然后让其凝固，最后再移走模具――你瞧！一座混凝土房子就成型了，装饰嵌线、水暖管道甚至浴缸都已经嵌在里面了。爱迪生说这些房子会卖大约1200美元，这价格大约是当时用常规方法建造的房屋的三分之一。

尽管在20世纪初期的建设繁荣时期，爱迪生波特兰牌水泥被纽约市周边的大量建筑工程所使用，但是这种混凝土房屋从没流行起来。建造房屋的模具和设备需要大量资金投入，没有几个建筑商可以承受。个人脸面也是一个问题，没有多少家庭想要搬进为使人搬出贫民窟而兜售的房子而在社会上丢脸。还有另外一个原因，有些人觉得这些房子难看。尽管这家公司确实在新泽西周边建造了几座混凝土房子（有的至今还存在），但爱迪生建造混凝土社区的理想从未能实现。