Maudslay and Field’s Patent Model of Marine Steam engine – ca 1842
date: label: date made
content: 1842
label: patent date
content: 1842-06-11
name: label: inventor
content: Maudslay, Joseph
label: inventor
content: Field, Joshua
notes: label: Description
content: This model was filed with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for Patent Number 2,668 issued to Joseph Maudslay and Joshua Field of Lambeth, England on June 11, 1842. The patent was for improvements to steam engines intended for use in steam ships. The type of ship envisioned for their engine was one with paddle wheels mounted on each side. This required that the shaft powering the wheels be placed relatively low in the hull. This in turn required a very compact engine to fit in the constrained vertical space.
label: Description
content: Maudslay and Field responded with a design which had its crankshaft located just above the top of the cylinder. Two piston rods extended upwards to a cross head above the cylinder. A single connecting rod extended downward from the cross head to the crankshaft. The images of the model show the steam cylinder at the bottom center. To its left is the slide type steam valve, and to the right is the air pump which is operated by rocker arms attached to connecting rods from the cross head.
label: Description
content: The inventors were owners of Maudslay, Sons and Field, a major manufacturer of steam engines located in Lambeth, England. Their marine engines were widely used by the British Admiralty. They also built the engine for the SS Great Western, one of the first paddle wheel steamers designed for the Atlantic trade.
label: Description
content: The patent model is constructed of steel and wood. All of the key elements of the patent are illustrated by the model. It includes a small hand crank to permit demonstration of actual operation. A section of a paddle wheel is present at the rear of the model. A full description of the operation of the engine along with complete diagrams 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 Kingdom: England
label: associated place
content: United Kingdom: England, London, Lambeth
topic: label: Subject
content: Patent Models
label: Subject
content: Marine
label: Subject
content: Steam Engines
label: Subject
content: Steamships
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
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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.251298
label: catalog number
content: 251298
label: patent number
content: 2,668
label: accession number
content: 48865
objectType: label: Object Name
content: engine, steam, marine, model
label: Object Name
content: patent model, engine, marine steam
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 14 in x 10 in x 19 in; 35.56 cm x 25.4 cm x 48.26 cm