We have reached 2018 and a time where we are living with technology that used to only be imagined in the movies. What were once fictional gadgets used by James Bond are now items we have integrated into our daily lives. The basic items that we take for granted every day were once only the brainchild of a brilliant inventor.
National Inventors Day
Thirty-five years ago President Reagan declared February 11
th (Thomas Edison’s Birthday) to be National Inventors Day. This day is meant to give everyone a chance to take a moment to honor all of the inventors of the past and present for everything they have contributed to the world. While some inventions can be traced back to ancient times, such as paper, concrete, and my personal favorite… chocolate, some are much more recent. The 21
st century has brought the world into a technological revolution with the invention of items like Bluetooth technology, phones more powerful than the space shuttle computer, and hybrid vehicles. Almost everything you encounter in a day is the result of an amazing inventors imagination coupled with their ingenuity.
Paul Eisler and the Invention of the Printed Circuit Board (PCB)
[caption id="attachment_69176" align="alignright" width="246"]
Paul Eisler & His PCB Radio[/caption] For this 35
th anniversary of the creation of National Inventors Day, UpFix is celebrating Paul Eisler, the inventor of the Printed Circuit Board. Eisler, born in Vienna, Austria in 1907, was unable to work as an engineer due to the political unrest that affected the Jewish people at the time. After moving through a few positions that were not in line with his education in engineering, Eisler eventually ended up working as a publisher and editor. In 1936, Eisler moved to England and began working on his idea for the Printed Circuit Board. Eisler’s education and printing experience both played a huge part in his development of the PCB. Paul Eisler first patented the Printed Circuit Board in 1936 but was then confined to a British Internment Camp for a time during WWII for being an illegal alien. Being confined to the camp did not stop the wheels in his mind from turning and he continued to work on the first product to utilize a PCB, a radio. Released from the camp in 1941, Eisler was able to finish up his work presenting the first PCB controlled radio in 1942.
What is a Printed Circuit Board (PCB)?
We have explained why we selected Paul Eisler as the inventor to be honored for 2018’s National Inventors Day, but not really why the Printed Circuit Board is so important. Have you ever stopped to think about all of the items we use every day that are supported by circuit boards? PCB’s are used to route signals and power between devices. It brings together the mechanical and the electrical components of an item in the most efficient way possible. While you can trace the origins of Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) to radios in the early 1930’s, it took a few years for the trend to take off and the technology to advance. Printed Circuit Boards replaced the need for point-to-point construction in electronics. This not only made the electronics more effective, it also reduced the manufacturing time and cost. After WWII, many industries began to expand and the PCB really took off.
Items That Use a Printed Circuit Board
Today, there are very few items that do not include circuit boards. With the exception of the invention of harnessing electricity and of the light bulb, very few inventions are so intertwined with our everyday life as the PCB. It is strange that everyone knows about Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell, but very few know what a critical role Paul Eisler has played in the technological development of the world. Smartphone’s, appliances, and medical devices are just a few types of items that are made possible by the invention of the Printed Circuit Board. A circuit board is likely at the center of every electronic product you have ever used. If that doesn’t convince you that Paul Eisler was one of the best inventors of all time; he also invented “fish fingers” (known as fish sticks in America). Maybe not as impressive as a PCB, but it definitely shows his creative range!
How Circuit Boards are Used in Your Car
We have moved past the days of large metal automobiles and have moved into a time where many vehicle components are electronic. If you recall, PCB’s can be found in almost every electronic product you come into contact with. This is also true for the electronic components in your car. Every modern car rolls off the assembly line with an onboard computer. These can be as simple as computers that control alert systems, to systems that are so complex that they help to make the vehicle almost fully autonomous. Vehicles have moved from being strictly mechanical and now feature numerous electrical aspects. While bringing the automotive industry into an electronic revolution has a lot of great benefits, it does make it a little harder for DIY’ers to pop the hood and repair various components in their vehicle.
UpFix Solving the DIY’ers Dilemma with Electronic Components
For all of the DIY’ers that want to save money and handle their own car repairs, UpFix helps to make that possible by repairing, resetting, and restoring a variety of automotive electronic components. When you are looking for a repair and return service for
Speedometer Clusters,
ABS Modules,
ECUs, PCMs, and TCMs. The team at UpFix is your number one choice. UpFix specializes in
Airbag Module Reset,
Seat Belt Repair, and Automotive Electronics Repair. Our team can save you hundreds of dollars by repairing your existing system in order for you to reinstall it. Today, the UpFix team are looking up from the Electronic Components they are repairing and taking a moment to honor Paul Eisler for National Inventors Day!