Improvements in Life-saving Apparatus.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Mar., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 7th Dec., 1891-Accepted, 23rd Jan., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Life-saving Apparatus.
I, WILLIAM HENRY MUNNS, of 106, 107, and 108, Victoria Chambers, 55 and
56 Chancery Lane, in the County of London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention (a communication to me from abroad by William
Willshire Riley, of Cromwell, Middlesex County, Connecticut, U.S.A. Inventor,)
to be as follows:-
This invention has reference to certain new and useful improvements in life-
saving apparatus.
The object of the invention is to provide such apparatus with gas which may be
used for heating, cooking, and obtaining fresh water from salt, and, further, to
provide the apparatus with an illuminated signal, which can be seen from a long
distance. The apparatus consists of a boat, raft, or other floating structure, in
which, or upon which, is located one or more vessels adapted to contain compressed
gas. The boat, or the like, is provided with a hollow mast which is suitably
stayed by cords, or the like, and has at its upper end a balloon which is supplied
with gas through tubes, and the hollow mast from the compressed gas reservoirs.
A hollow tubular mast projects upwardly from the forward part of the craft, and
has a suitable lamp at its upper end which is also supplied with gas from the
compressed gas reservoirs. Suitable gas-heating apparatus is likewise carried on
the craft, which may also be used for cooking, or distilling salt water.
Apparatus thus constructed can be carried by all vessels, and the cylinders be
constantly filled with gas ready for use when required.
Dated this 7th day of March 1891
W. H. MUNNS.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Life-saving Apparatus.
I, WILLIAM HENRY MUNNS, of 106, 107, and 108 Victoria Chambers, Chancery
Lane, in the County of London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention (a communication to me from abroad by William Willshire
Riley, of Cromwell, Middlesex County, Connecticut, U.S.A. Inventor,) and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The object of my invention is to provide an apparatus by means of which
the chance of saving the lives of persons cast adrift at sea in boats is greatly
increased.
To this end my invention consists in the combination, with a boat or like
floating object, of a balloon and the several parts of the apparatus making up
the device as a whole; and it also consists in details of the several parts of
the apparatus, as more particularly hereinafter described, and pointed out in the
claims.
Referring to the drawings,
Figure 1 is a plan or top view of a boat illustrating the embodiment of
invention.
Fig. 2 is a detail view of one end of the boat in vertical central section.
Fig. 3 is a view in cross section of the boat taken amidships.
Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view illustrating my invention in practice.
my
In the accompanying drawings, the letter a denotes a boat that is of ordinary
[

page_text: construction and preferably of a shape and size best adapting it for general use as
a life-boat. This boat is provided with the reservoirs 6 ', that are of metal
and so constructed as to enable them to withstand the pressure of gas that is
These gas-
forced into them under great pressure and compressed therein.
reservoirs are preferably two in number and are stored on opposite sides of the
boat, as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and they are connected by the
branches C, C, to the upright pipe d, that forms the base of an extensible mast d',
that may be permanently jointed to the base or united thereto by a joint that
enables the mast to be raised to an upright position in which it is held by means
of stays e of rope or wire. The upper end of the mast is provided with a ball-
and-socket joint e2 having, preferably, a cap e', to which the stays are fastened,
and of sufficient size to form a guard to prevent the cutting and fraying of a
balloon, that is made fast to the upper end of the hollow mast or standard.
The balloon is stored while in a collapsed condition either in the bottom of the
boat or under cover under the deck at either end.
The connecting-pipes are provided with valves or gates e³, by means of
which the flow of gas from either reservoir into the hollow mast is controlled.
An air-pump is connected to the hollow mast and on the suction side of the
air-pump, while the delivery side of the air-pump is connected to one of the
reservoirs b. the object of this pump being to exhaust the gas from the balloon
and compress it again into the cylinder in order to prevent wasting of the gas when
it is again desired to collapse the balloon after it has been filled. This air-pump
or gas-compressor may be of any ordinary construction.
From one of the gas-reservoirs, as b, a pipe h, provided with gate h¹, is led to
a suitable position, as at the bow of the boat, where a folding or extensible
pipe 2, that is provided with a suitable gas jet or burner h at the extremity, is
arranged so that it may be raised in a vertical position, as indicated in dotted
outline in Fig. 2, and held there by means of the stays h*. This may be lighted
and the gas burned to serve as a signal or for other purposes.
In addition to the device for utilizing the compressed gas for a signal-light,
pipes may be connected, as from the reservoir b, to a stove i, the flow of
gas being controlled by a suitable gate or valve and the gas used for cooking
purposes.
It is my object to have sea-going vessels provided with a boat fitted out with
the within-described balloon attachment, as the latter may be filled and serve to
give to the boat the necessary power of flotation to prevent the sinking of the latter
in case it becomes filled with water, thus giving increased courage to the occupants
of the boat and enabling them to better endure the hardships incident to exposure
in an open boat at rea. It also increases their chance of escape by providing a
signal of peculiar appearance that stands high enough above the surface of the
sea to attract attention at a greater distance than would a boat or like low-lying
object alone.
In addition to the advantages of the balloon as a means of keeping the boat
afloat, it may also serve the purpose of a sail in light winds, and can be taken in by
first exhausting the gas from the balloon, so as to collapse it. This may be done
by means of the air-pump above described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :
1. The combination with the boat or like floating structure, the gas-reservoir,
the hollow mast, the pipe connections from the hollow mast to the gas-reservoir,
the valves in the connecting-pipes, the balloon adapted to be secured in the upper
end of the hollow mast, the flexible connecting part between the mast and the
balloon, and the guard on the upper end of the mast arranged to prevent the
abrasion of the neck of the balloon, all substantially as described.
2. In combination with a boat, raft, or like floating structure, the gas-reservoir,

page_text: a hollow mast, the pipe connections from the mast to the gas reservoir, the valve
or gate in the connecting-pipes, the stays for supporting the mast in a vertical
position, the balloon, and the ball-and-socket joint forming a means of connection
between said balloon and the mast, all substantially as described.
3. In combination with a boat, raft, or like floating structure, the gas-reservoir,
the pipe connection with the tubular signal-standard, the gas-burner on the upper
end of the signal-standard, and the folding standard with the supporting-stays, all
substantially as described.
4. In combination with a boat or like floating structure, the gas-reservoir, the
hollow mast, the pipe connections from the mast to the gas-reservoir, the valve in
said connecting-pipe, the balloon secured to the upper end of the hollow mast,
the flexible connecting means between said balloon and the mast, and the air-pump
connected on the suction side of said pump to the gas-pipe at a point beyond the
valve in said pipe and on its delivery side to the gas-reservoir, all substantially as
described.
5. In combination with a boat, raft, or like floating structure, the gas-reservoirs
located at opposite sides of the boat, the pipe connection from said reservoirs to
the tubular mast adapted to support a balloon, stays for supporting said mast,
the balloon connected to the upper end of said mast, the ball-and-socket joint
forming the means of junction between the balloon and the pipe, the pipe connec-
tion to the folding signal-mast, and the stove with the tubular connection
to one of the cylinders provided with gate or valve, all substantially as
described.
11
1
W. H. MUNNS,
Applicant's Agent.