Object Details
patentee
Wellens, Alexander M.
Description
Alexander M. Wellens received patent number 2,803,841, on August 27, 1957 for his design of a telescoping gangway. During World War I, the U.S. Navy began a Beneficial Suggestion Program that encouraged its civilian employees to propose workplace improvements in exchange for cash awards. Wellens was an employee of a U.S. Naval Station in Seattle, Washington, and entered his gangway into the suggestion program in 1948. This is the model the station's sheet-metal shop built to demonstrate his idea.
Wellens's innovation was to anchor the gangway's ends to both deck and pier, with the result that the plank would extend and contract automatically as the ship rose and fell on the tide. This helped obviate the harsh angles at high and low tide that created hazardous working conditions.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Alexander M. Wellens
Date made
1957
patent date
1957-08-27
ID Number
1991.0555.01
catalog number
1991.0555.01
accession number
1991.0555
patent number
2803841
Object Name
Patent Model, Telescoping Brow
Object Type
Patent Model
Physical Description
metal (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 8 1/2 in x 9 in x 30 in; 21.59 cm x 22.86 cm x 76.2 cm
Associated Place
United States: Washington, Seattle
See more items in
Work and Industry: Maritime
America on the Move
Transportation
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Patent Models
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_1082190