Patent Model, Life Boat
date: label: Date made
content: 1879
label: patent date
content: 1879-01-28
name: label: patentee
content: Tremberger, George
label: patentee
content: Stein, Michael Joseph
label: inventor
content: Tremberger, George
label: inventor
content: Stein, Michael Joseph
notes: label: Description
content: Many 19th-century inventors turned their attention to life boats, a large number of them focusing their efforts on simplicity of construction, ease of launching, and imperviousness to sinking. By contrast, two Bavarian immigrants living in New York City—George Tremberger, carpenter, and Michael Stein, patterns machinist—focused on the “comfort, convenience, and safety of the passengers.” Their main innovation was to design the boat as a cylinder in which the cabin rolled independently from the overall motion of the boat. A geared wheel inside allowed the crew to adjust the cabin’s tilt by hand or to lock it in place. The inventors also fitted a telescoping mast, hand-lever-operated propeller, and external rubber bumpers for increased buoyancy.
label: Description
content: This is a cutaway model of Tremberger and Stein’s idea. It shows seats and benches running lengthwise in the interior of the cabin. A wheel inside turns a gear that keeps the inner cabin from rolling as the outer hull rolls in the sea. Four hatches on deck slide open for access. The telescoping mast with sail can be operated from inside, while two interior levers activate the propeller. There is also a steering wheel forward connected by a line to the rudder.
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: New York, New York
label: associated place
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: related event
content: The Development of the Industrial United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
label: See more items in
content: On the Water exhibit
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1978.2282.06
label: catalog number
content: 1978.2282.06
label: accession number
content: 1978.2282
label: patent number
content: 211,807
objectType: label: Object Name
content: lifeboat, model
label: Object Name
content: patent model, lifeboat
label: Object Type
content: Patent Model
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 32 in x 25 in x 8 in; 81.28 cm x 63.5 cm x 20.32 cm