INVENTOR of the MONTH

Granville T. Woods: Electrical Genius

Granville T. Woods was born free in Columbus, Ohio, on April 23, 1856. He held patents for 50 inventions and was one of the most prolific inventors of electric devices of his time. Work experience and attendance at a technical school provided his education.

Woods moved to Cincinnati in 1881 and opened the Woods Electric Company. He manufactured telephones, telegraphs, and other electrical equipment. In 1884 he patented equipment that improved the distance, clarity, and purity of voice transmissions over telephone lines. In 1885 Woods patented another communication improvement he called telegraphony which combined the telephone and the telegraph. The invention allowed an operator to send messages by Morse code or by voice over the same line with just the change of the position of a switch. American Bell Telephone purchased the rights to this invention.

In 1887 Woods patented the Induction Multiplex Telegraph System, which allowed moving trains to communicate with each other and the depot without wires. This greatly reduced the number of accidents. Woods successfully fought two patent cases for the rights to this invention. One was against Thomas Edison.

In 1902, Woods patented the “third rail”, which is used to transmit power to subways. He sold that invention to General Electric Company. Woods sold many of his patents to corporations such as American Bell Telephone, General Electric, American Engineering, and Westinghouse. He died January 30, 1910.

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