Screw Propellor, Patent Model
date: label: Date made
content: 1892
label: patent date
content: 1892-09-27
name: label: patentee
content: MacHaffie, John
label: inventor
content: MacHaffie, John
notes: label: Description
content: This is the patent model of John MacHaffie's screw propeller, which he called "the citropeller adopted to aquatic propulsion."
label: Description
content: John MacHaffie, a British citizen living in Schenectady, New York, received a patent in 1892 for a new propeller shaft arrangement, wherein the speed and direction of a propeller could be adjusted by moving the drive shaft in and out. The adjustable shaft would engage a clutch in the propeller bearing, causing the propeller to spin forward, stop, or reverse without changing the speed or direction of the shaft or the vessel's engine. MacHaffie's specification also outlined a way to use his invention for steering as well, but that possibility is not reflected in the patent model. MacHaffie called his device a "citropeller," perhaps intending to mean a propeller tilted sideways.
label: Description
content: MacHaffie's citropeller was also covered by British patent 12,361, August 7, 1890.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: associated place
content: United States: New York, Schenectady
topic: label: Subject
content: Patent Models
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
label: See more items in
content: America on the Move
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.308548
label: catalog number
content: 308548
label: accession number
content: 89797
label: patent number
content: 483,158
objectType: label: Object Name
content: propeller, screw, model
label: Object Name
content: patent model, propeller, screw
label: Object Type
content: Patent Model
label: Other Terms
content: propeller; patent model, propeller, screw; Maritime
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (base material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)