Who invented the automatic transmission. Who and when invented the first machine gun in the world? In what year did the machine gun appear?
Vladimir Grigorievich Fedorov lived and worked in Kovrov at the Machine Gun Plant for about 13 years, leaving an indelible mark on himself.
He left his pupils - Degtyarev, Shpagin, Simonov and other inventors of small arms.The famous inventor was born In Petersburg in the family of the assistant superintendent of the school of law, Grigory Fedorovich Fedorov. Fedorov V.G. studied at the Third Classical Gymnasium. The young man was interested in Russian literature, he wrote poetry and dreamed of becoming a philologist or historian, but it didn’t work out. His beloved elder brother Nikolai died, and Vladimir decided to take his place in the ranks of the cadets of the Mikhailovsky Artillery School.
Surprisingly, Vladimir, who was inclined towards the humanities, took up the study of weapons with the same passion. Fedorov had a unique opportunity to communicate with engineer Mosin, the inventor of the three-barreled rifle, during his internship at the Sestroretsk arms factory, where Mosin was the boss.
After graduating from the Mikhailovsky Artillery Academy, Fedorov entered service in the Artillery Committee, as a rapporteur in the weapons department. He writes first scientific works“Automatic weapons” and “Armament of the Russian army in the 19th century.”
First world war Vladimir Fedorov studies weapons in England, France, and Japan. He comes to the conclusion that the Russians lag behind world powers in weapons production and changes are required.
He himself becomes their founder, invents an automatic rifle. Before receiving approval, it passed a number of serious tests. For her, Fedorov was awarded a high award - the First Mikhailov Prize.
And in 1916, Fedorov makes a brilliant discovery: he invents the world’s first machine gun, shortening the barrel on his rifle, providing it with a removable box magazine for 25 rounds and a handle for shooting “by hand.”
The name of Fedorov is forever inscribed in golden letters in national history. He was a man of extraordinary destiny, who survived October Revolution, who received the rank of general twice - first in Tsarist Russia, then from the Soviets. An intelligent and gifted nobleman who raised talented world-famous inventors from workers.
In Orienbaum by order Alexandra III The Officer Rifle School was created and transformed into a rifle methodological center of the Russian army. All new Russian small arms systems were developed there. The inventor of machine guns and anti-tank rifles, Degtyarev, the creator of the TT pistol and light machine gun Tokarev. There, in 1916, Fedorov created the world's first automatic machine. In the same year, a company of Russian machine gunners was sent to the German front. The first Russian machine gun was blessed by the Greek saint Sptridon of Trimythous. The machine was not put into mass production. In the 1930s, the machine gun was removed from service. The German machine gun by Hugo Schmeisser appeared only in the 1940s.
It turns out that the Germans burst into Russia in 1941 armed with machine guns, which our army had a quarter of a century before. If the Bolsheviks had not seized power, then our army, armed with Fedorov’s hallowed machine guns, would have been completely different.
Saint Spyridon was especially revered in the Russian army. After the capture of Izmail, Suvorov established a church named after him in the fortress. Admiral Ushakov liberated Corfu, occupied by Napoleon's troops, by order of Paul I, because the relics of St. Spyridon were located there. To this day, the temple houses coats of arms reminiscent of the Russian liberators of the island. And a monument to Ushakov was erected there. On Bolshoy Prospekt of Vasilievsky Island in St. Petersburg there is a chapel of St. Spyridon of Trimyfundsky.
The assault rifle, or, as it is called in the West, the “assault rifle,” has gone through a long and difficult evolutionary path. Let's see what the first machine guns were like and how full-fledged examples of these weapons appeared.
Now the machine gun is the main weapon of the infantry. He, one might say, became a symbol of the war. The main advantage of the machine gun is the high density of fire it creates. Combined with a relatively small mass, this makes an assault rifle optimal choice for the battlefield. But the machine was not always “ideal”. The very first examples of such weapons suffered from a number of serious shortcomings and could not be used on a par with conventional repeating rifles.
The term “automatic” itself was first applied to an automatic rifle, which was created by Russian engineer Vladimir Fedorov shortly before the First World War. An important difference between his weapons was the use of a cartridge, which some sources call “intermediate.” This feature will then be characteristic of all machines.
Wanting to combine the capabilities of a conventional rifle and a machine gun, Fedorov used a 6.5 mm caliber cartridge. By the way, the main weapon of the Russian army at that time was the Mosin rifle, using 7.62 mm caliber cartridges. Such a rifle, like its analogues, could shoot very accurately and very far: the sighting range was as much as two kilometers! But after each shot, the “three-line” (this is the nickname the Mosin rifle received) had to be manually reloaded. This is acceptable if you need to defend yourself, but storming enemy positions is more difficult. Therefore, the rifles were equipped with a bayonet, and this solution was very popular (by the way, it is still used today).
“If Fedorov created the world’s first machine gun, then the first self-loading rifle in history was developed by the Mexican military leader Manuel Mondragon. This weapon was born back in 1884. The Mondragon rifle could fire single fire without having to reload after each shot.”
Fedorov's attempt to create a universal weapon suitable for a variety of situations was partially successful. The machine confidently passed tests and was put into service at the very height of the war - in 1915. However, the backward Russian industry stood in the way of the talented engineer. At first, Fedorov wanted to use his own 6.5 mm caliber cartridge for the machine gun, but then difficulties forced him to use the Japanese 6.5x50 mm Arisaka cartridge.
Fedorov's early cartridge had a muzzle energy of about 3100 Joules. For a standard Russian 7.62 mm cartridge, this figure was 3600-4000 Joules, but the Mosin rifle, as we already noted, had to be reloaded after each shot. So the performance of Fedorov’s cartridge was very good, but the muzzle energy of the “Japanese” was 2615 Joules: this reduced the combat potential of the weapon, but not very much. It is important to note that both cartridges were closer in their ballistics to rifle cartridges, and not to intermediate ones. Full-fledged intermediate cartridges will appear later.
Characteristics of the Fedorov assault rifle
weight (without cartridges): 4.93 kg
length: 1045 mm
work principles: short recoil barrel, lever locking
cartridge: 6.5×50 mm
rate of fire: 600 rounds per minute
sighting range: 400 m
type of ammunition: 25-round magazine
Characteristics of the Mondragon rifle
weight (without cartridges): 4.18 kg
length: 1105 mm
work principles:
cartridge: 7×57 mm
rate of fire: 600 rounds per minute
sighting range: 550 m
type of ammunition: magazine for 8-100 rounds
During the First World War, the Fedorov assault rifle was rarely used. In 1916, a small party was sent to the Romanian front, where its combat debut took place. Then the weapon was used during civil war in Russia, and some of the machines even took part in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1940. In general, the Fedorov assault rifle was never listed as the main infantry weapon. It was too complicated and unreliable for this.
