Where to research really obscure engine designs

You could try a post on uk.rec.engines.stationary They are a UK group but have interests in all sorts of engines. There are also some US contributors.

John

Jon,

Here is the URL for a museum in Vista California. It specializes in antique gas and steam engines. The focus is farm life and technology at he turn of the 20th century.

I would contact them. They may have archives. I know they have knowledgeable old coots (tm) ; I've been doing a lot of research on my family, most of whom died before

Check the online site of the U.S. Patent office. ???USPTO.gov??? If a patent was issued for anything about this engine it would be posted there. Dennis

I've seen a lot of failed rotary engine designs in various books, there's one British book in the local library on unusual engine designs, printed in the '50s, IIRC. If you're really motivated, you could search the city/county/state business records for the period, usually a corporation gets formed if there's investors. Without a name to look up, you've got nothing. You can also search the USPO site for engine patents in whatever period you think it occurred, that might give you some leads.

Stan

Patents issued from 1790 through 1975 are searchable only by the 'Patent Number' and 'Current US Classification' fields. The O.P.'s patent application would've been filed around 1909, so he'd be restricted to searching using these two fields, if he has them.

Scotty

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Which I don't, though I can probably determine what the classification for rotary engines is by trial and error searches. He was granted a patent for a spring compressor, but I learned about that from my cousin who just found the patent in a collection of family pictures, and was able to look it up under the patent number.

Books are a possible source of info, but the best chance I think, is finding folks in SoCal that are into that sort of historical info/trivia. Also trying to locate historical business records for the period. Since he owned a machine shop, he was probably making at least some of the parts there. Learning the name of the business might help dig up some clues.

Thanks all,

Jon

Wow! That's some pretty slim leads! I think I'd start with the local historical society and the chamber of commerce for the area or suburb where his shop was located.

Did he have a trademark? If so, the trademark database at the U.S. Patent Office web site is a lot easier to search than the patent database, and lists lots of stuff about the individuals who registered the trademark. Go to

and select "Search" under the "Trademarks." Select the "New User Search (Basic)" option and follow the instructions. It's real easy.

Have you tried the local library? I collect old mechanics' tools and have found tons of stuff about them and the manufacturers in the reference room of ours.

And here's a somewhat desperate shot: ignore the caveat about search restrictions on the patent database and go ahead and try the search, anyway. When you get to

select "Search" under the "Patents" (left hand side of the page). On the Search page, select "Advanced Search." At the bottom of the Advanced Search page are all the fields you can specify in your search, and if you click on the field name, it'll give you a description of what they are. Try something like "TTL/(ROTARY AND ENGINE)" or some such, select "1790 to Present," and see what you get.

Good luck, my friend.

Scotty

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Well things are moving pretty swiftly really. 4 months ago all I knew about my grandfather was he owned a mine and homestead on what's now the China Lake test range. Not even a picture. Since then, I've learned there's a dry lake bed and a street in Ridgecrest named for him, he's credited with saving the lives of a couple folks over several years, he owned a machine shop (as do I!), held a patent, have come up with some pictures, and met with the nephew of the folks that employed him nearly 100 years ago. I'm a pretty decent researcher, and the internet is a gold mine for tracking things down, as are the many good people that inhabit it, several of which have provided crucial breakthroughs.

If there's any record of the engine on the west coast, I'll bet I find it eventually.

Thanks,

Jon