Johann Georg Bodmer, Swis engineer and inventor, c 1850s.

Photograph of Bodmer (1786-1864) whose field was mechanical engineering. In 1824 Bodmer opened a factory at Bolton in Lancashire, to manufacture machinery that enabled a continuous wool manufacturing proces from carding through to spinning. Bodmer also improved the conveyor belt. His inventions covered a wide range of uses including textile machinery, machine tools, locomotives and steam engines, furnaces and boilers, screw propellers, firearms and armaments, spinning machines, and water wheels, as well as a travelling crane. Also among his achievements is the invention of the cylinder with opposed pistons for steam engines.