Natural Resources
The natural resources collections offer centuries of evidence about how Americans have used the bounty of the American continent and coastal waters. Artifacts related to flood control, dam construction, and irrigation illustrate the nation's attempts to manage the natural world. Oil-drilling, iron-mining, and steel-making artifacts show the connection between natural resources and industrial strength.
Forestry is represented by saws, axes, a smokejumper's suit, and many other objects. Hooks, nets, and other gear from New England fisheries of the late 1800s are among the fishing artifacts, as well as more recent acquisitions from the Pacific Northwest and Chesapeake Bay. Whaling artifacts include harpoons, lances, scrimshaw etchings in whalebone, and several paintings of a whaler's work at sea. The modern environmental movement has contributed buttons and other protest artifacts on issues from scenic rivers to biodiversity.
316
Page 1 of 16
-
Patent model for feeding apparatus for cylinder presses
- Description (Brief)
- This patent model demonstrates an invention for a feeding apparatus for cylinder presses. Maker, patent number, and date are unknown.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1870
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- 1997.0198.20
- catalog number
- 1997.0198.20
- accession number
- 1997.0198
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Carpenter Compound Hydraulic Engine, Patent Model
- Description
- The model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to Oramill C. Carpenter, of Brooklyn, New York, December 17, 1878, no. 210915.
- The engine is essentially a hydraulic transmission, which takes motion from eccentric cams on a central shaft turned by a steam or other engine and transmits the motion to shafts on either side of and parallel to the central shaft. The inventor designed the engine to be applied to a streetcar, and the model is mounted in a miniature nickel-plated car truck.
- It is a 4-cylinder engine with opposed cylinders in groups of two. Single-acting plungers work in and out of the cylinders as the central shaft is turned. The head of each cylinder leads directly to another cylinder of reduced diameter in each of which a driven piston works through a longer stroke in time with the short stork of the driving piston. Valves for the relief of an excess pressure of liquid and spring-cushioned piston heads are described for smoother running.
- 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
- 1878
- patent date
- 1878-12-17
- inventor
- Carpenter, Oramill C.
- ID Number
- MC.309252
- catalog number
- 309252
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 210,915
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Patent Model of a Copying Press
- Description (Brief)
- This patent model demonstrates an invention for a copying press which was granted patent number 193346. The patent describes a letter-copying press in which the pressure was produced by inflating an air bag.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1877
- patent date
- 1877-07-24
- maker
- Powlett, James A.
- ID Number
- GA.89797.193346
- patent number
- 193346
- accession number
- 089797
- catalog number
- GA*89797.193346
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Pitts’ and Gluyas’ Patent Model of a Steam Condenser – ca 1872
- Description
- This model was filed with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for Patent Number 131,779 issued to Washington R. Pitts and George K. Gluyas of San Francisco, California, on October 1, 1872. The claim of the inventors was a new design for an improved high pressure condenser for a steam engine. The purpose was for the steam exhausted from the engine’s cylinder to be passed through the condenser and be converted back to water and returned to the boiler for reuse.
- The condenser design was intended for use on side-wheel steam boats. It would be located behind the paddle wheel where the water splashed up by the wheel would pass over the condenser and in the process cool the hot steam inside the condenser. The condenser consisted of a series of tubes passing between chambers at each end as shown in the image. Steam entered the condenser via an opening at the bottom left (not shown) and any remaining steam could be exhausted via the outlet pipe shown at the bottom right. This outlet had a valve that would cover it in normal operation since the goal was to have the steam converted to water prior to exiting. However, the engineer could open the valve as needed in operation to reduce any undue buildup of steam pressure within the condenser. The condense water exited via a series of tubes not shown at the back of the picture.
- Note, that the condenser was intended to be mounted with the steam exhaust up and to the right and the condense water outlet pipes on the bottom. The chambers at each end of the condenser were divided into compartments to cause the steam to travel back and forth two times prior to reaching the exhaust. The compartments were of decreasing volume with fewer tubes contained within them (seven rows of tubes in the first diminishing to four in the last) as can be seen by the grouping and gaps between tubes in the image. The intent was to balance the amount of condense water collected throughout the condenser.
- To control the flow of condense water and prevent steam pressure from blocking it, Pitts and Gluyas provided metal flanges over each of five exit holes for the water. The inventors did not claim as new the tubing, chambers and valves. Their claim was based primarily on two details. The first was division of the chambers at each into compartments having diminishing volumes. The second was the inclusion of the covers over the outlet pipes. Research of available trade literature and other sources has not revealed any commercial product that may have made use of this invention.
