Furman's Device
Strange as it may seem, the patent office of the U. S. government as late as 1884 and 1886, received and filed, seriously considered and granted Letters Patent on Perpetual Motion Devices as appears from the description of Furman's Device following, and from Schirrmeister's "Mechanical Movement," and Enbom & Anderson's "Improvement in Pumps," appearing on pages 38 and 76 respectively, supra.
These were not denominated Perpetual Motion Devices by the inventors, but the specifications show them to be simply that and nothing more.
July 15, 1884, George H. Furman, of Rochester, Ohio, U. S. A., was granted U. S. Patent No. 301979, on
"A New and Improved Motor."
The essentials are sufficiently shown by the following excerpt from the specifications and the following figure. We have omitted Figure 2, mentioned in the specifications:
UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.
George H. Furman, of Rochester, Ohio.
MOTOR.
Specification forming part of Letters Patent
No. 301979, dated July 15, 1884.
Application filed March 6, 1884. (No model.)The action of the motor is as follows: A suitable quantity of the small weights d being placed in the outer drum, F, through the door f, the machine being at rest, they will accumulate at the lower part of the drum F in the pockets c´ c´. Now, to run the machine a person will apply his hands to the rim H and revolve the outer drum, F, in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 1. This movement of the outer drum will cause the weights d to be carried in the pockets c´ c´ to the upper side of the drum, at which point they will roll from the pockets c´ c´ into the pockets b b of the inner drum, G, where their weight will cause the drum G and shaft E to revolve. As the pockets b of the inner drum pass below the shaft E they empty the weights into the troughs c´ of the outer wheel, F, to be again carried above the shaft and dropped into the pockets b, so that the inner wheel, G, and shaft E will be revolved continuously.
