Demonstration Model of an Automatic Cutoff Steam Engine, 1857
date: label: date made
content: 1857
notes: label: Description
content: This demonstration model was built in 1857 by patent attorney Benjamin F. Thurston while representing the Greene Engine Company in patent litigation with the Corliss Steam Engine Company. George Corliss was a noted designer and holder of patents for cutoff valves for steam engines. His engines were used worldwide, and his designs were adopted by other engine manufacturers. Other examples of Corliss engines and patent models of his cutoff gear inventions can be found at www.collections.si.edu.
label: Description
content: A number of other systems similar in design to Corliss' were developed. One of the earliest and most successful was introduced in 1855 by Nathaniel T. Greene of Providence. In Greene's engine, latches on a sliding bar driven by the steam eccentric opened the steam valves as the bar moved to and fro. The latches had a slight vertical movement, controlled by the governor: the higher the latches, the longer they held the valves open. A separate eccentric drove the exhaust valves so that the steam eccentric could be set to allow cutoff almost at the end of the stroke. With a single eccentric, cutoff could not occur after about half stroke.
label: Description
content: Litigation involving Corliss's patents was exhaustive. While several lower courts ruled against him, the matter finally reached the Supreme Court which ruled in favor of Corliss.
place: label: place made
content: United States: Rhode Island
topic: label: Subject
content: Model
label: Subject
content: Steam Engines
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
label: See more items in
content: Engineering, Building, and Architecture
label: Exhibition
content: Power Machinery
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Mr. Edwin H. Arnold, International Cooperation Administration, Washington, D. C.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MC.316013
label: catalog number
content: 316013
label: accession number
content: 223475
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Engine, Steam
label: Object Name
content: engine, steam, model
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 29 3/4 in x 17 3/4 in x 37 1/2 in; 75.565 cm x 45.085 cm x 95.25 cm
label: Measurements
content: flywheel: 2 in x 15 in; x 5.08 cm x 38.1 cm