William Otis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| William Smith Otis | |
| Born | September 20, 1813 Pelham, Massachusetts,  United States |
|---|---|
| Died | 13 November 1839 (aged 26) |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Inventor of the steam shovel |
| Relatives | Elisha Otis (Cousin) |
William Otis was an American inventor of the steam shovel. Otis received a patent for his creation on February 24, 1839.
In 1839, Mr. William Smith Otis, civil engineer of Philadelphia, Penn., was issued a U.S. patent for the steam shovel (No. 1,089) for excavating and removing earth from railroads or canals. The patent drawing showed the crane mounted on a railroad car. A load of earth could be taken up by the bucket, raised by the crane and turned to be dumped, such as in railcars, and released. The patent described how a steam engine of a kind already in ordinary use, was installed with a power control mechanism for the crane, and a system of pulleys to move its arms and bucket. It could move about 380 cubic metres of earth a day, with its 1.1 cubic metre capacity shovel and 180° slewing wooden jib. It was first used on the Western Railroad in Massachusetts.
William Smith Otis was born on September, 20th, 1813 in Pelham, Massachusetts, and was cousin to Elisha Otis of elevator fame. At an early age, William was interested in earthwork and mechanics. At the age of 22, he had shown an uncommon mechanical ingenuity and created the first steam powered mechanical excavator.
Using the popular materials obtained in vicinities of Canton, Massachusetts, William created the machine in 1835 which was applied on railroad tracks building between Norwich and Worcester. Working with the company ,”Carmichael and Fairbanks”, William Smith Otis has thought up a device based on carrying out the same actions as the person with a shovel.
Otis moved to Philadelphia and enlisted the talents of Joseph Harrison to help construct a prototype. Harrision operated the company ”Garrett and Eastwick," and fabricated a pre-production model in 1836. On June 15th, 1836, William Smith Otis received the patent for the invention, however during a fire the engineering specifications had been destroyed.
On February, 24th, 1839 the patent behind number 1089 officially entered validity, and called “the Crane-dredge for excavation and earth removals”.
William Smith Otis died on November, 13th, 1839 at the age of 26.
[edit] See also
This article about an engineer, inventor or industrial designer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
