top of page
Writer's pictureNuno Margalha

The pyrelophore and the ruby



Every watch has rubies. We all know that these are not natural rubies nowadays. Fortunately, we all know that the quality of a watch is not measured by the number of rubies. Still, there is a lot to unravel on this topic.


Did you know that the "sapphire crystal" glass of a watch is made of the same material as artificial rubies? Did you know that rubies are actually aluminum oxide?

The production of these artificial rubies, which we find in watches today, was only possible thanks to the creation of very powerful furnaces that reached 2400ºC, at the beginning of 1900. At that time it was also known worldwide that the most powerful furnace, (3800ºC) had been created by a Portuguese priest and was called Pirelóforo.


Did you know that the rubies in over 1,200 watch movements are manufactured in Portugal at CIMD ?

A MONITORING MECHANISM


The first machine was built in the Ajuda area of Lisbon, and reached temperatures of 2000ºC and was capable of melting basalt. The final version reached temperatures of 3800ºC and was capable of melting any rock or metal. However, what really interests us here is that this device was based on a complicated clockwork mechanism that allowed the entire structure to follow the movement of the sun throughout the day, as well as the position of the box relative to the reflecting mirrors.




THE PYRELOPHORE


As children, we all discovered that a magnifying glass exposed to the sun can become the most terrifying deadly weapon, from an ant's point of view. Well, in 1904 at the Universal Exhibition in St. Louis, in the United States, a Portuguese invention was awarded that took this idea to the extreme. An invention capable of fusing all existing rocks and metals, all with only solar energy. The inventor was Father Himalaya (Manuel António Gomes) from Cendufe and the invention, the Pyrelophorus. The Pyrelophorus was made up of a set of parabolic mirrors that reflected light to a single point, in a box/oven, where the elements were placed to be melted. However, unlike the magnifying glass technique, the Pyrelophorus was 13 meters high and followed the movements of the sun by means of a clockwork mechanism. This World Fair was held in the USA in 1904 and the Pyrelophore had a parabola of 80m2, 6177 mirrors and was 13m long. It is amazing to imagine the logistics required to transport and assemble the apparatus. In one of the photos above you can see the 13m high mirror system mounted on a ship. According to Father Himalaya himself, this entire transport and assembly process cost 40 cents at the time. The machine was shipped in May 1904 and was ready and assembled in August of that year.



PATRIOTIC PRIDE AND THE THEFT OF THE PYRELOPHORE

At the end of the St. Louis exhibition, the device was dismantled and stored in a warehouse, Father Himalaya spent the next 2 years establishing contacts with scientists and giving lectures throughout the United States. Upon his return he discovered that, despite its enormous dimensions, the pyrelophore had been stolen. It was a very valuable invention at the time. Throughout the exhibition, out of patriotic pride, he refused an offer to be naturalized as an American or another worth 350 contos, offered by the Japanese to buy the device.


PATENTS

Despite the theft of the pyrelophore, the patent was registered in the USA under the number 707891, which did not prevent similar smaller devices from appearing in the USA after the theft in St. Louis. In Portugal it was registered under patent 3746. Here is a possible translation of the text and photographs of the American patent:


US PATENT 707891


"For all those who may be interested:


Be it known that I, MANUEL ANTÓNIO GOMES HIMALAYA, engineer, subject of the King of Portugal, residing at 13 Rue de Buzenval, Boulogne-sur-Seine, Department of the Seine, Republic of France, have invented a certain new and useful solar device for the production of high temperatures, of which the following is a complete, clear and precise description.


This invention relates to a solar device for producing high temperatures, particularly in metallurgical and chemical research requiring the use of temperatures higher than those of common furnaces, including the electric furnace.


The apparatus comprises a reflecting surface arranged to cause the solar rays to converge on "a confined focus placed in the centre of a furnace, crucible or other receiver; this furnace or other receptacle, if desired, may be placed entirely outside the reflecting system.


It also includes means for adjusting or defining the apparatus so that the convergence of the rays on the selected focus is maintained regardless of the height of the sun above the horizon.


It also comprises a type of oven or heat receiver specially constructed for the purpose of my invention.



I will now attempt to describe my arrangement, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a section through the axis of a rotation paraboloid ABG, the part of which near the vertex is cut along XY perpendicular to the axis and in which is cut a truncated sector ab 0 (Z, which forms an essential part of the apparatus. Figs. 1, 1 and 1 are views illustrating modifications in the form of the elements forming the reflector.

Fig . 2 shows a reduced-scale plan view of the same truncated paraboloid ABXY of Fig. 1 divided into eight sectors S to S mounted on a horizontal axis DD, arranged perpendicularly to the axis of the paraboloid of rotation at the level of the focus Z. and supported by means of two columns 1 1, capable of being moved on the circular track 2.

Fig . 3 shows in plan and working position the truncated paraboloid sector abcd of Figs. 1 and 2, directing the sun's rays towards a crucible E, with the sun vertical.


Fig . 4 is a vertical section along line MN in Fig. 3.

Figure 5 is a modified form of the arrangement shown below.


Fig . 6 (no image available) is a front view of the reflector system of Fig. 5 and in section along line PQ of Fig. 1.

Figure 7 shows, partially vertically, two reflective systems placed back to back to form two spotlights in two symmetrically opposite furnaces.

Fig . 8 is a reduced-scale plan view of the device shown in Fig. 7.



