IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING FACILITATING THE SAVING OF LIFE IN CASES OF FIRE
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ralph Wedgwood, of Barnes, in the County of Surrey,
Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING
Sealed the 10th October 1862, and dated the 17th April 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ralph Wedgwood,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th April 1862.
I, RALPH WEDGWOOD, of Barnes, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS
FOR FACILITATING THE SAVING OF LIFE IN CASES OF FIRE," to be as follows:
My Invention of improved apparatus for facilitating the saving of life in
cases of fire consists of a novel contrivance for conveying to the upper windows
or parts of buildings on fire cords, ropes, pullies, ladders, chairs, bags, or other
contrivances whereby persons in danger in the house may be enabled to save
themselves. My improved apparatus consists of a series of light or hollow
rods, made of bamboo, cane, metal tubes, or other light and strong material.
These tubes or rods are provided at one of their ends with sockets in which
the ends of the other tubes are inserted so as to form a rod of considerable
length like a jointed fishing rod. The topmost joint of this rod is provided
with a hook, ring, or small pulley whereby a cord may be conveyed up to the
persons in the upper floors of the house, and by means of this cord other con-

page_text: trivances for saving life may be conveyed up to the persons in danger who will
then be able to help themselves. One of the principal objects of the Invention
is to render the apparatus portable and easily put together, and when not in
use it may be taken to pieces and the separate rods or lengths may be packed
up together in a bundle and carried on the fire-engine or even by a man on his
shoulder.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Ralph Wedgwood, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th October 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RALPH
WEDGWOOD, of Barnes, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Ralph Wedgwood, Her special license, that I, the said Ralph
Wedgwood, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I
the said Ralph Wedgwood, 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 "IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING THE SAVING OF LIFE IN CASES OF FIRE,"
upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Ralph Wedgwood, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Ralph Wedgwood, 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 Drawing hereunto annexed, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of "Improved Apparatus for Facilitating the Saving of Life in
Cases of Fire," consists of a novel contrivance for conveying to the upper

page_text: windows or parts of buildings on fire cords, ropes, pulleys, ladders, chairs,
bags, or other contrivances whereby persons in danger in the house may be
enabled to save themselves. My improved apparatus consists of a series of
light or hollow rods made of bamboo, cane, metal tubes, or other light and
strong material. These tubes or rods are provided at one of their ends with
sockets in which the ends of the other tubes are inserted so as to form a rod
of considerable length, like a jointed fishing rod, the topmost joint of this rod
is provided with a hook or ring on to which may be hung a small pulley
with a cord which may thereby be conveyed up to the persons in the upper
floors of the house, and by means of this cord a basket, car, box, or other
analogous contrivance may be conveyed up to the persons in danger, who will
then be able either to descend, or by means of apparatus conveyed up to them
to assist in putting out the fire. One of the principal objects of the Invention
is to render the apparatus portable and easily put together, and when not in
use it may be taken to pieces and the separate rods or lengths may be packed
up together in a bundle and carried on the fire-engine, or even by a man on
his shoulder.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn various views of the form of
hook and pulley which I propose to use for the purposes of my Invention.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation; Fig. 2 a plan view of the same; and Fig. 3 an
end view.
a, a, a, is the window sill; b, b, a hooked bar from which is suspended a
pulley or sheave c by the chain d. The inner end of the hooked bar is armed
with two spikes (as seen at Figures 1 and 3) for the purpose of sticking into
the wall under the window sill to prevent the bar from slipping; a roller e is
adapted to this end of the bar, and the other end of the bar is also pointed so
that it may be inserted into a socket in the topmost joint of the jointed rod,
and therefore when the bar b is being raised on the end of the jointed rod, the
roller e will run up against the front wall of the house without sticking or
catching in the joints of the brickwork. The apparatus shewn in the Drawing
may without difficulty be raised by means of the jointed rod above mentioned
to the first and second floor of ordinary houses, but when required to be
raised above that height it is preferable as a preliminary operation to raise up
a simple pulley and cord at the end of the jointed rod, and when the pulley
has been properly secured any other apparatus may be raised up to the inmates
by means of the cord. Fig. 4 is a plan view of a broader and larger hooked
bar than that shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3, and is intended to carry a rope
ladder, the upper ends of which are secured as at f, f, to the broad hooked
bar b.

page_text: Having now described my Invention of "Improved Apparatus for Facili-
tating the Saving of Life in Cases of Fire," and having explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by
Letters Patent as aforesaid, the use for the purpose of facilitating the saving of
life in cases of fire of apparatus composed of jointed rod or rods provided at the
upper end with a hook, pulley, or other equivalent contrivance by the aid of
which a car, basket, box, or other receptacle or apparatus may be conveyed up
to the inmates of a house on fire as herein set forth.
In witness whereof I, the said Ralph Wedgwood, have hereunto set my
hand and seal the Seventeenth day of October in the year of our. Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
R. WEDGWOOD. (L.S.)