IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING AND PRESERVING EQUILIBRIUM IN SHIPS' CABINS, SUCH CABINS BEING AVAILABLE FOR SAVING LIFE AT SEA IN CASES OF WRECK
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT William Lanphier Anderson, of Court Lodge,
Caterham, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING AND PRESERVING EQUILIBRIUM IN
SHIPS' CABINS, SUCH CABINS BEING AVAILABLE FOR SAVING LIFE AT SEA IN
CASES OF WRECK."
Sealed the 29th May 1874, and dated the 4th December 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Lanphier
Anderson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 4th December 1873.
I, WILLIAM LANPHIER ANDERSON, of Court Lodge, Caterham, in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING AND PRESERVING EQUI-
LIBRIUM IN SHIPS' CABINS, SUCH CABINS BEING AVAILABLE FOR SAVING LIFE AT SEA
IN CASES OF WRECK," to be as follows
This Invention consists in constructing a cabin for steam or sailing.
vessels so that it shall maintain a vertical position independently of the
rolling or pitching of the ship and in applying the same principle with

page_text: certain modifications of detail to couches or seats for use on board ship,
so that they shall obtain equilibrium in either or both directions, also in
making use of the cabin as a means of rescue from shipwreck.
If it is desired that the cabin shall maintain a vertical position when
the ship is either rolling or pitching, or both, a recess is formed in the
body of the vessel, at the bottom of which and parallel with the keel are
fitted concave ribs or rails forming arcs of circles, of which the centre
may be at any elevation above the keel. A frame or cradle which is to
contain the cabin hereafter described is constructed within this recess
and fitted with wheels underneath it resting upon the ribs or rails.
The cradle is attached to the recess by strong pivots on either side
working in vertical grooves at the centre of its motion; it is thereby
prevented from leaving the rails and kept parallel with the keel, but
receives no vertical support, and is free to move on its wheels in a fore
and aft direction.
In lieu of grooves the pivots may be arranged to work in sockets, and
the rails may be channelled or dished, or other simple means adopted
for keeping the wheels thereon should there be any tendency to leave
them when the vessel is rolling.
As the vessel pitches the cradle gravitates on its wheels to a constant
horizontal position, and to aid and accelerate its gravitation, and also to
enable it to resist any preponderance of weight at either end that may be
occasioned by the movements of the passengers or any other cause such
quantity of ballast as will ensure prompt and certain action and also
give it the required stability is placed in a receptacle for that purpose
attached beneath it.
Within the cradle are fitted ribs or rails similar to those on which the
cradle itself rests, but set in the opposite direction. The cabin is con-
tained in the cradle and provided with wheels, whereby it moves upon
the rails as the vessel rolls, and thus its flooring remains always hori-
zontal in that direction. It is also pivoted in the same manner as the
cradle at the centre of its motion, the pivots being attached to the cradle
and the grooves to the cabin. Ballast is likewise carried underneath as
in the case of the cradle.
The effect of the arrangement thus described is that when the vessel
nitahes the floor of the alle
Hun with the bal

page_text: and the rolling is counteracted by the cabin, which through the com-
bination of its own movement with that of the cradle always maintains
a vertical position whether the vessel is rolling or pitching, or when it is
subjected to both motions at the same time.
The wheels of the cabin and cradle may be rounded at their peripheries
or have any other form calculated to reduce friction, and those of the
cabin and of the cradle also if desired are fitted with any kind of springs
whereby the upward and downward motion of the vessel is modified and
general ease of movement obtained.
The means of entrance to and exit from the cabin arc as follows:-A
platform or staging is formed on the upper part of the cradle either
wholly or partially surrounding the cabin, and preferably arranged so as
to be at a slight clevation above the level of the ship's deck; as the
cradle moves upon its wheels the platform moves with it and maintains
the same horizontal position. At the centre of motion of the platform,.
and on either or both sides of it, a small stage is fixed, which projects
over the deck, and on either side of this stage gangway platforms are
attached by hinges and fitted with small rollers or runners resting upon
the deck. These gangway platforms give to the motion of the ship in
pitching, but preserve their communication with the fixed stage to which
they are attached, and by their means easy access is obtained from the.
sbip's deck to the platform surrounding the cabin, from whence the cabin
doorway is attained by passing along the platform. The doorway is at
or near the centre of motion of the cabin, and a similar arrangement of
fixed stage and gangway platforms to meet the rolling movement of the
ship is attached thereto, whereby entrance is obtained to the interior.
A flight of stairs leads from a landing inside the doorway to the
flooring of the cabin, and a few steps on the opposite side of the same
landing lead upwards to the roof, which may be used as a promenade,.
having the same advantage of freedom from motion as the interior.
The foregoing arrangements for counteracting the motions of the
vessel may be applied if preferred in the opposite directions, the cradle.
mecting the rolling movement and the cabin the pitching, the ultimate
result being similar in securing to the latter a vertical position whether
the ship rolls or pitches. They may also be applied to any number of
cabins in the same vessel.

