Elijah McCoy and his inventions

Elijah McCoy was born in Colchester, Ontario, Canada on May 2, 1844. He was born to American parents who had traveled on the Underground Railroad in order to escape slavery in Kentucky. Early in life, Elijah McCoy showed an aptitude and interest in the way mechanical devices worked. McCoy's parents saw that their son had a special talent and sent him to study in Scotland, where he achieved the title of "master mechanic and engineer." McCoy then went to America to look for a job as an engineer, but in the 1860s, professional jobs were usually not available to African-Americans. McCoy settled for a job as a fireman/oilman for the Michigan Central Railroad. (Lemelson MIT Program - Inventor of the Week)

His first invention was a lubricator for steam engines. The invention allowed machines to remain in motion to be oiled; his new oiling device revolutionized the industrial machine industry. Elijah McCoy established his own firm and was responsible for 57 patents. The term "real McCoy" refers to the oiling device used for industrial machinery. His contribution to the lubricating device became so popular that people inspecting new equipment would ask is the device contained the real McCoy. This helped popularize the American expression, meaning the real thing. His other inventions included an ironing board and lawn sprinkler.

Elijah McCoy died on October 10, 1929 after a year in the Eloise Infirmary, Eloise,

Michigan, suffering from senile dementia caused by hypertension. He was buried in Detroit,

Michigan. (Northern California Council of Black Professional Engineers)

Inventions

In his lifetime, McCoy patented more than 50 inventions, none more famous than his automatic oil cup, which eventually became standard equipment on most locomotives and heavy machinery. (Lemelson MIT Program - Inventor of the Week)

When he settled for a job as a railroad fireman, which was a far cry from engineering, it proved to be a physically demanding job. As a fireman, McCoy had to shovel coal into the firebox of his locomotive, at the rate of two tons per hour. He also had to walk around the locomotive and lubricate its moving parts using an oilcan during frequent stops, while it took on water. (AfricaWithin.com)

Many parts of this engine operated under the pressure of steam, which acted to push oil away from the moving parts. This made it necessary to stop the engine when oiling it. McCoy saw that he could keep the engine running by using steam pressure to pump the oil where it was needed. (AfricaWithin.com)

Working in a home-built machine shop in Ypsilanti, McCoy devised an invention that became known as the lubricating cup. It relied on a piston set within an oil-filled container. Steam pressure pushed on the piston and thereby drove the oil into channels that carried it to the engine's operating parts. McCoy received a United States patent for this device on June 23, 1872. (AfricaWithin.com)

McCoy's lubricating cup proved adaptable to other types of steam engines, which were used in factories and at sea. Versions of this cup became standard components on many types of heavy machinery, entering service on railways of the West, on Great Lakes steamships, and even on transatlantic liners. (AfricaWithin.com)

McCoy began inventing other mechanisms. In 1892, McCoy invented devices to lubricate railroad locomotives. In the 1920s, McCoy applied his lubricating system to airbrakes used on locomotives and other vehicles using air brakes. Almost all of McCoy's patents related to automatic lubrication, with the exception of a patent for an ironing table and a lawn sprinkler.

McElrath)

As bigger, heavier and more powerful locomotives were built, rather than use oil alone as a lubricant, designers preferred to mix the oil with powdered graphite, a form of carbon. Powdered graphite is soft and greasy, and easily withstands high temperatures. However, because it is a powder rather than a liquid, it can clog an engine. In 1916 McCoy patented what he described as his greatest invention, the "graphite lubricator." Within his patent application, he claimed that this invention would permit the use of graphite "without danger of clogging." And to the surprise of no one, he was right. It worked flawlessly. (AfricaWithin.com) letter from one railroad superintendent read: "We have found the McCoy Graphite Lubricator to be of considerable assistance in lubrication of locomotives equipped with superheaters (and requiring the graphite lubricator...)" (AfricaWithin.com)