Brooke, A couple of years back, I spent a lot of time at IP Australia (i.e. Intellectual Property Australia, the new name for the Oz Patent Office). At that time, only relatively recent US patents were on-line via the USPO web site. I am quite interested to hear that they are now all available this way. have you actually checked for things from the 19th C?
Cheers, John "Far better an approximate answer to the right question which may be difficult to frame, than an exact answer to the wrong question which is always easy to ask" John W Tukey, statistician ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brooke Clarke" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "The Shaws" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "Sundial List" <sundial@rrz.uni-koeln.de> Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2002 5:07 AM Subject: Re: Pilkington & Gibbs Hello Mike: Can you tell me the patent number? The USPTO has all issued patents available free on line. Does the UK have a similar service? Thanks, Brooke Clarke The Shaws wrote: > I have recently become the proud owner of a Pilkington Gibbs > Heliochronometer:- > "Globe" base, Arabic numerals from 5am to 7pm, two holes in the sighting > vane, Serial number 932. > > As I live fairly near to Preston, where they were manufactured, I went up > there today to their town museum, The Harris Museum and Art gallery, to see > if they had anything on the topic. They haven't. > > But they do have a half size P&G heliochronometer. > It looks tiny (I suppose because half size means quarter volume). > I spoke with the very helpful "Keeper of Social History" (Emma Hestlewood) > who got the file out for me to sight. > It just has an article photocopied from the BSS Bulletin (BSS 97.2 p17), and > a copy of the 1906 patent. > I promised to send her Graham Aldred's article (BSS 98.1 p14) > She believed that there were a few other half size examples somewhere. > She was able to tell me that their half size example had been presented to > the museum in 1947, by a Mrs Gibbs. > I think that Gibbs died in 1947, so it was probably his widow. > > 1) Does anyone know of any other half size examples anywhere? > 2) Graham Aldred tells me that 932 is a very late example, as the "youngest" > he has heard of has serial number 944. > Does anyone have a later one? I'd like to know how many were made in > total. (But please don't tell any dealers) > > I have been unable to get much information about P&Gs, except what is in the > BSS Bulletins, and what Chris Daniel has written in "Clocks". > I'd be interested in anything anyone can tell me that isn't already > published in the above articles. > > Mike Shaw > > http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jmikeshaw/ > > N 53º 21' 24" > W 03º 01' 47" > Wirral, UK. > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.307 / Virus Database: 168 - Release Date: 11/12/2001
