Gasoline Automobile Patent Model

This is the Selden Automobile Patent Model from 1879 from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Here is the explanation of this unusual patent. This explanation shows the damage that a patent that is too broad can cause.

George Selden's dubious claim that he invented the automobile cast a shadow on the early auto manufacturing industry. His claim rested on a patent application for a "road-engine" that he had filed in 1879. A lawyer schooled in science, Selden was intrigued by the challenge of devising an engine light enough to propel a road vehicle. He designed a small, improved version of George Brayton's compression engine of 1872 and filed a patent application for "a liquid-hydrocarbon engine of the compression type" combined with broadly defined chassis components. Selden deliberately delayed issuance of the patent until 1895, when automobiles were attracting more attention. Soon a patent-pooling association of auto manufacturing companies demanded and received royalties from other manufacturers for the right to produce Selden's "invention." Henry Ford, then just entering the automobile industry, became locked in a highly-publicized legal battle with the Selden interests when his application for a license was turned down in 1903. Ford blasted monopolistic control and exploitation by the "automobile trust" and forever fixed his image as an independent businessman fighting a corporate Goliath for the good of all. Ford's victory in court raised his standing in the automotive industry and made him one of the best known businessmen in America. In 1911 the Selden patent was limited to vehicles with Brayton-type engines as modified by Selden, and his influence quickly faded.

Lowering the Flag at Fort McHenry

We got a somewhat unique opportunity while visiting Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. We got to participate in two flag raising activities. The first was the regularly scheduled flag raising of the huge garrison flag and then a short time later, they had to take it down to fix the ropes that were twisted. Both times we got to hold the flag and help keep it untangled. This is a photo of the second time when the flag was being brought down to untangle the rigging.

Jarvik Artificial Heart

I can remember when the first artificial heart was implanted in a human back in December of 1982. It happened at the University of Utah Medical Center. The photo above is of a prototype that became the Jarvik-7 Total Artificial Heart. Note that the two sides of the heart are connected with Velcro. Here is an explanation of the heart from Wikipedia:

An artificial heart is a device that replaces the heart. Artificial hearts are typically used to bridge the time to heart transplantation, or to permanently replace the heart in case heart transplantation is impossible. Although other similar inventions preceded it from the late 1940s, the first artificial heart to be successfully implanted in a human was the Jarvik-7 in 1982, designed by a team including Willem Johan Kolff and Robert Jarvik. 

An artificial heart is distinct from a ventricular assist device (VAD) designed to support a failing heart. It is also distinct from a cardiopulmonary bypass machine, which is an external device used to provide the functions of both the heart and lungs and are used only for a few hours at a time, most commonly during cardiac surgery.

Harbor Cranes

This scene is as foreign to me as a photo of the Grand Canyon is to someone who has never been to Arizona. I can't imagine how all of these cranes and equipment operate.

The Baltimore Harbor

We don't have a seacoast in Arizona due to the survey of what is called the Gadsden Purchase. Due to the politics of the time, this controversial land acquisition by the United States did not include any access to the Gulf of Mexico (Sea of Cortez). We recently paid a brief visit to Baltimore to see Fort McHenry, but we also took a short side trip around the Baltimore Port to visit the site of Fort Holabird where I was briefly stationed during my military service during the Vietnam War. I took this opportunity to take a few photos of the harbor.

TRS-80

The first personal computer that I got to use and play around with was a TRS-80 owned by my brother. I never actually owned one, but we had similar models. My first computer system was an Apple II that cost about $3000 in 1982 with computer, monitor, and printer and some software. In today's dollars that would be over $8,000 dollars just taking into account inflation. So an iMac with a 27" screen at about $2,200 is a great deal. Here is some basic information about the TRS-80 from Wikipedia: TRS-80:

The TRS-80 Micro Computer System (TRS-80, later renamed the Model I to distinguish it from successors) is a desktop microcomputer launched in 1977 and sold by Tandy Corporation through their Radio Shack stores. The name is an abbreviation of Tandy/Radio Shack, Z-80 microprocessor. It was one of the earliest mass-produced and mass-marketed retail personal computers. 

The TRS-80 featured a full-stroke QWERTY keyboard, the new Zilog Z80 processor (rather than the more common Intel 8080), 4 KB DRAM standard memory (when many 8-bit computers shipped with only 1 KB RAM), small size and desk footprint, floating-point BASIC programming language, standard 64-character/line video monitor, and a starting price of US$600 (equivalent to US$2400 in 2017). 

An extensive line of upgrades and add-on hardware peripherals for the TRS-80 was developed and marketed by Tandy/Radio Shack. The basic system could be expanded with up to 48 KB of RAM (in 16 KB increments), and up to four floppy disk drives and/or hard disk drives. Tandy/Radio Shack provided full-service support including upgrade, repair, and training services in their thousands of stores worldwide. 

By 1979, the TRS-80 had the largest selection of software in the microcomputer market. Until 1982, the TRS-80 was the best-selling PC line, outselling the Apple II series by a factor of 5 according to one analysis.

Patent Models: Pin Making Machine

A pin making machine from 1841 built by John I. Howe. Here is part of the explanation of this particular patent model from the Smithsonian American History Museum.

This model was filed with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for Patent Number 2,013 issued to John Ireland Howe on March 24, 1841. Howe’s invention was a design for an automated common pin making machine. The goal of the design was to improve upon his earlier patented pin making machine which had not found commercial success. His design was mechanically very complex; the patent document comprised 20 pages of detailed text and five of diagrams. Howe had been a physician working in the New York Alms House where he had observed the inmates making pins by hand. He began to experiment with machinery for automating the process and sought the help of Robert Hoe, a printing press builder, to provide mechanical expertise. His design was for a machine that would take a roll of wire, cut the wire for each pin to proper length, sharpen and polish the pointed end of the pin, and finally form the other end into a metal head. The machine consisted of a series of individual chucks (devices much like on lathes) mounted radially on a vertical shaft that rotated inside a horizontal circular frame. Around the circumference of the frame were mounted various tools that shaped the pins. As the vertical shaft rotated, it brought the chucks into alignment with the tools. One type of tool was the point forming file, or mill. The chuck, which was rotating along the axis of the pin, would make the pin tip contact the file thus grinding it into shape. The file was also rotating as well as moving forward, backwards, and side-to-side in a complex manner so as to produce a point which was round, smooth, free from angles, and slightly convex in shape. Howe made provisions for multiple such tools to progressively shape the point. The other major tool was the head forming mechanism. A carrier removed the pin from its chuck and inserted its blunt end into a set of gripping jaws that held it into a set of dies. The dies formed a thickened section of metal at the end of the pin. A second carrier extracted the pin and inserted the thickened section into a second set of dies which then flattened and formed the final pin head. The machines made from the patent design enabled the Howe Manufacturing Company become one of the largest pin manufacturers in the United States. 

The patent model is constructed primary of metal and is about one foot square and one foot tall. It represents the essential elements of the design such as the rotating set of chucks mounted on the vertical shaft, the sharpening mills, and the head making mechanisms. It shows how the rotating table brings the pins to the point sharpening mills. While it is uncertain that the model would be capable of actual pin production, it appears that turning the attached hand crank would cause the machine to go through the motions of actual pin production.