Although bottled carbonated beverages were popular by the 1880s, sealing the bottle was a constant problem. Most "stoppers" were of metal and intended for reuse. None sealed adequately, and contact with the cap often contaminated the drink.
In 1892 (Feb 2), William Painter (1838-1906) patented a cheap, single-use metallic cap, crimped over a lip formed on the bottle neck and lined with a thin cork wafer that both formed a leakproof seal and separated drink and metal.
ASME
Term Image
YearAdded:
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/KMJ (CC BY-SA 3.0)Image Caption: Crown Cork and Soda Filling MachineEra_date_from: 1892
1994
The introduction of steam-powered forging hammers by French and British engineers of the 1830s led to the building of this impressive hammer at Creusot that delivered blows to shape and strengthen iron and steel objects before forging. It was for years the most powerful steam hammer in the world. Yet in 1878 a writer observed that "this formidable mass is capable of ... corking a bottle without breakage."
With a striking capacity of 100 tons and a stroke of 5 meters, it worked massive iron and steel shafts, piston rods, and other forgings for fifty-four years, until its retirement in 1930.
YearAdded:
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Christophe Finot (CC BY-SA 2.5)Image Caption: Creusot Steam HammerEra_date_from: 1876
1981
When erected by Peter Grubb to smelt the rich iron ore of the nearby Cornwall ore banks, this stone-built blast furnace was typical for its time, producing about 20 tons of pig-iron and cast-iron products a week. A major reconstruction in 1856 to 1857 produced important changes: the furnace itself was enlarged; the blast-air bellows were replaced by a pair of wooden cylinder "blowing tubs"; the waterwheel that had powered them was replaced by a 20-horsepower steam engine; and a pair of waste-heat boilers to supply the engine was built into the open stack of the furnace.
YearAdded:
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Wherring (CC BY-SA 3.0)Image Caption: Cornwall Iron FurnaceEra_date_from: 1742
1985
While Thomas Edison perfected the first practical and durable filament in 1879, it was not until much later that electricity left the laboratory to become the universal source of light. This required a tremendous number of glass envelopes for light bulbs. In the 1890s the top speed of the finest glass-blowing team produced two bulbs a minute.
YearAdded:
Image Credit: Original Image: Courtesy Flickr/ellenm1 (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Corning Ribbon MachineEra_date_from: 1926
1983
The Cooperative Fuel Research (CFR) engine is used extensively throughout the world for testing, research, and instruction in the performance of fuels and lubricants for the internal combustion engine. Principal design work on this prototype engine was accomplished by engineers of Waukesha Motor Company, now a division of Dresser Industries, who served on a Cooperative Fuel Research Committee with representatives of the American Petroleum Institute, Society of Automotive Engineers, Automobile Manufacturers Association, and the National Bureau of Standards.
YearAdded:
Image Credit: Courtesy Colorado State UniversityImage Caption: Cooperative Fuel Research EngineEra_date_from: 1928
1980
These engines, built by Cooper & Co., of Mount Vernon are among the oldest surviving agricultural steam engines to show the evolution from the portable, skid-mounted engine (ca. 1860) to the horse-drawn engine (1875), through the self-propelled but horse-guided engine (1875) and finally to the self-propelled, self-steered traction engine (1883). Such engines powered the conversion to mechanized farming, which was a great hallmark of the Industrial Revolution.
YearAdded:
Image Credit: Courtesy ASMEImage Caption: Cooper Self-Propelled, Self-Steering Traction EngineEra_date_from: 1860s
1998
This compressor was a product of the combined technology and design heritage of both the C. & G. Cooper Company of Mount Vernon and the Bessemer Gas Engine Company of Pennsylvania, which had merged in 1929. Ralph L. Boyer, the chief architect of the GMV, worked for Cooper-Bessemer from 1926 through 1965.
YearAdded:
Image Credit: courtesy www.osagcd.comImage Caption: Cooper-Bessemer Type GMV Integral-Angle Gas EEra_date_from: 1944
2006
Early internal combustion engines produced only a few horsepower and were unable to replace steam engines in most applications until about 1890. By then, they were powerful enough for most portable or remote locations and many small manufactures. By 1900, they were replacing reciprocating steam engines for electric generation, and by 1915, they were being considered for all but the largest installations where steam turbines have dominated to date.
YearAdded:
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/sirbeagle (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Coolspring Power MuseumEra_date_from: 1890
2001
The use of heat pumps for the heating and cooling of the Commonwealth Building, initiated in 1948, was a pioneering achievement in the western hemisphere. The theoretical conception of the heat pump was described in a neglected book, published in 1824 and written by a young French army officer, Sadi Carnot. Its practical application on a large scale is attributable to designers J. Donald Kroeker and Ray C. Chewning, building engineer Charles E. Graham, and architect Pietro Belluschi.
YearAdded:
Image Credit: 1940s postcard featuring the new Commonwealth (Equitable) Building in Portland, OR.Image Caption: Commonwealth Building Heat PumpEra_date_from: 1948
1980
Colvin Run Mill is an early 19th century operating gristmill, closely modeled on the principles developed by Oliver Evans (1755-1819). Powered by a waterwheel, the restored mill was probably built on or after 1811 on the site of an older mill. Originally, the site was the property of George Washington, who identified it as ideal for a mill site. The first verifiable documentation of gristmill business was made by Philip Carter, who purchased a 90-acre property about 1811 from William Sheppard, who probably built the original mill based on Evans' design.
YearAdded:
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Colvin Run MillEra_date_from: ca. 1810
2001
Innovations
