Yefim Alekseyevich Cherepanov (russian: Ефи́м Алексе́евич Черепа́нов; 1774 – 1842), and his son Miron Yefimovich Cherepanov (russian: Миро́н Ефи́мович Черепа́нов; 1803 – 1849) were

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an id ...

s and

industrial engineers Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

. They were

serfs Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...

of the

Demidov The House of Demidov (russian: Деми́довы) also Demidoff, was a prominent Russian noble family during the 18th and 19th centuries. Originating in the city of Tula in the 17th century, the Demidovs found success through metal products, a ...

s – a famous family of factory owners. In 1810s, Yefim built a progressive machine-building plant, equipped with a full range of innovative metal-cutting

lathe A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, and turning, with tools that are applied to the workpiece to ...

s (such as screw-cutters, gear-cutting serrating machines and others). From 1822 until his death, Yefim was chief mechanic for all the factories in the town of

Nizhny Tagil Nizhny Tagil ( rus, Нижний Тагил, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj tɐˈgʲil) is a city in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located east of the boundary between Asia and Europe. Population: History The prehistory of Nizhny Tagil dates back to the mid-1 ...

. Miron was his apprentice and in 1819 was appointed his deputy. Miron became chief mechanic after his father's death.

Innovations

Industrial machinery

The Cherepanovs significantly improved the machinery that had been used in blast-furnace and

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

-mining industries,

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

and

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish ...

works,

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

s, and flourmills.

Steam engines

The most interesting aspect of the Cherepanovs' work were

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be ...

s which they tried to introduce into industrial production. From 1820, the Cherepanovs built about 20 steam engines that ranged from 2 to 60 hp.

Railroad

In 1833-34 they built the first Russian

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...

. They also built a cast-iron

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

from one of their factories to a copper

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

Track gauge In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many ...

was 5 ft 6 in (1670 mm). In 1835, they built a second locomotive that they sent to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Despite the successful performance and operation of their locomotives, the Cherepanovs' invention found no support outside the factory and, subsequently, horse traction replaced their

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherepanov, Yefim and Miron Inventors from the Russian Empire Locomotive builders and designers Russian serfs 2-2-0 locomotives Steam locomotives of the Russian Empire 1774 births 1842 deaths 1803 births 1849 deaths

Innovations

Industrial machinery

Steam engines

Railroad

See also

References