Sciple's Patent Model of a Portable Steam Engine –1879
date: label: date made
content: 1880
label: patent date
content: 1880-02-10
name: label: inventor
content: Sciple, Harry M.
notes: label: Description
content: This model was filed with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for Patent Number 224,482 issued to Harry M Sciple of Selin's Grove, Pennsylvania on February 10, 1880. The patent was for a new and improved portable steam engine. Mr. Sciple's goals for his design were lightness, durability and low cost. He claimed his innovation was making the majority of the engine from only two castings. The first and largest was the base, steam cylinder, and steam valve. The second was the cylinder head combined with the crosshead guides. In the image of the model the steam valve is the horizontal cylinder on the side of the steam cylinder; and the crosshead and guides casting is the arch shape at the top. The piston rod is attached to the crosshead which can be seen across the arch. Another new design feature claimed by Mr. Sciple was the use of vee- shaped crosshead guides. Instead of the typical metal sliding on metal crosshead and guide design, he used rubber coated rollers attached to each end of the crosshead. The connecting rod is the inverted u-shaped hoop seen connected to a bar across the crosshead and descending on each side of the cylinder to the crankshaft. The eccentric gear is shown on the shaft just outside the base. The rod connected to it operates the steam valve via the crank arm shown.
label: Description
content: Before the widespread use of electric motors, small high-speed steam engines such as the Sciple design were common for general light duty. Simple and dependable, such engines were cheap to build and easy to operate and maintain. They could be connected directly to pumps, generators, blowers and other machinery.
label: Description
content: All of the key elements of the patent are illustrated in detail by the model. The patent model parts representing the large castings are made of lead. Other metal is used for the moving parts. Diagrams showing the complete design of the patent can be found in the patent document online at the United States Patent and Trademark Office website, www.uspto.gov.
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Selinsgrove
label: associated place
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Selinsgrove
topic: label: Subject
content: Patent Models
label: Subject
content: Steam Engines
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
label: See more items in
content: Engineering, Building, and Architecture
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content: Patent Models
label: Exhibition
content: Power Machinery
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Frank A. Taylor. Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States National Museum, Bulletin 173
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MC.308710
label: catalog number
content: 308710
label: accession number
content: 89,797
label: patent number
content: 224,481
objectType: label: Object Name
content: engine, steam, portable, model
label: Object Name
content: patent model, engine, portable steam
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 in x 3 in x 7 in; 20.32 cm x 7.62 cm x 17.78 cm