Work

Gilbreth Stopwatch

The tools, rules, and relationships of the workplace illustrate some of the enduring collaborations and conflicts in the everyday life of the nation. The Museum has more than 5,000 traditional American tools, chests, and simple machines for working wood, stone, metal, and leather. Materials on welding, riveting, and iron and steel construction tell a more industrial version of the story. Computers, industrial robots, and other artifacts represent work in the Information Age.

But work is more than just tools. The collections include a factory gate, the motion-study photographs of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, and more than 3,000 work incentive posters. The rise of the factory system is measured, in part, by time clocks in the collections. More than 9,000 items bring in the story of labor unions, strikes, and demonstrations over trade and economic issues.

Date: 1860s

Babcock and Wilcox Valve Gear, Patent Model

This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to G. H. Babcock and S. Wilcox, Jr., of Providence, Rhode Island, April 24, 1866, no.
Description
This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to G. H. Babcock and S. Wilcox, Jr., of Providence, Rhode Island, April 24, 1866, no. 54090.
The valve gear represented by the model is an early governable one of the class of riding cut-off valves in which the riding valve is operated by a small independent auxiliary steam cylinder, equipped with its own steam valve. The valve controlling the admission of steam to the auxiliary steam cylinder is in turn controlled by the action of the engine governor.
The main valve of the engine is a flat lap valve, machined top and bottom with mortises through the valve near each end. The valve functions as a common D-valve admitting steam through the mortises instead of at its ends. Solid cut-off valves working on the back of the main valve, over the mortises, are joined by a rod, which passes through a small auxiliary steam cylinder and at the middle of which within the cylinder is the small actuating piston. The valve of the auxiliary cylinder is operated transversely across the cylinder by an eccentric on the end of a lay shaft. This shaft revolves at the same speed as the crankshaft and the main-valve eccentric, but its position at any time relative to the main-valve eccentric is determined by the governor as follows:
The lay shaft is divided into two shafts, one driving, the other driven. The connection between the two is maintained by means of a driving bevel gear on the driving shaft, an intermediate idling bevel gear, and a driven bevel gear on the driven shaft. Though the driving and driven shafts turn in opposite directions, they turn with the same relative positions so long as the intermediate gear remains in one position. However, the axle of the intermediate fear is pivoted about the driving shaft and is held in position only by the governor rod, and the position of the intermediate gear changes with each change of position of the governor rod. A change in position of the intermediate gear advances or sets back the position of the driven shaft relative to the driving shaft and varies the action of the auxiliary steam valve relative to the action of the main-valve eccentric.
Reference:
This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1866
patent date
1866-04-24
inventor
Babcock, George H.
Wilcox, Jr., Stephen
ID Number
MC.308673
catalog number
308673
accession number
89797
patent number
54,090

Patent Model of a Type-Making Machine

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a type-making machine which was granted patent number 43649. The patent details a machine for sawing individual letters from cast-metal strip of letters.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a type-making machine which was granted patent number 43649. The patent details a machine for sawing individual letters from cast-metal strip of letters. The strips were to be made by Smith's companion patent of the same date.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1864
patent date
1864-07-26
maker
Smith, John J. C.
ID Number
GA.89797.043649
patent number
043649
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.043649

Rhodes Steam Generator, Patent Model

This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to William K. Rhodes, of Portland, Maine, June 29, 1869, no. 91869.The model represents a horizontal inclined water-tube boiler with solid headers and horizontal baffling.
Description
This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to William K. Rhodes, of Portland, Maine, June 29, 1869, no. 91869.
The model represents a horizontal inclined water-tube boiler with solid headers and horizontal baffling. Each header is constructed with its outside face vertical and the tube sheet perpendicular to the tubes so that the front header has a larger volume at the top to be used as a steam reservoir, while the back header has a larger volume at the bottom for water.
Reference:
This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1869
patent date
1869-06-29
inventor
Rhodes, William K.
ID Number
MC.309210
catalog number
309210
accession number
89797
patent number
91,869