“Do not confuse machine guns and submachine guns. The latter are also automatic weapons, but they do not use a rifle or intermediate cartridge, but a pistol cartridge. Accordingly, submachine guns do not have as great a firing range as machine guns. The power of a pistol cartridge is much less.”
In the fire of World War II
Created at the end of the 19th century, repeating rifles, such as the already mentioned “three-line” or the German Mauser 98, turned out to be surprisingly “tenacious”. They were cheap, simple and allowed you to shoot very accurately. Throughout World War II, such rifles remained the main infantry weapon. Mass culture created a myth according to which almost all German soldiers on the Eastern Front were armed with automatic MP-40s, but this is not true. Over the entire period, the Germans produced 1.2 million of these submachine guns. The figure seems incredible, but it cannot be compared with the number of Mauser 98 produced - 15 million units.
Characteristics of the Mauser 98 repeating rifle
weight (without cartridges): 4.1 kg
length: 1250 mm
work principles: sliding bolt, striker-type trigger
cartridge: 7.92×57 mm
rate of fire: 15 rounds per minute
sighting range: 2000 m
type of ammunition: 5-round magazine
The Germans, however, faced with a strong enemy on the battlefield, tried their best to create a revolutionary weapon for the infantry. They partially succeeded. Already in 1942, the Germans adopted the famous StG 44, which, with some reservations, can be considered the first full-fledged machine gun. Some consider it a prototype of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, but more on that later.
The StG 44 used a powerful intermediate cartridge of 7.92x33 mm, and its sighting range was 600 m. It would seem that this is the ideal battlefield weapon. Powerful and long-range. Creating a high density of fire and terrifying on enemies. However, as operation progressed, shortcomings also emerged. The machine gun weighed a lot: if the weight of the Mauser 98k rifle without cartridges was 3.9 kg, then the StG 44 weighed 4.6. With a loaded magazine, the weight of the machine gun increased to 5.5 kg. Add to this the fact that the StG 44 was much more complex than magazine rifles, from a technical point of view, and required more careful maintenance. And the harsh conditions of that war did not always allow it to be carried out.
In total, the Germans produced 446 thousand StG 44 assault rifles, and they were actively used on all fronts of World War II. And this weapon outlived its developers by many decades. It is known, for example, that the StG 44 was used by the Iraqis against US troops in the 2000s. These particular machines, however, were produced mainly in Turkey and the former Yugoslavia, and not in Germany.
Characteristics of the STG 44 machine gun
weight (without cartridges): 5.2 kg
length: 940 mm
work principles: removal of powder gases, locking by tilting the bolt
cartridge: 7.92×33 mm
rate of fire: 500-600 rounds per minute
sighting range: 600 m
type of ammunition: 30-round magazine
Kalashnikov and M-16
If any military expert is asked to name greatest weapon XX century, he will answer without hesitation - Kalashnikov assault rifle. The AK was developed back in 1947, but still remains the main infantry weapon of many countries, including Russia. Over the decades, dozens of modifications have been created, and in total more than 70 million units of these weapons have been produced! This machine changed the world: it’s not for nothing that its image is found on the coats of arms of many African countries.
There is an opinion that the Kalashnikov assault rifle is a copy of the StG 44. This is not so. They are similar in appearance, but that's where the similarities end. These samples differ in the most important feature for automatic weapons - the method of locking the barrel. In a Kalashnikov, the barrel is locked by turning the bolt around the longitudinal axis, while in a German machine gun it is locked by tilting the bolt in a vertical plane.
It should be said that the Kalashnikov assault rifle has never been considered the most accurate or most convenient weapon - its advantages lie in its simplicity and cheapness. And Soviet military ideologists were among the first to appreciate the very concept of the machine gun. The AK quickly became the main weapon of the Red Army, while the Americans and Europeans continued to rely on self-loading and repeating rifles. Conservative British, for example, for many years after the war believed that “a soldier should save every cartridge.” But, in the end, even they recognized the advantage of automatic weapons as the main “argument” of the infantry.
Characteristics of the Kalashnikov assault rifle
weight (without cartridges): 3.8 kg
length: 870 mm
work principles: removal of powder gases, rotary bolt
cartridge: 7.62×39 mm
rate of fire: 600 rounds per minute
sighting range: 800 m
type of ammunition: 30-round magazine
The next revolution in the world of machine guns was made by the Americans. We are talking about the famous M-16- AK's main competitor. In the 60s, the machine gun seemed like an ideal weapon, but there remained a drawback - heavy weight. Indeed, the 7.62 mm cartridge that the already mentioned Kalash used was too heavy, and its power was excessive. Therefore, the Americans decided to use a new 5.56x45 mm cartridge for their assault rifle. This decision, although it reduced the power of the bullet, predetermined the development of small arms for many decades to come. Even the Soviet military was inspired by the US experience, so in the 70s, a new version of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, the AK74, was adopted by the Red Army. He used a low-pulse 5.45x39 mm cartridge - an analogue of the American 5.56 mm. Low-pulse cartridges are still very, very popular.
No matter how revolutionary new caliber, and the military debut of the M-16 was marred by a number of unpleasant aspects. The rifle's shortcomings were especially acutely revealed in Vietnam. In the harsh conditions of the jungle, in the hands of inexperienced recruits, complex and not fully developed weapons often “refused” to fire. This prompted designers to make a number of improvements, which made the M-16 a truly good rifle. And in 1994, the US military received a new shortened modification of the M-16 - a carbine M4, which has gained incredible popularity all over the world. He almost completely lost the shortcomings of his ancestor and became a favorite of the soldiers. Of Americans serving in Iraq and Afghanistan surveyed in 2006, 88% said they were satisfied with the M4 Carbine.
