Machines non-transport

Classification

Machines are combinations of the 6 simple machines: wedge, lever, screw, wheel/axle, pulley, and inclined plane. Non-transport machines perform work but do not carry persons or objects from one place to another.

Inventions from the ORAL ERA Era

Invention	Description	Year	Inventor	Country
Stone tipped spears	flint	250,000 BCE		Africa
Obsidian flake tools	glasslike stone sharpened	250,000 BCE		Africa
Axe/hammer	wedge of stone with lever handle, hafted	200,000 BCE		Africa
Harpoon	carved bone	90,000 BCE		Congo, Africa
Bow and arrow	flint arrow heads	70,000 BCE		South Africa (83)
Boomerang	carved and bent wood	50,000 BCE		Australia
Fish hook	carved bone	40,000 BCE		Russia
Atlatl	flexible throwing dart	35,000 BCE		Africa
Bull roarer	sound generator	18,000, BCE		Ukraine
Sickle	harvesting tool	15,000 BCE		Israel

Inventions from the TOKENS ERA Era

Invention	Description	Year	Inventor	Country
Ladder	on wall painting	8000 BCE	Lascaux	France
Sling	rock hurling weapon	7000 BCE	Sumer	Mesopotamia
Drum	musical instrument/signal	5000 BCE		China
Sickle	grain harvest machine	3600 BCE		China

Inventions from the WRITTEN ERA Era

Invention	Description	Year	Inventor	Country
Helmet	head protection	3000 BCE		Sumer, Mesopotamia/ Egypt
Comb	grooming	3000 BCE		Persia
Umbrella	shade, rain	2400 BCE		China/Mesopotamia
Water clock	time keeping	2000 BCE		Babylonia/Indus River
Seismograph	earthquake detection	1800 BCE		China
Composite bow	wood/horn/sinew composite	1700 BCE		Egypt
Pulley	simple machine	1500 BCE		Egypt
Spoon	hygiene utensil	1000 BCE		Egypt

Inventions from the ALPHABET ERA Era

Invention	Description	Year	Inventor	Country
Crossbow		650 BCE		China
Rotary crank		575 BCE		Carthage/Spain
Crane	wooden structure with pulley	515 BCE		Greece
Winch		500 BCE		Persia/Assyria
Fan		500 BCE		India
Catapult	weapon	485 BCE		India
Pike	long spear weapon	400 BCE		Macedonia, Greece
Trebuchet	hurling weapon	350 BCE		China
Piston	machine	250 BCE		Egypt
Compound pulley	2 pulleys with rope	250 BCE	Archimedes	Greece
Archimedes screw	water transport	200 BCE	Archimedes	Greece (65)
Belt drive	with pulleys	100 BCE		Rome
Arch architecture	bridge, aqueduct, dam	50 BCE		Rome
Gears	like a toothed pulley for changing force	50 AD	Hero of Alexandria	Hellenic Egypt (84)
Claw hammer	lever/impactor	79 AD		Pompeii, Rome
Suspension bridge	iron	100 AD		China
Crank and rod	machine	250 AD		Middle East
Mongolian recurve bow		300 AD		Mongolia
Mechanical clock	timekeeping	725 AD	Yi Xing	China. (31)

Inventions from the NUMBERS ERA Era

Invention	Description	Year	Inventor	Country
Spinning wheel	for yarn	700 AD		India
Mechanical clock	timekeeping	725 AD		China (31)
Longbow	more powerful bow	1000 AD		England, UK
Crankshaft	machine	1206 AD	Al-Jazari	Syria
Combination lock	security	1206 AD	Al-Jazari	Syria
Camshaft	machine	1206 AD	Al-Jazari	Syria
Scythe	agriculture tool	1300 AD		Europe

Inventions from the PRINT ERA Era

Invention	Description	Year	Inventor	Country
Pocket watch		1500 AD	Peter Henlein	Germany
Slide rule		1622 AD	Edmund Gunter, William Oughtred	UK
Mechanical calculator		1623 AD	Wilhelm Schickard, Blaine Pascal	Germany/UK
Vernier scale calipers		1631 AD	Pierre Vernier	France
Mercury barometer	barometric pressure	1643 AD	Evalgelista Torricelli	Italy
Vacuum pump		1650 AD	Otto von Guericke	Germany/Prussia
Pendulum clock	improved accuracy	1656 AD	Christian Huygens	Netherlands
Pressure cooker	faster cooking	1679 AD	Denis Papin	France
Flying shuttle	weaving	1735 AD	John Kay	UK
Spinning Jenny	weaving	1764 AD	James Hargreaves	UK
Screw cutting lathe	metal screw manufacture	1775 AD	Jesse Ramsden	UK
Pile driver	foundation setting	1791 AD	John Stone	USA
Paper making machine	continuous	1799 AD	Henry and Sealy Fourdrinier	France
Band saw	cutting materials	1808 AD	William Newberry	UK
Refrigerator	vapor compression	1834 AD	Oliver Evans	USA (38)
Wrench	nuts, bolts	1835 AD	Solomon Merrick	USA

