Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Aug., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 16th May, 1895-Accepted, 16th Aug., 1895
I, WILLIAM FREDERICK FOORD, of 47 Hassett Road Homerton in the County
of Middlesex Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention consists of four steel plate hollow rafts of dimensions according to
requirements, these hollow rafts are filled with a number of hollow boxes or are
filled with cork it will be readily understood that should the raft sustain a leak the
boxes or cork will retain the floating of the rafts.
The shape of these rafts are that they being hinged & so connected, allow the
rafts to expand or to be drawn together and in that way carried about as life saving
boats are at the present time.
The four rafts when expanded resemble the shape of a diamond, the inner sides of
these rafts are fitted with flaps & which fall in their places the moment of the
expansion and again collapse when drawn together; these flaps form the bridge
sustained by the four rafts.
For storage of provisions I provide a number of circular vessels fitted with caps
& fixed in rafts.
Dated this 16th day of August 1894.
J. P. BAYLY,
18 Fulham Place, W., Agent for the Applicant.
1, WILLIAM FREDERICK FOORD, of 47 Hassett Road, Homerton, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
My invention consists of four steel-plate (or other suitable material) hollow
rafts of dimensions according to requirement these hollow rafts are fitted with a
number of hollow boxes, air tight compartments or are filled with cork it will be
readily understood that should the raft sustain a leak the boxes, air tight compart-
ments or cork will retain the floating of the raft.
The shape of these rafts are that they being connected by hinges allow the rafts
to expand or to be drawn together and in that way carried about as life saving
boats are at the present time.
The four rafts when expanded 'resemble the shape of a diamond or any other
desirable shape the inner sides of these rafts are fitted with flaps which fall in
their places the moment of the expansion and again collapse when the rafts are
drawn together these flaps form the bridge or deck sustained by the four rafts;
for storing provisions I provide a number of vessels fitted with water-tight screw
caps fitted and let into the rafts.
And in order that my invention may be thoroughly understood, I now proceed

page_text: Fig. 1, is an elevation of the raft closed up.
Fig. 2, is an elevation of the raft opened out.
Fig. 3, is a plan of Fig. 1, with the clutch and ring fixed.
Fig. 4, is a plan of Fig. 2, with the ring released.
Fig. 5, is a vertical section on line A B of Fig. 1, illustrating the compartments b
and c.
Fig. 6, is a vertical section on line C D of Fig. 4, illustrating the position of
hinge and a part of the flap h.
Fig. 7, is an end view drawn to an enlarged scale of the two flaps h, h, fixed
together by the bolt 1. The spring m and curved bars o, o, are shown in section.
Fig. 8, is a longitudinal section of Fig. 7, with one of the curved bar 0, and
spring m in elevation.
Fig. 9, is a side elevation of the clutch.
Fig. 10, is a plan of Fig. 9.
This invention consists of four steel-plate (or other suitable material) hollow
rafts a of dimensions according to requirements, the bottom half of these rafts a
are fitted with a number of air tight compartments or pieces of cork that should
the raft sustain a leak it would still retain its floating power the top halves are
divided into air tight compartments c for storing provisions and water and a small
tank d of oil to be used in very rough sea these compartments as indicated by
dotted lines in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, are fitted with water tight caps e on the top the
shape of these rafts a are that they being connected by hinges fallow the rafts a
to expand which is caused by an india rubber spring m (or any other spring), or to
be drawn together which is done by a wire rope n across the centre and between
the flaps and underneath two bars o attached to a small winch 9 and when
drawn together can be carried as life saving boats are at the present time, the four
rafts a when expanded resemble the shape of a diamond as in Fig. 4, or any other
desirable shape the inuer sides are fitted with flaps h connected with hinges i which
fall in their places the moment of the expansion and again collapse when the rafts a
are drawn together these flaps h form the deck of the raft, it is also fitted with
hand rails round the tops and life lines k around the top sides, it is also fitted with
a mast, sail, rudder and oars and a sea anchor. There are bolts to be shot across
the centre of the flaps when they are down to keep them in their position there
are also seats to be placed across the raft in any suitable position the gear for
lowering the raft over the side is such (of the ordinary pattern for lowering boats
and the like) that the moment the weight of the raft is taken off it is instantly
released by springs or other like mechanism now in common use. Figs. 9, and 10,
drawn to an enlarged scale is the clutch this said clutch is provided with a
hinge at one end and a hole at the other end for the purpose of attaching the
line fi thereto. At a convenient position the clutch is provided with a hole g
so as to permit the pin g' fixed to the top of the raft to pass through, and over the
said ping' is passed the ring g".
111
A small rope with a ring g" leading across the raft and attached to the pin gl
is to keep the raft in position when closed as in Fig. 3, and directly the clutch f
is pulled upwards by means of the line f the ring g" is released or thrown off
the pin in order that the raft may open on its being lowered in the water.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
clain is: :―
1. In a life saving raft, the combination of four steel-plate (or other suitable
material) hollow rafts fitted with a number of hollow boxes or air tight compart-
ments filled with cork hinged together, and the fl ps hinged to the rafts and in the
centre with the water tight compartments at the top of each raft, life lines hand
rails and the winch and a wire rope crossing underneath the bent rods, and any

page_text: suitable spring, substantially as herein described and according to the accompanying
drawing.
2. In a life saving raft, the combination of the four rafts hinged together and
the flaps to form a diamond shape or any other desirable shape when expanded and
collapse when the rafts are drawn together, substantially as herein described
and according to the accompanying drawing.
3. In a life saving raft, the combination of the various parts of the mechanism
constructed on four hollow rafts and flaps all hinged together as hercinbefore
described in this Specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Dated this 10th day c
M1005
ART
J. P. BAYLY,
18 Fulham Place, W., Agent for the Applicant.
J. P. BAYLY,
18 Fulham Place, W., Agent for the Applicant.