Hjalmar Gotfried Carlson (1879 - c. 1930s [1] ) was an American sheet metal worker, expert in metal drawing, superintendent, and inventor, who worked in Worcester, Massachusetts. [2] He is known for being awarded the first ASME Medal in 1921, and the first Holley Medal in 1924. [3]
Carlson was born in 1879 in Östergötland in Sweden at an industrial estate, [4] who arrived in the United States in 1900. Carlson settled in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Carlson worked most of his career at the Rockwood Sprinkler Company of Massachusetts. He had started working as sheet metal worker, and made his way up to general superintendent and mechanical engineer. [5] In most of his patented inventions Carlson acted as assignor to the Rockwood Sprinkler Co. In 1930 when Rockwood Sprinkler Co. was absorbed by the Gamewell Co., manufacturer of fire alarm systems, Carlson had resigned as superintendent. [6] [7]
In 1921 Carlson was awarded the first ASME Medal for "his invention and part in the production of 20,000,000 Mark III drawn steel booster casings used principally as a component of 75-mm high explosive shells and bombs." [8] In 1924 the ASME also awarded him the Holley Medal for "inventions and processes in the field of Ordnance which materially aided victory in the World War." [9]
In 1921 Carlson was awarded the first ASME Medal for his part in the production of state of the art ammunition for the United States Army Ordnance Corps during World War I. An ASME committee made the following outline of Mr. Carlson's achievements relative to the production of these casings:
And more specific about Carlson invented a process of cold-drawing, and his role in selling it to the US Ordnance Department:
The method developed by Carlson was further perfected for practical manufacture, as the ASME committee further explained:
The 20,000,000 steel booster casings had been used as component of 75-mm high-explosive shells in World War I, but also in bombs, gas shells and other munitions. [11] [12]
His grand-grandson Evan Carlson (2017) summarized about Carlson's inventions that "most things he invented would go unnoticed like so many great innovations do but these inventions changed people’s lives. For instance, as city densities exponentially increased & larger apartment buildings were constructed in the United States there was a massive increase in fires that would destroy entire buildings & lives. To help combat this problem, Hjalmar Carlson developed the overhead sprinkler system which can be seen on ceilings around the world today. Not nearly as impactful but he also developed an early version of today’s bottle cap." [13]
A shell, in a military context, is a projectile whose payload contains an explosive, incendiary, or other chemical filling. Originally it was called a bombshell, but "shell" has come to be unambiguous in a military context. A shell can hold a tracer.
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