Gilles Gas Engine, Patent Model
Gilles Gas Engine, Patent Model
- Description
- This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to Friedrich W. Gilles, of Kalk, Germany, July 11, 1876, no. 179782.
- The engine represented by the model is a 1-cylinder vertical gas engine employing two pistons, a working piston (the lower one) and a loose piston (the upper one). The loose piston was intended to fly to the top of the cylinder where it would be caught and held, producing within the cylinder a reduced pressure, which would cause the work piston to return under the pressure of the atmosphere and thereby perform work on the return stroke as well as the explosion stroke. Provision was made to cushion the free piston at the top of its stroke for the purpose of quiet running. The combustion mixture was drawn in and ignited on the explosion stroke without compression.
- 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
- Object Name
- engine, steam, model
- patent model, engine, gas
- Object Type
- Patent Model
- date made
- 1876
- patent date
- 1876-07-11
- inventor
- Gilles, Friedrich W.
- place made
- Germany
- associated place
- Germany: North Rhine-Westphalia, Kalk
- Physical Description
- metal (overall material)
- wood (base material)
- Measurements
- overall: 12 3/4 in x 4 5/8 in x 4 1/4 in; 32.385 cm x 11.7475 cm x 10.795 cm
- ID Number
- MC.311183
- catalog number
- 311183
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 179,782
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
- Bulletin 173
- Engineering, Building, and Architecture
- Work
- Industry & Manufacturing
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.
Note: Comment submission is temporarily unavailable while we make improvements to the site. We apologize for the interruption. If you have a question relating to the museum's collections, please first check our Collections FAQ. If you require a personal response, please use our Contact page.