Patent Model for an Apparatus for Printing Bank Notes and Drafts

This patent model demonstrates an invention for an apparatus for printing bank notes and drafts; the invention was granted patent number 33526.Security printing demanded that all prints be identical, but there were difficulties in achieving that goal by the preferred intaglio pro
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for an apparatus for printing bank notes and drafts; the invention was granted patent number 33526.
Security printing demanded that all prints be identical, but there were difficulties in achieving that goal by the preferred intaglio process. Dampened paper changed its dimension and was further distorted by the rolling press; while dry paper would not take an impression at a rolling press without immense pressure, which stretched the plate and image. Printing in several colors (a protection against photographic reproduction) compounded the distortions, making perfect registration between the colors impossible. This patent sought to avoid the problems by means of an intaglio press built along the lines of a coining press. It printed on dry paper, using a combination of screw and lever pressure.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1861
patent date
1861-10-22
maker
Hayes, Jabez W.
ID Number
GA.89797.033526
accession number
089797
patent number
033526
catalog number
GA*89797.033526

Patent Model of a Typesetting and Distributing Machine

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a typesetting and distributing machine which was granted patent number 28463. Typing at the keyboard perforated a paper tape to produce a complete "registry" of the keystrokes, including all spacing and leading.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a typesetting and distributing machine which was granted patent number 28463. Typing at the keyboard perforated a paper tape to produce a complete "registry" of the keystrokes, including all spacing and leading. This record could be used to set several identical pages of type or, fed in reverse, to redistribute the type to its cases. The keyboard is missing from the model.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1860
patent date
1860-05-29
maker
Felt, Charles W.
ID Number
GA.89797.028463
accession number
89797
patent number
028463
catalog number
GA*89797.028463

Patent Model for a Machine for Cutting Books

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a machine for cutting books which was granted patent number 41337. There was a guillotine for cutting the top, foot and foredges of books. Two sets of books could be clamped simultaneously, without moving the clamps between cuts.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a machine for cutting books which was granted patent number 41337. There was a guillotine for cutting the top, foot and foredges of books. Two sets of books could be clamped simultaneously, without moving the clamps between cuts. Jane Austin was administratrix to the estate of Frederick J. Austin, inventor of this and other book-binding machines. F. J. Austin, the proprietor of a machine works in New York, also built hand printing presses along the lines of the Washington. The model is incomplete.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1873
date made
ca 1864
patent date
1864-01-19
patentee
Austin, Jane
ID Number
GA.89797.041337
accession number
089797
patent number
041337
catalog number
GA*89797.041337

Patent Model for Rotary Perfecting Presses

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a rotary perfecting press which was granted patent number 92050. The patent details improvements to sheet- or web-fed perfecting presses.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a rotary perfecting press which was granted patent number 92050. The patent details improvements to sheet- or web-fed perfecting presses. Instead of being attached to the impression cylinder, the press blanket was an endless web that travelled with the paper and acted as its support. The press was patented in England in 1871 (Patent 1825 to W.E.Newton).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1869
patent date
1869-06-29
patentee
Hoe, Richard March
maker
Tucker, Stephen D.
Hoe, Richard March
ID Number
GA.89797.092050
accession number
89797
patent number
092050
catalog number
GA*89797.092050

Patent Model of a Press for Card and Ticket Printing

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a card and ticket press which was granted patent number 48493. The patent details a self-inking press in which a series of flattened surfaces on a large rotating drum provided multiple platens.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a card and ticket press which was granted patent number 48493. The patent details a self-inking press in which a series of flattened surfaces on a large rotating drum provided multiple platens. The type was suspended face down and lowered against the drum. Paper could be fed from a roll, or placed on the flat surfaces, a card at a time, as each platen approached the type. There was also a numbering device.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1865
date made
ca 1865
patent date
1865-06-27
maker
Sangster, James
ID Number
GA.89797.048493
accession number
89797
patent number
048493
catalog number
GA*89797.048493

Fire Helmet, "1811"

