patented boat lifting device any ideas?

[PHA_for_life]

while doing my research on lincoln’s contributions to the US government i found out that he patented a boat-lifting device but it doesn’t say what type it was, if it is still in use, or what it looked like or how it worked. does anyone out there have any suggestions as to where i may find out more about this.

and don’t worry this is not an assignment just some curiosity

[astro]

Lincoln Patent

I’ve learned that Abraham Lincoln received a U.S. Patent. Anyone know its subject matter or number? I’ll check at a PTDL soon and post the answers.
Thanks.

It was essentially a set of water wings for boats, used to lift river boats over the low-head dams which were becoming prevalent on rivers at the time. Doubt it would have been of much use as shown, since the weight of the floats would most likely have eliminated any lift they would have given, but an interesting idea nonetheless. The complete info is: MANNER OF BOUYING VESSELS Patent No. 6,469, Patented May 22, 1849

Michael F. Brown
Registered Patent Attorney No. 29,619

www.gnc.com

Fax if you got ‘em

But the fax-back service is limited to patents that already are stored electronically. PTO workers always query a customer who orders a copy that has more than 100 pages. “That is going to tie up someone’s fax machine for a while,” Lutz said. A few patents run to thousands of pages.

Among the 50T of patent information in the databases are images of some very old patents for Abraham Lincoln’s canal boat-lifting device, the Statue of Liberty design and Thomas A. Edison’s electric light bulb. Students request copies of them every week, Rowe said.

Customers who want their orders to go directly into PTO’s order-entry buffer can register for a user identifier and password. When they log in, they see options for placing orders, checking order status and changing user information.

An alternate Web form, also accessible through OEMS, takes the same address and credit-card information but simply generates an e-mail that has to be entered manually into the order system, Rowe said.

OEMS’ electronic retrieval engine pulls the requested images from data stores and sends them to a printer for hard-copy delivery or a fax machine for fax-back service, Lutz said.

[cankerist]

There is a picture of it here
Unfortunately I can’t access it at the USPTO, because it was issued so long ago.

[Celyn]

I’m off on a tangent, but I wondered if this would also pique your curiosity.

The Falkirk Wheel - the world’s first rotating boatlift - is the largest part of the £78m Millennium Canal Link project designed to link the Union and Forth and Clyde canals.

The project is the largest canal restoration in Britain’s history and will link the East and West coasts of Scotland with fully navigable waterways for the first time in over 35 years.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/pages/news/extras/00002400.aspx

[Celyn]

The 100 metre-long aqueduct will end above a basin into which boats will travel via the FalkirkWheel. At each end of the 115 foot Wheel is a section of canal able to lift 300 tonnes of boat and water, and the trip between basin and aqueduct will take approximately 15 minutes. The basin will be 330 feet wide with moorings for more than 20 boats. Alongside is being constructed a large visitor’s centre with a glass frontage that will overlook the Wheel and basin

Same.

(sorry - sleepy person here)