- The patent model is constructed of brass. The end plate is inscribed “Wash’n R. Pitts and Geo. K. Gluyas, San Fran’co.” The key features of the invention are illustrated by the model to include the end chambers, tubing, condense water outlet pipes, steam inlet, and the steam outlet with rubber valve. Diagrams showing the complete design can be found in the patent document online at www.uspto.gov.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1872
- patent date
- 1872-10-01
- inventor
- Pitts, Washington R.
- Gluyas, George K.
- ID Number
- ER.309239
- accession number
- 89797
- catalog number
- 309239
- patent number
- 131,779
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Patend model for an inking apparatus for printing presses
- Description (Brief)
- This patent model demonstrates inventions relating to the inking apparatus on oscillating presses, such as Potter's jobbing press. The two patents, numbered 169191 for bearings for distributing rollers, and 171243 for the inking apparatus itself, are demonstrated on one model.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1875
- patent date
- 1875-12-21
- maker
- Hubbard, James F.
- Potter, Jr., Charles
- ID Number
- GA.89797.171243
- accession number
- 089797
- catalog number
- GA*89797.171243
- patent number
- 171243
- 169191
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Judson and Cogswell Governor, Patent Model
- Description
- This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to Junius Judson and William A. Cogswell, of Rochester, New York, November 9, 1875, no. 169815.
- The model represents a flyball governor in which the driving pulley is fitted loosely to the driving shaft and connected to it by a spiral spring, which allows a free turning of the pulley on the shaft to an extent sufficient to counteract the jerks or impulses, which are transmitted to the governor by the uneven operation of the engine.
- The inventor states that the ordinary crank motion of a steam engine results in an unequal operation that is not always equalized by the flywheel of the engine. This irregularity, though not always perceptible, is transmitted to the governor, which, when operated unevenly, would exaggerate the variations. This device is designed to prevent the jerks being transmitted to the governor.
- 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
- 1875
- patent date
- 1875-11-09
- inventor
- Judson, Junius
- Cogswell, William A.
- ID Number
- MC.309244
- catalog number
- 309244
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 169,815
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Patent Model of an Intaglio Plate Printing Machine
- Description (Brief)
- This patent model demonstrates an invention for an intaglio printing press, which was granted patent number 210116. The patent describes a plate wiping mechanism that reproduced the sweeping movement of the human hand. The wiping cloth was in lengths travelling from one storage roller to another, always offering a fresh portion to the plate. Constant Guy was from Paris, France.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1878
- patent date
- 1878-11-19
- maker
- Guy, Constant A.
- ID Number
- GA.89797.210116
- accession number
- 89797
- 89797
- patent number
- 210116
- catalog number
- GA*89797.210116
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Patent Model of a Rotary Lithographic or Type Press
- Description (Brief)
- This patent model demonstrates an invention for a rotary lithographic press which was granted patent number 200927. The revolving type cylinder had two flat sides where type forms or lithographic stones were mounted. The two curved surfaces of the cylinder were used as ink distributing surfaces. Patentee George Newsum was from Leeds, England, where he patented this press in 1872.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1878
- patent date
- 1878-03-05
- maker
- Newsum, George
- ID Number
- GA.89797.200927
- accession number
- 089797
- patent number
- 200927
- catalog number
- GA*89797.200927
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Stevens Rocking Grate Bar, Patent Model
- Description
- This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to Francis B. Stevens, November 11, 1879, no. 221430.
- The model represents a grate surface formed of ordinary fish-bellied grate bars on each of the lower ends of which two journal bearings are formed to fit into and rest in two corresponding rounded socket bearings. The bar is made to rock in each of these bearings alternately to the right and left, so that the upper part of the grate overhangs the right-hand socket when rocked to the right, and the left-hand socket when rocked to the left. That the upper part of the grate bar will overhang the center on which it turns is the improvement claimed by the inventor.
- 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
- 1879
- patent date
- 1879-11-11
- inventor
- Stevens, Francis B.
- ID Number
- MC.309217
- catalog number
- 309217
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 221,430
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Creeping Baby Doll Patent Model
- Description
- This model demonstrates the invention of a mechanical crawling doll. It accompanied the patent submission of George Pemberton Clarke, who received U.S. patent No. 118,435 on 29 August 1871 for his “Natural Creeping Baby Doll.” The original patent office tag is still attached with red tape. Clarke’s patent was an improvement on the crawling baby doll patent of his associate Robert J. Clay (No. 112,550 granted 14 March 1871).
- The doll’s head, two arms and two legs are made of painted plaster. The arms and legs are hinged to a brass clockwork body that actuates the arms and legs in imitation of crawling, but the doll moves forward by rolling along on two toothed wheels. A flat piece of wood is attached to top of the movement.
