Who was Joseph Bramah

If you have ever needed to use a Hydraulic Power Pack like the ones from https://www.hydraproducts.co.uk/Hydraulic-Power-Units/Standard-Power-Units or other hydraulic device you will have be using equipment that was influenced heavily by the engineering and designs of Joseph Bramah.

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Joseph Bramah was born in 1748 in Barnsley in Yorkshire and after leaving school he took up an apprenticeship as a carpenter. After finishing his training he moved to London where he used the skills that he had learnt and became a cabinet maker. During this time he also worked for a company helping them to install water closets. It was during this work that he noticed that the model of toilet that was being installed often froze in cold weather. He obtained a patent for a hinged flap that would see the bottom of the toilet bowl to help overcome this issue.

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Bramah went on to put in another patent for a lock that he designed that would help prevent people from picking and tampering with it. He was so sure that his design was pick proof that he had a lock in his shop window that challenged anyone to try and open it. It wasn;t until 1851 that someone was successful with this.

Bramahs final patent was for a hydraulic press that he created using Pascal’s principle. It had two cylinders and pistons. The principle saw a force placed on the smaller of the two pistons that then in return gave a bigger force on the larger piston. He was granted a patent for the hydraulic press in 1795.