Murray's Hypocycloidal Engine, now in Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum, England, was made around 1805[1] and is the world's third-oldest working steam engine[2] and the oldest working engine with a Tusi couple hypocycloidal straight line mechanism.[a]
History
Designed by Matthew Murray, and made by Fenton, Murray and Wood of Holbeck, Leeds, it is one of only two of the type to survive;[3] the other is located at The Henry Ford, Michigan, United States.[4]
The single-cylinder engine was used by John Bradley & Co of Stourbridge from 1805 until 1931, and by N. Hingley & Sons Ltd of Netherton from 1931 until 1961, when it was acquired by Birmingham City Council for their science museum.[5]
Murray patented the hypocycloidal arrangement in 1802.[3]
See also
- Birmingham Museums Trust
- Rotative beam engine
- Smethwick Engine – the oldest working engine in the world, also at Thinktank
- Sun and planet gear
- Whitbread Engine – the second-oldest working engine; one of the first rotative steam engines
Notes
- ^ The oldest working engine, the Smethwick Engine, and the second oldest, the Whitbread Engine, are beam engines, and neither uses a hypocycloidal straight line mechanism.
References
- ^ Reyburn, Ross (2 December 2000). "Full steam ahead; Some of Birmingham's most impressive artefacts are on the move". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ^ "Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum". Automuseums. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ^ a b "Matthew Murray's elegant design". Birmingham Stories. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ^ "Hypocycloidal Pumping Engine". Stationary Steam. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ^ Birmingham Museums Trust catalogue, accession number: 1961S01437.00001
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