Elijah McCoy May 2, —October 10, was a Black American inventor who received more than 50 patents for his inventions during his lifetime. His most famous invention was a cup that feeds lubricating oil to machine bearings through a small tube. Machinists and engineers who wanted genuine McCoy lubricators might have used the expression "the real McCoy"—a term meaning "the real deal" or "the genuine article.
George McCoy enlisted in the British forces, and in return, he was awarded acres of land for his service. When Elijah was 3, his family moved back to the U. They later moved to Ypsilanti, Michigan, where George opened a tobacco business.
Elijah had 11 brothers and sisters. Even as a young child, he enjoyed playing with tools and machines and experimenting with different ways to fix and improve them. After becoming certified, he returned to Michigan to pursue a position in his field. However, McCoy—like other Black Americans at the time—faced racial discrimination that prevented him from earning a position appropriate to his level of education. The only job he could find was that of a locomotive fireman and oiler for the Michigan Central Railroad.
Because of his training, McCoy was able to identify and solve the problems of engine lubrication and overheating. At that time, trains needed to periodically stop and be lubricated to prevent overheating. McCoy developed a lubricator for steam engines that did not require the train to stop. His automatic lubricator used steam pressure to pump oil wherever it was needed. McCoy received a patent for this invention in , the first of many he would be granted for his improvements to steam engine lubricators.
These advancements improved transit by allowing trains to travel farther without pausing for maintenance and re-oiling. McCoy's device not only improved train systems ; versions of the lubricator eventually appeared in oil-drilling and mining equipment as well as in construction and factory tools. According to the patent, the device "provid[ed] for the continuous flow of oil on the gears and other moving parts of a machine in order to keep it lubricated properly and continuous and thereby do away with the necessity of shutting down the machine periodically.
The couple had no children. McCoy continued to improve on his automatic lubricator design and make designs for new devices. Later, McCoy became a consultant to the railroad industry on patent matters. McCoy also obtained patents for some of his other inventions, including an ironing board and a lawn sprinkler, which he had designed to reduce the work involved in his household tasks.
McCoy is best known for his invention of the self-regulating, drip-cup lubricator for steam engine trains, which he patented in the United States in and in Canada in Not only would a self-lubricating device improve efficiency, but it could also be applied in a variety of mechanical contexts to improve safety, as many workers often found themselves risking injury while attempting to oil machines that were still in operation.
Within ten years, the lubricator apparatus—which McCoy continuously worked to improve—was in high demand along railroad and shipping lines, in factories and mines. McCoy established his own manufacturing company by to not only perfect his original innovations, but also to create what would become over 50 other patents in both Canada and the United States. He moved to Detroit from Ypsilanti, Michigan, in with Mary McCoy, his wife, the railway hall of fame writes, where he consulted for firms and continued to come up with ideas.
Unfortunately, he was greatly injured in a accident that also killed his wife, and, writes the railway hall of fame, he died in after suffering financial, physical and mental problems. But his most widely known legacy—the "real McCoy" phrase—is less certain.
However, parallel mythologies surround a number of other figures of the late 19th and early 20th century. MacKay and Co. Maybe the most generous interpretation is to say they were all the real thing.
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