Francis Blake (telephone)
Encyclopedia
Francis Blake, Jr. was born in Needham, Massachusetts, the son of Caroline Burling (Trumbull) and Francis Blake, Sr. and died in Weston, Massachusetts.
In 1877 Francis Blake invented a carbon microphone
for use in the telephone, shortly after Thomas Edison
invented a microphone that also used carbon contacts. Blake used a carbon button design that initially would not stay in adjustment, but with later improvements proved to be workable. Alexander Bell hired Blake and put him to work with Emile Berliner
who also invented a carbon microphone. The improved Berliner-Blake microphone was standard with the Bell company for many years.
Blake worked on the United States Coast Survey from his teenage years through early adulthood (1866-1878). He was a physicist and an amateur photographer.
In 1874 Blake married Elizabeth Livermore Hubbard (1849-1941) whose father provided land in Weston on which Blake designed and built an elaborate house in which Blake conducted his electrical experiments. They had two children: Agnes (Blake) Fitzgerald (b. 1876) and Benjamin Sewall Blake (b. 1877).
In 1877 Francis Blake invented a carbon microphone
Carbon microphone
The carbon microphone, also known as a carbon button microphone or a carbon transmitter, is a sound-to-electrical signal transducer consisting of two metal plates separated by granules of carbon. One plate faces outward and acts as a diaphragm...
for use in the telephone, shortly after Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
invented a microphone that also used carbon contacts. Blake used a carbon button design that initially would not stay in adjustment, but with later improvements proved to be workable. Alexander Bell hired Blake and put him to work with Emile Berliner
Emile Berliner
Emile Berliner or Emil Berliner was a German-born American inventor. He is best known for developing the disc record gramophone...
who also invented a carbon microphone. The improved Berliner-Blake microphone was standard with the Bell company for many years.
Blake worked on the United States Coast Survey from his teenage years through early adulthood (1866-1878). He was a physicist and an amateur photographer.
In 1874 Blake married Elizabeth Livermore Hubbard (1849-1941) whose father provided land in Weston on which Blake designed and built an elaborate house in which Blake conducted his electrical experiments. They had two children: Agnes (Blake) Fitzgerald (b. 1876) and Benjamin Sewall Blake (b. 1877).
Patents
- Canadian patent 10021 for telephone transmitter, granted 28 May, 1879, voided 3 March, 1887 because of failure to manufacture telephone parts in Canada.
- US patent granted in 1881