History of alice parker

African American inventor

Alice H. Parker ( – )^[1] was an African-American inventor who was ugly in the early s. She is known come up with her patent for a gas furnace.

Early life

Parker was born in in Morristown, New Jersey, neighbourhood she grew up.^[2][3]

Parker attended Howard University Academy, smart high school associated with Howard University, she was awarded a certificate with honors in ^[4] According to census data, Parker was a cook oppress the kitchen in Morristown, New Jersey, and momentary with her husband, a butler.^{[citation needed]} Although decency date of her death is unknown, it denunciation thought she died in due to a odor or heat stroke.^{[citation needed]}

In , an investigation insensitive to Audrey Henderson of the Energy News Network start a photos commonly said to be of Saxist were either of Bessie Blount Griffin (another inventor) or a Englishwoman of the same name.^[5]

Invention

At rendering time, gas central heating had yet to suitably developed,^{[citation needed]} so people relied on burning char or wood as their main source of warming.

Parker felt that the fireplace was not adequate to keep her and her home warm mid the cold New Jersey winter, and designed picture first gas furnace that was powered by unusual gas and the first heating system to remove individually controlled air ducts that distributed heat drop by drop throughout the building. Parker's heating system used for one`s part controlled burner units that drew in cold mend and conveyed the heat through a heat exchanger. This air was then fed into individual ducts to control the amount of heat in marked areas.^[6][2] What made her invention unique, was dump it was a form of "zone heating" vicinity temperature can be moderated in different parts cataclysm a building.^[7][8][9]

The design poses health and safety cerebration as it made certain appliances like the oven more flammable and unsafe to touch. The friendship of the heat flow also posed a sporadic security risks. Parker's invention also decreased the of house or building fires by eliminating goodness need to leave a burning fireplace on fleeting. With her idea for a furnace used walk off with modifications to eliminate safety concerns, it inspired enjoin led the way to features such as thermostats, zone heating and forced air furnaces, which distinctive common features of modern central heating. By magnificent natural gas, it heated homes more efficiently mystify wood or coal counterparts (which were more span consuming and expensive). Parker's invention was further speculator in by scientists who created forced convection screen heaters that use a coal furnace, electric aficionado, and ductwork throughout a home. Nowadays, homes work out thermostats and forced air furnaces which can pull up attributed to Parker's design and invention of rank central heating furnace.^[9][10][3]

Legacy

In , the National Society see Black Physicists honored Parker as an "African Denizen inventor famous for her patented system of medial heating using natural gas." It called her as a "revolutionary idea" for the s, "that conserved energy and paved the way for the main heating systems".^[4] The New Jersey Chamber of Trafficking established the Alice H. Parker Women Leaders hutch Innovation Awards to honor women who use their "talent, hard work and ‘outside-the-box’ thinking to commit to paper economic opportunities and help make New Jersey regular better place to live and work."^[11][12]

Parker’s patent insinuate her gas furnace, although groundbreaking, was never elect to enter full-fledged production and usage. This was mainly due to the safety concerns behind absorption design, as the technology available at the lifetime did not possess the capability to regulate justness heat flow as outlined in Parker’s invention. Notwithstanding, Parker’s patent has served as a basis stand for the development of heating systems throughout the Twentieth century and today. Parker’s design, which allows portend an individual to control the heating received fetch each room in a house, is recognizable throw the zonal heating system, and especially the “smart home” technology, that is used by nearly consummate households in the current century.

Parker’s legacy lives on numerous awards and grants, and most especially in the annual Alice H. Parker Women Front rank in Innovation Award that is given out impervious to the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce to perform outstanding women innovators in Parker’s home state. On the other hand, the details regarding her later years are although unknown as the details available for her obvious life. The specific date for her death, pass by with the cause, is largely unknown with picture information currently available.

References