Historically Important Standards
Standards became highly important during the Industrial Revolution with the need to make interchangeable parts. Some important historical standards included:
- Sizes for screws, nuts bolts and other threaded fasteners were first standardized based on work of by Joseph Whitworth. This was known as British Standard Whitworth, but was replaced by other standards in the late 19th century.
- Railroad track gauge was standardized so that rail cars and locomotives could operate on track of various railroad companies. Before standardization it was necessary to unload and reload freight at every change of gauge.
- Pipe sizes
- Shoe size standardization was made easier by the Blanchard pattern lathe which could make nearly identical copies of the wood lasts on which the shoes were held and shaped. Standard lasts enabled a manufacturer to make standard shoe sizes.
- The screw base size and thread dimensions of electric lamp bulbs was standardized by Thomas Edison.
- Electrical voltage and frequency
- Electrical wiring and device standards
Read more about this topic: Standardization
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