Benson’s Patent Model of a Steam Engine and Pump – ca 1847
date: label: date made
content: 1847
label: patent date
content: 1847-07-10
name: label: inventor
content: Benson, Benjamin S.
notes: label: Description
content: This model was filed with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for Patent Number 5,185 issued to Benjamin S. Benson of Baltimore, Maryland on July 10, 1847. The patent was for an improved design for steam engines and pumps. It was a very early example of a “wobble disk” type of design, which has been used in many engine and pump designs.
label: Description
content: As seen in the image of the model, the engine consists of four single-acting cylinders placed around the axis of the shaft shown in the front right. A second shaft at the front left is connected to the piston rods of the cylinders via a crank arm and ball and socket joints. Ports located in the faceplate holding the cylinders admit and exhaust steam to each cylinder in turn as it rotates around the shaft axis. The angle between the two shafts causes the pistons’ lateral forces to be converted to rotational force as each piston is pushed out by the steam and then pulled back in due to atmospheric pressure.
label: Description
content: The third shaft seen at the rear of the model is coupled via bezel gears to the other two shafts and is used as the output shaft of the engine. Benson noted this was desirable to reduce stress on the piston rods and connecting arms. He noted that essentially the same mechanism could be used to pump fluids by applying external power to this shaft. The fluid would be pumped through the same valve mechanism as used for the engine.
label: Description
content: The patent model is constructed primarily of brass and steel and illustrates the important elements of Benson’s design. 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 States: Maryland, Baltimore
label: associated place
content: United States: Maryland, Baltimore
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: 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.309197
label: catalog number
content: 309197
label: accession number
content: 89,797
label: patent number
content: 5,185
objectType: label: Object Name
content: patent model, engine, steam
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 in x 22 in x 9 in; 17.78 cm x 55.88 cm x 22.86 cm