Gill’s Patent Model of a Steam Gauge – ca 1859
date: label: date made
content: 1859
label: patent date
content: 1859-03-08
name: label: inventor
content: Gill, W. Y.
notes: label: Description
content: This model was filed with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for Patent Number 23,166 issued to W.Y. Gill of Henderson, Kentucky on March 8, 1859. The patent was for an improved design for a gauge to measure the steam pressure in a boiler and to sound an alarm in case of excess pressure.
label: Description
content: The gauge consists of a brass cylinder with a spring loaded piston inside. Steam is admitted through the base of the cylinder and pushes the piston upward. A rod attached to the piston is connected to an inner cylinder with calibrations for steam pressure engraved on it. As the piston rises more of the inner cylinder is exposed showing increasing steam pressure.
label: Description
content: Brass plugs can be seen in the image near the bottom of the gauge. As steam pressure increases, and the piston moves upward, the holes blocked by the plugs are exposed to the steam. The operator had only to remove the plug corresponding the desired pressure limit. If the limit was exceed, the piston would allow steam to escape through the hole providing a visual and aural alarm.
label: Description
content: The patent model is constructed of brass and mounted on a wooden base. All of the key elements of the patent are illustrated by the model. A full description of the operation of the gauge 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: Kentucky
label: associated place
content: United States: Kentucky, Henderson
topic: label: Subject
content: Patent Models
label: Subject
content: Steam Engines
label: Subject
content: Gauging
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: See more items in
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.308917
label: catalog number
content: 308917
label: accession number
content: 89797
label: patent number
content: 23,166
objectType: label: Object Name
content: gauge, steam, model
label: Object Name
content: patent model, gauge, steam
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: gage: 13 in; x 33.02 cm