Characteristics of the M16 assault rifle
weight (without cartridges): 2.88 kg
length: 990 mm
work principles: removal of powder gases, rotary bolt
cartridge: 5.56×45 mm
rate of fire: 650-950 rounds per minute
sighting range: 600-800 m
type of ammunition: magazine for 20-30 rounds
Characteristics of the M4 assault rifle
weight (without cartridges): 3.4 kg
length: 840 mm
work principles: removal of powder gases, rotary bolt
cartridge: 5.56×45 mm
rate of fire: 600 rounds per minute
sighting range: 800 m
type of ammunition: 30-round magazine
The future of the machine
In conclusion, I would like to say that the assault rifle, as the main infantry weapon, has practically reached an evolutionary dead end and every year it becomes more and more difficult to create a weapon that would be seriously superior to previously developed designs. This is partly why Russia does not intend to abandon the proven AK, and the Americans are in no hurry to throw the M-16 modifications into the landfill.
This, however, does not mean that we will not see new machines. Currently, work is underway to create improved cartridges for small arms that can supplant the “classic” cartridges. Thus, during the Lightweight Small Arms Technologies program, the Americans developed new telescopic and caseless cartridges, as well as weapons for them. But a real revolution in the field of small arms will occur only when the infantry can use weapons on the “new physical principles" These could be, for example, laser rifles. Decades may pass before the mass use of something like this begins, and we will talk about the prospects of such weapons in one of the future materials.
Soviet small arms designer M. T. Kalashnikov invented his legendary 7.62 mm assault rifle in 1947. In 1949, the AK-47 was already at all military bases of the USSR. At the end of the twentieth century, the Kalashnikov assault rifle was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most common weapon in the world. Today, for every 60 adult inhabitants of the planet there is one Kalashnikov assault rifle. According to sociological surveys, the first thing foreigners remember when asked about Russia is the Kalashnikov assault rifle. Over half a century of its history, the AK-47 has become a true legend. How are weapons created? How did the machine gun become a symbol of Russia? All these questions are answered by E. Buta’s book “Kalashnikov Automatic. Symbol of Russia."
“I never created a weapon to kill, I created a weapon to protect.”
M. Kalashnikov.
Who invented the Kalashnikov assault rifle?
As the popularity of the Kalashnikov assault rifle grew, new versions of this weapon appeared. Appeared and strange stories that M.T. Kalashnikov single-handedly developed the legendary machine gun, and directly opposite versions appeared that M.T. Kalashnikov had nothing to do with the development process of the machine gun. Two hypotheses have become most widespread: the so-called “dummy version” and the “Schmeiser machine version.
On March 1, 2002, the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, under the heading “The Mystery of the 20th Century,” published an article without specifying the author under the heading “The legendary Kalashnikov is not a gunsmith, but a figurehead,” framed as a quote from an interview with a person presented in the article as "Small arms developer Dmitry Shiryaev." Despite the obvious inconsistencies, the article was a bombshell. The version about the figurehead immediately became widespread. Here is the text of this article:
“On July 15, 1943, civilian and military specialists gathered in Moscow at the technical council of the People’s Commissariat of Armaments. The captured trophy lay on the table - German machine gun. An order was immediately issued: to immediately make a similar domestic “machine gun-cartridge” complex.
In record short term- in six months - Nikolai Elizarov, designer Pavel Ryazanov, technologist Boris Semin developed a 7.62 mm caliber cartridge, which occupied a position between a rifle and pistol cartridge and was called “intermediate”. According to an announced competition, 15 of the best designers began making weapons chambered for this cartridge.
Kalashnikov was not among them.
Create a weapon for an “intermediate” cartridge
“If Sergeant Mikhail Kalashnikov had offered not a machine gun, but a poker, for a competitive test in 1946, it would have been transformed into best weapon modernity,” says Dmitry Ivanovich Shiryaev, leading designer of the Central Research Institute of Precision Engineering (the parent organization for the development of small arms). – Could an unknown sergeant with a seventh grade education have been able to win a competition with experienced weapons designers if a certain group of knowledgeable, talented and powerful people had not stood behind him? I think it’s unlikely, especially considering that the first Kalashnikov assault rifle was rejected without the right to be modified...”
“At the Shchurovsky training ground in 1956, Colonel Biryukov showed us the first Kalashnikov assault rifle - the AK-46,” recalls the famous designer of automatic small arms Pyotr Andreevich Tkachev. – Was it similar in design to the Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle adopted for service? The answer was obvious - no. Most of all, the machine resembled Bulkin’s invention.”
“In theory, Major Alexei Sudaev’s assault rifle should have been adopted,” continues Dmitry Shiryaev. – In battles, Sudaev’s submachine gun, the PPS, which he made in besieged Leningrad, proved to be excellent. But the 35-year-old designer was suddenly taken to one of the Moscow hospitals, and he died a few months later. During the blockade, he developed a stomach ulcer. The place of the leader is vacated - and a quarrel begins... The competition drags on for two years. Each participant has his own model of a machine gun, while none of them has obvious signs German prototype. And then Kalashnikov pops up.”
Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov himself believes that at that time engineer-colonel Rukavishnikov, the young designer Baryshev and himself could “raise the banner that fell from Sudaev’s hands.”
...Kalashnikov ends up at the training ground of the Main Artillery Directorate in the village of Shchurovo, Ramensky District, Moscow Region, on the recommendation of General Blagonravov. During the war years, the academician supervised the department of small arms of the Moscow aviation institute. It was during the evacuation that Kalashnikov, a tanker recovering from an injury, showed him a model of an assault rifle he had made together with military engineer Kazakov.
Blagonravov, “despite the negative conclusion on the sample as a whole,” noted the great and labor-intensive work done by Kalashnikov...
“During war years, a comprehensive answer must be given to any claimed invention,” explains Pyotr Tkachev. – Gunsmiths said years later that during the war they once received an application for the invention of a silent sniper rifle. Its bearer suggested putting it on the barrel of a rifle... bladder pigs. And what do you think, the designers bought pigs, slaughtered them, carried out experiments... On the application form for inventions of that time, in the upper right corner there was a quote from Stalin, the meaning of which was as follows: those who interfere with scientific and technological progress must be removed from its path . Everyone remembered the year 1937...”
Collapse tests in twelve days
“Before Kalashnikov came to my unit, he worked in Alma-Ata together with the gunsmith Kazakov,” the head of the testing unit, Vasily Lyuty, later recalled. – The samples were sent to the State Agrarian University Research Site in Golutvin. However, these samples were not tested by shooting because they were too primitive. Contrary to what Kalashnikov writes and talks about himself in newspapers and magazines, I responsibly declare that while working in Kazakhstan, he did not create anything worthy of attention. Mikhail Timofeevich is a very talented person. However, in terms of the level of general educational training, practical knowledge and experience, he did not reach the professional designers who armed the army...”
