Charles-Louis-Félix Franchot

Charles-Louis-Félix Franchot

Charles-Louis-Félix Franchot (born September 16, 1809 in Saint- Venant - July 31, 1881 in Ancerville (Meuse) ) was a French designer and inventor .

Franchot's father , Charles Antoine François Franchot (d 1839) was Colonel of Infantry who had been made an Officer of the Legion of Honor in 1807. His mother was Marie Dieudonne Wallart de Maranville.

He worked as a tax officer as well as developing his inventions.

In 1836 he filed a patent for his Moderator lamp. The lamp had the advantage of simplicity in its mechanism when compared to other pump operated lamps designed in the 1820s. ^[1] It became a cheap and popular oil lamp. The lamp was produced by the lamp manufacturers JAC (Rue du Faubourg-St Martin 39) and Hadrot (Rue des Fossés-Montmartre).

A patent dispute later arose with the brothers Levavasseur who claimed to have created the lamp design. The patent judges ruled in 1845 that Franchot had invented nothing new in his lamp. ^{[2] [3]}

Nineteenth century diagram of Francholet's hot air engine.

In 1854 he invented a hot air engine similar to the earlier Stirling engine but with two double acting cylinders which minimised thermal loses. ^[4]

He was awarded the honour of Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1855.

He died unmarried at Ancerville in 1881, aged 71. Six years later, at the request of his will, his remains were re-interred on his former estate at Franchot ponds. His grave is marked by an oak tree planted at that time and is surrounded by wrought iron railings. There is an enamelled plate with his portrait and an inscription.^[5]

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