Inventions from the WIRED ERA Era

Invention	Description	Year	Inventor	Country
Steam jack hammer		1837	James Nasmyth	UK
Steam shovel		1839	William Otis	USA
Telemark skis	for cross country skiing	1840	Telemark	Norway
Grain elevator	commercial elevator	1842	Joseph Dart	USA
Ice making machine		1850	James Harrison	Australia
Hydraulic jack		1851	Richard Dudgeon	USA
Lockstitch sewing machine	commercial	1851	Isaac Singer	USA
Electric burglar alarm		1851	Edwin T. Holmes, Augustus R. Pope	USA
Punch triangle can opener		1858	Ezra J. Warner	USA
Twist drill		1861	Stephen A. Morse	USA
Centrifuge	cream from milk	1864	Antonin Prandtl	Germany
Mousetrap		1880	Hiram Stevens Maxim	USA/UK
Steam winch	logging engine	1881	John Dolbeer	USA
Electric dishwasher		1886	Josephine Cochrane	USA
Hearing aid		1898	Miller Reese Hutchinson	USA
Vacuum cleaner	industrial	1901	Hubert Cecil Booth, David T. Kennedy	UK/USA
Air conditioner	commercial	1902	Willis Carrier	USA (50)
Electric washing machine		1907	Alva J. Fisher	USA
Hoover vacuum	for home use	1907	James Spangler, William Henry Hoover	USA

Inventions from the WIRELESS ERA Era

Invention	Description	Year	Inventor	Country
Ultra centrifuge		1924	Theodor Svedberg	Sweden
Garbage disposal	electric pig	1927	John W. Hammes	USA
Chain saw	industrial	1927	Andreas Stihl	Switzerland/Germany
Fathometer	measures water depth	1928	Herbert Grove Dorsey	USA
Phase contrast microscope		1930	Frits Zernike	Netherlands
Electron microscope		1931	Ernst Ruska	Germany
Practical electrical washing machine	wash, rinse, extract water	1933	John W. Chamberlain	USA
Trampoline	bouncer	1934	George Nissen	USA
Baby monitor	radio monitor	1937	Eugene F. MacDonald	USA
Night vision goggles	military	1939	Wiiam Spicer	Germany/USA
Gas lawnmower	push	1940	Leonard Goodall	USA
Portable chainsaw	homeowner	1949	Robert Paxton McCullough	USA
Insulated picnic cooler		1953	Richard Laramy	USA
Leaf blower		1958	Dom Quinto	USA
Robot	practical called Unimate	1959	George Devol	USA (46)
Cordless tools	rechargeable	1960	Black and Decker	USA
Compound bow (pulley)	more powerful arrow	1965	Holles Wilbur Allen	USA
Automated teller machine	ATM cash machine	1968	John Sheppard-Barron	USA
Waterbed	warm and wavy	1968	Charles Prior Hall	USA
Jacuzzi	hot tub with water jets	1968	Candido Jacuzzi	USA
Myoelectric limb prosthesis	muscle activates electric motor	1968	Rorbert Weiner, Melvin Glimcher, Amar Bose, Robert Mann	USA
Practical smoke detector	optical	1969	Duane Pearsall	USA
Shakey robot, SRI international	artificial intelligence, first	1970	Nils John Nilsson, Charles Rosen, Bertram Raphael, Standford U.	USA
Weed wacker	string trimmer	1971	George Ballas	USA
Mr. Coffee	automatic drip coffee maker	1972	Melitta Bentz, Gottlob Widmann	USA
Dyson bagless vacuum cleaner	easy maintenance	1978	James Dyson	UK
Bipedal robot	humanoid	1985	Hitachi	Japan
Hand held rolling luggage	wheels and lever	1986	Robert Plath	USA

Inventions from the INTERNET ERA Era

Invention	Description	Year	Inventor	Country
Tippy cup	non-spill lid for a child's cup	1992	Mandy Haberman	UK
Elliptical exerciser, Precor	low impact aerobic exerciser	1995	Precor	USA
SONY artificial intelligence robot dog	AIBO AI roBOtic dog	1999	SONY	Japan
Roomba	autonomous robot vacuum	2002	Rodney Brooks, iRobot Co.	USA
Rheo microprocessor controlled prosthetic knee	smart knee	2004	Hugh Herr, Ossur Co.	USA/Iceland
Color night vision goggles	improved contrast and object recognition	2005	Alex Toet	Netherlands
3 dimensional printer	commercial digital 3D constructions	2007	ZPrinter 450	USA
Robot Looj	gutter cleaner	2007	IRobot	USA
Nest learning thermostat	artificial intelligence thermostat, smart home	2010	Fred Bould	USA
Atlas robot	athletic humanoid robot	2013	Boston Dynamics	USA
Quantum computing	IBM Q system	2019	IBM	USA
Blaux air cooler, cordless	portable cool air without wires	2020	China	China
DoDow sleep inducing metronome	timed rhythmic light, sleep aid	2020	Alexandre Dujoncquoy	France

Back to InventTable