The next sample of the Kalashnikov assault rifle was tested at the shooting range by Senior Lieutenant Pchelintsev. After the tests, the engineer drew up a detailed report, the conclusions of which were disappointing for Mikhail Timofeevich: the system was imperfect and could not be improved. Then Kalashnikov asks the head of the testing unit, Captain Vasily Lyuty, to look at his machine gun, Pchelintsev’s report and draw up a modification program.
“And then in 1946 an order was issued: the military at the training ground was forbidden to engage in design work,” says Pyotr Tkachev. - I must say, a very wise order. The military has become only controllers, not developers.”
Gunsmith Vasily Lyuty, who has the necessary experience and knowledge, actually took matters into his own hands. He changed Pchelintsev’s conclusion in the report, outlined 18 necessary fundamental changes and recommended the machine for revision. Later, Lyuty’s longtime comrade, Colonel of the Main Artillery Directorate, and experienced engineer Vladimir Deikin, took part in improving the machine gun, with whom they worked on the creation of the LAD (Lyuty - Afanasiev - Deikin) machine gun.
In his book, Mikhail Timofeevich writes that Deikin helped him develop the trigger mechanism.
“This is not true,” says Dmitry Shiryaev. – The AK trigger mechanism belongs to the type of mechanism “with interception of the trigger”, which was invented in the 20s by the Czech Emmanuel Holek. IN pure form This mechanism is used on the Schmeisser machine gun. Deikin, most likely, only insisted on borrowing the design of this mechanism, since the mechanism proposed by Kalashnikov on his 1946 assault rifles was unsuccessful.”
To produce a modified model of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, he went to an arms factory in the city of Kovrov. He was driving and “worried how a stranger would be received at the factory, whether they would put a spoke in the wheels.” At the same plant he worked on his model of the machine gun famous designer Vasily Degtyarev. Having worked in Kovrov for a year, Kalashnikov never met his eminent competitor. “We worked on the samples, as if fenced off by some kind of invisible fence,” Mikhail Timofeevich will later recall.
“In his memoirs, Vasily Lyuty, who took Kalashnikov under his wing, does not indicate the ranks or positions of the mentioned competition participants,” says our expert Dmitry Shiryaev. – But at the same training ground, in Lyuty’s division, about 15 assault rifles from other designers were tested. The conclusions from the tests of each of them, including Kalashnikov, depended to a large extent on the head of the testing unit, Lyuty, and the curator of the GAU at the test site, Deikin. It turned out that persons who, by their status, should have been strictly neutral intervened in the competition.”
The stages of the competition were closed. All participants in the competition presented documentation according to the template under the motto. Its transcript was contained in a separate envelope. Kalashnikov called himself “Mikhtim”. It was not difficult to guess that it was Mikhail Timofeevich.
“Experienced researchers at the test site could tell after the first day of shooting in what order the samples would be rejected,” recalls Kalashnikov. – Shpagin was the first to give up and leave. Having deciphered the initial recordings of the automation speeds of his sample, he announced that he was leaving the test site. More and more often, Degtyarev’s sample began to choke from incredible stress, overheating from endless shooting... Bulkin jealously followed every step of the testers, meticulously checked how the sample was cleaned, and was always personally interested in the results of processing the targets. Apparently, it seemed to him that his competitors might trip him up.”
Kalashnikov assault rifles are known all over the world. Due to the low cost of production, AK is cheaper than live chicken in some third world countries. It can be seen in news reports from almost any hot spot peace. AK is in service with regular armies in more than fifty countries around the world
At the final stage of testing in January 1947, there were three assault rifles: TKB-415 from Tula Bulkin, KBP-520 from Kovrov designer Dementyev, and KBP-580 from Kalashnikov.
“In the museum on Poklonnaya Hill A copy of the order has been preserved, from which it follows that the tests, which began on December 27, 1947, were ordered to be carried out within 12 days: it was necessary to put a reliable machine gun into service as quickly as possible, says Dmitry Shiryaev. – According to the order, based on the results of the tests, Bulkin came forward. But the Tula man had a malicious character and endlessly contradicted the military’s remarks. As a result, the talented designer “left” the race. Sergeant Kalashnikov was much more flexible. He obeyed his most experienced mentors, who were also senior in rank, in everything. At the last round of testing, ‘Mikhtim’, as he likes to call himself, took into account all the wishes of the experienced Deikin and Lyuty. And he succeeded. From the surviving documents it follows that, according to the conclusion of the commission, which, by the way, consisted entirely of graduates of the Artillery Academy, on January 10, 1948, preference was given to the Kalashnikov assault rifle - the future AK-47.”
Soviet must be the best...
It is known that it takes a long time to “learn how to shoot” a weapon. Kalashnikov and his sample again went to Kovrov for revision. “The military was forbidden to engage in design development, but they turned a blind eye to the conditions of the competition, committed violations - they began to reorganize passed the test a sample machine gun,” says Pyotr Tkachev. “I assume that the talented engineer, the head of the design group, Alexander Zaitsev, was given a task from above: to take the best from all the machines proposed for the competition.”
Mikhail Timofeevich recalls these events somewhat differently: “In Kovrov, Sasha Zaitsev and I, secretly from the management, hatched a daring plan: disguised as modifications, to make a major re-arrangement of the entire machine. We still included Deikin in our plan...”
Needless to say, the main burden of design fell on the shoulders of experienced Kovrov designers.
“Zaitsev wrote in his memoirs that Kalashnikov did not know how to work even as a draftsman,” recalls Tkachev. “The design and calculation techniques were unknown to Mikhail Timofeevich.”
Members of the commission before the final stage tests “did not notice” that the barrel of the assault rifle presented by Kalashnikov became 80 mm shorter, a different trigger mechanism appeared, a receiver cover appeared, which began to completely cover the moving parts... Many elements of Kalashnikov’s competitors migrated to the new model of the AK-47 assault rifle. It was a different machine gun.
“No one will get ahead of Kalashnikov,” the chief designer of the Kovrov Design Bureau, Konstantinov, would later tell Shiryaev, “since certain high officials receive bonuses along with him...”
“Compared to other gunsmith designers, Kalashnikov has practically no weapon elements invented by him and protected by copyright certificates,” says Shiryaev. “We know of only one of them, and then in the company of four other co-authors.” This was followed by his statement, which sounded like a sensation: “Kalashnikov is not a gunsmith. This is a figurehead, stretched out by the ears.”
