IMPROVEMENTS IN SWIMMING BATHS, AND IN APPARATUS POR SWIMMING, PART OF WHICH APPARATUS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Cox, of Gorgie Mills, in the County of
Edinburgh, Glue Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SWIMMING
BATHS, AND IN APPARATUS POR SWIMMING, PART OF WHICH APPARATUS IS
Sealed the 11th September 1863, and dated the 17th March 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Cox at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th March
1863.
I, JOHN Cox, of Gorgie Mills, in the County of Edinburgh, Glue Maker,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SWIMMING BATHS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR SWIMMING, PART OF WHICH APPARATUS
IS APPLICABLE TO SAILING OR MOVING VESSELS IN A CIRCLE," to be as follows:-
My improvements in swimming baths consist in constructing them with a
false bottom by preference in the form of a sparred frame, which can rise or
be raised easily at one or both ends, either by its own power of floatation or
by suitable hoisting machinery and will thereby enable a bather who may be
out of his depth and unable to swim to the side or to a shallow part of the
bath to stand upon his feet. This false bottom may also be used for regulating
the depth of the bath according to the height of the bather.
My Invention, in so far as it relates to apparatus for swimming, has reference
in part to former Inventions, for which Letters Patent were granted to me on
the 19th January 1841, No. 8802, and on the 16th July 1857, No. 1974,
respectively. Instead of attaching the propelling part of the apparatus to the
leg, as described in the Specifications of the said Letters Patent, I fix
what may be called the under part of a stilt, viz., that part below the level
it to

page_text: of the foot, the stilt being fastened to the leg in a similar manner to ordinary
walking and rope dancing stilts. The under part of the stilt is, by preference,
cylindrical (solid or hollow) and has ribs hinged to it, which cloth or other
flexible material is attached so as to form an apparatus like an umbrella, the
bottom of the stilt corresponding to the umbrella handle; the apparatus is
prevented expanding too far by check strings. Instead of using flexible material
I sometimes employ flaps of wood or other rigid material, which act similarly
to the valves of a pump; the flaps should be hinged to straight surfaces. The
structure and shape of the apparatus may be modified in various ways;
it may
be attached to a floating frame, which would support a person in the water
while he would be enabled to progress with great ease by using the propelling
apparatuses. The umbrella-like frame should be fixed to the stilt at a sufficient
distance from the end to enable a person to walk in shallow water or on dry
ground without injuring the apparatus.
66
For the purpose of teaching persons to swim, and for the amusement of
swimmers, I fix above a bath, or over a pond or sheet of water, an apparatus
or contrivance similar in construction to a merry-go-round with arms from
which ropes or rods are suspended, to which belts for passing round the
bathers are attached, so that the bathers may propel the "merry-go-round"
according to the velocity of their swimming. The ropes or rods may, if
desired, be suspended at different distances from the centre. When intended
for recreation only the "merry-go-round" may be driven by any mechanical
means, the bathers being then simply dragged through the water, or the
dragging motion may be produced in a rectilinear direction by pulleys or
otherwise. The apparatus or "merry-go-round" just described, when erected
over a pond or sheet of water, may have boats or other vessels attached to the
arms, rods, or ropes which are suspended from the arms as before-mentioned;
when the apparatus is propelled the boats will sail or move in a circle. In
some cases I attach a vessel of an aunular form extending all round the
the central pole of the apparatus, which pole or axle will guide it. The boats
or vessels may be propelled by oars or otherwise.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Cox in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th
September 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN 3
Cox, of Gorgie Mills, in the County of Edinburgh, Glue Maker, send
Greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Cox, Her special licence that I, the said John Cox,- my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Cox, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN SWIMMING
BATHS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR SWIMMING, PART OF WHICH APPARATUS IS
APPLICABLE TO SAILING OB MOVING VESSELS IN A CIRCLE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Cox, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 monthis next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Cox, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
The first part of my Invention consists in introducing a false movable
bottom into swimming baths, such false bottom being formed, by preference,
of a wooden frame to fit the bottom of the bath, the frame should be clad
across or longitudinally with, by preference, spars of wood and bars of iron of
sufficient strength, and about an inch apart, and in such proportion as to be
of a specific gravity very little more than water, so that when immersed in
water it may be very easily raised. I introduce the false bottom into the deep
end of the swimming bath, so that it shall occupy as much of the bottom as
may be considered necessary. By means of pulley work or otherwise I am.
enabled easily to hoist the false bottom to the surface of the water, or as far
as will enable swimmers to stand thereon, and thus prevent accidents from
drowing. The raising one end only of the false bottom at the deeper end
will in general be sufficient, the other end being allowed to lie on the bottom
of the bath where the water is sufficiently shallow.
The second part of my Invention relates to apparatus for enabling persons-

