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C. R. Nybergs Lödlampsfabrik AB
Carl Richard Nyberg is considered by most to be the inventor of the modern blow lamp although similar designs have been in use for many years before Nyberg started his production. Carl Richard Nyberg was born in Arboga, Sweden on May 28, 1858 and grew up under poor circumstances. After school he started as apprentice at a goldsmith but later on he moved to Stocholm where he continued as an apprentice at a metal firm. After his apprenticeship as a metal worker he moved on to J. E. Erikssons Mekaniska Verkstad, which later changed name to Mekanikus. It was at this firm he came in contact with different heating tools which later should give him the idea for the blow lamp. Among other things, this company produced an oil stove made of copper shaped as a ball and with three feet and many considered this to be the best on the market. It was however of a very simple design and lacked means of adjusting the flame.
Furthermore they also produced a small lathe, which was highly appreciated by their customers. Nyberg took all dimensions of this lathe and in his spare time he produced a similar for himself. The lathe was equipped with tools to cut gear wheels and threads. He also produced other tools that he would have good use for later on. For one customer they produced a machine for marking of cork and Nyberg started a discussion with him about a better way to heat up dyes for this machine. Very soon he found a solution and the idea of the blow lamp was born. His blow lamp was in several ways different to other heating tools available at that time. He had designed a source of heat with a concentrated, high temperature, vertical flame that was produced by pumping in air in the fuel tank and also by the reflected heat produced by the burner.
He also tried to make it as safe as possible by incorporating a conical safety pin soldered to the top of the tank and connected to the concave bottom. If the pressure in the tank should be too high this would push out the concave bottom and pull out the pin thus reducing the pressure and avoiding an explosion. Nyberg had great skill in soldering and brazing and devoted a lot of efforts to make the joint between the tank sides and bottom as safe as possible by making it a double folded joint. This design together with the heat treatment of the tank made them to withstand high over pressure. He had also other problems to solve like the burner which material must withstand intensive heat without melting. Nyberg had left his employment at the firm Mekanikus in 1982 and started his own business in a small room on Luntmakaregatan in Stockholm with the tools that he previously manufactured. Here he starts his small-scale production of blow lamps and he also sells them himself to plumbers and other users. This production is not enough for him to survive why he also starts to produce other products in parallel with his blow lamp production. In 1884 he moves his small production to Sundbyberg, a suburb to Stockholm, where he rents a little place at the corner of Sturegatan and Stationsgatan.
At a farming exhibition in Stockholm in 1886, he meets Max Sievert who is a German businessman now established in Stockholm, Sweden. Already in 1883 Sievert had purchased some of the blow lamps produced by Nyberg. Now they made a deal and Max Sievert got the global marketing and distribution rights for the blow lamps and later also for the stoves produced by Nyberg. Thanks to Max Sieverts skills in sales and marketing, the blow lamp was spread all over the world within short. From now on, all blow lamps produced by Nyberg have the making of Max Sievert. Nyberg tried to get Sievert interested in moving also his business to Sundbyberg and the year after he acquired a couple of sites and started a factory, AB Alpha, producing telephone wires. Sievert soon found that Nyberg operated under too primitive circumstances and suggested him to move into new facilities that he planned to build for him on the same site as AB Alpha. Nyberg agreed to this and moved his production to these new premises. Soon after, however, he discovered that Sievert wanted to involve himself in the blow lamp production. Nyberg then moved out from the Alpha premises and found other premises to rent at the corner of Tallgatan and Prästgårdsgatan in Sundbyberg.
In 1891, the production of blow lamps had brought in so much money that he could purchase his own site at the corner of Råstensgatan and Prästgårdsgatan and build a new factory for the blow lamp production. He also acquired skilled staff that understood to implement improvements to increase the production capacity among other things. Still, without the involvement from Sievert, Nyberg would never have the same success that he now had. Nyberg had less interest in kerosene stoves but he also took up this production since Primus (the original producer of kerosene stoves) had started a production of blow lamps. The first stove, Viktoria, was not that successful but with a later type, called Svea, he had much better success. With the help from a salesman coming from Primus, Nyberg received a large order for kerosene stoves from Russia.
Very soon the production of the Svea stove was up to 3000 units per week. The factory could now be extended further and mor workers could be employed. In 1900, the factory had around 70 workers and in 1913 it had grown to around 300. Up to now, Nyberg had operated his factory as a private enterprise but now Sievert suggested him that such a big operation should be run as a limited company. So in June 1906, Nyberg gathered his four foremen to inform them that they together should form this company. When the foremen said that they did not have any money to purchase shares with, Nyberg simply replied that you get the shares from me. And with this C. R. Nybergs Lödlampsfabrik AB was formed. In 1922, Nyberg sold the company to Max Sievert AB for a purchasing sum of SEK 1,200,000.00 and it became Max Sievert Lödlampsfabrik AB.
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