IMPROVEMENTS IN TENTS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Hales Dearle, of No. 27, Beacon Hill,
Camden Road, and Thomas Brown, of No. 165, Piccadilly, both in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TENTS."
Sealed the 9th February 1869, and dated the 15th August 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Hales Dearle and
Thomas Brown at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 15th August 1868.
We, JOHN HALES DEARLE, of No. 27, Beacon Hill, Camden Road, and
THOMAS BROWN, of No. 165, Piccadilly, both in the County of Middlesex,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TENTS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in tents. At the four
corners of the ground which the tent is to cover staves or poles are
erected, and the two staves or poles at each end lean in together and
meet at the top. The canvas cover of the tent is placed over these staves

page_text: or poles; the two extremities of the ridge of the roof are thus sustained,
and the cover is kept distended along the ridge of the roof by two ropes,
each of which is attached to the upper ends of one pair of the staves or
poles, and extends to a peg driven into the ground beyond the end of the
tent. The cover is held out at the bottom by the four staves or poles
stepping into eyes formed in it at the corners. The side walls of the tent,
that is to say, the portions of the cover extending from the ground to a
height of 5 or 6 feet where the slope of the roof commences, are held
upright by stretchers passing horizontally across the ends of the tent, and
at each end entering an eye at the upper corner of the side wall. These
stretchers may be simply straight staves of a length equal to the width
of the tent, but they may advantageously be provided with screws or
other straining apparatus for distending the canvas.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Hales Dearle and Thomas Brown in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th February 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
HALES DEARLE, of No. 27, Beacon Hill, Camden Road, and THOMAS
BROWN, of No. 165, Piccadilly, both in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto us, the said John Hales Dearle and Thomas Brown, Her
special licence that we, the said John Hales Dearle and Thomas Brown,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
John Hales Dearle and Thomas Brown, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN TENTS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said John Hales Dearle and

page_text: Thomas Brown, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of
one of us or them, should particularly describe and ascertain the naturo
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
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 Thomas Brown, on behalf of myself
and the said John Hales Dearle, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in tents. At the four
corners of the ground which the tent is to cover staves or poles are
erected, and the two staves or poles at each end lean in together and
meet at the top. The canvas cover of the tent is placed over these staves
or poles; the two extremities of the ridge of the roof are thus sustained,
and the cover is kept distended along the ridge of the roof by two ropes,
each of which is attached to the upper ends of one pair of the staves or
poles and extends to a peg driven into the ground beyond the end of the
tent. The cover is held out at the bottom by the four staves or poles
stepping into eyes formed in it at the corners. The side walls of the
tent, that is to say the portions of the cover extending from the ground
to a height of 5 or 6 feet where the slope of the roof commences, are
held upright by stretchers passing horizontally across the ends of the
tent, and at each end entering an eye at the upper corner of the side
wall. These stretchers may be simply straight staves of a length equal
to the width of the tent, but they may advantageously be provided with
screws or other straining apparatus for distending the canvas.
And in order that our said Invention may be more fully understood and
readily carried into effect we will proceed to describe the Drawings
hereunto annexed.

page_text: staves or poles is shewn separately at Figure 3; it is made at the upper
end with a blunt point to pass through an eye in the tent cover at 6' at
the extremity of the ridge of the roof. At each end of the ridge there
are two such eyes, one for each of the staves or poles. The tent cover
is suitably strengthened at the point at which they are inserted. The
lower ends of the staves are also made with blunt points which pass
through eyes at 6' at the four angles of the bottom of the tent cover, and
enter an inch or so into the ground sufficiently to prevent slipping. A
cord is passed along the ridge of the roof and is attached to the cover
on the inner side; its ends are brought through at the extremities of the
ridge and serve as the tent ropes c. In erecting the tent the points at
the upper ends of one pair of poles or staves are passed through the
eyes at one end of the cover, and on the outer side the cord c is
twisted around them in a figure of eight. The lower ends of these
staves or poles are then passed through the eyes 68, and the staves
or poles are set up with their lower ends at such a distance apart
as to strain tight the lower edge of the tent cover at this end of
the tent. The cord c is next made fast to a tent peg at c¹, and is
suitably adjusted to length. In a similar manner the other pair of
staves or poles are erected, their lower ends being placed square with
the staves or poles first set up, and at such a distance from them as
to strain tightly the lower edge of the cover along the front and back.
Lastly, the stretchers d, d, are applied at the ends of the tent; their
extremities are formed as is shown at Figure 4, one end having a point
with a shoulder at its root, and the other being shod with a suitable metal
ferrule, and having a hole in it to receive a pin d'. The point of the
stretcher is entered into a loop 6s at one of the upper corners of the side
walls of the tent, and the pin dis passed through the loop 63 at the
opposite corner, and is then thrust into its hole in the end of the
stretcher. If it be desired that the canvas should be strained perfectly
flat at the ends of the tent, straining apparatus of any simple construction
may be applied upon the stretchers d. When the cords c are drawn tight
both the ridge and the eaves of the roof are simultaneously distended in
consequence of the stretchers being on the outside of the tent ends whilst
the poles or staves are within. The portion 6' of the tent cover is a flap
which may be raised to give admission to the tent, and when desired it
may be held out so as to leave the front of the tent open whilst still
forming a screen to exclude the glare of the sun.

page_text: What we claim as our improvements in tents is the arrangements for
supporting and distending the tent cover, substantially as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Brown, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
THOS. BROWN. (L.S.)