Holley’s Patent Model of a Steam-Boiler Furnace – 1880
date: label: date made
content: ca 1880
label: patent date
content: 1881-03-01
name: label: inventor
content: Holley, Alexander L.
notes: label: Description
content: This model was filed with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for Patent Number 238,235 issued to Alexander Lyman Holley of Brooklyn, NY on March 1, 1881. Holley’s patent was for an improved gas-fueled steam-boiler for use in a furnace. Mr. Holley noted that past objections to the use of gas for fuel dealt with poor combustion of the gas due to incomplete mixing with combustion air. His invention related to a new way to mix the air and gas more completely prior to introduction into the combustion chamber. He provided for separate entry flues for the gas and air. These ran beneath the floor of the combustion chamber. Slots were cut into the floor perpendicular to the flues. Alternate slots were connected to either the gas flue or air flue. In his patent application drawing, he showed five slots – two for gas and three for air. He conceived that the pressure feeding the air and gas would create jets through the slots into the combustion chamber where mixture would occur and combustion take place. To facilitate this, he included a curved diaphragm as the top of the combustion chamber. The combustion gases would then be carried upwards through tubes in the boiler and thence to the exhaust. Research of available trade literature and other sources has not revealed any commercial product that may have made use of Mr. Holley’s invention. Mr. Holley was an engineer of great reputation in the steel making industry and was a founding member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
label: Description
content: The patent model is constructed of wood and sheet metal. The boiler is sheet metal painted black. The wooden frame of the model is painted red with black lines to give it the appearance of being made of brick. The model conforms to the patent drawings and represents the major elements of the patent. The air and gas inlet pipes and flues are present. The burner is made of wood and has slots cut into it to represent the alternating gas air and gas ports. The model has a tag that includes the date (January 24, 1880) of the patent application.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, Brooklyn
label: associated place
content: United States: New York, Brooklyn
topic: 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
label: See more items in
content: Patent Models
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MC.336506
label: catalog number
content: 336506
label: accession number
content: 1978.0318
label: patent number
content: 29,007
label: patent number
content: 238,235
objectType: label: Object Name
content: patent model, furnace, steam boiler
label: Object Type
content: Patent Model
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 3/8 in x 4 1/2 in x 8 3/8 in; 18.7325 cm x 11.43 cm x 21.2725 cm