- A commercial version of the doll is also in the collection. See also Catalog number 2011.0204.01a.
- This mechanical toy is part of a fascinating continuum of figures built to imitate human life. This long Western tradition stretches from ancient Greece through the mechanical automatons of the Enlightenment, through wind-up toys to contemporary robots and other machines with artificial intelligence.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1871
- patent date
- 1871-08-29
- inventor
- Clarke, George P.
- ID Number
- 1984.0923.01
- accession number
- 1984.0923
- catalog number
- 1984.0923.01
- patent number
- 118,435
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Sèvres porcelain presentation vase and cover
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- c. 1873
- ID Number
- CE.P-238a
- catalog number
- P-238ab
- accession number
- 225282
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Patent model for printers' sidesticks and quoins
- Description (Brief)
- This patent model demonstrates an invention for sidesticks made with two symmetrical series of inclined surfaces; the invention was granted patent number 133948. Matching quoins were adjusted by turning a double-threaded screw.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1872
- patent date
- 1872-12-17
- maker
- McGrath, Thomas
- ID Number
- 1996.0062.12
- patent number
- 133948
- accession number
- 1996.0062
- catalog number
- 1996.0062.12
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Tabor-Ashcroft Steam Engine Indicator
- Description
- Ashcroft Mfg. Co. of Bridgeport, Connecticut, manufactured this Tabor steam engine indicator, serial number 1624. It consists of a steel piston with a spherical guide below the spring; a vented brass cylinder; an internal, single wound spring, which can be changed; a large drum with a coil spring and a single record; and a conical brass stylus. The spring is missing.
- 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.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1878
- maker
- Ashcroft Mfg. Co.
- ID Number
- MC.319485
- catalog number
- 319485
- accession number
- 237917
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Miner's Cap Lamp
- Description (Brief)
- This oil-wick cap lamp was made by Jacob Vogle of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, in the late 19th century. The oil-wick cap lamp was first invented in Scotland in 1850 and in use until the 1920’s. The font contained a mix of fat and oil for fuel, and a wick was inserted into the spout. The resulting light was much brighter and more efficient than the candles it replaced. The hook enabled the lamp to be worn on a cap, or hooked onto any other suitable location.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- patent date
- 1879-09-09
- ID Number
- AG.059213
- catalog number
- 059213
- accession number
- 014982
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Model of G. B. Brayton Gas Engine, U.S. Patent No. 125166
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1872
- patent date
- 1872-04-02
- inventor
- Brayton, George B.
- ID Number
- MC.251280
- catalog number
- 251280
- accession number
- 48865
- patent number
- 125,166
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Minton porcelain cabinet plate
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1874
- ID Number
- CE.P-289
- catalog number
- P-289
- accession number
- 225282
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Thompson Balanced and Cut-Off Valve, Patent Model
- Description
- This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patents issued to Joseph W. Thompson, of Salem, Ohio, April 27, 2875, nos. 162714 and 162715. These were assigned to the Buckeye Engine Co., of the same place.
- The model represents the first form of J. W. Thompson’s balanced and cut-off valve gear, which was one of the earliest of the “automatic” valve gears. It was introduced in the very successful Buckeye engine.
- The model represents a horizontal steam engine with one fixed eccentric and one shifting eccentric driving the main slide valve and the riding cut-off valve, respectively. The valve of the engine is in the shape of a hollow rectangular box the top of which works in close proximity to the valve chest cover and has a steam-tight, ring-packed opening through which steam is admitted to the inside chamber of the valve. The bottom of the hollow box forms the main valve taking steam through the chamber and into the valve chest at the ends of the valve. The opening through which steam is admitted is made enough larger than the steam pipe opening to cause the steam pressure within the chamber to exert some force to keep the main valve on its seat; otherwise the valve is perfectly balanced. A riding cut-off valve operates on the inside face of the bottom of the hollow main valve.
- The main valve is operated from a rock shaft directly connected to the rod of the fixed eccentric. The riding cut-off valve is operated from a double-arm rock shaft, which is carried in the main valve rock shaft, one arm being connected to the valve rod, the other to a shifting eccentric on the engine shaft. The position of this eccentric will determine the position of the double-arm rock shaft relative to the main valve rock shaft and will in this way control the point of cut-off.
- A shaft governor of the Thompson and Hunt design carries the shifting eccentric and varies its position relative to the crank with changes in speed of the shaft. The governor is mounted in a disk on the shaft and not in the flywheel as has since become practice.
