Roebling Safety Steam Gauge, Patent Model
date: label: date made
content: 1842
label: patent date
content: 1842-07-16
name: label: inventor
content: Roebling, John A.
notes: label: Description
content: This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to John A. Roebling, of Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, July 16, 1842, no. 2728.
label: Description
content: The model represents a section of a steam-boiler flue and head to which is attached the safety gauge. The gauge consists of a box fastened to the top of the flue and containing a fusible metal upon which rests a weight connected through a lever to a valve in the boiler head. Should the level of water within the boiler fall below the top of the flue, the fusible metal would melt and allow the weight to fall and open the valve, attracting the attention of the engineer. A rod is provided by which the lever and weight are raised by the engineer before admitting more water, so that the fused metal will solidify below the weight and the gauge will be in a position to function again.
label: Description
content: Reference:
label: Description
content: This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New Jersey
label: associated place
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Saxonburg
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
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content: Bulletin 173
label: See more items in
content: Engineering, Building, and Architecture
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content: Work
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content: Industry & Manufacturing
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Frank A. Taylor. Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States National Museum, Bulletin 173
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: ER.308651
label: accession number
content: 89797
label: catalog number
content: 308651
label: patent number
content: 2,728
objectType: label: Object Name
content: gauge, safety steam, model
label: Object Name
content: patent model, gauge, steam boiler
label: Object Type
content: Patent Model
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (label material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 1/2 in x 7 in x 9 1/2 in; 21.59 cm x 17.78 cm x 24.13 cm