“Mikhail Timofeevich has nothing to do with it,” says Pyotr Tkachev. “It was just government policy.” The military did the right thing: what difference does it make whether it is a Kalashnikov assault rifle or a Dementiev assault rifle... It is important that a good assault rifle be adopted for service. It is also clear that not a single model in any country in the world immediately enters service: it is returned for repeated modifications.”
The fact is that the first model of the AK had two modifications: with a wooden non-folding stock - AK-47 and with a metal folding stock - AKS-47, the design of which was borrowed from German submachine guns. Doctor of Technical Sciences Yuri Bryzgalov, for example, believes that “the German MP-43 submachine gun is only slightly similar in appearance to the AK-47, the principle of its operation is completely different.” The fact that Kalashnikov collected and combined in his design all the best that was in the domestic and foreign arms industry, the professor gives him only credit, because “everyone,” the professor emphasizes, “all gunsmith designers use this when creating new types of weapons.” method."
The fact that the AK is still the best example of the world’s small arms is a well-known fact and cannot be doubted.”
The article in Moskovsky Komsomolets had the effect of a bomb exploding. A week later M.T. Kalashnikov had to issue a refutation.
In Andrei Kuptsov’s book “Belomor and the Kalashnikov assault rifle,” there is a hypothesis that the author of the AK-47 is actually another famous Soviet gunsmith, Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov. Kuptsov claims that Simonov is at least the author of the bolt assembly and layout diagram. Kuptsov builds his hypothesis based on the fact that competitions, as a rule, receive samples with pre-agreed parameters that meet the tactical and technical requirements. Only until 1930 did something like free creativity exist among Soviet gunsmiths, and already in 1931 a bolt with a wedge locking was included in the list of tactical and technical requirements. Simonov's system (ABC-31) won then. But other designers also made samples with wedge locking.
It is widely believed that the German “assault rifle” StG-44 by Hugo Schmeisser served as the prototype for complete or partial copying during the development of the Kalashnikov assault rifle. As the basis for this hypothesis, supporters of this hypothesis often cite the external similarity between the samples and the fact that the AK-47 design was born during the work of a group of leading German gunsmiths in Izhevsk. “One look at this excellent weapon is enough to understand its influence on the entire post-war family AK,” writes Gordon Williamson. American scientist Gordon Rottman has repeatedly written about the design similarities and “influence” of the StG-44 on the Kalashnikov assault rifle. In addition to the external similarities, supporters of the hypothesis mention the work of the StG designer Hugo Schmeisser in the Izhevsk Design Bureau (despite the fact that the AK was not developed there, but at the Kovrov plant) and the study of the StG-44 by Soviet specialists took place at a plant in the city of Suhl, were assembled and transferred to for technical evaluation of 50 samples of StG-44.
One of the supporters of the Schmeiser theory puts it this way: “Have you noticed that the AK-47 is very similar to the Third Reich assault rifle - the Schmeiser? Have you ever guessed why? But because it had one author (or rather co-author) - Hugo Schmeisser. True, it must be said that inside the Schmeiser and AK are noticeably different. Firstly, because the second appeared later than the first and, for this reason, was more perfect. In addition, the Third Reich experienced an acute shortage of alloying metals. Because of this, it was necessary to make weapons from softer steel. And the design of the Schmeisser was developed specifically for making it from softer steel. Who is Hugo Schmeisser? He was a hereditary weapons designer. His father Louis Schmeisser was also one of Europe's most famous weapons designers. Even before the First World War, he was engaged in the design and production of machine guns at the Bergmann company. In this company, Hugo Schmeiser gained practical experience and took his first steps as a weapons designer. Hugo Schmeiser, who first proposed new type weapons: assault automatic rifle chambered for an intermediate cartridge. Before him, all machine guns were chambered for a pistol cartridge. And an ERMA machine gun, which they like to film in films about Germans and which is often mistakenly called “Schmeisser”. Both our PPSh and the American Thomson assault rifle. The armies of the world also had rifles chambered for the powerful 7.62 caliber cartridge or similar calibers. It was not possible to shoot such a cartridge in bursts without a stop or without a bipod due to the high recoil. So Hugo Schmeisser developed a weapon chambered for an intermediate shortened 7.62 caliber cartridge for a new type of weapon, which he called an assault rifle. The weapon turned out to be very successful and was only improved in the future. After the war, this Hugo Schmeisser was captured in the USSR, where he worked in a closed research institute in Izhevsk, developing weapon. Besides him, many other famous Russian and German gunsmiths worked in this design bureau. Young Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov also worked there. He worked in the weapons testing department and was a secretary Komsomol organization design bureau. He got into the design bureau by inventing a compact submachine gun chambered for a pistol cartridge to arm tank crews. Which in appearance was not at all similar to an AK. Hugo Schmeisser worked in this design bureau until the early 50s. Longest of all captured German designers. And he was released to Germany only as a terminally ill man. Where he died in his homeland in the GDR in 1953 from lung cancer. Hugo Schmeisser was a modest man. Or maybe he signed a non-disclosure agreement. In any case, when asked about his role in the creation of the AK, he answered: “I gave some useful advice.”
Neither the StG or its predecessors, nor the AK contained any fundamentally innovative weapon design elements. The main technical solutions used in both samples - gas engines, methods of locking the shutter, operating principles of the trigger, and so on - were basically known since the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. thanks to long-term experience in the development of automatic rifles of the previous generation (for rifle-machine-gun cartridges); in particular, gas-operated automatics with a bolt locking by turning were already used in the design of the world's first self-loading rifle by the Mexican Manuel Mondragon, developed in the 1880s. and entered service in 1908.
Hugo Schmeisser is a German designer of firearms and air guns. In October 1946, he was forcibly taken to Soviet Union. Schmeiser and a large group of designers were sent to Izhevsk to work in the weapons design bureau of the Izhmash plant.
The novelty of these systems lay in the very concept of a weapon chambered for an intermediate cartridge between a pistol and a rifle-machine-gun cartridge and the successful creation of a technology for its mass production, and in the case of the AK, also in bringing this model to a level of reliability considered the standard for automatic weapons.
The similar outlines of the barrel, front sight and gas tube are due to the use of a gas exhaust engine on both machines, which in principle could not be directly borrowed by Kalashnikov from Schmeisser, since it was known long before (moreover, a top-mounted gas exhaust engine was first used on the Soviet ABC rifle). A gas exhaust engine with a gas piston fixedly attached to the bolt frame was also not a new product and was used long before - for example, on the Degtyarev machine gun of 1927.
