Bramah, Joseph

Related Category: Technology: Biographies

(brăm´ə, brä´–), 1748–1814, English inventor. In 1784 he took out his first patent on a safety lock, and in 1795 he patented his hydraulic press, known as the Bramah press (see under hydraulic machine). He devised a numerical printing machine for bank notes and was one of the first to suggest the practicability of screw propellers and of hydraulic transmission.