Crosby Steam Engine Indicator
name: label: maker
content: Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Company
notes: label: Description
content: Crosby Steam Gauge & Valve Co. of Boston, Massachusetts, manufactured this steam engine indicator, serial number 3309. It consists of a piston, which is stuck inside the cylinder. A brass stylus can record onto a large small drum with a spiral spring and a single record. Accompanying the indicator is a box with twelve springs and a spring wrench.
label: Description
content: An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine.
label: Description
content: A mechanical indicator consists of a piston, spring, stylus, and recording system. The gas pressure of the cylinder deflects the piston and pushes against the spring, creating a linear relationship between the gas pressure and the deflection of the piston against the spring. The deflection is recorded by the stylus on a rotating drum that is connected to the piston. Most indicators incorporate a mechanical linkage to amplify the movement of the piston to increase the scale of the record.
label: Description
content: When the ratio of the frequency of the pressure variation to the natural frequency of the system is small, then the dynamic deflection is equal to the static deflection. To design a system with a high natural frequency, the mass of the piston, spring, stylus, and mechanical linkage must be small, but the stiffness of the spring must be high. The indicator is subjected to high temperatures and pressures and rapid oscillations, imposing a limitation on the reduction in mass. Too stiff a spring will result in a small displacement of the indicator piston and a record too small to measure with accuracy. Multiplication of the displacement will introduce mechanical ad dynamic errors.
label: Description
content: The parameters of the problem for designing an accurate and trouble free recorder are such that there is no easy or simple solution. Studying the variety of indicators in the collection shows how different inventors made different compromises in their designs.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Massachusetts
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content: Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
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content: Engineering, Building, and Architecture
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content: Work
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content: Industry & Manufacturing
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content: Indicators
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MC.316795
label: catalog number
content: 316795
label: accession number
content: 228496
objectType: label: Object Name
content: indicator, steam engine
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (case material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 5/8 in x 7 3/4 in x 7 1/8 in; 11.7475 cm x 19.685 cm x 18.0975 cm
label: Measurements
content: walnut case - from catalog card: 4 3/4 in x 6 3/4 in x 7 3/4 in; 12.065 cm x 17.145 cm x 19.685 cm