AN IMPROVED BUOYANT MATTRESS, DESIGNED TO SERVE EITHER AS A BED OR A LIVE PRESERVER
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Southampton Buildings, London, Patent Agents, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED BUOYANT MATTRESS, DESIGNED TO SERVE
EITHER AS A BED OR A LIVE PRESERVER."-A communication from
abroad by Joshua Hunt, of Providence, Rhode Island, United
States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 5th November 1870.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Southampton Buildings, London, Patent Agents, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED BUOYANT MATTRESS,
DESIGNED TO SERVE EITHER AS A BED OR A LIFE PRESERVER," a communication,
to be as follows:-
The said Invention consists in making two elongated sacks or pockets
which are filled with cork (either granulated, cut into shavings, or in

page_text: large flat pieces) and have their edges, connected with an apron, so that
when the two sacks are folded together upon the apron they will just be
covered smoothly thereby and make a mattress, and when opened they
will buoy up a considerable weight placed upon the apron between the
cork filled sacks. At one end I may attach a smaller sack, which serves
the purpose of a bolster, or when detached may be used as a life
preserver. Straps or bands are attached to the surface of the sacks,
which serve to seize hold of in the water.
As a mattress the sacks are made of any width so that they will fit
into the racks of steamboats or vessels of any kind, and are filled with
cork, which is the best known filling on account of its great buoyancy,
and at the same time is a good filling for a mattress, especially when
granulated or cut into shavings.
When the Invention is to be used as a life preserver it is unfolded,
and when in the water a person or any weight upon the apron within its
power of resistance is kept afloat. A single sack filled with cork would
turn over whenever it was grasped, and would not furnish that protection
which the two connected with the apron would do, as a person upon the
apron would be free from the necessity of grasping a detached sack or
any other form of life preserver. By the use of this mattress the
necessity of carrying other devices for life prescrvers is avoided, as the
mattress is itself the best preserver that can be desired.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 2nd May 1871.
.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Southampton
Buildings, London, Patent Agents, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of November, in the year of a
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and,
grant unto me, the said William Robert Lakė, Her special licence that
I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators, and

page_text: assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, my”
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 "AN IMPROVED
BUOYANT MATTRESS, DESIGNED TO SERVE EITHER AS A BED OR A LIFE PRESERVER,"
a communication to me from abroad by Joshua Hunt, of Providence,
Rhode Island, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 William Robert Lake, 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, reference being had to the accompanying.
Drawing forming a part of this Specification, in which Figure 1 is à
perspective view of my Invention arranged to be used as a mattress; and
Figure 2 is a similar view of the same arranged to be used as a life.
preserver. Like letters indicate the same parts in both Figures.
In practising the said Invention I make two elongated sacks or
pockets A, which are filled with cork, either granulated, cut into
shavings, or in large flat pieces, the edges thereof being connected
with an apron B so that when the two sacks are folded together upon
the apron they will just be covered smoothly thereby and make a
mattress, and when opened they will buoy up a considerable weight
placed upon the apron between the cork filled sacks. At one end I may
attach a smaller sack C, which serves the purpose of a bolster, or when
detached may be used as a life preserver. D, D, D, D, are straps or
bands attached to the surface of the sacks, and serving to seize hold of
in the water.
As a mattress the sacks are made of any width so that they will fit
into the racks of steamboats or vessels of any kind, and are filled with
cork, which is the best known filling on account of its great buoyancy

page_text: and at the same time is a good filling for a mattress, especially, when,
granulated or cut into shavings.
When the mattress is to be used as a life preserver it is unfolded, and
when in the water a person or any weight upon the apron B'within its
power of resistance is kept afloat. A single sack filled with cork would
turn over whenever it was grasped, and would not furnish that protection
which the two connected with the apron would do, as a person upon the
apron would be free from the necessity of grasping a detached sack or
any other form of life preserver. By the use of this mattress the
necessity of carrying other devices for life preservers is avoided, as the
mattress is itself the best preserver that can be desired.
Having thus described the said Invention as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I claim, the cork filled sacks or pockets A
united by the apron B, substantially as set forth and for the purposes
specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
E. C. JACKSON.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)