Otherwise, the design of the Schmeisser and Kalashnikov systems is radically different; There are fundamental differences in the design of such key components as the barrel locking mechanism (rotary bolt for AK, bolt misalignment for StG-44); trigger mechanism (when using the general trigger principle of action, the specific implementations of its functioning are completely different); magazine, magazine mount (StG has a fairly long receiving neck, on AK the magazine is simply inserted into the receiver window); fire translator and safety device (StG has a separate two-way button-type fire translator and a flag-shaped fuse located on the left, AK has a fuse translator located on the right).
There are also fundamental differences in the design of the receiver, and, accordingly, in the procedure for disassembling and assembling the weapon: for a Kalashnikov assault rifle, it consists of the receiver itself with a cross-section in the form of an inverted letter P with bends in the upper part along which the bolt group moves, and it is attached on top a cover that must be removed for disassembly; in the StG-44, the tubular receiver has an upper part with a closed cross-section in the form of the number 8, inside which the bolt group is mounted, and a lower part, which serves as a trigger box - the latter, to disassemble the weapon after separating the butt, must be folded down on a pin along with the fire control handle .
In the StG, the trajectory of the bolt group is set by the massive cylindrical base of the gas piston, moving inside the cylindrical cavity in the upper part of the receiver, resting on its walls, and in the AK, by special grooves in the lower part of the bolt frame, with the help of which the bolt group moves along the guide bends in the upper part of the receiver as if on “rails”.
Ultimately, between the two samples there are only similarities in concept and considerable overlap in external design.
So, although it is undeniable that the appearance of such a new and quite successful model as the StG-44 among the Germans did not go unnoticed in the USSR, its samples were certainly studied in detail, which could significantly influence the choice of the general concept of the new weapon and the course of work on Soviet analogues, including the AK, the version about Kalashnikov’s direct borrowing of the Sturmgewehr design does not stand up to criticism.
Anatoly Wasserman, in response to the emergence of a huge number of hypotheses about the authorship of the invention of the AK-47, responded as follows:
“The topic of copying a Kalashnikov assault rifle from a Schmeisser assault rifle is one of the most popular topics in specialized debates on weapons. It has long been possible to say about it with complete confidence that a person who claims that the Kalashnikov assault rifle was copied from Schmeisser simply knows nothing about weapons.
That is, he heard the names Kalashnikov and Schmeisser, but only heard, did not even try to look inside these weapons. There is practically nothing in common between these samples. Yes, they are indeed similar in appearance, but they have completely different internal structures. Moreover, they belong to different engineering schools, in the sense that they not only use a different operating principle of automation, but also use a completely different concept of the combat use of weapons.
Not to mention anything else, the Kalashnikov assault rifle is famous all over the world. First of all, its reliability in any conditions. Assault rifle Schmeisser is incomparably more sensitive to pollution and requires very careful personal care. This proves that it was created from a completely different concept of combat use. This is known to anyone who has even looked inside these weapons at least once.
It is clear that blogger Adagamov does not look into weapons, he prefers to look into completely different places, which is why he now finds himself far from his homeland. I will just say once again that from the example of this statement it becomes completely obvious that people become enemies of their country and their culture simply because they do not know either their country or their culture.
As for Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov specifically, I have repeatedly said and written that, contrary to the statements of many positively-minded, but no less ignorant journalists, he is not the inventor of either the concept of the machine gun as a whole, or this particular model.
He has many of his own inventions, but specifically in the Kalashnikov assault rifle there is nothing that he invented himself. This entire machine consists of components invented at different times by other inventors. Kalashnikov's merit in this case is not in the invention, but in the design. He is precisely the designer of the machine gun; from the many different components created by others, he selected exactly those that optimally solve the problem facing him, the task of creating a weapon accessible to any fighter after the most minimal training, a weapon capable of working in any conceivable and inconceivable conditions, a weapon simple enough to manufacture that it could be produced in millions of copies, as they say, on the knee.
The idea of creating an automatic transmission appeared almost simultaneously with the advent of a car equipped with. At the same time, automakers, inventors and enthusiasts from different countries started working on the unit.
As a result, already at the very beginning of the 20th century, prototypes began to appear that had a transmission similar to a modern automatic machine. In this article we will talk about how the first automatic transmission was created and when it appeared, we will get acquainted with the history of the automatic transmission, and also answer the question of who invented the automatic transmission.
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Who invented the automatic transmission and when did the first automatic transmission appear?
As you know, the transmission is the second most important unit after. At the same time, the appearance of automatic transmission was a real breakthrough, since thanks to such a gearbox, not only comfort, but also safety when driving a car is significantly increased.
Such a gearbox is a system consisting of a torque converter () and a planetary gearbox. The principles and basics of planetary gearing were known back in the Middle Ages, and the torque converter was created by the German Hermann Fettinger at the beginning of the 20th century.
The first to combine the box and the gas turbine engine was the American inventor Azatur Sarafyan, better known as Oscar Banker. It was he who patented automatic transmission transmissions in 1935, although to obtain a patent he defended his right in the fight against large automakers for more than 7 years.
Sarafyan was born in 1895. His family ended up in the United States as a result of the infamous Armenian Genocide, which took place in the Ottoman Empire. Having settled in Chicago, Asatur Sarafyan changed his name, becoming Oscar Banker.
The talented inventor created various useful devices, among which there are several solutions that are indispensable today (for example, a grease gun), but his main achievement is the invention of the first automatic hydromechanical gearbox. In turn, General Motors (GM), which previously installed a semi-automatic transmission on its models, was the first to switch to automatic transmission.
The history of the creation of an automatic transmission
So, the most important element, thanks to which the appearance of a full-fledged automatic transmission became possible, is the torque converter.
Initially, gas turbine engines appeared in shipbuilding. The reason is that instead of low-speed steam engines, more powerful steam turbines appeared towards the end of the 19th century. Such turbines were connected directly to the propeller, which inevitably led to a number of technical problems.
The solution was the invention of G. Fettinger, who proposed a hydraulic machine, where the blade wheels of the hydrodynamic transmission, pump, turbine and reactor were combined in one housing.
Such a torque converter was patented in 1902 and had a large number of advantages over other mechanisms and devices that could convert torque from the engine.
Fettinger's gas turbine engine minimized losses of useful energy, and the efficiency of the device turned out to be high. In practice, the specified hydrodynamic transformer, on average, provided an efficiency of about 90% or even more on ships.
