Models
Model |
Horsepower |
Years |
# Produced |
|---|
Antique Engine Database
Regan Vapor Engine Co.
While N.A. Otto was putting the finishing touches on his revolutionary four cycle engine, D.S. Regan was at work trying to perfect it. Regan’s attempt to build a reliable elctric ignition system first came to light with his December 6, 1884, application to the United States Patent Office for protection of a new low tension, make-and-break system. With the issuancce of Patent No. 320,285 on June 16, 1885, regan was in business. On December 29, 1885, Regan and John H. Eichler were issued Patent No. 333,336 jointly. Then the troubles began. For reasons unknown, Eichler and Regan assigned all right, title, and interest in their patents for the states of California, Oregon, Nevada, and several other states, to W.T. Garrett. The instrument was never recorded, and a similar agreement from Garrett back to Regan was likewise never recorded. While the back-and-forth assignments seemed simple enough, that was only a start.
history
Regan’s engine of 1893 was a horizontal affair – this one was even set up to burn liquid fuels – a rarity in those days. To Regan must go the credit for developing the first sucessful make-and-break ignition system used in the United States. His U.S. Patent No. 320, 285 issued on June 16, 885, covered a wipe-spark system that used an extended stud on the piston head as one of the electrodes. Despite the problems with this arrangement, it worked fairly well, eventually resulting in greatly improved low tension igniters operating under Regan’s engine by the 1890’s, among them being building Regan’s engine by the 1890s, among them being Thos. Kane 7 Company of Chicago, Illinois, and Pacific Gas Engine Company in Regan’s hometown of San Francisco.
links
Content contributed by:
