Snow melting apparatusIn 1890, black American inventor Frank J. Farrell of New York City was issued a patent for an "Apparatus for melting snow" to be placed in a street gutter (No. 428,670). The box-shaped apparatus was designed so that the upper surface, a removeable cover, formed a portion of the bed of a street gutter. Inside, a duct for heated fluid had openings under a perforated tray, and drain holes. Steam could be supplied from an adjacent house. An automatic steam trap using a float-ball prevented the waste of live steam. The patent described that snow would be thrown upon the surface tray to be melted; the perforated tray caught sticks and stones. Earlier in the year, he patented a steam trap. He patented eight valves between 1890 and 1893. |
