Patent GB-1859-2330
This patent comes up in histories of early helicopters; Coleman (1993) calls it "the first helicopter patent".
"The novelty is in the application of the two sets of sails working in reverse directions," said Bright, according to Mechanics' Magazine.
Simine Short's U.S. Aviation Patent Database has an entry for an American filing by Bright but we don't have a number for it, or any other references to its existence.
Nor do we have a scan of the original, though versions of the main illustration are circulated on the web. One might see a period copy of the full version at STIC. Bright, 1867, Aerial carriage with opposing fans, available for controlling the ascent and descent of balloons by mechanical means might relate to this invention technologically.
Short's DB lists an 1859 patent for a counter-rotating helicopter by Henry Bright, as if it were a US one, but we find no US one. We're assuming for now that it refers to this British one.
- Inventor location: Sandwich St., Burton Crescent, London
Sources
- Brewer and Alexander, 1893, Aeronautics
- Chronological index of patents 1859, p. 152
- Subject-Matter Index 1859, p. 7
- Colin P. Coleman. "A Survey of Theoretical and Experimental Coaxial Rotor Aerodynamic Research". CERNOBBIO (Commo), Italy. September 14–16, 1993.
- Mechanics' Magazine, 1860, Bright's Aerial Carriage
| Year filed | 1859 |
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| Year granted | |
| Office | GB |
| Patent number | 2330 |
| Inventors | Henry Bright |
| Inventor country | GB |
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| Applicant firm | |
| Applicant type | INDIV |
| Applicant is inventor? | 1 |
| Original title | Improvements in machinery or apparatus for navigating the air |
| English title | Apparatus for navigating the air |
| Tech fields | helicopter, propeller, balloon, hybrid |
| Filing date | 1859-10-12 |
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| Granted? | 1 |
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| Related to aircraft? | 1 |
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| National tech categories | GB Aërial Machines |
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