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Polish inventors - what have they ever given to the world?


rygar - | 40
28 Jan 2012 #31
Lucjan £ągiewka

tvp.info/informacje/technologie/pochlaniacz-energii-znajdzie-zastosowanie/5472985

"The Most important invention of the first decade of XXI century" (although it was invented 13 years ago hehe)

and since few years fighting over patent rights with Oxford

Interesting is the fact, that car makers are not interested in it - they don't want cars to come unscratched from smaller accidents :(
money is more important that human life, as always

sorry, he is fighting with cambridge, not oxford

youtube.com/watch?v=qB42GK-NEcM&feature=related
boletus 30 | 1,361
29 Jan 2012 #32
"The Most important invention of the first decade of XXI century" (although it was invented 13 years ago hehe)

In the mind of Polish media perhaps. Otherwise this is a big exaggeration. Please, take your time and read what follows. This is not a propaganda, but engineering facts.

Lucjan £ągiewka's bumper prototype has nothing in common with Malcolm C. Smith's inerter - besides using similar mechanical components: a flywheel and a rack and pinion device. He may fight all he wants with Cambridge, but his chances of revoking the Smith's patent are zero, for many reasons. And since this little war is publicly funded by the Polish state it is also a waste of public money.

He cannot patent the components, because they have been around for many centuries and have been used precisely for the exactly same or similar reasons, as used by both men in their devices. Flywheels have been used as energy storage devices in gyrobuses (1955), Watt's steam locomotives (19 century), toys and recently in KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems), NASA space docking stations, etc. New technologies and materials, such as carbon components and magnetic bearings have made flywheels the attractive alternatives to chemical batteries.

Rack and pinion device - along with four-bar-linkages, threaded rods, sliders and hydraulic elements - are typical converters of linear/reciprocating motion to a rotational one. The primary applications can be easily found in automotive industry but there are many other applications, such as hydrodynamic screw for power generation - the Archimedes screw pump in reverse.

So, no - these components cannot be patented. However, their functional application could be contested in theory. Unfortunately for Mr. £ągiewka his prototype has no functional similarity to that of the Smith's one. The former is an untuned device for shock reduction, the latter is a tuned device for attenuation of vibrations. Tuned vs. untuned, one-time shock vs. continuous vibrations. See the difference? There is also a huge difference regarding size, mass, and configuration of those devices: the £ągiewska's one is bulky, heavy and placed in front of the vehicle as a bumper - the Smith's one is compact, small and made a part of a car suspension system.

To make it even worse for £ągiewka - in recent years, driven by the demands from the racing cars industry, several new concrete engineering solutions of the original idea of Smith's inerter have been developed and patented, such as the Lotus Renault GP: Fluid Inerter. They still use a flywheel, but no more rack and pinion converter. Instead hydraulic fluid is used to drive the flywheel.

So let me shortly review what it is all about.
1. Classical vibration isolation, a.k.a. vibration suspension, or vibration absorber. Its role is to either reduce the forces transmitted from the environment, such as a bumpy road, into a machine (a vehicle), or to reduce vibrations of rotational/reciprocating machines transmitted to the environment, such as to a plant floor. The solution is generally known as vibration isolation.

All one needs is to suspend the machine (the car) on a soft system of springs, alongside some dashpots to disperse the vibrational energy. The softer the springs the better attenuation efficiency, and the better the driving comfort in case of cars, but the worse operational (driving) control. So there is always some compromise to be made. For example, a machine operating at 1800 RPM (30 Hz) would be very well isolated by a set of rubber springs tuned to 7 Hz, say. In most cases there is no need to go below this number, but there are some special applications, where much softer coil springs (3 Hz), or even air springs (1.5 Hz) would be required.

It is quite easy to isolate reciprocating machines, which operate at a constant frequency, as in the example above. All we need is to stay away from the resonance (7Hz << 30 Hz). However, vibration isolation of racing cars, driving in various road conditions, on various tires is not that easy because they encounter the entire spectrum of excitation frequencies - including the one dangerous resonant frequency, provided by the suspension system. In this case - rather then helping the driver - the engineer, who had designed the absorber, has made the matter much worse for the driver. Vibration isolation does not work in resonance!

