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Manufacturers Index - Pelton Water Wheel Co.
Patents
This page contains information on patents issued to this manufacturer.

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Patent Number Date Title Name City Description
233,692 Oct. 26, 1880 Water-wheel Lester A. Pelton Camptonville, CA This is the famous Pelton wheel, a very efficient turbine water wheel. It is designed to use the momentum of the water rather than its weight, and does so more effectively than previous impulse designs. Pelton's design was an improvement on one by Samuel N. Knight (patent 158,591); the improvement was to use pairs of cups so that the water stream could be kept centered on the middle of the wheel, which improved the efficiency compared to the off-center Knight design.
According to the Wikipedia article on this invention, Pelton had developed a prototype by the mid-1870s. Beginning in 1879, commercial models were produced by George Allan's Foundry and Machine Works (also known as the Miners Foundry) in Nevada City. In 1888, with the Miners Foundry not able to keep up with demand, Pelton sold the rights to the newly formed Pelton Water Wheel Company in San Francisco.
409,865 Aug. 27, 1889 Water-wheel Lester A. Pelton Nevada City, CA Improvements to the Pelton wheel of patent 233,692 which uses the momentum of the water rather than its weight. Patent 485,663, granted to Charles A. Scharff of San Francisco, further improves this idea by making the nozzles adjustable.
485,663 Nov. 08, 1892 Water-wheel nozzle Charles A. Scharff San Francisco, CA Improvements to the Pelton wheel of patent 409,865 to provide adjustable nozzles. We do not know for certain that this patent was used by Pelton Water Wheel Co., but we presume so.
807,025 Dec. 12, 1905 Regulating Nozzle George J. Henry Jr. San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA
870,291 Nov. 05, 1907 Regulating Means for Water Wheel Nozzles George J. Henry Jr. San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA
941,775 Nov. 30, 1909 Fly Ball Governor Max Haeberlein New York, NY
131,726 Mar. 21, 1911 Apparatus for Controlling Fuild Supply Pressure Henry George Jackson Jr. San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA
993,064 May. 23, 1911 Automatic Control for Hydraulic Nozzles George J. Henry Jr. San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA
1,042,681 Oct. 29, 1912 Water Wheel Safety Stop Charles A. Jackson New York, NY
1,110,567 Sep. 15, 1914 Unloader Valve Chester B. McAulay San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA
1,114,238 Oct. 20, 1914 Adjustable Wear Ring William A. Doble San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA
1,135,364 Apr. 13, 1915 Turbine Pump William A. Doble San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA
1,137,948 May. 04, 1915 Pressure Turbine Erich Buehle New York, NY
174,324 Jan. 02, 1917 Governor Leopold M. Karasch San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA
1,234,882 Jul. 31, 1917 Speed Governor William A. Doble San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA
1,537,465 May. 12, 1925 Louver Type Baffle Plate Ely C. Hutchinson Oakland, Alameda County, CA
1,539,256 May. 26, 1925 Kinetic Energy Absorber Frederick Gfeller Alhambra, Los Angeles County, CA
1,559,879 Nov. 03, 1925 Bearing Construction Ely C. Hutchinson San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA
2,501,984 Mar. 28, 1950 Shaft Seal Leroy D. Alward Albany, Alameda County, CA
2,617,622 Nov. 11, 1952 Axially Movable Rotary Valve Ira Morgan White Walnut Creek, Contra Costa County, CA
2,635,847 Apr. 21, 1953 Turbine Jet Controller Fred H. Rued Lafayette, Contra Costa County, CA