Elijah McCoy

So, you want the "real McCoy?" That means you want the "real thing," what you know to be of the highest quality, not an inferior imitation. The saying may refer to a famous African-American inventor named Elijah McCoy. He earned more than 50 patents, but the most famous one was for a metal or glass cup that fed oil to bearings through a smallbore tube. Machinists and engineers who wanted genuine McCoy lubricators may have originated the term, "the real McCoy."

Elijah McCoy was born in Colchester, Ontario, Canada, in 1843, the son of slaves who had fled Kentucky. Educated in Scotland, he returned to Detroit, Michigan to pursue a position in his field of mechanical engineering. The only job available to him was that of a locomotive fireman/oilman for the Michigan Central Railroad. Because of his training, he was able to identify and solve the problems of engine lubrication and overheating. Railroad and shipping lines began using Elijah McCoy’s new lubricators, and Michigan Central promoted him to an instructor in the use of his new inventions.

Later, Elijah McCoy moved to Detroit where he became a consultant to the railroad industry on patent matters. Unfortunately, success slipped away from McCoy, and he died in an infirmary after suffering financial, mental, and physical breakdown.

Elijah McCoy

1 #129,843

2 #130,305

3 #139,407

4 #146,697

5 #150,876

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7 #179,585

8 #255,443

9 #261,166

10 #320,354

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12 #357,491

13 #361,435

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15 #383,745

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17 #418,139
(co-inventor Clarence B.Hodges)

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21 #610,634

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24 #627,623

7/23/1872

8/6/1872

5/27/1873

1/20/1874

5/12/1874

2/1/1876

7/4/1876

3/28/1882

7/18/1882

6/16/1885

2/8/1887

4/19/1887

5/24/1887

5/29/1888

12/24/1889

9/29/1891

12/29/1891

4/5/1892

9/13/1898

10/4/1898

11/15/1898

6/27/1899

1 automatic oil cup

2 Improvement in lubricators for steam engines

3 Improvement in lubricator

4 Improvement in steam lubricators

5 Improvement in ironing tables

6 Improvement in steam cylinder lubricator

7 Improvement in steam cylinder lubricators

8 Lubricator

9 Lubricator

10 Lubricator

11 Steam dome for locomotives

12 Lubricator

13 Lubricator attachment

14 Lubricator for slide valves

15 Lubricator

16 Lubricator

17 Lubricator

18 Dope cup

19 Lubricator

20 Lubricator

21 Lubricator

22 Lubricator

23 Oil cup

24 Lubricator