- 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
- 1875
- patent date
- 1875-04-27
- inventor
- Thompson, Joseph W.
- ID Number
- MC.308688
- catalog number
- 308688
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 162,715
- 162,714
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Errani and Anders Petroleum Engine, Patent Model
- Description
- This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with application for Patent no. 140021, issued to Louis Charles Errani and Richard Anders, of Liege, Belgium, June 17, 1873.
- This is the first oil engine patented in the United States in which the fuel was vaporized within the cylinder. It is also the first to inject the oil into the cylinder in the form of a spray. It was provided with electric ignition.
- In construction the engine resembles a steam engine, including a horizontal single-acting cylinder in which is a reciprocating piston, a crank deriving its motion from the piston, a flywheel on the main shaft, and a valve gear for operating a main valve connected with the engine cylinder. It was actuated by the combustion of a mixture of sprayed petroleum and air during a portion of the stroke. The petroleum was sprayed by means of a jet of air from a rubber bulb, acted upon by a sliding plunger, in combination with a tube and nozzle rising from the oil reserve in the base of the engine, somewhat in the manner of a common household atomizer. The quantity of petroleum supplied to the cylinder was regulated by a bypass cock in the air line from the rubber bulb.
- 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
- 1873
- patent date
- 1873-06-17
- inventor
- Anders, Richard
- Errani, Louis Charles
- ID Number
- MC.251283
- catalog number
- 251283
- accession number
- 48865
- patent number
- 140,021
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Patent model for sidesticks and quoins
- Description (Brief)
- This patent model demonstrates an invention for a combination of quoins and sidesticks which was granted patent number 218518. The quoins swiveled on the ends of wide screws that turned into the sides of the metal sidesticks. A guage in the center of each sidestick told the compositor how far the quoin could be extended.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1879
- patent date
- 1879-08-12
- maker
- Gosorn, George T.
- ID Number
- 1996.0062.09
- patent number
- 218518
- accession number
- 1996.0062
- catalog number
- 1996.0062.09
- patent number
- 218518
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Baker Steam Engine, Patent Model
- Description
- This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to John G. Baker, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 10, 1878, no. 207936.
- The model represents a small vertical single-acting engine in which the connecting rod is attached to the piston by a ball-and-socket joint, and the space enclosed within the cylinder and the face of the piston is alternately opened to the exhaust and to the steam pipes by rotating the piston laterally in the cylinder. The piston is rotated by a simple bent rod, one end of which turns and slides in an opening in the connecting rod, and the other end slides and turns in a socket in the skirt of the piston. Turning the piston causes two longitudinal grooves in the piston to register periodically with exhaust and steam ports in the cylinder wall.
- 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
- 1878
- patent date
- 1878-09-10
- inventor
- Baker, John G.
- ID Number
- MC.309246
- catalog number
- 309246
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 207,936
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
Pages
Filter Your Results
Click to remove a filter:
- data source
-
topic
- Industrialization 315
- Communications 188
- Patent Models, Graphic Arts 187
- Architecture 57
- Engineering 57
- Bulletin 173 48
- Scovill Manufacturing Collection 33
- Politics 23
- Government 22
- Social reformers 22
- Furnishings 15
- Art 14
- American Civil War (1861-1865) 11
- Civil War, 1861-1865 11
- Ecology 11
- Models (representations) 11
- Patents 11
- Military 8
- Presidential Campaign of 1872 8
-
object type
- Models 249
- Patents 249
- medal, political 26
- patent model; press, printing 12
- press, flatbed cylinder printing 9
- Machine, Sewing 7
- Machine, Sewing; Bookbinding 7
- machine sewing 7
- mining lamp 7
- plate 7
- Printing presses 6
- Delivery Apparatus 5
- Feeder, Paper 5
- manufacture, printers quoins 5
- press, platen printing 5
- Apparatus? 4
- Tokens 4
- Vases 4
- apparatus? 4
- engine, internal combustion, model 4
- date
- place
-
set name
- Industry & Manufacturing 315
- Work 257
- Patent Models 197
- Communications 188
- Work and Industry: Graphic Arts 188
- Patent Models, Graphic Arts 187
- Engineering, Building, and Architecture 57
- Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering 53
- Bulletin 173 48
- Scovill Manufacturing Collection 33
- Work and Industry: Production and Manufacturing 33
- Government, Politics, and Reform 22
- Domestic Furnishings 15
- Art 14
- Home and Community Life: Ceramics and Glass 12
- Natural Resources 11
- National Museum of American History 10
- Military 8
- Mining Lamps 7
- Work and Industry: Mining 7