page_text: to swim or propel themselves in water, and has reference to former Inventions
for which Letters Patent were granted to me on the 19th January 1841,
No. 8802, and on the 16th July 1857, No. 1974. Instead of the propelling
part of the apparatus being fixed round the leg of the swimmer, as described
in the Specifications of the said Letters Patent, I fix it to what may be called
the lower end of a stilt, the upper end of which is fastened to the leg by
straps or other suitable fastenings in a similar manner to ordinary walking
or rope dancing stilts. The lower part of the stilt may be cylindrical or
polygonal (solid or hollow), but of such a diameter, say three to six inches,
as will admit of at least six wooden ribs about an inch in breadth being hinged
around it, each rib being from four to eight inches in length, according to the
extent of propelling surface required. These ribs have cloth or other flexible
material fixed to them on the principle of an umbrella, and are prevented
from expanding beyond a limited space by check strings. Instead of cloth
being used and forming an apparatus like an umbrella as just described,
I sometimes hinge flaps of wood or other rigid material to a flat surface,
which flaps expand and contract like the valves of a pump. In using the
apparatus the propelling part is below the foot, which rests on a projection
from the upright of the stilt immediately above the propelling part, and the
under part of the stilt is so long as to enable a person to walk on land or in
shallow water without injuring the propellers. I sometimes attach these
apparatuses to guide rods to be fixed to a floating frame for the amusement
of bathers.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a view of a propelling
apparatus constructed according to the method first described, shewing it
expanded as it would be when the swimmer makes a stroke with the leg to
which it is attached. Figure 2 is a view shewing it contracted as when
drawn in the opposite direction. A, A, is a stilt, and B the support thereon
for the foot; C, C, are ribs hinged to the stilt below the support B, to which
ribs cloth or other flexible material D is attached as shewn; the ribs are
prevented expanding too far by check strings. Figure 3 represents a person
using a pair of these propelling apparatuses; Figures 4 and 5 are views of
a propelling apparatus formed of flaps of wood E hinged to a flat surface as
before described.
The third part of my Invention consists in the employment of a floating
apparatus, which I prefer being circular or annular shaped, and which I style
an "aquatic merry-go-round." The object of this apparatus is to support
swimmers in the water, and to afford amusement. It consists of a ring of
wood, or other suitable floating substance, of such diameter and quantity as

page_text: may be desired, with arms or radii attached to a central axle or pivot, so that
when in motion it will describe a circle. The arms of this apparatus should
be kept a few feet above the level of the water it floats in, that the swimmers
may be supported from them by means of a rope attached to a belt fixed
round their waists. By swimming round the circle described supported by
the arms of the apparatus, the swimmer will pull it round, or if any external
power be applied the apparatus will pull the swimmer through the water.
The arms of this aquatic merry-go-round may extend beyond the periphery
of the floating apparatus and so enable the swimmer to describe a larger
circle in the water. I sometimes employ mechanical power to pull or drag
bathers through the water in a rectilinear direction; I prefer to do this
by means of a rope passed over a large pulley or drum, set in motion by
a weight descending from a smaller drum on the same axle. If an apparatus
of this kind is erected at one extremity of a swimming bath, a person by
pulling the end of the rope which is over the large pulley to the other
extremity of the bath will have elevated a weight which by its descent will
pull a bather through the water back to the starting point.
The next part of my Invention consists in the application of the swimming
merry-go-round to sailing in a circle, and affords the means of healthful
exercise in rowing to a large number of persons on a limited or small sheet
of water. The aquatic merry-go-round now takes the shape of an annular
boat, and may be made of any convenient size, say to occupy a circle of
from 20 to 200 feet in diameter with a breadth of beam from three to ten
feet, and one or two feet in depth; it may be constructed of iron or wood,
and oars and paddle wheels may be worked over both outside and inside rims
or edges. An annular boat revolving round its own axis as an aquatic merry-
go-round will be easily propelled, as it will move continuously over the same
surface and will not have to plough through new space or water.
The annular
boat is kept in the same orbit by means of radial rods or connections. A
segment of an annular boat, or an ordinary boat, may be guided in a circle by
means of radial arms fixed to a central axle or pivot, and several boats may
be made to describe different circles by employing radial arms of different
lengths from one centre. Instead of radial arms the circular motion may be
regulated and maintained by a circular guide rod beneath or above the water,
5 or by friction wheels or otherwise, but I consider radial arms most
convenient.
Figure 6 is a plan, and Figure 7 a section, of an aquatic merry-go-round
constructed according to my Invention. A is a central pole or axle fixed
securely in a perpendicular position in a bath or sheet of water. R, R, are

page_text: radial arms, near the extremities of which rods B are suspended and attached
to a floating annular part F, which keeps the apparatus in the same position
and prevents it drifting. I attach ropes to the extremities S of the radial
arms and secure belts thereto for passing round the waists of the swimmers.
If the floating part F be hollow like a boat and of sufficient capacity it may
be fitted with seats and propelled by oars or otherwise. Figure 8 shows in
cross section several boats attached to radial arms of different lengths springing
from the same central pole or axle.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same may be performed, I declare that I claim,―
First, the employment of a false bottom in swimming baths, as herein-before
described.
Second, the construction of propelling apparatuses to enable persons to
progress in swimming, as herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 1,
2, and 3, of the accompanying Drawings.
Third, the construction of propelling apparatuses to enable persons to
progress in swimming, as herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 4
and 5 of the accompanying Drawings.
Fourth, the construction and employment of what I have herein-before
styled an "aquatic merry-go-round," substantially as herein-before described.
Fifth, the means or apparatus herein-before described for dragging or
pulling persons through the water in a rectilinear direction.
And, sixth, the employment of an annular boat or of ordinary boats
connected with or forming part of an aquatic merry-go-round, whereby such
boats are made to sail or move in a circle, substantially as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Cox, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fourteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.