page_text: Buffers of any yielding or clastic material are fixed at one extremity
of the rails, on which the cabin and cradle respectively move to check
2

page_text: Couches or seats of this description may also be used independently
of the cabin to counteract either the rolling or pitching movements, and
may likewise be made to counteract in themselves both the rolling and
pitching by combining two sets of wheels and rails working in opposite
directions, the one over the other, so that one shall meet the rolling and
the other the pitching motions. For this purpose the frame of the upper
structure is fitted with wheels on its under side, resting on and attached
to the rails of the lower. Weights may be attached beneath these
couches or seats if desired, but it is not absolutely necessary in addition
to that of the persons occupying them.
The cabin constructed and fitted in the mode described will in the
event of the vessel sinking at sea become detached from it and float
independently, the pivots by which it is guided passing out of their
grooves, which for that purpose are open at their lower ends as the vessel
sinks, and the cabin remaining at the surface it will then be maintained
in an upright position by its ballast, and its immersion should be such
that the doorway and windows shall be at a sufficient clevation above the
water. The proportions and weights necessary to effect this object must
be considered in its construction in the same manner as would be done
in the case of any other floating structure.
To provide against bad weather or any excess of immersion that may
temporarily occur from the disturbance of the water occasioned by the
sinking of the vessel, the door should be watertight when closed, and
have strong fastenings to secure it; the windows should also be strongly
constructed, and such of them as are made to open should have the
means of being well secured when an emergency occurs. When the
door is closed and fastened entrance to the cabin is effected by stairs on
the outside leading from the stage at the entrance to the roof. With
these precautions the cabin will float in safety when the vessel has sunk
from under it, and will afford the means of rescue for as many persons
as it will contain in its interior and upon the roof.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Lanphier Anderson in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 4th June 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
LANPHIER ANDERSON, of Court Lodge, Caterham, in the County of
Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Lanphier Anderson,
Her special licence that I, the said William Lanphier Anderson, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Lanphier Anderson, 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 MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING
AND PRESERVING EQUILIBRIUM IN SHIPS' CABINS, SUCH CABINS BEING AVAILABLE
FOR SAVING LIFE AT SEA IN CASES OF WRECK," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Lanphier Anderson, 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 William Lanphier Anderson, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
This Invention consists in constructing a cabin for steam or sailing
vessels, so that it shall maintain a vertical position independently of the
rolling or pitching of the ship, and in applying the same principle with

page_text: certain modifications of detail to couches or seats for use on board ship,
so that they shall obtain equilibrium in either or both directions; also in
making use of the cabin as a means of rescue from shipwreck.
If it is desired that the cabin shall maintain a vertical position when
the ship is either rolling or pitching, or both, a recess is formed in the
body of the vessel, at the bottom of which and parallel with the keel are
fitted concave ribs or rails forming arcs of circles, of which the centre
may be at any elevation above the keel. A frame or cradle which is to
contain the cabin hereafter described is constructed within this recess
and fitted with wheels underneath it resting upon the ribs or rails.
The cradle is attached to the recess by strong pivots. on either side
working in vertical grooves or slots at the centre of its motion. It is
thereby prevented from leaving the rails and kept parallel with the keel,
but receives no vertical support, and is free to move on its wheels in a
fore and aft direction.
In lieu of grooves or slots the pivots may be arranged to work in
sockets, and the rails may be channelled or dished, or other simple means
adopted for keeping the wheels thereon should there be any tendency to
leave them when the vessel is rolling.
As the vessel pitches the cradle gravitates on its wheels to a constant
horizontal position in the direction of the ship's length, and to aid and
accelerate its gravitation, and also to enable it to resist any preponderance
of weight at either end that may be occasioned by the movements of the
passengers or any other cause such quantity of ballast as will ensure
prompt and certain action, and also give it the required stability is
placed in a receptacle for that purpose attached beneath it.
Within the cradle are fitted ribs or rails similar to those on which the
cradle itself rests, but set in the opposite direction. The cabin is con--
tained in the cradle and provided with wheels, whereby it moves upon
the rails as the vessel rolls, and thus its flooring remains always
horizontal in that direction. It is also pivoted in the same manner as
the cradle at the centre of its motion, the pivots being attached to the
crade and the grooves to the cabin.. Ballast is likewise carried underneath
as in the case of the cradle.
The effect of the arrangement thus described is that when the vessel
pitches the floor of the cradle remains horizontal in a line with the keel,