The traditional American leather firefighter’s helmet with its distinctive long rear brim, frontpiece, and crest adornment was first developed around 1821-1836 in New York City. Henry T.
Description
The traditional American leather firefighter’s helmet with its distinctive long rear brim, frontpiece, and crest adornment was first developed around 1821-1836 in New York City. Henry T. Gratacap, a New York City luggage maker by trade, is often credited as the developer of this style of fire helmet. Gratacap created a specially treated leather helmet with a segmented “comb” design that led to unparalleled durability and strength. The elongated rear brim (also known as a duckbill or beavertail) and frontpiece were 19th century innovations that remain the most identifiable feature of firefighter’s helmets. The body of the helmet was primarily designed to deflect falling debris, the rear brim prevented water from running down firefighters’ backs, and their sturdy crowns could aid, if necessary, in breaking windows.
This leather helmet dates to the 19th century. The helmet is painted white, and has eight combs. The date “1811” is painted on the back brim of the helmet. This helmet’s frontpiece holder is in the form of a greyhound dog. The frontpiece is missing from this helmet, making an association with a particular company difficult.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1868
ID Number
2005.0233.0199
accession number
2005.0233
catalog number
2005.0233.0199

Fire Helmet, "NIAGARA 5 / WE WILL TRY / NASHUA / O.M.F. 19"

The traditional American leather firefighter’s helmet with its distinctive long rear brim, frontpiece, and crest adornment was first developed around 1821-1836 in New York City. Henry T.
Description
The traditional American leather firefighter’s helmet with its distinctive long rear brim, frontpiece, and crest adornment was first developed around 1821-1836 in New York City. Henry T. Gratacap, a New York City luggage maker by trade, is often credited as the developer of this style of fire helmet. Gratacap created a specially treated leather helmet with a segmented “comb” design that led to unparalleled durability and strength. The elongated rear brim (also known as a duckbill or beavertail) and frontpiece were 19th century innovations that remain the most identifiable feature of firefighter’s helmets. The body of the helmet was primarily designed to deflect falling debris, the rear brim prevented water from running down firefighters’ backs, and their sturdy crowns could aid, if necessary, in breaking windows.
This leather fire helmet was made in the mid-19th century and used in Nashua, New Hampshire by the Niagara Fire Company No. 5. The helmet has a yellow-painted frontpiece that features Niagara’s company motto “We Will Try” over “Niagara 5” in gold. The helmet is painted black with gold scroll designs around the crown, and the text “NASHUA” painted in gold on the rear brim. The helmet’s eagle frontpiece holder is leather and runs from the front to back of the helmet’s crown.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1860
maker
unknown
ID Number
2005.0233.0177
accession number
2005.0233
catalog number
2005.0233.0177

Patent Model for a Press for Printing Railroad Tickets in Two or More Colors

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a printing press for printing railroad tickets which was granted patent number 38781.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a printing press for printing railroad tickets which was granted patent number 38781. The press carried two or more reciprocating "heads," each with a form of type, and an inking apparatus capable of inking each form in a different color. Printing was on a roll of paper or card, which was cut into strips after printing.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1863
patent date
1863-06-02
maker
Baker, William H.
Hill, George J.
ID Number
GA.89797.038781
patent number
038781
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.038781

Scrimshaw Sperm Whale Panbone, mid 19th Century

This large panbone, or section of the back of a sperm whale’s jaw, served as the canvas for a whaleman’s freehand drawing on two levels. In the center of the upper level is a three-masted whaleship with painted gun ports along its sides.
Description
This large panbone, or section of the back of a sperm whale’s jaw, served as the canvas for a whaleman’s freehand drawing on two levels. In the center of the upper level is a three-masted whaleship with painted gun ports along its sides. Merchant vessels often did this, to look like powerful warships from a distance and thus protect themselves from pirates or other predators. The ship’s vertical whaleboat davits are empty, and the ship is sailing towards its little fleet of four whaleboats in various stages of harpooning a pod of five whales. Four of the whales are ‘blowing,’ or exhaling through the blowholes on top of their heads. One of the whales already has two harpoons sticking out of its back and is towing a whaleboat on a ‘Nantucket sleigh ride.' Behind the ship on the left is an old-fashioned two-masted topsail schooner sailing in the opposite direction. The sea in the foreground is calm, and the scene is placed against a shoreline of low, rolling hills. Below is another pair of sailing ships: a two-masted square-rigged brig follows a brigantine with a square-rigged foremast and a fore-and-aft main. Although engraved by the same very talented artist, the two levels of illustrations do not appear to be related. Judging from the extremely detailed and technical rigs and sails of all the ships, the scrimshaw artist may have been a sailmaker or rigger.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
date made
mid 1800s
1840 - 1860
ID Number
DL.057605B
catalog number
57605B
accession number
2009.0206

