Improvement in Hot-Air Engines, S. H. Roper, Specification Forming Part of Letters Patent No. 38,866, June 9, 1863

01

Artifact Overview

Massachusetts machinist Sylvester Roper patented improvements to a hot air engine that produced motion by harnessing the expansion and contraction of warming and cooling air. This patent covers one of those improvements. Roper also built at least seven steam-powered carriages and two steam-powered motorcycles years before automobiles -- as we know them -- appeared.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Patent

Date Made

09 June 1863

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

00.536.4

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Printing (Process)

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 11.25 in
Width: 8 in