page_text: and the rolling is counteracted by the cabin, which through the com-
bination of its own movement with that of the cradle always maintains a
vertical position, whether the vessel is rolling or pitching, or when it is
subjected to both motions at the same time.
The wheels of the cabin and cradle may be rounded at their peripheries,
or have any other form calculated to reduce friction, and those of the
cabin and of the cradle also if desired can be fitted with any kind of
springs, whereby the upward and downward motion of the vessel is
modified and general ease of movement obtained.
The means of entrance to and exit from the cabin are as follows:-A
platform or staging is formed on the upper part of the cradle, either
wholly or partially surrounding the cabin, and preferably arranged so as
to be at a slight elevation above the level of the ship's deck. As the
cradle moves upon its wheels the platform moves with it and maintains
the same horizontal position. At the centre of motion of the platform
and on either or both sides of it a small stage is fixed which projects
over the deck, and on either side of this stage gangway platforms are
attached by hinges, and fitted with small rollers or runners resting upon
the deck. These gangway platforms give to the motion of the ship in
pitching, but preserve their communicaton with the fixed stage to which
they are attached, and by their means easy access is obtained from the
ship's deck to the platform surrounding the cabin, from whence the
cabin doorway is attained by passing along the platform. The doorway
is at or near the centre of motion of the cabin, and a similar arrangement
of fixed stage and gangway platforms to meet the rolling movement
of the ship is attached thereto, whereby entrance is obtained to the
interior.
A flight of stairs leads from a landing inside the doorway to the
flooring of the cabin, and a few steps on the opposite side of the same
landing lead upwards to the roof, which may be used as a promenade,
having the same advantage of freedom from motion as the interior.
The foregoing arrangements for counteracting the motion of the
vessel may be applied if preferred in the opposite directions, the cradle
meeting the rolling movement, and the cabin the pitching, the ultimate
result being similar in securing to the latter a vertical position whether
the ship rolls or pitches; they may also be applied to any number of
cabins in the same vessel..

page_text: It may sometimes be preferred for the purpose of economizing spaco
in the vessel to provide a cabin adapted only to meet either the rolling
or pitching movement. In this case the cradle is dispensed with and the
cabin arranged to work direct upon concave rails fitted in a recess of
somewhat smaller dimensions than is requisite when the pitching also
is to be counteracted; the guiding pivots are in this instance attached
to the sides of the recess, and access is obtained direct from the ships'
deck by the arrangement of fixed stage and gangway platforms already
described; the wheels can also be provided with springs, and the other:
parts of its construction so far as they are applicable are similar to
those of a cabin with universal movement.
In order to stop the movement of the cabin when desired, whether
constructed to meet the rolling and pitching or one motion only, the
wheels may be locked or breaks applied by any simple arrangement for
that purpose, or it may be bolted either to the cradle or to the ship
itself; the cradle may also be secured and rendered, a fixture by
bolting it to the bulkheads of the recess or to the bottom of the ship.
Buffers of any yielding or elastic material are fixed at one extremity
of the rails on which the cabin and cradle respectively move to check
them when they reach the limits of their movement.
The means of obtaining light and ventilation are provided by windows
placed at either end of the cabin, and at the sides, and by skylights on
the roof.
When the cabin is susceptible of one movement only the motion of
the ship in the other direction may be counteracted by couches or seats
fitted with wheels resting on concave rails attached to a suitable frame;
the wheels are provided with flanges or any other kind of guides to keep
them on the rails, and also with clips or catches embracing the edges of
the rails, or any other simple device for preventing one end of the couch
or seat from rising upwards when weight is applied to the other; if
these couches or seats are placed in a position parallel with the keel
they will move upon their wheels to the lower level of their curves, and
thus maintain a horizontal position when the vessel pitches, and if
placed at right angles with the keel they will similarly counteract the
rolling motion.
Couches or seats of this description may also be used independently