Gould Shaper, 1860

This shaper was built by Ezra Gould in his Newark, New Jersey shop, the shop later became Gould and Eberhardt, a major builder of machine tools. This shaper was used to machine flat surfaces in metal. On a shaper the cutting tool moves and the workpiece stays stationary.
Description (Brief)
This shaper was built by Ezra Gould in his Newark, New Jersey shop, the shop later became Gould and Eberhardt, a major builder of machine tools. This shaper was used to machine flat surfaces in metal. On a shaper the cutting tool moves and the workpiece stays stationary. Conversely, in a planer the workpiece moves and the cutting tool stays stationary. This design difference allows for precise work on small pieces. This shaper could plane 6 inches long and 14 inches wide.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1860
manufacturer
Gould, Ezra
ID Number
MC.329218
catalog number
329218
accession number
280595

Robinson and Gresham Injector, Patent Model

This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to John Robinson and James Gresham, of Manchester, England, May 29, 1866, no.
Description
This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to John Robinson and James Gresham, of Manchester, England, May 29, 1866, no. 55218.
The feature of this injector is to provide a means of varying the area of the annular space through which the water enters the combining tube for the purpose of properly proportioning the steam and water supplies. The combining tube is made free to slide in the direction of the axis of the tube and is adjusted by a hand wheel at the side of the injector, the shaft of which projects into the injector and carries a small pinion that meshes with a short rack formed on the tube. Packing around the sliding tube is dispensed with by forming the tube in two parts, a fixed part and a sliding part, and proportioning the two parts so that the ends of the sliding part will be “opposite that part of the passing current where it has attained its highest velocity; and by this arrangement the passing liquid has no tendency to escape but rather to draw in air or fluid.”
Reference:
This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1866
patent date
1866-05-29
inventor
Robinson, John
Gresham, James
ID Number
ER.309189
accession number
89797
catalog number
309189
patent number
55,218

Giffard-Sellers Injector, Patent Model

This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to William Sellers, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 21, 1863, no.
Description
This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to William Sellers, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 21, 1863, no. 39313.
William Sellers, who introduced the Giffard injector into the United States in 1860, immediately invented useful improvements in its construction. This model incorporates an improvement in the packing between the steam and water chambers and effects a material reduction in the length of the whole injector.
Reference:
This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1860
patent date
1863-07-21
inventor
Sellers, William
ID Number
MC.309367
catalog number
309367
accession number
89797
patent number
39,313

