Plunger Propulsion, Patent Model

Eckhardt, Jacob · 1876

This patent model accompanied Jacob Eckhardt’s application for a new method in the propulsion of vessels that received patent number 179,407 on July 4, 1876. The model comprises a black-painted hull enclosing an internal mechanism of rods and gears. The bottom of the hull is wood; the sides are metal. The model represents a system for propelling vessels though water using oscillating plungers. Eckhardt’s plan was to propel a steamship by the action of oscillating plungers. Pairs of plungers were to be placed in recesses built into a ship’s hull. By positioning two plunger boxes at each end of the vessel, and by making the vessel pointed at both ends, Eckhardt claimed that the ship would “be able to run in either direction without turning around.”