Inventors/innovators: László Fokányi (1874-1940), veterinary doctor, titular public extraordinary teacher, veterinary inspector, later head of the veterinary department of the Ministry of Agriculture; lecturer in the Hungarian public administration organization and veterinary medicine.
János Tolvay, agricultural officer. He worked in Kemecse, then in Budapest, and registered several patents.
Dr. István Weiser (1873-1957), chemical engineer, doctor of art, candidate of veterinary science, professor of veterinary medicine at the Royal Hungarian Veterinary College (1934), assistant and then director of the Hungarian Experimental Station for Animal Nutrition and Feeding from 1918 to 1934. From 1904 to 1938 he taught the subject of animal nutrition.
Description:
“The main obstacle to the wider use and application of molasses as fodder is its water content, which varies between 18/22%. This water content makes the finished molasses fodder sticky and therefore difficult to handle, which is only a disadvantage from the point of view of convenience. More importantly, this water content is the reason why finished molasses cannot be stored, since at a water content of 20%, and even less in the summer months, it will ferment rapidly and spoil completely. The present invention relates to a process by means of which moisture is chemically bound, whereby molasses can be easily bagged and kept for any length of time without fermentation processes occurring.” Registry No: 36761
(Source: e-Research database of the National Intellectual Property Office, where the full text of the patent is freely available. http://epub.hpo.hu/e-kutatas/?lang=EN)
Year: 26.08.1905 (submission), 08.09.1906 (publication)
Interesting:
Born 150 years ago, László Fokányi was primarily concerned with problems of veterinary administration. Surprisingly, he was not only the co-author of the patent described above, but – as we learn from the Szabadalmi Ujság, 1905. Vol. 3, No. 23–24. – he also registered another patent with János Tolvay: “727. László Tokányi [sic] veterinarian and János Tolvay steward from Budapest. A process for the production of “denatured ground or lollipop salt. Crushed salt waste is mixed with or denatured by lime oxides or hydrated lime, in pieces or with vile salt of salt shavings, moistened with water and pressed into any shape at will.”
János Tolvay also patented (with engineer Bódog Balay) a steam insecticide and spraying machine, and with engineer István Jankuncz a centrifugal switch.
István Weiser, as a staff member of the Hungarian Experimental Station for Animal Nutrition and Feeding, continued to work on molasses as a feedstuff:
Weiser István – Kereszty György: A melassze nitrogén-tartalmának meghatározásáról. Kísérletügyi közlemények, 1908. 11. 4. 509-513.
Weiser István – Zaitschek Arthur: Hizlalási kísérletek melasszet tartalmazó takarmánnyal. Kísérletügyi közlemények, 1906. 9. 4. 536-550.
Weiser István – Zaitschek Arthur: Melassze etetés lovakkal. Kísérletügyi közlemények, 1905. 8. 5. 578-588.
Éva Orbán
