Ice Auger, Patent Model
date: label: Date made
content: 1873
label: patent date
content: 1873-06-10
name: label: patentee
content: Clark, William A.
label: inventor
content: Clark, William A.
notes: label: Description
content: William A. Clark of New Haven, Connecticut, submitted this model with his patent that received number 139769 on June 10th, 1873. The patent describes an auger to bore holes in ice with the addition of a small threaded point to the leading end of a standard, helical drilling bit. The point would cut a pilot hole into the ice, and its threaded sides would grip the ice, pulling and guiding the entire auger forward.
label: Description
content: "I have found by experiment that when an attempt is made to bore into ice with the ordinary gimlet or screw-point," William Clark wrote in his patent specification, "the point will not take hold on the ice, the screw simply fracturing and breaking away the ice around it so that the screw can get no hold in it." His "Improved Tool for Boring in Ice" aimed to solve this problem with its threaded leading point, which would grip the ice and hold the auger's "cutting-lips firmly to their work."
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: associated place
content: United States: Connecticut, New Haven
topic: label: Subject
content: Patent Models
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
label: See more items in
content: Industry & Manufacturing
label: See more items in
content: America on the Move
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1999.0086.03
label: catalog number
content: 1999.0086.03
label: accession number
content: 1999.0086
label: patent number
content: 139,769
objectType: label: Object Name
content: patent model, auger, ice
label: Object Type
content: Patent Model
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: steel (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 5 1/2 in x 1 in; 13.97 cm x 2.54 cm