AN IMPROVEMENT IN OR ADDITION TO MILITARY KNAPSACKS, TRAVELLING BAGS, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Michael Henry, of 84, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN OR
ADDITION TO MILITARY KNAPSACKS, TRAVELLING BAGS, AND OTHER SIMILAR
ARTICLES." A communication from abroad by Antoine Perrin, Henry
Augustin Joseph Hovelacque, Edouard Joseph Hovelacque, and Emile
Auguste Hovelacque, all of 33, Boulevard Saint Martin, Paris,
France.
Sealed the 12th April 1864, and dated the 28th October 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Michael Henry at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th
October 1868.
I, MICHAEL HENRY, of 84, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN OR ADDITION TO MILITARY KNAPSACKS, TRAVELLING BAGS, AND OTHER
SIMILAR ARTICLES," communicated to me from abroad by Antoine Perrin, Henry
Augustin Joseph Hovelacque, Edouard Joseph Hovelacque, and Emile
Auguste Hovelacque, all of 33, Boulevard Saint Martin, Paris, France, to be
as follows:-
This Invention relates to knapsacks, travelling bags, and similar articles,

page_text: and consists in combining with or attaching to the receptacle, body, or main
portion of such knapsack, bag, or article, a wrapper, covering, mantle, or piece
or pieces of material, which may be extended on the ground (with the said
receptacle body or main portion), so that a person may lie thereon, and which
wrapper or covering when not so required can be wrapped or folded round
such receptacle, body, or main portion. The wrapper, covering, mantle, or
piece of material, herein-after to avoid repetition called "wrapper" only, is
attached to the bottom part, or to one end or side of the frame or body of the
knapsack, bag, or article, that is to say, the frame or body of the receptacle or
portion thereof intended for holding the kit or other contents to be carried
therein. The wrapper, when not required to be spread on the ground, is rolled,
folded, or wrapped round the receptacle once or oftener on every side, and
strapped to the bottom end or other convenient part thereof. Flaps or lappets
are attached to the wrapper, one on each side, to extend it laterally, the said
flaps or lappets when not in use are folded inward and fastened by straps.
An additional or lengthening piece may, if desired, be attached at one end of
the wrapper (being folded and strapped in when not required). When the
person desires to repose he unfolds the wrapper, and extends it with its flaps
or lappets on the ground, so that he may lie thereon, the receptacle or body of
the knapsack, bag, or article serving as a pillow. The frame of the receptacle
may consist of a top and bottom piece and sides, and military knap-
sacks may have a compartment partitioned off for cartridges. A suitable
material for the wrapper is waterproofed skin with the fur left on, and lined
or not
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Michael Henry in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 26th
April 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MICHAEL
HENRY, of 84, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto

page_text: me, the said Michael Henry, Her special licence that I, the said Michael
Henry, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Michael Henry, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN OR ADDITION TO MILITARY KNAPSACKS, TRAVELLING BAGS, AND
OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES," communicated to me from abroad by Antoine Perrin,
Henry Augustin Joseph Hovelacque, Edouard Joseph Hovelaçque, and Emile
Auguste Hovelacque, all of 33, Boulevard Saint Martin, Paris, France, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Michael Henry, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Michael Henry, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to knapsacks, travelling bags, and other similar articles,
and consists in the employment of a wrapper, covering, mantle, or piece attached
to the said knapsack, bag, or article, that is to say, to its body or main portion,
which wrapper, covering, mantle, or piece, herein-after to avoid repetition
called "wrapper," is so contrived that it may be extended on the ground for a
person to lie upon, and when not so required is wrapt or folded round the
said body of the knapsack, bag, or similar article. The wrapper is attached
to the bottom or to one end or side of such body (or portion forming the
receptacle for holding the kit and other contents), and when folded or wrapt
round it, it is strapped to the bottom or other convenient part thereof.
Flaps or lappets are attached to the wrapper on each side to extend it laterally;
these when not in use are folded in and fastened by straps. An additional
or lengthening piece may be attached to one end of the wrapper, such piece
being folded and strapped in when the wrapper is to be folded. When
the person desires to repose, he unfolds and extends the wrapper with

page_text: its flaps or lappets, so that he may lie thereon, the body of the knapsack, bag,
or article serving as a pillow. A suitable material for the wrapper is water-
proofed skin (with the hair or fur outward), lined or not.
In order that the nature of the Invention, and in what manner it may
be performed, may be fully understood, I proceed to describe the accom-
panying Drawings, which represent articles constructed according to this
Invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation, and Figure 2 plan, of a knapsack with the
wrapper shown as extended; Figure 3 is a perspective view.
In Figure 1 the soldier is shown as reposing on the knapsack and wrapper.
Z is the body or main portion of the knapsack forming the receptacle for
holding the kit and other contents; its frame has, as usual, two side pieces,
with bottom and top, and a partition forming a compartment for cartridges.
W is the wrapper or covering, which instead of being fixed to the body or
frame of the knapsack at all sides, like ordinary knapsack covers, is attached
to it at one of its ends only, that is to say, the wrapper is attached at one end
to the bottom of the frame of the knapsack, and is folded or wrapt round the
back, top, and front, and then brought over to the back again, where it is
strapt by straps a, a. When the wrapper is unstrapt and unfolded, and
extended on the ground, the soldier can lie thereon, and will be thereby
protected from contact with the damp or cold soil. The body Z serves as a
pillow. c is an additional or lengthening piece fastened to the end of the
wrapper by straps 6; it folds in when not required for use between the front D
of the knapsack and the inside of the flap B. d, d, e, e, are side flaps for
extending the wrapper breadthwise; these, when the wrapper is to be folded
up, are folded in, and fastened by straps f.
Figure 4 shows an officer's knapsack, in which the wrapper is larger in
proportion than in Fig. 1, and instead of being fastened at the back of the
body of the knapsack is fastened at the front or surface next the officer's
back.
Figures 5 and 6 show a travelling bag with a wrapper or mantle combined
in the same manner and for the same purpose as above described in reference
to knapsacks.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same may be performed, I declare that I claim as the improvement in or
addition to knapsacks, travelling bags, and other similar articles, the wrapper,

page_text: covering, or mantle, arranged and combined in the manner and for the purpose
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Michael Henry, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year One thou-
sand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
ERNEST DE PASS,
84, Fleet Street,
London.
M. HENRY. (L.S.)