Merritt Propelling Apparatus, Patent Model
date: label: Date made
content: 1869
label: patent date
content: 1869-04-20
name: label: inventor
content: Merritt, Daniel S.
notes: label: Description
content: This brass, steel, and wood patent model accompanied the patent application for Daniel S. Merritt's crank paddle, which claimed advancement over the common steamboat paddle wheel. The application received patent number 89,231 on April 20, 1869. Merritt, a resident of Mount Morris, Michigan, also held a patent for increasing the motion of an engine (no. 81,393; August 25, 1868).
label: Description
content: The principle of this invention is similar to that of other steamboat paddles patented in the nineteenth century. Sets of paddles are fastened to a common frame or bar. Using cranks, the paddles are plunged into the water, swept backward, and then lifted clear for another pass, in a manner similar to the action of oars. There is little in Merritt's design to set it apart from the others, except that the depth of his paddles in the water is adjustable, to suit variations in draft of the vessel. Merritt claimed that "no swell is caused by these paddles, rendering them particularly applicable to the propulsion of vessels upon canals," where swells tended to erode the canal banks.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Associated Place
content: United States: Michigan, Mount Morris
topic: label: Subject
content: Patent Models
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
label: See more items in
content: Engineering, Building, and Architecture
label: See more items in
content: America on the Move
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.308547
label: catalog number
content: 308547
label: accession number
content: 89797
label: patent number
content: 89,231
objectType: label: Object Name
content: paddles, model
label: Object Name
content: patent model, propelling apparatus
label: Object Type
content: Patent Model
label: Other Terms
content: paddles; patent model, propelling apparatus; Maritime; Navigation
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (part material)
label: Physical Description
content: steel (part material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (part material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 6 1/2 in x 5 1/2 in x 11 1/2 in; 16.51 cm x 13.97 cm x 29.21 cm