The essential feature of the invention consists in the use of a reflecting surface formed by a sector of a paraboloid rotating at 6 0 (Z, Fig. 1. capable of reflecting a conical pencil of solar rays at 5 Z, Figs. 2 to 8 , having an angle at the apex sufficiently acute for the focus Z to be formed at the centre of the furnace or other receiver E and to produce a very high temperature. In fact the rotating paraboloid and similar surfaces, although being the ideal form of optical apparatus for concentrating the sun's rays into a physically perfect focus, cannot form a focus capable of being used in practice, because the reflected rays reaching the focus from all sides of the figure cannot be concentrated at the centre of a furnace or receiver alone for heating. around and outside a crucible or boiler, in this way the temperatures developed are relatively small, and the heat losses by radiation and reflection are very important. My invention is based on the principle of resolving the rotating paraboloid into as many parts as possible. It is necessary to obtain a portion of a paraboloid capable of producing a practical and easily usable focus in metallurgical research and in all branches of industrial testing where very high temperatures are required. This result is obtained by cutting at the vertex a paraboloid of rotation on the line of these sectors, as the opening or are of this paraboloid sector ab 0 d, which for greater simplicity I will call a reflector, Figs. 1, 2 and 3 is preferably about forty-five degrees, but it can be greater or less, according to the circumstances. This sector may be cut on one or more sides or on all sides, taking in such case the form of a truncated paraboloid sector, which is the one shown in the drawings, or of a circle, an ellipse, a polygon or other. shape. This reflector may be formed by one or more parts 01' elements of a paraboloid, whose shape may be varied, that is, each of the elements that form the reflector may have the shape of a trapezoid K, which is illustrated in Figs. . 1 to 8, or of a circle, Fig.1."



SYNTHETIC RUBY

Three years before the presentation of the Pyrelophorus, in 1902, August Verneuil achieved a feat that would change watchmaking to this day. This French chemist, professor at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers in Paris, succeeded in creating synthetic rubies for the first time using a sintering process. The difficulty in creating the first synthetic rubies, still used today in all mechanical watches, is due to the fact that the material they are made of, aluminium oxide, must be heated to 2400ºC. Only by creating a furnace capable of reaching these temperatures could this new material be created. Perhaps if August Verneuil had known Father Himalaya and his pyrelophorus that reached 3800ºC, they would both have benefited from each other's discoveries.


RUBIES and WATCH GLASSES


Synthetic rubies, like their natural counterparts, are corundum, i.e. aluminium oxide. In the industrial manufacturing process, the basic component, alumina (aluminium oxide), undergoes a series of operations, namely purification, heating, melting and crystallisation, resulting in pear-shaped artificial ruby pieces. Chromium oxide is added to obtain the red colour of natural rubies. In the case of sapphire crystal glasses, the method is the same, but chromium oxide is not added. The large-scale manufacture of rubies allowed the creation of abundant quantities of these synthetic stones, of a more homogeneous quality than those found in nature. The jewellery trade acquires most of these stones. In watchmaking, the cost of rubies came mainly from the labour required to drill and set them, as the cost of raw materials was relatively low. That said, it should be noted that from the beginning to the final product, about 90% of the ruby is destroyed and only the remaining 10% can be used for watches. Until 1930, ruby tablets were embedded in brass with jewels, later the technique of setting (pressing) them into the plates was adopted, further reducing production costs.



Warning:

Do you have more information or images on the topic of this article?

Contact us .



Bibliography and sources



Documentary:


Downloadable articles :


Blogs :




References:


ARAUJO, A, Lopes - Centenary of the Birth of the Father

Manuel António Gomes Himalaia, Arcos de Valdevez, 1972.


COSTA, Avelino de Jesus da, "Himalaia" entry in the Dictionary of History of Portugal (Directed by Joel Serrão), Lisbon, Editorial Initiatives, 1965, vol. IL


GOMES, (HIMALAYA) - Manuel António, Mémoire descriptif déposé a Vappui de la demande d'un Brevet d' Invention (...) par Monsier Himalaya, (typescript), Paris, 1899.


GONÇALVES, José - The wise Portuguese inventor Himalaia, Braga, SD


MESQUITA, Alfredo de - "O Padre Himalaya and his invention", in Serões, n° 1, Livraria Ferreira e Oliveira, Lda., Lisbon, July 1905, pp. 23-27,

New York Times - March 12, 1905 Edition.


TINOCO, Alfredo, - "The Priest of the Himalayas - A Portuguese precursor of the use of Solar Energy. The Pyreliophorus", in Proceedings and Communications of the / National Meeting on Industrial Heritage, vol II, pp. 95-108, Coimbra Editora, 1990.


VILLECHENON, Florencia Pinot de - Les Expositions Universselles, PUF Paris, 1992.


Lisbon Digital Newspaper Libraryhttp://hemerotecadigital.cm-lisboa.pt


Occident – Illustrated Magazine of Portugal and Estrangeiro year 29; volume XXIX; nº1003 – Nov 10 1906


Serões – Illustrated monthly magazine nº1 – July. 1905


Portugal at the 1904 World Exhibition – The Himalayan Priest and the Pyreliophorus; text by Alfredo Tinoco; Cuadernos de Sociomuseología; nº 42 – 2012. Available at http://recil.grupolusofona.pt/handle/10437/4545


10 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Opmerkingen

Beoordeeld met 0 uit 5 sterren.
Nog geen beoordelingen

Voeg een beoordeling toe
bottom of page