|
 Wednesday, September 26, 2007 |
| Dedicated to the memory of Harold Leviton |
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 Harold Leviton passed away this month. He was a well respected business man, family man, and one of my past employers. I have good memories of his company, Leviton Manufacturing Company Inc. It was honest and fair work.
I did not have much contact with Mr. Leviton, he was at another level than me. I was an engineer for his company. I do have a few memories though. Every year we would meet down in the test lab for a patent dedication ceremony. It was informal and included the engineers, some management, Mr. Leviton, cookies and coffee. Every engineer who got a patent, or named on a patent, got a plaque. The lead engineer on the patent was expected to say a few words at the plaque presentation. One year I was named on a very important patent, the "Constant current supply over a wide range of Voltages" patent.
I had it in my mind that when I gave my few words I would select them very carefully. I wanted to explain the patents benefits which were on a somewhat technical subject so that anyone could understand it. I explained that our light switches now had electronic controls in them and unlike the conventional mechanical switches they needed to be powered to operate. Part of the problem we were addressing in this patent was that in many electrical boxes there is no neutral, thus no way for our device to get power. What we decided to do was to take advantage of a little known UL code exception that allowed a device to 'leak' up to 1/2 ma of current through the ground connection that was in every electrical box. This little known exception was built into the UL code from many years ago when the rubber insulation used in refrigerator wiring was not that good. It would leak that tiny amount of current. That UL exception is still there to this day!
The second problem (actually the main problem) we addressed with this patent is the need for our electronic switch to operate with a wide range of voltages. They could operate during a power dip or in factories, overseas, or office building; all which have other voltages.
I then explained that our circuit was implemented in several devices that we were now selling and returning a significant profit to the company.
My prize though was not the patent plaque, it was later on when Harold thanked me for the talk and said that he understood it. I can hear your voice as if it were yesterday, "Patents are the life blood of this organization...". Thank you Mr. Leviton. |
dbruccoleri at 8:42 PM |
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