Murray's Hypocycloidal Engine | |
Type: | Hypocycloidal |
Cylinders: | 1 |
Designer: | Matthew Murray |
Maker: | Fenton, Murray and Wood |
Country Of Origin: | England |
Collection: | Birmingham Museums Trust |
Location: | Thinktank, Digbeth, Birmingham, England |
Accession: | 1961S01437.00001 |
Murray's Hypocycloidal Engine, now in Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum, England, was made around 1805[1] and is the world's third-oldest working steam engine[2] and the oldest working engine with a Tusi couple hypocycloidal straight line mechanism.
Designed by Matthew Murray, and made by Fenton, Murray and Wood of Holbeck, Leeds, it is one of only two of the type to survive;[3] the other is located at The Henry Ford, Michigan, United States.[4]
The single-cylinder engine was used by John Bradley & Co of Stourbridge from 1805 until 1931, and by N. Hingley & Sons Ltd of Netherton from 1931 until 1961, when it was acquired by Birmingham City Council for their science museum.[5]
Murray patented the hypocycloidal arrangement in 1802.