Jacob Perkins

Jacob Perkins ( born July 9, 1766 Newburyport, Massachusetts, † 30 July 1849 in London) was an American mechanical engineer and inventor.

He learned goldsmith and made some useful inventions. He lived for a while in Boston and New York in 1814 and moved to Philadelphia. In 1819 he went to England, developed the engraving for steel engraving, invented a new press and the Molettierverfahren the Siderographie ( reproduction of a steel engraving plate, for example, for stamp production). He went into a partnership with the English engraver Heath.

He built an experimental high-pressure steam engine with up to 2000 bar, but the time was not yet feasible. In 1827 he worked as the first with the uniflow steam engine.

He examined the compressibility of water, and measured them with self-invented piezometers.

After litigation, he had to close his Maschinenfabrik 1829/30. In 1823 he had received patent number 4792 on a steam heating, which was briefly socially acceptable. In 1831 he invented the unproblematic hot water heater. He then formed a partnership with his second son, with whom he developed central heating systems and installed.

In 1832 he founded in Adelaid Street, West beach, the National Gallery of Practical Science ( Adelaide Gallery).

In 1834 he built a cooling device that cooled by ether was pumped into the cooling coil systems. This was used on ships. The ether had the disadvantage that he bowed in conjunction with air to explode. This principle was further developed by the American John Gorrie.

Perkins married on November 11, 1790 Hannah Greenleaf, they shared two sons and seven daughters. His son, Angier March Perkins (1799-1881) and his grandson Loftus Perkins (1834-1891) were engineers.