Patent Dates

From your friendly CR4 Moderator/former university reference librarian: if you have access to a decent-sized library, either public or an academic library that serves outside patrons, find a reference librarian and let him or her help out.

You can also try the US Patent and Trademark office site: http://patft.uspto.gov/ if you're looking for a US patent. For other countries, Google "patent" and "United Kingdom" or "Japan" or whatever country you think is applicable.

I'm sure the CR4 community will have plenty of suggestions. Good luck and let us know what you find out.

Patent dates? No patent numbers?

If you just have a date, it may be impossible. Maybe I'm just semantically challenged and don't understand.

Can you post pictures? Remember, patent figures may not resemble the finished product.

Lyn, Yes, patent dates only. I have found a list of 332 patents for the earliest date of the 3, 7-31-1894, but no text description; I'd have to check each of those numbers to see what the patent was on.

I suspect photos would do no good; I'm sure now that what I have is only part of the whole item. It is like a downside-up teardrop with a 5-bolt flange on the small (bottom) end. The flange shows corrosion evidence of 4 holes into whatever it was bolted to.

whats the point? the patent(s) expired over a century ago, they're public now.

Fredski: The point is curiosity--isn't that part of what makes engineers? The seller thought it might be the pressure chamber from a hand pump fire engine, but I think it is too small for that--6.5" tall.

Could it be the pressure chamber of a hydraulic ram pump?

As above--might be. In various looking I found a "water powered water pump;" The drawing with the patent showed a pressure chamber like this as a small part of the whole device.

It looks like pictures of ram pumps from late 19th, early 20th century catalogs.

How about all of them....just Edison?.... Patents granted in 1900...483 patents for tool and machinery parts...

http://www.datamp.org/displayIndex.php?start=0&date=1900-__-__

USPO bulk downloads....

http://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/electronic-bulk-data-products

SE: Tried the first listing with the 3 dates, and it found nothing recognizable. So, must be in a different directory. I suspect some kind of pump, but I'm not sure at all.

cuba pete: Thanks, haven't tried advanced search.

Do you have any other clues that you could use as data to enter into the fields of the advanced search? A keyword that might be in the title of an issued patent? Name of the company or a part of a name that could be entered as assignee? City of manufacture? There are a lot of other fields in the Advanced search. Maybe also try the Expert search at freepatentsonline.com at www.freepatentsonline.com/search.html.

jhammond

Espacenet is another good patent source. I rarely use the USPTO, even for American patents.

Another option is to take a few pictures of the item and using Google Image Search. Sometimes you get good results, sometimes they aren't even close, but it's worth a try.

I don't understand why you marked your post OT. I think you have a good chance of being correct. Another possibility would be an air chamber to prevent/reduce water-hammer. From the little description provided, I think I remember seeing one somewhere, at least 60 years ago...

A picture would be very appropriate.

I was focused on the patent search part of the question and didn't see the big picture. You are correct this really should have been in the general discussion. Saw one of these operating when I was 10 or so and it stuck in my head.

I tried searching for the date in a different format & got various hits. Amongst them were these relating to air brakes, possibility?

Automatic brake-valve : specification forming part of letters patent no. 523,773, dated July 31, 1894 / Albert P. Massey --
Fluid-pressure regulator : specification forming part of letters patent no. 523,873, dated July 31, 1894 / Curtis H. Veeder and Edward D. Priest --
Pump-regulator : specification forming part of letters patent no. 523,900, dated July 31, 1894 / William B. Mason --
Engineer's brake-valve : specification forming part of letters patent no. 523,937, dated July 31, 1894 / Leslie E. Howard. Air-brake for cars

I'll have to try these. I was looking for search techniques, but looking for the specific patent is great. Therefore, I should provide other markings on this pressure chamber: Apparent assignee: Bishop & Babcock Co, Cleveland, O. Maybe a brand: Eureka No. 10 1/2. All the patent dates are: July 31, 1894; Aug 13, 1895; April 7, 1908.

That's interesting, searching on 'Bishop & Babcock, Cleveland' finds them making pressurised beer pumps in the 1900s.

Searching on Eureka No.10 1/2 led, in a roundabout way to a company C C Wakefield in the UK who created a lubricant from castor oil & decided to call it Castrol. They were also making mechanical lubricators for locomotives.

Thanks for the link! Note that B&B also made water handling equipment.

So, putting all this together with a WAG, I may have the air chamber from a piston pump for beer. Interesting; I don't drink beer!

But I'm still interested in a search technique when the only information available is the patent date.

"I may have the air chamber from a piston pump for beer"

.........or for an air brake. Seems like the search needs a bit of random luck.

You could also try http://worldwide.espacenet.com Advanced search.

I'll be trying again, but I apparently don't have enough info to keep it happy.