AN IMPROVED BATH OR BATHING MACHINE ADAPTED FOR DEEP WATER
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Desens, of Paris, No. 18, Rue de l'Echiquier,
in the French Empire, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
BATH OR BATHING MACHINE ADAPTED FOR DEEP WATER."
Sealed the 8th March 1864, and dated the 11th September 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Desens at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 11th
September 1863.
I, LOUIS DESENS, of Paris, No. 18, Rue de l'Echiquier, in the French
Empire, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED BATH OR BATHING MACHINE ADAPTED FOR DEEP WATER," to be as
follows:-
My improved bath is of the same shape and size as an ordinary full-sized
metal bath, it consists of a frame of hollow or solid iron, terminating in a rim
all round the frame, is open on all sides, and freely admits the water; the
bottom of the bath is made of canvas, cloth, or network strongly secured to
the frame. Round the upper edge of the bath is a receptacle for containing
air, or the bath can be floated by pieces of cork or india-rubber air balloons.
In front or at the back of the bath is a revolving axle on which a screw is
mounted; the axle is furnished on the inside of the bath with a handle, by
means of which the bather can set the screw in motion, and so direct himself
where he pleases. Instead of the crank handle the screw may be put in
[Price 8d.]

page_text: motion by gear work acted on by a spring encased in a small barrel. This
bath is admirably adapted for persons unable to swim, and it might also be
used in case of shipwreck as a life boat.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patents, filed
by the said Louis Desens in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th March 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
DESENS, of Paris, No. 18, Rue de l'Echiquier, in the French Empire, Gen-
tleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of September, 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 me, the said Louis Desens, Her special licence that I, the said Louis
Desens, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Louis Desens, 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 BATH OR BATHING MACHINE ADAPTED FOR DEEP WATER," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Louis Desens, 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 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 Louis Desens, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
My Invention relates to an improved bath or bathing boat for use in deep
water its construction admirably adapts it for persons unable to swim, and by
increasing its size it becomes available as a life boat.
My improved bath or bathing boat consists of an upper and lower frame of

page_text: hollow or solid iron, wood, or other suitable substance, bound together by
uprights, either straight or curved; the bottom may be of metal or even strong
canvass securely attached to the lower frame, and the sides are covered with a
stout netting or trelliswork of metal or wood for the purpose of allowing the
water to pass freely through; this netting or trellis is firmly attached to the upper
and lower frames; the bath or bathing boat can be floated either by india-
rubber or metal air receptacles of suitable shape and size secured round the
upper frame by a netting, or attached in any other suitable manner; or the
upper frame may be made hollow, and of sufficient size to contain india-rubber
air balloons, or, again, any light substance, such as cork, might be used.
Attached to the upper framework is a kind of semicircular rest for the head
of the bather, and at the opposite end a screw is fixed mounted on a revolving
axle, and capable of being worked by the bather by means of a grooved wheel
fixed inside the bath, and furnished with a handle to put it in motion; und
this wheel runs a cord or chain (guided by rollers so as not to interfere with
the bather), which passes over a grooved wheel fixed on an upright revolving
shaft furnished with a cog wheel, which gearing with one on the shaft of the
screw puts the latter in motion, the said screw being so arranged as to move
either to the right or left by means of peddles placed near the feet of the
bather, thus enabling him to guide himself as he pleases.
The above description will be readily understood by aid of the accompanying
Drawings, of which Fig. I represents a longitudinal section following the line
1, 2, of the plan, Fig. 2. a is the upper frame; b, the semicircular rest;
c, the india-rubber air balls contained in the netting d attached to the upper
frame a; e, the lower frame secured to the upper one by the supports f;
t, netting surrounding the sides, and attached to the upper and lower frames;
g, canvass bottom fixed to the frame e; h, wheel furnished with a crank handle
for putting it in motion, round which the chain or cord i passes guided by the
rollers over the wheel on the upright shaft 1. The shaft sets in motion the
screw o by means of the cog wheels m and n; the paddles p, p, command the
screw by means of the movable collars q, q, and the mufile r; the screw is
prevented striking against the bath by the stop s resting against the frame c.
Figs. 3 and 4 represent an elevation and plan of the bath not fitted with the
netting or floats; the screw is at the back and is worked the same as in Fig. 1,
but the peddles p, p, are placed at the opposite end and connected with the
screw by two cords or chains B, B', passing from the arms A, A', fixed on the
socket of the peddles over the rollers C. C, to the arms D, D', to which
they are attached. Fig. 5 is a bath fitted for sailing: it will be observed no
alteration of form is necessary, the rudder E being substituted for the screw,

page_text: The
and the keel F and the mast G being bolted on by the bolt I, as shown in
the Drawings, Figs. 6, 7, & 8; the mast is furnished with a sail H.
Drawings represent the rudder being worked by the peddles p, p, these, how-
ever, may be replaced by a tiller in the usual way. Figs. 9 and 10 represent
portions of a section and a plan in which the propelling power is two paddle
wheels K, K. Figs. 11 & 12 represent a chain wheel and chain, which may
be substituted for the ordinary grooved wheels and k, Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4.
Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10 are one-tenth of the natural size. Figs. 6, 7, 8, 11,
12 are one-fifth of the natural size.
Having thus described my Invention, I wish it to be perfectly understood
that I do not confine spyself to the precise form and dimensions herein-before
described and represented in the accompanying Drawings, nor do I limit
myself to the exact materials above mentioned in the construction, as the
netting might be advantageously replaced by open wirework or wooden
latticework, and the canvass bottom by one of metal, perforated or not, as
these, together with the propelling means employed, may be varied without
departing from the principle of my Invention, what I claim and desire to
secure by Letters Patent, is, the peculiar arrangement of bath or bathing
machine, by which free egress and ingress is given to the water, and the bather
unable to swim is enabled to bathe in deep water in perfect security.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Desens, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.