Recently, many female fans have sent private messages to the author, saying that they often see many netizens complaining about female drivers on the Internet. What the author wants to say is that gender itself has little impact on driving skills. "Initial D" and There is no shortage of "car goddesses" in "The Fast and the Furious", and women also play an important role in the history of automobiles. For example, the inventors of the auto parts that the author will take you to learn about today are also women.
1. Part name: turn signal and brake signal
Inventor: Florence Lawrence
Invention time: 1914
Speaking of Florence Lawrence’s career, you may have a hard time connecting her with the inventor of turn signals and brake lights, Hedy Lamarr, who invented Wi-Fi, and former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Like Ronald Reagan, Ms. Lawrence is better known as the world's first movie star.
Lawrence, who was working as an actress in New York at the time, had a weekly salary of US$500. Such a high income made it easy for her to buy a car, and since she had a car, Lawrence was also very special. She likes to drive her car for outings, but while driving, Lawrence finds that there is always one thing that makes her feel that it damages her image of a lady.
The mass-produced cars at that time did not have turn signals or brake lights. If you wanted to turn or brake while driving, you had to put your hand out of the window and gesture to let the car behind you know your intention. In Lawrence's opinion, it is indeed a bit unladylike for a woman to gesture with her hands out of the window.
So she invented a simple mechanical device in 1914, which is the prototype of today's turn signals and brake lights. When you want to turn or brake, press a button and the car will turn on. The three English words left, right or stop will pop up next to the window. Compared with gestures, people's reaction time to words is also shorter. The shorter the reaction time, the less the concept of accidents.
Although Lawrence did not patent this technology, and Edgar A. Walz later invented and patented a signaling system with indicator lights in 1925, But this does not prevent us from considering Lawrence as the inventor of the turn signal and brake light, because Wolz was inspired by Lawrence and improved the device invented by Lawrence before developing the patented device. signaling system.
2. Part name: brake pad
Inventor: Bertha Benz
Invention time: 1888
If you see the name of the inventor of brake pads, you may wonder, is there some connection between Bertha Benz and Mercedes-Benz? In fact, Bertha Benz's husband was the famous engineer Karl Benz who invented the world's first Mercedes-Benz. In 1888, her husband built the world's first Mercedes-Benz, but In the eyes of many people, the fuel vehicle invented by Carl may not be a successful invention.
In order to prove that the fuel car invented by her husband was successful, Bertha decided to go into battle herself. She decided to drive the car back to her parents' home 95 kilometers away to have a look. So before setting off, in order to improve the car's performance To improve braking efficiency, she obtained some pieces of leather from a leather shoe factory and put the leather directly on the car's brakes. This piece of leather became the world's first brake pad.
In addition to being the inventor of brake pads, Bertha was also the world's first driver. Although it was her husband Carl Benz who built the car, he was the first to test drive it. It is indeed Bertha, and in 2018, in order to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the birth of Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-Benz also specially filmed a VCR video about Bertha called "Bertha Benz: The First Driver" Ms. Shah Benz pays her highest tribute.
3. Part name: wiper
Inventor: Marie Anderson
Invention time: 1902
Although The first car was born in 1888, but the invention of the wiper had to wait until 1902. Marie Anderson, who invented the wiper, relied on her own skills to make a breakthrough in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century when patriarchy was still prevalent. Halfway through life, she was not only a wealthy real estate developer, but also a rancher, but what made her famous was not her huge wealth, but her invention of the windshield wiper.
In the winter of 1902, New York City ushered in a snowstorm. The snow fell so heavily that it covered the windshield of the car, forcing the driver to drive at a low speed. At this time, Anderson was about to Anderson went to the hospital to see his dying father. Because of the heavy snow, Anderson lost the chance to see his father for the last time. Later, it was also because of heavy snow that the car was driving at a low speed again. She did not arrive at the destination at the appointed time, so she lost an important customer.
These two accidents made Anderson think that he must invent something so that cars would not have to drive at low speeds due to rain or snow.
When he saw his neighbor clearing snow, Anderson reached out and wiped his tears. Suddenly, he was inspired. What if there was a device that could remove the accumulated snow on the windshield just like clearing snow and wiping tears? Once the snow is swept away, drivers don’t have to worry about seeing the road ahead in rainy or snowy weather.
As a result, Anderson drew the drawings of the world's first wiper blade by himself and applied for a patent in 1913. The Chinese often say that a blessing in disguise is a blessing in disguise. It must have been a blessing if it weren't for Ms. Anderson's success in life. As a result of the two accidents, the advent of the windshield wiper was delayed for who knows how many more years.
4. Part name: Car heater
Inventor: Margaret A. Wilcox
Invention time : 1893
For many car enthusiasts living in high latitudes, when driving in winter, they always have to turn on the heater in the car first and wait until the temperature inside the car reaches a comfortable enough level. , will start the day's itinerary. Cars were invented at the end of the 19th century. Cars at that time were actually toys for the aristocrats. However, the cars at that time did not have heating. If the upper-class aristocrats were to drive their cars in the biting cold wind in winter, they would have to turn the car on. Selling it to them means letting them spend money to buy it and suffer it?
One day in 1893, Margaret Wilcox, who discovered this problem like the author, also wanted to invent a device that would prevent the car from falling when driving in winter. To endure the cold, she initially thought that if she wanted to specialize in producing heating devices, the cost of building a car would also increase.
But while riding in the car, she accidentally touched the hot engine cover. Margaret thought, since the engine can still emit so much heat in winter, if the heat is guided into the car For heating, this heat can also "do work". Wouldn't this kill two birds with one stone? So Margaret actually invented a device that could direct engine heat into the cabin, so that upper-class nobles would not have to freeze when driving in winter.
Summary:
So who says women are inferior to men? Even in the automobile industry, a modern industry that seems to be more masculine, we can still find the names of many female inventors. If you, as a male, are biased against female drivers, you might as well think about it carefully. Look, the world’s first driver was also a woman. Moreover, if it weren’t for the contribution of female inventors, today you would have to stick out the car window to gesture when turning left. When driving in winter, you would probably have to bear the same pain as riding a bicycle. Cold wind.
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.