Columbian press

This super-royal Columbian press was made by Ritchie and Son of Edinburgh, Scotland in about 1860.
Description (Brief)
This super-royal Columbian press was made by Ritchie and Son of Edinburgh, Scotland in about 1860. The maker's label reads: "RITCHIE & SON / MAKERS / EDINBURGH." The press has a height of 89 inches a width overall of 53 inches and a length overall of 66 inches; its platen measures 21 inches by 29 inches.
The Columbian press was invented in 1813 by George Clymer
(1754-1834), a Philadelphia mechanic. Clymer had begun building wooden presses in 1800, then later, versions of the new iron presses from Europe. His Columbian was original, not only for its extravagant design but also for its levers and counterweights. It was well received, although its cost, at $400, was more than twice the price of a wooden press. Clymer was not satisfied with the market he found in the United States, perhaps because printers were not yet ready to give up their old wooden presses, so in 1818 he took his business to England and found much greater success. His first English presses carried his own name, and in 1825 William Dixon joined the company, and the presses showed both names. From the 1840s, they were manufactured by several dozen companies all over Europe.
Although Clymer had made and sold presses in Philadelphia, no
American Columbians are known to survive there. The Washington press came to occupy the place, in nineteenth-century American printing offices, that the Columbian and Albion were to hold in Britain. The only Columbians existing in the United States in recent year were made in Europe, and brought here some time later.
Donated by Taylor & Taylor, San Francisco, 1961.
Citation: Elizabeth Harris, "Printing Presses in the Graphic Arts Collection," 1996.
Description
The Columbian iron hand press was invented in 1813 by George Clymer (1754–1834), a Philadelphia mechanic. From about 1800 Clymer built wooden presses and versions of new iron presses from Europe. The extravagant design, incorporating levers and counterweights, was quite original, but Clymer did not find a market in the United States. Perhaps printers were not ready to give up their old wooden presses. He moved to England in 1818 and acquired a partner. By the 1840s their presses were being manufactured by several dozen firms across Europe, including Ritchie & Son of Edinburgh, which made this press about 1860. It is a super-royal Columbian and its platen size is 21 by 29 inches.
Clymer's Columbian presses were widely used in European printing offices during the 19th century, and today they are found in a number of European museums. Although Clymer made several dozen presses before leaving Philadelphia, no American Columbians are known to survive. The only Columbians in the U.S. today were made in Europe and brought over here some time later. American printers preferred the Washington iron hand press, which occupied the place in 19th-century American printing offices that the Columbian and Albion presses held in Britain.
The Columbian press is covered with symbols, including its name as a reference to the United States. An American eagle in full relief serves as a counterweight at the top of the frame. He holds in his talons Jove's thunderbolts combined with the olive branch of peace and the cornucopia of plenty. The press was adopted in 1819 as the emblem of Washington, D.C.'s Columbia Typographical Society, a local union of journeyman printers, and it represented their republican sentiments both in the larger political sense and as their expression of pride and independence in their craft. The Society met at the "Press and Eagle" Tavern, and members carried banners emblazoned with images of the Columbian press in their parades.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1860
Associated Name
Clymer, George
maker
Ritchie & Son
ID Number
GA.21028
accession number
1961.237265
catalog number
GA*21028

Fire Helmet, "1819"

The traditional American leather firefighter’s helmet with its distinctive long rear brim, frontpiece, and crest adornment was first developed around 1821-1836 in New York City. Henry T.
Description
The traditional American leather firefighter’s helmet with its distinctive long rear brim, frontpiece, and crest adornment was first developed around 1821-1836 in New York City. Henry T. Gratacap, a New York City luggage maker by trade, is often credited as the developer of this style of fire helmet. Gratacap created a specially treated leather helmet with a segmented “comb” design that led to unparalleled durability and strength. The elongated rear brim (also known as a duckbill or beavertail) and frontpiece were 19th century innovations that remain the most identifiable feature of firefighter’s helmets. The body of the helmet was primarily designed to deflect falling debris, the rear brim prevented water from running down firefighters’ backs, and their sturdy crowns could aid, if necessary, in breaking windows.
This leather fire helmet was made by Henry T. Gratacap of New York, New York n the early 19th Century. The green hat has eight combs that are painted gold. The back of the hat has the text “FA” above the date “1819” on the rear brim. The FA likely refers to the Fire Association of Philadelphia, an insurance company founded by a group of eleven volunteer engine companies and five volunteer hose companies that incorporated in 1819. A metal eagle is mounted to the top of the helmet’s crown to serve as a frontpiece holder, but the frontpiece is missing from this helmet.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1860
maker
Gratacap, Henry T.
ID Number
2005.0233.0211
accession number
2005.0233
catalog number
2005.0233.0211