As another class of examples, where the resonance becomes troublesome, consider tall structures (chimneys, towers) subjected to various wind conditions. Such a structure can be modelled as a beam, or a mass supported by a spring. It has its own so-called natural frequency - often quite low, 4 Hz say. And sooner or later, among the wind spectrum frequencies, a resonant frequency (4 Hz, say) would appear - causing serious structural damages or even a catastrophic collapse of the structure.

2. Passive tuned mass dampers
This is where one of the oldest technologies (19 century, I guess) comes to rescue. Support a small auxiliary mass (about 1/10 of the primary mass) on a system of springs tuned to the vicinity of the natural frequency of the main structure, add some dashpots to dissipate vibrational energy, and attach some cooling system to remove excessive heat generated in dashpots. This is known as Passive Tuned Mass Damper. Passive - because there is no electronics involved here. Tuned - because the damper has been tuned to one particular frequency. Mass - because its main component is a mass-spring device.

The model: Ground==>Main Spring + Dashpot in parallel ==> Principal Mass ==>Damper's Spring + Dashpot ==> Damper's Mass

I used to design such systems for chimneys of Hydro-Quebec power stations. But the joy and pride of the company I was employed for six years, long before I joined it, were tuned mass dampers designed for CN Tower in Toronto in 1976.

The 102-m steel antenna mast on top of the Canadian National Tower in Toronto (553 m high including the antenna) required two lead dampers to prevent the antenna from deflecting excessively when subjected to wind excitation. The damper system consists of two doughnut-shaped steel rings, 35 cm wide, 30 cm deep, and 2.4 m and 3 m in diameter, located at elevations 488 m and 503 m. Each ring holds about 9 metric tons of lead and is supported by three steel beams attached to the sides of the antenna mast. (...)

Tuned mass dampers were also recently applied to Formula 1 racing cars to reduce vibrations induced by road bumps. Introduced in 2006, banned in 2009, for various reasons, they have been allowed back in 2011. Such dampers differ from conventional suspension system by presence of a secondary mass, attached to the car's body via spring, or spring and damper, system. This auxiliary subsystem is tuned to the first natural frequency of the suspension.

3. Inerters
Inerters, as originally designed by Malcom S Smith from Cambridge, are more sophisticated cousins of Tuned Mass Dampers. In rough approximation - rather than using an auxiliary mass supported by a spring, an inertia of a spinning flywheel is used to to store excessive energy and then dissipate it slowly via dashpots.

There are many descriptions of the interters, but the following one seems to be easy enough to understand:
scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/lotus-renault-gp-fluid-inerter

Besides, it describes the technology far removed from rack and pinion of that of £ągiewka and Smith to further prove the point that inverters and bumpers have nothing in common but the flywheel.
itniruged
29 Jan 2012 #33
If NASA is intrested in £ągiewka's bumper it is only proof that they employ still poorer and poorer engineers.

But check out "Czochralski process" on wiki.
Gruffi_Gummi - | 106
29 Jan 2012 #34
What haves poles ever given to the world (apart from cheap labour)?

How about the hydrogen bomb? :)
Google Stanisław Ulam.
rygar - | 40
30 Jan 2012 #35
Robert Dwilinski - his discovery may have similar impact on semiconductor industry as Czochralski's

I read more about Lagiewka - yeah - it seems to be just scam. Or just another kind of shock absorber, but nothing revolutionary
gumishu 13 | 6,134
30 Jan 2012 #36
Poles I think in the 1530 or 40s, 2 centuries before it appeared in Russia.

isn't Arabs who invented distillation? like around 10th century? and used strong alcohol (al kohol is from Arabic) to extract natural oils for perfume industry?
rygar - | 40
30 Jan 2012 #37
Poles used different method I think - Arabs used boiling, Poles - freezing
MediaWatch 10 | 945
30 Jan 2012 #38
I'm surprised that nobody mentioned the personal computer.

The personal computer was invented by Polish American inventor Steve Wozniak along with Steve Jobs.

web.mit.edu/invent/iow/apple.html

No doubt everyone reading this forum is using personal computer technology of some sort.

Without personal computers, you wouldn't have the internet and mass world communication. You also wouldn't have companies being more productive by having their employees doing their work using Word processing, spreadsheets and graphics.......done on a personal computer.

