In 1844 Charles Goodyear of New York, New York received a patent for a machine used for the manufacturing of corrugated or shirred rubber fabrics. Rubber strips were sandwiched between fabric, stretched and pressed between two rollers, one calendared, creating a rubber impregnated cloth.
Jennings held patents for a variety of inventions, including the friction match and a threshing machine. This one, for a “Vapor Burner,” related to lamps and lighting.
Small metal model or example of a design for a spring clasp mechanism to securing an earring to the ear lobe. The design specifications also allowed for and concave/convex discs to help the earring seat itself on the ear lobe or a pin on the disc incase the wearer had pierced ears (This model does not show the pin). The model also shows two eye hooks. One allowed for a dangle and the other allowed a chain and hair clip that would attach to the hair for security.
Rennie described her only patented invention, for a “Dust Pan,” as having a “peculiar construction” which would assist with “Sweeping Stairs and Floors of Apartments.”
Mechanical engineer Frederck Sickels devoted his career to improving steam engines and advancing their use at sea. He was particularly interested in developing steam-assisted steering, a topic dear to many inventors as ships became larger and heavier through the middle of the nineteenth century. This patent model demonstrates Sickels's idea for a steering apparatus where steam pressure in a pair of cylinders would both control the side-to-side motion of a vessel's rudder but also hold the rudder stationary against the force of the surrounding water.