IMPROVEMENTS IN BUOYS, FLOATING BEACONS, AND OTHER SIMILAR FLOATING BODIES.
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Bindon Blood Stoney, of the City of Dublin, Ireland,
Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BUOYS, FLOATING
BEACONS, AND OTHER SIMILAR FLOATING BODIES.".
Sealed the 2nd August 1858, and dated the 8th March 1858.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th March 1858.
I, BINDON BLOOD STONEY, of the City of Dublin, Ireland, Civil Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BUOYS, FLOATING BEACONS, AND OTHER SIMILAR FLOATING BODIES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of buoys,
floating beacons, and other floating bodies of a like nature, by the application
of circular or other keels thereto, so that their rolling or oscillating motion
under the influence of waves, or sloping position under that of currents, is
wholly or partially obviated.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Bindon Blood Stoney in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd August 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BINDON
BLOOD STONEY, of the City of Dublin, Ireland, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of March in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Bindon Blood Stoney, Her special license that I, the said Bindon
Blood Stoney, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Bindon Blood Stoney, my executors, administrators, or 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 BUOYS, FLOATING BEACONS, AND OTHER SIMILAR FLOATING
BODIES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Bindon Blood
Stoney, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature 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 Bindon Blood Stoney, do 'hereby
declare the nature of my 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 Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
buoys, floating-beacons,-and-other-floating-bodies of a like nature by the
application of circular or other keels thereto, whereby their oscillating motion
under the influence of waves is wholly or partially obviated. In carrying out
this Invention it is proposed to apply one or more keels to buoys or floating
beacons of any kind arranged in such a manner that the relative motion of a
large body of water will be confined or restrained.
I
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,

page_text: the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of the annexed Sheet of Drawings represents a vertical section of
a floating buoy or beacon, constructed according to one modification of my
Invention, namely, with a circular projecting keel at its base, and Figures
2 and 3 illustrate respectively in vertical section and plan a second modifica-
tion, wherein the keels are disposed crossways in radial directions. In these
several Figures A represents the main body of the buoy or floating beacon,
which may be of any of the ordinary or other shapes or constructions, and
composed of wood, iron, or other suitable material; B is the ordinary water-
tight bottom, fitted with a mooring chain C in any convenient manner. The
sides a, a, of the buoy or beacon are prolonged below the bottom B, as shewn
at D, D, and this prolongation consequently forms a species of keel of a cir-
cular, square, or any other configuration according to the shape of the buoy,
which keel serves to steady or maintain the buoy in a vertical position when
under the influence of winds, waves, or currents by confining or restraining
the motion of a considerable body of water. d, d, are a number of air-holes
or vents to allow the air to escape freely from beneath the bottom B when
floating the buoy.
In place of continuing or prolonging the sides of the buoy or beacon below
the bottom thereof to form a keel, as in Figure 1, the same result may be
obtained by fixing a number of plates or projecting ribs or feathers D, D, to
the bottom of the buoy and arranging them in a radial direction, as shewn in
the Drawings, or otherwise, as found most convenient. These keels may be
connected to the bottom B by rivets and ribs of angle iron, as shewn in the
Drawings or by any other convenient means, and they may be strengthened
or supported by a conical, annular, or other shaped stiffener E. According to
another arrangement, not shewn on my Drawings, I propose to apply pro-
jecting ribs or feathers to the sides of floating buoys or beacons, or to extend
the bottom of such floating beacons beyond the sides.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to, as variations may be made therefrom without deviating
from the principles or main features of my said Invention; but what I
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general constructions and arrangements of buoys, floating

page_text: beacons, and other floating bodies of a like nature, as herein-before
described.
Second, the application and use to and in buoys, floating beacons, or other
floating bodies of a like nature, of keels or steadying ribs, or feathers, for the
purpose herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Bindon Blood Stoney, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of August, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-eight.
BINDON BLOOD STONEY. (L.S.)