Stearns’ and Hodgson’s Patent Model of a Steam Engine Governor – ca 1852
date: label: date made
content: 1852
label: patent date
content: 1852-08-31
name: label: inventor
content: Stearns, George R.
label: inventor
content: Hodgson, Will
notes: label: Description
content: George S. Stearns and William Hodgson of Cincinnati, Ohio, submitted a patent application for an improvement in governors for steam engines to the United States Patent Office. They received patent 9,236 on August 31, 1852. A governor regulates the speed of an engine. Their governor was of normal design, but Stearns and Hodgson claimed as new their use of quadrants with teeth at the end of each arm supporting a fly ball. The inventors claimed the advantages of such a design were simplicity of operation and low cost of construction.
label: Description
content: The patent model as shown in the image is constructed of cast iron and steel. All of the key elements of the patent are illustrated by the model. It includes a hand crank to permit demonstration of actual operation. A full description of the workings of the governor and 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: Ohio
label: associated place
content: United States: Ohio, Cincinnati
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
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content: Engineering, Building, and Architecture
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content: Work
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content: Industry & Manufacturing
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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.251287
label: catalog number
content: 251287
label: accession number
content: 48865
label: patent number
content: 9,236
objectType: label: Object Name
content: governor, steam engine
label: Object Name
content: governor, steam engine, model
label: Object Name
content: patent model, governor, steam engine
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cast-iron (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: over drive shaft: 12 in x 6 in; 30.48 cm x 15.24 cm