Adam’s Patent Model of a Stove Drum - ca 1868
date: label: patent date
content: 1868-12-22
name: label: inventor
content: Adams, John
notes: label: Description
content: This model was filed with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for Patent Number 85,196 issued to John Adams of Findlay, Ohio on December 22, 1868. His patent was for a new and improved design for a Stove-Drum . A stove drum was the element of a heater or furnace which heated air via contact with a large, hot metal surface. It would be located between the combustion chamber of the stove and the chimney. Mr. Adam’s design consisted of two truncated cones interconnected by flues. The lower cone was the entry point for the hot combustion gases and had an inner truncated cone which included a damper at its bottom. With the damper open the hot gases would travel directly upwards through a pipe that ran through the middle of the lower and upper cones and thence to the chimney. This resulted in the minimal amount of metal surfaces being exposed to the gases and thus the least heat being provided to the room. It also allowed a more direct draft for lighting the fire. With the damper closed the hot gases flowed in the volume between the inside and outside lower cones. A plate at the top of these cones allowed the gases to flow into the five flues that interconnected the upper and lower cones. A key element of Adam’s patent was the division of each flue into two halves via vertical partitions. After coming up through the lower cones, the gases entered the outer compartment of the flues where it then entered the upper cone and heated its outside surface. The gases would then flow back downwards through the inner compartment of the flues and into the inner lower cone which communicated with the chimney via the vertical pipe previously mentioned. With the damper closed the entirety of the surface of the stove-drum would be heated by the combustion gases, and this provided the maximum heating for the room. Research of available trade literature and other sources has not revealed any commercial product that may have made use of this invention by Mr. Adams. He did have one additional patent for a furnace which appears to be based in part on the principles of this stove-drum patent.
label: Description
content: The model is constructed of unpainted tinplate and represented the key elements of Adam’s patent. The upper and lower truncated cones are shown as are the interconnecting flues, the inner lower cone, and the damper. Diagrams showing the complete design can be found in the patent document online (www.USPTO.gov/patents/process/search/index.jsp).
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: associated place
content: United States: Ohio, Findlay
topic: label: Subject
content: Patent Models
label: Subject
content: Heating
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
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transfer from Department of the Interior
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MC.251502
label: accession number
content: 48890
label: catalog number
content: 251502
label: patent number
content: 85,196
objectType: label: Object Name
content: patent model, stove drum
label: Object Type
content: Patent Model
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: tin (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (label material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 in x 3 1/2 in x 3 1/2 in; 20.32 cm x 8.89 cm x 8.89 cm