Royal F. Strickland (Aug 17, 1883 - Sep 13, 1947) was an inventor who spent his entire working career with the National Electric Lamp Association and General Electric. He worked primarily in lamp development and at least ten patents were granted to him.Royal Strickland was a native of North Eaton, Ohio and graduated in 1908 from Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland. He was the son of George F. and Rilla (Marcy) Strickland. On Oct 1, 1908 he entered the Engineering Department of National. In 1909 he transferred to the Lamp Testing Department of the Lamp Development Laboratory, and in 1910 became an engineer in the Wire Laboratory. In 1913 he returned to the Lamp Development Laboratory at Nela Park.
Two of Strickland's patents were for an enclosed arc device, the S-1 Sunlamp. It was a new lamp type that proved to be quite popular, being a combination of tungsten filament and mercury arc. The radiation from the lamp was rich in actinic and ultra-violet rays. Strickland had thought it possible as early as 1925 to develop an "instantly" starting lamp. However, at that time there was no glass available that would allow ultraviolet rays to be transmitted. By 1929 a glass was developed and patents for the lamp were applied for. These were: No. 2,047,042, issued Jul 7, 1936, and No. 2,104,680, issued Jan 4, 1938. The first pages of these two patents are shown below.
Royal Strickland married Frances M. Thomson, a native of England, on Sep 22, 1909; they had three children: Dean, Robert and Gertrude. Strickland passed away in 1947 and was laid to rest in Knollwood Cemetery, Mayfield Heights, Ohio.