Let's return to gearboxes on cars. At the very beginning of the 20th century (1904), inventors the Sturtevent brothers from Boston, USA, introduced an early version of the automatic transmission.
This two-gear gearbox was actually an improved manual transmission, where shifts could be automatic. In other words, it was a prototype robot box. However, in those years, for a number of reasons mass production It turned out to be impossible, the project was abandoned.
Ford was the next to start installing automatic transmissions. The legendary Model-T was equipped with a planetary gearbox, which received two forward speeds as well as a reverse gear. The gearbox was controlled using pedals.
Then a box from the Reo company appeared on General Motors models. This transmission may well be considered the first manual transmission, since it was a manual gearbox with an automated clutch. A little later, a planetary gear system began to be used, bringing even closer the moment of the appearance of full-fledged hydromechanical automatic transmissions.
The planetary mechanism (planetary gear) is best suited for automatic transmissions. To control the gear ratio as well as the direction of rotation of the output shaft, individual parts of the planetary gear are braked. In this case, relatively small and constant efforts can be used to solve the problem.
In other words, we are talking about automatic transmission actuators (band brake). Also in those years, implementing effective management of these mechanisms was not difficult. There was also no need to equalize the speeds of individual automatic transmission elements, since all planetary gears are in constant mesh.
If we compare such a scheme with attempts to automate the operation of a manual transmission, at that time it was an extremely difficult task. The main problem was that in those years there were no effective, fast and reliable servomechanisms (servo drives).
These mechanisms are necessary to move the gears or clutches to engage them. Servo mechanisms must also provide a large force and stroke, especially when comparing the force for compressing the clutch pack or tightening the automatic transmission band brake.
A high-quality solution was found only closer to the middle of the 20th century, and robotic mechanics became widespread only in the last 10-15 years (for example, or).
Further development of the automatic transmission: the evolution of the hydromechanical automatic transmission
Before we get to the automatic transmission, we need to mention the Wilson transmission. The driver selected a gear using the steering column switch, and activation was done by pressing a separate pedal.
This transmission was the prototype of a preselective gearbox, since the driver selected a gear in advance, and it was engaged only after pressing the pedal, which stood in place of the manual transmission clutch pedal.
This solution facilitated the process of driving the vehicle; gear shifting required a minimum of time compared to manual transmissions, which in those years did not have. At the same time, the significant role of the Wilson box lies in the fact that it is the first gearbox with a mode switch, which resembles modern analogues ().
Let's return to the automatic transmission. So, the fully automatic Hydra-Matic hydromechanical transmission was introduced by General Motors in 1940. This gearbox was installed on Cadillac, Pontiac, etc. models.
This transmission consisted of a torque converter (fluid coupling) and a planetary gearbox with automatic hydraulic control. The control was implemented taking into account the speed of the vehicle, as well as the throttle position.
The Hydra-Matic gearbox was installed on both GM models and Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Lincoln, etc. In the early 50s, Mercedes-Benz specialists took this box as a basis and developed their own analogue, which worked on a similar principle, but had a number of differences in terms of design.
Towards the mid-60s, automatic hydromechanical transmissions reached the peak of their popularity. Also, the appearance of synthetic lubricants on the fuel and lubricants market has made it possible to reduce the cost of their production and maintenance and increase the reliability of the unit. Already in those years, automatic transmissions were not very different from modern versions.
In the 80s, a trend towards a constant increase in the number of programs began to be observed. In automatic transmissions, fourth gear first appeared, that is, overdrive. At the same time, the torque converter locking function began to be used.
Also, four-speed automatic transmissions began to be controlled using, which made it possible to get rid of many mechanical controls by replacing them.
For example, Toyota specialists were the first to implement an electronic control system for an automatic transmission in 1983. Then, in 1987, Ford also switched to using electronics to control the overdrive gear and the lock-up clutch of the gas turbine engine.
By the way, today automatic transmission continues to evolve. Taking into account strict environmental standards and rising fuel prices, manufacturers are striving to increase transmission efficiency and achieve fuel efficiency.
To achieve this, the total number of gears is increasing, and the switching speed has become very high. Today you can find automatic transmissions that have 5, 6 or more “speeds”. The main task is to successfully compete with preselective robotic gearboxes such as DSG.
In parallel, there is a constant improvement of automatic transmission control units, as well as software. Initially, these were systems that only determined the moment of gear shifting and were responsible for the quality of switching.
Later, the blocks began to be “sewn up” with programs that can adapt to driving style, dynamically changing gear shift algorithms (for example, adaptive automatic transmissions with economy, sport modes).
Later, it became possible to manually control an automatic transmission (for example, Tiptronic), when the driver can independently determine the moments of gear shifting, like a manual transmission. Additionally, the automatic transmission received expanded capabilities in terms of controlling the temperature of the transmission fluid, etc.
Read also
Driving a car with an automatic transmission: how to use an automatic transmission, operating modes of an automatic transmission, rules for using this transmission, tips.
Interestingly, the American term “slot machine” was originally used to refer to both trading and gaming machines (slot is a slot for accepting coins). Both slot machines and vending machines had identical slots. But later, the term “slot machine” was assigned specifically to those machines that, in exchange for a coin, did not provide goods, but provided the opportunity to play some kind of game. But progress does not stand still. Now you don’t need any coins, and slot machines that you can play for free all day long are available to all of us on the Internet.
The history of slot machines dates back to 1884-88. (according to various sources), when an American of German origin, Charles Faye (1862-1944), created his first slot machine in his auto repair shop, which ran on 5-cent coins. The maximum winnings of the first slot machine were 10 coins of 5 cents - only half a dollar.
August Charles Fey (1862-1944) was the sixteenth and last child in the family of a rural teacher from Bavaria.
A passion for mechanics was discovered in the boy at the age of 14, when he became a worker at a factory producing farm equipment. Bavarian youths often ended up in the German army, and to avoid this fate, fifteen-year-old Augustus decided to go to New Jersey.
At the age of 15, he left his parents' house, taking with him only a small bundle of provisions and a woolen blanket. Working odd jobs, he walked all over France and reached the shores of Foggy Albion. After five years of working as a mechanic in shipyards in London, Fey saved enough money to go to America. Then he did not even suspect that he would become famous as the inventor of slot machines. He stayed in France to earn money and cross the English Channel, and lived in London for another 5 years before he came to America, to New York. However, the cold northeastern winters drove the young traveler to California.