page_text: and may likewise be made to counteract in themselves both the rolling
and pitching by combining two sets of wheels and rails working in
opposite directions, the one over the other, so that one shall meet the
rolling and the other the pitching motions; for this purpose the frame
of the upper structure is fitted with wheels on its under side resting
on and attached to the rails of the lower; weight may be attached
beneath these couches or seats if desired; but it is not absolutely
necessary in addition to that of the persons occupying them.
The cabin constructed and fitted in the mode described will in the
event of the vessel sinking at sea, become detached from it and float
independently, the pivots by which it is guided passing out of their.
grooves, which for that purpose are open at their lower ends. as the
vessel sinks, the cabin remaining at the surface; it will then be main-
tained in an upright position by its ballast, and its immersion should be
such that the doorway and windows shall be at sufficient elevation
above the water; the proportions and weights necessary to effect this
object should be considered in its construction in the same manner as
would be done in the case of any other floating structure.
To provide against bad weather or any excess of immersion that may
temporarily occur from the disturbance of the water occasioned by the
sinking of the vessel, the door should be water-tight when closed and
have strong fastenings to secure it, the windows should also be
strongly constructed, and such of them as are made to open should
have the means of being. well secured when an emergency occurs.
With these precautions the cabin will float in safety when the vessel
has sunk from under it, and will afford the means of rescue for as many
persons as it will contain in its interior and upon the roof.
My Invention will be clearly understood by the annexed Drawings, in.
which Plate 1 represents the cabin having an universal movement, so that
it corrects both the rolling and pitching motions, Figure 1 showing an
end view of the cabin and its cradle with the adjacent parts of the vessel
in cross section, and Figure 2 a side view of the same, shewing the
exterior of the cabin as contained in the cradle.
Plate 2 represents the cabin as adapted to counteract the rolling
motion only, Figure 1 shewing a sectional elevation with the adjacent
parts in cross section, and Figure 2 a side view with the interior of the
cabin, and also a specimen of couch or seat to correct the pitching.

page_text: In Plate 1 A is the recess containing the cabin and its cradle enlarged
laterally at its upper part to admit of the movement of the platform
attached to the cradle; B, the cabin; and C, its wheels and springs, the
former running upon curved rails D at the bottom of the cradle; E, the
cradle; and F, its wheels running upon curved rails G at the bottom of
the recess; H, the pivot and grooves whereby the cabin and its cradle
respectively are guided; I, the entering stages attached to the cabin and
to its cradle; and J, the gangway platform hinged thereto; K is the
platform attached to the upper part of the cradle and surrounding the
cabin, whereby access to the latter is obtained from the ship's deck; L,
the ballast attached to the cabin; and M, that belonging to the cradle ;
N is a receptacle underneath the cabin for baggage or stores.
In Plate 2 A is the recess containing the cabin; and B, its wheels
and springs, the former running upon curved rails C at the bottom of
the recess; D, the pivots and grooves whereby the cabin is guided in its
movement; E, the entering stage attached to the doorway, and F, the
gangway platforms hinged thereto; G, Figure 2, is a couch or seat in the
interior to counteract the pitching; H is the ballast; and I is a recep-
tacle underneath the cabin for baggage or stores.
The other details represented in the Drawings do not need description,
and are such as may be varied to suit the purpose for which the cabin
may be applied.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and the manner in
which the same is to be performed; I declare that I claim,-
Firstly. The improved means of and apparatus for obtaining and
preserving equilibrium in cabins for the use of passengers, especially in
vessels and other floating structures as described and shown.
Secondly. The construction of a cabin carried upon wheels running.
upon concave rails, and guided in the mode described and shown.
Thirdly. The employment of springs upon the wheel axles of the
cabins, herein-before described, for giving case of movement and for
other purposes, as described and shown.
Fourthly. The use of pivots in combination with grooves, sockets, or
slots for the guidance of the cabin, as described and shown.
Fifthly. The construction of a frame or cradle carried upon wheels
running on concave rails, and guided in the mode described and shown

page_text: for the purpose of containing the cabin before mentioned, so that while
the cradle moves upon its rails in the one direction the cabin similarly
moves upon rails attached to the bottom of the cradle in the other.
Sixthly. The construction of a platform attached to the before-
described cradle, whereby the latter is strengthened, and which forms
the means of access to the cabin from the ship's deck, and vice versa, as
described and shown.
'
"
Seventhly. The mode of obtaining access to the cabin and to the
platform above mentioned by means of a fixed stage in conjunction with
hinged platforms, having rollers or runners resting on the deck or other
part of the ship or structure, as described and shown.
Eighthly. The construction of couches or seats fitted with flanged or
grooved wheels running upon curved rails attached to a suitable frame
in the mode described in order to obtain equilibrium when the ship rolls
or pitches, and which may be used either in conjunction with the cabin
before described or independently of it in other parts of the ship or in
ships not fitted with the cabin.
Ninthly. The construction of couches or seats having in themselves
the means of obtaining equilibrium in both directions, as described.
Tenthly. The method of adapting the cabin as a means of rescue in
case of shipwreck, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Lamphier Anderson, have