Origin of the Shamrock
Origin of the Shamrock
(OP)
I'll preface my post by stating I am not a mechanical engineer nor will I attempt to design pressure vessels(I'm a fire protection engineer by degree).
A question arose today from a fire captain assigned to me. He inspected a large LPG plant and noted that the pressure vessel meet the ASME BPV by noting that the vessel nameplate was marked with a "U" inside of shamrock.
He then asked this question: "Why was a shamrock used?"
I've looked on the web and I can't find anything. This is obviously not a serious design or BPV code question but I figured that this group may provide the answer.
A question arose today from a fire captain assigned to me. He inspected a large LPG plant and noted that the pressure vessel meet the ASME BPV by noting that the vessel nameplate was marked with a "U" inside of shamrock.
He then asked this question: "Why was a shamrock used?"
I've looked on the web and I can't find anything. This is obviously not a serious design or BPV code question but I figured that this group may provide the answer.





RE: Origin of the Shamrock
RE: Origin of the Shamrock
Brian
RE: Origin of the Shamrock
Steve Braune
Tank Industry Consultants
www.tankindustry.com
RE: Origin of the Shamrock
Here is a link to a page that contains the old logo:
http://www.techstreet.com/
RE: Origin of the Shamrock
It is the Shamrock or 4 leaf clover with N in the top vertical leaf and B in the both horizontal leafs and I in the loser vertical leaf. The margins of the leaves are connected with a centering X.
I was told many years ago that these marks were derived from the makers mark once used by all craftsman. For many years all our welders used symbols instead of alphanumerics to identify their welds. Even in the machine shop when a machinist was made a journeyman he was given a marker (symbol) to stamp his work.
My father's mark was two circles connect by a tangent line. This was his father’s mark and he was presented this by the president of TCI (USS) in 1933. This mark was the property of Woodward Iron Company and was given to TCI when as it was presented to my father. My father said many times that it was a nice gesture but the best part was getting an hour for lunch instead of the normal 20 minutes.
RE: Origin of the Shamrock
This still does not answer your question. Well, after a lively discussion, the only answer I could take back is that since ASME was founded in New York, and with the heavy Irish population in New York at that time, the initials of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers fit rather nicely in a 4 leaf clover arrangement.
If this doesn't directly answer your question, I at least got something out of the deal because one of the senior level ASME code associates bought me a drink as a result of this rather interesting question.
RE: Origin of the Shamrock