Call me crazy, but I think that is a HUGE invention.
delphiandomine 88 | 18,163
30 Jan 2012 #39
Polish American inventor Steve Wozniak

Is there any proof whatsoever that Steve Wozniak is Polish-American, apart from his last name which proves nothing?
jasondmzk
30 Jan 2012 #40
Is there any proof whatsoever that Steve Wozniak is Polish-American

thefreelibrary.com/POLAND'S+LECH+WALESA+MEETS+WITH+APPLE+CO-FOUNDER-a013166869
The link is self-explanatory, I think. Also, "The Woz" has referred to himself more than once as "the second most famous Pole after Marie Curie". I mention these things because you ask, not because of my interest in this thread.
Barney 15 | 1,590
30 Jan 2012 #41
isn't Arabs who invented distillation? like around 10th century?

The first mention of distillation references Mary the Jewess,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_the_Jewess

She is credited as the person who discovered the process.
modafinil - | 419
30 Jan 2012 #42
Call me crazy, but I think that is a HUGE invention.

You will find IBM5100 is credited as the first consumer computer before apple existed, also the first to call one a PC.
Harry
30 Jan 2012 #43
Is there any proof whatsoever that Steve Wozniak is Polish-American, apart from his last name which proves nothing?

The name is common in Poland and in Ukraine, it used to be particularly common among Jews. Some sources say that his ancestors were from Ukraine,

wnu-ukraine.com/news/economy-business/?id=563

Keep on arguing that Steve Wozniak, the key founder of the personal computer and the revolutionary Apple Computer Co is not Polish!

He is not Polish, at most he has partial Polish ancestry. And you'd no doubt call him an anti-Polish racist because he admits that he tells jokes about Poles, source interview:

knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1903.

Apparently one of his jokes was "When did the polack die drinking milk? When the cow sat down!"

You will find IBM5100 is credited as the first consumer computer before apple existed, also the first to call one a PC.

Yes but that is just a Jewish-Soviet plot to discredit Poland, right Mediawatch?
a.k.
30 Jan 2012 #44
The name is common in Poland and in Ukraine, it used to be particularly common among Jews. Some sources say that his ancestors were from Ukraine

In his autobiography he admits he was nicknamed Crazy Polack. It is said he liked to tell Polish jokes ;)

He was even awarded by the Polish American Congress with "Hetitage Award".
JonnyM 11 | 2,615
30 Jan 2012 #45
When the cow sat down!"

Yes. I wonder if Mediawatch even knows what the name means, without looking it up.
a.k.
30 Jan 2012 #46
Do you? I wonder also if someone could give me a Ukrainina word for wóz or woźnica.
delphiandomine 88 | 18,163
30 Jan 2012 #47
He was even awarded by the Polish American Congress with "Hetitage Award".

I wouldn't trust that shower of fools - they seem to recognise almost anything as Polish if it can even be halfway claimed as such. All for political point-scoring, of course.

And you'd no doubt call him an anti-Polish racist because he admits that he tells jokes about Poles

So - we have a guy who could easily be a bit Jewish telling jokes about Poles. Why isn't MediaWatch screaming for his head, like he would if a French-Jewish person was telling jokes about Poles?
JonnyM 11 | 2,615
30 Jan 2012 #48
Do you? I wonder also if someone could give me a Ukrainina word for wóz or woźnica.

Sidetracking somewhat, and not very well...

I wouldn't trust that shower of fools

They are to be avoided - some very dodgy connections there.

One way to clear up the issue is to find out if he ever described how he identified himself.
a.k.
30 Jan 2012 #49
Sidetracking somewhat, and not very well...

You with your pals already sidetracked the thread.

I wouldn't trust that shower of fools

Was he honoured or not? It's an award for Polish Americans. And you have been cought red-handed when you can't just admit you are wrong. Know-it-all as usual.

So - we have a guy who could easily be a bit Jewish telling jokes about Poles.

An alert for a moderator. Delphian is provoking again!

One way to clear up the issue is to find out if he ever described how he identified himself.