Scow Schooner Milton

The 102-foot three-masted scow schooner Milton was built by Ellsworth & Davidson at Milwaukee, Wis., in 1867.
Description
The 102-foot three-masted scow schooner Milton was built by Ellsworth & Davidson at Milwaukee, Wis., in 1867. It spent 20 years hauling lumber on Lake Michigan, along with hundreds of other small boats nicknamed the “mosquito fleet.” Built to carry as much cargo as possible, many of these flat-bottom boats did not sail very well.
The Milton collided with the ship W.H. Hinsdale at Milwaukee in December 1867, causing about $100 in damage to each vessel. It also ran aground twice during its career.
On 8 September 1885, while transporting a cargo of cedar posts and cordwood, the Milton sank off Two Rivers, Wis., during an autumn storm. The entire crew of five men was lost—three of them brothers.
Date made
1962
Milton built
1867
ID Number
TR.321529
catalog number
321529
accession number
246222

Luders Steam Boiler, Patent Model

This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to Herman W. Luders, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 31, 1869, no.
Description
This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to Herman W. Luders, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 31, 1869, no. 94226.
The model represents a boiler having inclined water tubes projecting through forward and back brick walls, which form the furnace and boiler setting. The ends of the tubes projecting from the setting front and back are joined in sets of three by short horizontal cross tubes to large, vertical, upright pillar tubes on either side of the top of the setting. A third longitudinal drum is placed between the other two drums, and all three are joined by one cross drum above them. The short horizontal tubes at the back are cast in longitudinal sections and connected by ball-and-socket joints designed to permit the free expansion and contraction of the tubes.
Reference:
This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1869
patent date
1869-08-31
inventor
Luders, Herman W.
ID Number
MC.309211
catalog number
309211
accession number
89797
patent number
94,226

Safety Lamp Patent Model

This safety lamp is a patent model constructed by John Harding of Warrington, Lancaster, Great Britain that received patent number 72,196 on December 17, 1867.
Description (Brief)
This safety lamp is a patent model constructed by John Harding of Warrington, Lancaster, Great Britain that received patent number 72,196 on December 17, 1867. Harding’s claim in the patent application is the “employment, and use of a soft-metal or other rivet, or other compressible plug, as a fastening for safety-lamps, instead of locks, screws, or other mechanical contrivances now employed.” The locking device can be seen on the base of this Davy-style lamp.
Location
Currently not on view
Associated Date
12-17-1867
ID Number
AG.MHI-MT-308736
accession number
089797
catalog number
MHI-MT-308736
patent number
72196

Krausch Engine Indicator Patent Model

This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to C. W. T. Krausch, of Chicago, Illinois, September 9, 1862, no.
Description
This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to C. W. T. Krausch, of Chicago, Illinois, September 9, 1862, no. 36411.
The model represents an instrument designed to indicate and record speeds, draw-bar loads, boiler water levels, boiler pressures, steam-chest pressures, cylinder pressures, and conditions of the track connected with the operation of a locomotive engine and to plot these on a paper belt driven from a truck axle with a motion corresponding to the progress of the engine.
A series of levers and markers corresponding to the number of the above operations to be recorded works transversely on the paper record as the paper is advanced by the progress of the engine. The marker indicating speed is actuated by a spring-balanced bellows, the motion of which is determined by the volume of air delivered to it by small air-pump cylinders actuated by any convenient part of the engine. The other markers are actuated mechanically by a series of levers to various indicating instruments on the engine, not described.*
An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine.
A mechanical indicator consists of a piston, spring, stylus, and recording system. The gas pressure of the cylinder deflects the piston and pushes against the spring, creating a linear relationship between the gas pressure and the deflection of the piston against the spring. The deflection is recorded by the stylus on a rotating drum that is connected to the piston. Most indicators incorporate a mechanical linkage to amplify the movement of the piston to increase the scale of the record.
When the ratio of the frequency of the pressure variation to the natural frequency of the system is small, then the dynamic deflection is equal to the static deflection. To design a system with a high natural frequency, the mass of the piston, spring, stylus, and mechanical linkage must be small, but the stiffness of the spring must be high. The indicator is subjected to high temperatures and pressures and rapid oscillations, imposing a limitation on the reduction in mass. Too stiff a spring will result in a small displacement of the indicator piston and a record too small to measure with accuracy. Multiplication of the displacement will introduce mechanical ad dynamic errors.
The parameters of the problem for designing an accurate and trouble free recorder are such that there is no easy or simple solution. Studying the variety of indicators in the collection shows how different inventors made different compromises in their designs.
*Reference:
This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1862
patent date
1862-09-09
inventor
Krausch, C. W. T.
ID Number
MC.308664
catalog number
308664
patent number
36,411
accession number
89797

