On this day in 1851 Richard Dudgeon was granted the patent for Portable Hydraulic Press. U.S. Patent No. 8,203.
This press is to the eye a simple cylinder of from three to five or more inches in diameter, according to the power desired, with an enlarged head, having an opening for the reception of the lever by which the piston of the pump is worked. This cylinder, with its enlargement, contains just so much of water or other fluid as is required to fill the vacancy caused by the raising of the interior shaft in the act of lifting, and when this is accomplished, the water is returned into its original recess by a valve operated by the lever that works the pump. The press is portable.
