Featured Antique Wind up thingy mcBob

Hey all, anyone know what this is, has a 1874 pat date.
Thanks Steve

 

I hope somebody knows what it is!
Does it wind-up?
Does the fan go 'round?
Does it blow or suck?
Does it make a good noise?

 

It might just be a hand-held fan.

 

Yeah...it might. But with a cast crank, an' all that detailed, multi-piece construction, I doubt it.
I think it's part of a larger assembly that utilizes the moving air...how about for a wet-bulb psychrometer?

 

I like the fan idea......otherwise...it looks like a McBOMB !!!

 

It does wind up , I think the fan is supposed to move but currently not

 

My way with stuff like that is to disassemble an' observe, clean out the cat hair an mouse turds, judiciously lube as necessary...reassemble & see what happens.
Is it for sale, or will it be?

 

Does it have a full patent date (month,day), or patent number?

 

hit it with a shot of WD40 and see what happens...?

 

Let's put
@springfld.arsenal
on the case

 

WD-40 is not even my 3rd choice for vintage & antique mechanisms. For one thing, it can attack older finishes on both metal, an' particularly on wood.

 

maybe it's a miniature......

 

It could be for sale PM me

 

More photos, it has a cog I am sure replaced at some point it is broken, it drive a worm gear to the fan, the mechanism winds and works. If someone was handy making a new cog I am pretty sure it will work as it should.

 

I luv the way it's made.......like an old pocket watch....with all the gears and pins...

 

Do all those gears mean it has different speeds?

 

Could be the patent number is just for the gearing shown here:



Obviously the actual drawing doesn't look like your piece, but it's worth some exploration. From the text: "in mechanical trains. for supplying ... air to lamps"

Here's the link to the Google patent page:
https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/7e/eb/b9/49877154e99a21/US74914.pdf

 

owwwwww.....there's an idea...!!!

 

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/antique-1880-bottom-winding-hitchcock-1922821663

Talks about a wind-up fan on this lamp

 

Check this page out (has a pic that shows some of what looks like your piece):
https://slcha.org/earlylighting/page_files//early_case_4c.html

https://slcha.org/earlylighting/page_files//hitch.html