Home›Articles›Watt Could Not Use a Crank, So He Used a GearArticleWatt Could Not Use a Crank, So He Used a GearArticlesConnectionsSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)ConnectionsArticle OnJames Watt, Engineers Well-attested SourcesWatt Steam Engine (Wikipedia)tier 2Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationWatt steam engine (Wikipedia), sections Conception and Later improvementsQuote, Watt steam engine (Wikipedia), sections Conception and Later improvementsbecause another party had patent rights on the use of the crank, Watt was obliged to come up with another solution. He adopted the epicyclic sun and planet gear system suggested by an employee William Murdoch, only later reverting, once the patent rights had expired, to the more familiar crank seen on most engines today.View the SourceAtlas Article Vocabularytier 1AtlasComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.