His friends allegedly say that he is extremely proud of his Polish heritage. I don't know if these statements are just gossips, or an Interent myth taken out of nowhere or whatever... but look, he is not an actor or a singer. He is a businessman. How we can know what his ancestry is for sure? Most Internet sites if mention his ancestry at all, say he is of Polish and German roots. If you look on wikipedia talk site, some says that it was declared by himself that he has Polish ancestry. However I don't know the source, but if everywhere is said he is partially of Polish descent then why to argue? Go phone him, send an e-mail or whatever and and ask him! All we know - the average users of PF - is that the he is said of being Polish ancestry.
Harry
30 Jan 2012 #50
One way to clear up the issue is to find out if he ever described how he identified himself.

As far as I know, he has only ever described himself as having Polish heritage and has never described himself as being Polish-American. He has never called himself Polish.

he is partially of Polish descent

Precisely: he is of Polish descent, he is not Polish. So he should not be brought up in a thread about Polish inventors. Although he could be brought up in a thread about inventors who are partially descended from Polish people.

Delphian is provoking again!

Actually I would also like to know why Mediawatch considers that it is acceptable for a man who is half German to make jokes about Poles.

Even worse for MW, Woz himself says "I sort of wish that I were Ukranian or nearby. Those people seem the most like Americans, like myself, out of all Europeans."! woz.com/letters/general/63.html
a.k.
30 Jan 2012 #51
Precisely: he is of Polish descent, he is not Polish.

Ok, now you talk sensibly.

woz.com/letters/general/63.html

Thank you for that link! Now we are sure that he is Polish. He clearly answers for a letter from a fan, who asks if he has some Ukrainian roots. He says his mother's family came from Garmany and father's from Poland!!! Thank you Harry! :)

Btw Wozniak surname has 87 295 people in Poland. I think it's one of the most popular surnames in Poland. I think that might be also a surname which exists in Ukraine but probably that surname came there from Poland.
Harry
30 Jan 2012 #52
Now we are sure that he is Polish.

No, he is not Polish. As he himself says, his father's family came from Poland, so he is of partially Polish descent.

He is as German as he is Polish, but if you asked the average German if they think Steve Wozniak is German, they'd no doubt laugh at you.

And he says that he wishes he was Ukrainian: what kind of Pole would say that?!
a.k.
30 Jan 2012 #53
As he himself says, his father's family came from Poland, so he is of partially Polish descent.

That's what I meant.
Do you pick so much on every detail? Do you know what's mental shortcut?

And he says that he wishes he was Ukrainian: what kind of Pole would say that?!

A very polite and dyplomatic American would give such answer. You know if a music star comes to a country to play a gig or a politican to give a speech they also say such things... you're the best fans in the world, I'm a Berliner...
Harry
30 Jan 2012 #54
That's what I meant.
Do you pick so much on every detail? Do you know what's mental shortcut?

Saying that somebody who is not Polish is Polish is not a mental shortcut: it is at best a mistake and at worst a downright lie. Wozniak is very simply not Polish, just as he is not German: he is an American of Polish and German descent, who wishes that he was Ukrainian.

how about some Polish inventors.

For example Jan Lukasiewicz, Joseph Tykocinski-Tykociner and Kazimierz Zeglen.
JonnyM 11 | 2,615
30 Jan 2012 #55
Jan Lukasiewicz,

Now that guy was in the very first few threads. He invented the precursor to the modern upstream oil process.
gumishu 13 | 6,134
30 Jan 2012 #56
Given that Poles will try distilling most things, it was only a matter of time before one of them tried distilling seep oil!

hahahah that's a good one, Harry :)
PennBoy 76 | 2,432
30 Jan 2012 #57
why not name for us a Polish inventor and tell us what he invented?

Gabriel Narutowicz 'famous pioneer of electrification in Switzerland. He directed the construction of many hydroelectric power plants in Western Europe (in places such as: Monthey, Mühleberg and Andelsbuch).' en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Narutowicz
gumishu 13 | 6,134
30 Jan 2012 #58
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karol_Olszewski
Harry
30 Jan 2012 #59
Gabriel Narutowicz

cough*Lithuanian-Polish*cough.

Where did that come from?

Anyway, the inventor of the Puławski wing: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zygmunt_Pu%C5%82awski
JonnyM 11 | 2,615
30 Jan 2012 #60
Gabriel Narutowicz

A great man. Wasn't Moscicki a scientist too?


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