Patent Model of a Hand Printing Press for Amateur Printers

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a hand-operated portable printing press was which granted patent number 79751. The press consisted of a box, the lid being the platen, operated by a hand lever. Built-in grippers released the paper when the lid was lifted.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a hand-operated portable printing press was which granted patent number 79751. The press consisted of a box, the lid being the platen, operated by a hand lever. Built-in grippers released the paper when the lid was lifted. The model is accompanied by a card bearing the inscription "Little Giant Hand Printing Press.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1868
patent date
1868-07-07
maker
Hall, H. M.
Espey, George W.
ID Number
GA.89797.079751
patent number
079751
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.079751

Crane Hot-Air Engine, Patent Model

This model was submitted with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for the Patent no. 46084, issued to Moses G.
Description
This model was submitted with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for the Patent no. 46084, issued to Moses G. Crane, of Newtown, Massachusetts, January 31, 1865.
This engine consists of one vertical work cylinder and two pump or air-transfer cylinders connected to two furnaces. In operation two separate quantities of air are used repeatedly. One quantity of air is circulated between one furnace and the upper end of the work cylinder by one of the air pumps, while the other charge of air is supplied from the other furnace to the lower end of the work cylinder. In each case the air is heated in the furnace, transferred to the work cylinder, allowed to expand doing work against the piston, and is then returned to the furnace by the pump, to be reheated. The pump pistons and valves are actuated by slotted bell cranks on the ends of the engine crankshaft.
Reference:
This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1865
patent date
1865-01-31
inventor
Crane, Moses G.
ID Number
MC.308670
catalog number
308670
accession number
89797
patent number
46,084

Ericsson Steam Engine, Patent Model

This model was filed with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for Patent Number 41,612 issued to John Ericsson of New York, New York on February 16, 1864.
Description
This model was filed with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for Patent Number 41,612 issued to John Ericsson of New York, New York on February 16, 1864. The patent was for an improvement in reciprocating steam engines that would reduce the destructive vibration effects of then current designs.
Many marine steam engines were mounted transversely in the vessel in order to facilitate operating crank arms to turn the propeller. With each successive cycle of the engine the oscillating masses of the engine’s pistons produced high concussive forces on the engine mounts and hull of the vessel. This was more serious for engines directly driving the ship’s propeller without gearing; the engine needed to run at higher speeds thereby making the vibrations more damaging.
Mr. Ericsson’s patent design provided a rolling counter balance weight that moved in the opposite direction as the motion of the of the engine’s piston. The weight would be matched to the combined weight of the piston and its pushrods and other oscillating masses. He provided for a crank lever mechanism that would translate the motion of the piston to that of the counter balance weight.
Mr. Ericsson was a prolific inventor; his inventions included many types of steam engines and associated apparatus as well as hot air engines. He was the designer of the USS Monitor for the North during the Civil War. The Monitor engine was based on his Patent Number 20,782 of July 6, 1858 . In that patent he began to address design issues that would reduce stresses on the engine’s components and its bed. In this patent, Number 41,612, he addressed the issue of concussive force effect of that engine and showed how his counterbalancing weight concept could be applied.
The patent model is shown in the image. It is constructed of wood and brass and illustrates the major elements of the patent. A brass plate on the model is engraved “J. Ericsson, Inventor, 1863.” A spring motor causes the model to simulate actual operation with the piston moving and the counterbalancing weight moving within a hollow space in the wooden base of the model. Diagrams showing the complete design of the engine can be found in the patent document online (www.USPTO.gov).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1864
patent date
1864-02-16
inventor
Ericsson, John
ID Number
ER.308672
accession number
89797
catalog number
308672
patent number
41,612

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