Watt continued to experiment and in 1781 he produced a rotary-motion steam engine.
Whereas his earlier machine, with its up-and-down pumping action, was ideal for draining mines, this new steam engine could be used to drive many different types of machinery. Richard Arkwright was quick to importance of this new invention, and in 1783 he began using Watts steam-engine in his textile factories. Others followed his lead and by 1800 there were over 500 of Watts machines in Britains mines and factories.
In 1755 Watt had been granted a patent by Parliament that prevented anybody else from making a steam-engine like the one he had developed. For the next twenty-five years, the Boulton Watt company had a virtual monopoly over the production of steam-engines.
Watt charged his customers a premium for using his steam engines. To justify this he compared his machine to a horse. Watt calculated that a horse exerted a pull of 180 lb., therefore, when he made a machine, he described its power in relation to a horse, i.e. a 20 horse-power engine. Watt worked out how much each company saved by using his machine rather than a team of horses. The company then had to pay him one third of this figure every year, for the next twenty-five years. When James Watt died in 1819 he was a very wealthy man.
詹姆斯瓦特是英国著名的发明家,是工业革命时的重要人物。1776年制造出第一台有实用价值的蒸汽机。以后又经过一系列重大改进,使之成为万能的原动机,在工业上得到广泛应用。他开辟了人类利用能源新时代,标志着工业革命的开始。后人为了纪念这位伟大的发明家,把功率的单位定为瓦特。
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