In America at that time, various vending machines with slots for five-cent coins were common: this is where Fey’s idea was born. In 1885, Charles Fey arrived in San Francisco. Various gaming devices that flooded the saloons and cigar shops of San Francisco could not help but attract the attention of a talented mechanic. In San Francisco, August worked for a short time as a mechanic. Soon young man Tuberculosis was discovered, and doctors predicted imminent death, but the disease was extinguished. At 25 August went back to work. Having married a Californian, Augustus took a new American name (Charles) and completely adopted the American way of life.
In the late 1890s, games began to appear that were very similar to modern slot machines. These were machines with reels on which cards were depicted or a machine with a huge wheel on which many colors were applied. The point of all the games was to guess the card or color that would appear after spinning the reels or wheel.
In the 1890s, C. Fey worked together with Theodor Holtz and Gustav Schultz, one of the most famous manufacturers of slot machines at that time. In 1893, Schultz created HORSESHOES, the first 1-reel machine with a cash counter and cash payout. In 1894, C. Fey built a similar apparatus, and in 1895 he created his own “4-11-44”.
The success of this machine allowed the inventor to open his own factory in 1896 and devote himself entirely to the development of new devices. The first poker machines with “falling cards” and cards located on 5 reels were created here.
The first slot machine, created in 1894, had 3 wheels and was very similar to the slot machine of Gustav Schulz, a famous manufacturer and operator of slots, that appeared a year earlier. After leaving his previous job, Charles founded his own company, which initially produced parts and spare parts for Schultz slots.
A year later, the second version of the slot, performed by Fey, appeared - a machine called “4-11-44” was reminiscent of the popular Police lottery. 4-11-44, a popular lottery combination, was the top winning ($5.00) combination on the Fairy slot with three concentric digital buzzers.
The success of this device was so significant that it allowed Fey to open his own factory for the production of similar devices already in 1896. When in 1898 a decree was issued on the legalization of machines that pay out winnings in cash, C. Fey is trying to build a poker machine with a counter and payment of cash winnings. The main difficulty was recognizing the cards on the reels and making it possible to accept and pay out winnings both in coins and in special “trade checks” tokens, which were exchanged for cigars and drinks. In 1898, C. Fey managed to solve this problem, although the poker turned out to be somewhat “truncated” - on 3 reels. The machine was called CARD BELL - the name “bell machine” became a common name for all machines with three reels for many decades.
In 1899, Charles Fey slightly changed his brainchild. Now the latter began to be dominated by the very popular at that time patriotic symbol Liberty Bell - the “freedom bell”, which adorned the top panel of the machine.
“Liberty Bell” is a slot that consists of three reels, on which are marked: a horseshoe, a star, spades, diamonds, hearts and a bell. Only one line of symbols was visible on the display. To place a bet, you need to insert a token or coin into a special slot. To start the game, you need to pull the lever. The reels will start spinning. After the reels stop, a combination of symbols appears. The winnings table will determine the winning amount if a paid combination occurs.
At the bottom there was a winning table, according to which the maximum “boot” - 20 dimes (or tokens) - was paid when a combination of three bells fell out.
Several slot machines designed by Fey were installed in drinking establishments in San Francisco. Along with the first “one-armed bandits,” the first gamblers immediately appeared.
"... One of these avid gamblers was a young Indian businessman who came to Tokyo on business. While having breakfast in a small cafe, he noticed in the corner four slot machines operating from one lever. The inquisitive Indian could not resist the temptation to try his luck: he dropped into each of machines each coin and pulled the lever. The winnings were eight coins. Thus began an unprecedented gaming marathon, which lasted six days with four three-hour breaks for food and sleep. During this time, he pulled the lever 70,000 times, winning a total of $ 1,500, which again spent on the game, adding another hundred dollars from own money. Although at times the machines paid him significant sums, there was no case (except for the first attempt) when the winnings exceeded the bet by more than one and a half times. For example, if he lost twenty dollars, he would get back less than ten.
At the end of the six-day madness, the Indian returned to his homeland and convinced the management of his company to invest funds from the export of spices, fruits and medicines into the import of American slot machines. An unusual commercial operation brought the company enormous profits and resounding success..."
The success of the inventor and his apparatus haunted envious people, so in 1905 a rather strange robbery took place in one of the salons on Powell Street in San Francisco. Only two items were stolen - a bartender's apron and a Liberty Bell slot machine. As it turned out later, he was kidnapped by his competitors - the Novelty company, which sent the “bandit” straight to its Chicago factory. Using the stolen machine gun as a model, the company released its own model in 1906 - the Mills Liberty Bell. And soon, thanks to the fact that Charles Fey's factory was almost completely destroyed during a strong earthquake in San Francisco in 1906, the kidnapping company managed to gain a leading position in the market for mechanical gambling. And this happened in just a few years.
Since the early days of their existence, gaming devices have had to constantly defend their “right to life.” Numerous local and federal decrees and laws banning slot machines were issued in the United States every year. As a result, machine owners had to resort to all sorts of tricks. For example, “Liberty Bell” , thanks to the addition of a special device, turned into a chewing gum vending machine.
But, in addition, the buyer, by pulling a special handle, could win a prize if a winning combination was formed when spinning the reels. New symbols were applied to the machine's discs - plums, oranges, lemons, mint, cherries, corresponding to the most popular flavors of chewing gum, as well as images of packaging labels (BAR). Now the maximum win was paid out when receiving a combination of three labels, and the traditional bell moved to second line in the winnings table. Such machines began to be called fruit-machines. The fruit trick increased sales (they started installing vending machines in stores, in public places and so on. - where cards were not allowed).
Since then, these pictures have been present on the reels of modern slot machines practically unchanged. Only the bright label turned into a simple rectangle with the inscription BAR. Over the decades, these symbols have become a kind of international language- players all over the world know that a lemon means a loss, three oranges mean a win of 10 coins, and three BARs mean a “Jackpot”.
Despite the fact that slot machines were banned in California, Fi continued to produce them illegally, for which he was arrested and fined.
And Slot Machines were gaining more and more momentum - even the Great Depression did not affect their popularity!
The first electric slot machine, Jackpot Bell, in which the wheel mechanism was driven by an electric motor, was developed by Jennings in 1930. In 1966, the Bally company introduced a machine equipped with an automatic winning payout system - coins were poured into a special tray. Until 1966, winnings were paid by the owners of the establishments where the machines were located.
Charlie August's mechanical slot machine was used for over 60 years.
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