12-T.4.2

Elisha Graves Otis was the inventor of the safety device for elevators. He was born

in 1811 and died in 1861. After many unsuccessful attempts in his career, Otis wanted a fresh

start and began to work as a dole maker for a company. As he was tired of working all

day to make only 12 toys, he invented and patented a robot turner. It could work four

times as fast as humans could do, and it could produce 50 dolls a day. Because of that, his

boss gave him a bonus, and Otis set up his own company with that money. The first thing

he did in his own company was to design a safety brake to stop the trains. The second

thing was the automatic oven for baking bread. Then, one day, at the age of 40, while he was

cleaning up the factory, he wondered how he could get all the old debris and dust to the

upper levels of the factory. As a result, he designed the first safety elevator and tested

it successfully with his sons. After he had made several sales, he set up his own elevator

company. He got no orders in the first several months though. Soon, however, he introduced

his invention to the public at the New York World's Fair. Finally, he could realize his

dreams.