View source for Tesla Electric Light and Manufacturing

{{short description|Company formed by Nikola Tesla in 1884}}

{{Infobox company
| name = Tesla Electric Light and Manufacturing Company
| hq_location_city = [[Rahway, New Jersey]]
| hq_location_country = United States
| founded = {{start date and age|1884|12}}
| defunct = {{end date|1886}}
| founders = {{ubl|[[Nikola Tesla]]|Robert Lane|Benjamin Vail}}
}}

'''Tesla Electric Light and Manufacturing Company''' was an [[electric lighting]] company in [[Rahway, New Jersey]] that operated from December 1884 through 1886.

==History==
Based at the site where 1571-1579 Irving Street now stands, on Irving Street between Coach and Elizabeth,<ref>Site on Google Maps (https://www.google.com:443/maps?q=40.609830,-74.276504&hl=en&gl=us); see also original site marked in pink on 1886 map. http://map.princeton.edu/mapviewer/#/jq085n29x; Rahway Tesla bust; https://s3-media2.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/0SbXc53dqApuklE8W31jSg/o.jpg; Rahway tourism poster
http://rahwaysown.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Tesla_FS.png; Article on Rahway honoring Tesla http://njtoday.net/2016/06/16/rahway-to-honor-nikola-tesla/; Article on brilliance of lights installed by Tesla in Rahway
http://www.digifind-it.com/rahway/data/national-dem/1886/1886-04-23.pdf</ref> Rahway, New Jersey, Tesla Electric Light and Manufacturing Company was started in December 1884 after the inventor [[Nikola Tesla]] left [[Thomas Edison]]'s employment following a disagreement over payment.<ref>Marc Seifer, ''Wizard: The Life And Times Of Nikola Tesla'', p. 41</ref> The company was formed in a partnership between Tesla, Robert Lane and Benjamin Vail with Tesla given the task of designing an [[Arc lamp|arc lighting]] system, a fast growing segment of the new electric light industry used mostly for outdoor lighting. Tesla designed an arc lamp with automatic adjustment and a [[fail-switch]] as well as improved dynamos. These were the first [[patent]]s issued to Tesla in the [[United States|US]].<ref>Jonnes, Jill. ''Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World''. Random House Trade Paperbacks - 2004.</ref> By 1886 he had installed a central station based system in Rahway lighting streets as well as a few factory buildings.

The investors showed little interest in Tesla's ideas for new types of [[motors]] and [[electrical transmission equipment]] and, with the market already heavily controlled by [[Brush Electric Illuminating Company]] and the [[Thomson-Houston Electric Company]], they came to the conclusion it was better to develop an [[Electric utility|electrical utility]] than invent new systems.<ref>Carlson, W. Bernard. ''Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age''. Princeton University Press - 2013, page 75</ref> By the fall of 1886 they had formed the [[Union County Electric Light & Manufacturing Company]] spelling the end for Tesla Electric Light and Manufacturing and leaving Tesla penniless. Tesla even lost control of the patents he had generated since he had assigned them to the company in lieu of stock.<ref>Carlson, W. Bernard. ''Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age''. Princeton University Press - 2013, pages 74-75</ref>

==Patents==
Tesla had already been issued the following patents:

* '''{{US patent|359748}}''' - ''Dynamo-Electric Machine'' - 1886 January 14 -
* '''{{US patent|334823}}''' - ''Commutator for Dynamo Electric Machines'' - 1886 January 26 - Elements to prevent sparking on dynamo-electric machines; Drum-style with brushes.
* '''{{US patent|335786}}''' - ''Electric [[arc lamp]]'' - 1886 February 9 - Arc lamp with carbon electrodes controlled by electromagnets or solenoids and a clutch mechanism; Corrects earlier design flaws common to the industry.
* '''{{US patent|335787}}''' - ''Electric arc lamp'' - 1886 February 9 - Arc lamp's automatic fail switch when arc possesses abnormal behavior; Automatic reactivation.
* '''{{US patent|336961}}''' - ''Regulator for dynamo electric machines'' - 1886 March 2 - Two main brushes connected to helices coil ends; Intermediate point branch shunt connection for third brush.
* '''{{US patent|336962}}''' - ''Regulator for Dynamo Electric Machines'' - 1886 March 2 - Auxiliary brush[es] shunting a portion or whole of the field helices coil; Regulates energy flow; Adjustable level of current.
* '''{{US patent|350954}}''' - ''Regulator for Dynamo Electric Machines'' - 1886 October 19 - Automatic regulation of energy levels; Mechanical device to shift brushes.

==Further reading==
* ''Tesla: Life and legacy'': [https://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_america.html ''Coming to America''], PBS.
* [https://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/am_stock_pop.html Stock certificate for the Tesla Electric Light and Manufacturing Company]. ''Tesla: Life and legacy: Coming to America'', PBS.
* "Nikola Tesla: Research in High Frequency Phenomena, 1894." Nikola Tesla: Recognized Genius. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2014. <https://web.archive.org/web/20140213181818/http://www.fi.edu/learn/case-files/tesla/genius.html>.

==References==
;Notes
{{reflist}}
;Sources
*National Electric Light Association Convention (1890) Page 18

{{Nikola Tesla}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tesla Electric Light and Manufacturing}}
[[Category:Electric power companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Rahway, New Jersey]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1884]]
[[Category:American companies disestablished in 1886]]