born Dec. 6, 1786, Zürich, Switz.
died May 30, 1864, Zürich
Swiss inventor of machine tool s and textile-making machinery.
In 1824 he established a small factory in England to make textile machinery, and by 1833 he had a shop equipped with his own machine tools. Between 1839 and 1841 he patented more than 40 specialized machine tools that he then set up in an ingenious factory-type arrangement. A gear-making machine that cut teeth of predetermined pitch, form, and depth in a metal blank was especially noteworthy. Bodmer also patented various steam-engine devices and is credited with inventing the cylinder with opposed pistons.