Double-acting piston bellows
Fuelle de pistón de doble acción
- Date
- c. 200 BCE · confidence low
- Place
- China (Warring States-Han), Henan / Shaanxi
- Credited to
- Chinese smiths; described in the Laozi and the Mozi
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A cylindrical or rectangular box with a piston that expels air both on the push and the pull stroke, via valves, giving a continuous blast. A key component for reaching blast-furnace temperatures.
Ctesibius independently invented a double-acting piston pump in Alexandria (3rd century BCE); the dating of the Chinese piston bellows is imprecise.
What it led to
- Continuous-output blast furnaces and cast iron at industrial scale
- Water-wheel-powered bellows (Du Shi, 31 CE), the first use of hydraulic power in metallurgy
- The concept of piston and valve that reappears in pumps and steam engines
Built on
- Wood lathec. 1300 BCE
- Blast furnace and cast ironc. 400 BCE
- Skin bellows
- Wood lathe
- Hinged (flap) valve
Made possible
- Blast furnace and cast ironc. 400 BCE
- Water-powered bellows for blast furnaces31 CE
- Double-piston flamethrower919
- Fire engine with hose1518 (Platner) / 1672 (Van der Heyden) / 1721 (Newsham)
- Du Shi's hydraulic bellows
- Chinese blast furnace
- Piston pump