AN IMPROVED LIFE BOAT
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark of the firm of A. M and
W. Clark of 53 Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex Fellow of the
Institute of Patent Agents for an Invention of AN IMPROVED LIFE BOAT
communicated to him from abroad by Tobias Hamilton of Centrefield in
the county of Highland and State of Ohio, United States of America
Carpenter
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th May 1883.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of the firm of A. M and W. Clark of 53 Chancery
Lane in the County of Middlesex Fellow of the Institute of Patent Agents
AN IMPROVED LIFE BOAT [communicated to him from abroad by Tobias Hamilton
of Centrefield in the county of Highland and State of Ohio, United States of
America Carpenter]
This Invention relates to that class of small boats which are carried by ships, and
other seagoing vessels to use as a means of escape from the vessel in case of an
accident and it has for its object to provide means whereby such life boats shall
be made capable of carrying a large number of persons, with provisions means of
guarding said boat against being swamped by launching under excitement, or on
a rough sea, and means whereby the occupants may propel and guide the boat
without permitting water to enter. The body or hull of the boat is preferably
made of sheet-iron, though wood or any other material may be used instead and
the characteristic difference of this boat from common boats is first, that it is
circular in its horizontal sections except that a segment is cut away from each of
the two sides to admit the propelling paddle wheels within the theoretical circle
the sides of the boat next the wheels being vertical planes and the floor of the
boat over each wheel being a horizontal segment, serving as a seat, or as a storage
room, inside, and a cutwater, a keel, a sternpost and a rudder are formed outside
of the circular contour; second, the hull of the boat is provided with sides
forming a vertical cylinder and a roof nearly spherical joining the upper edge of
the cylinder

page_text: Thus the hull of the boat is a complete shell approximately spherical and
impenetrable to water
The roof is provided with lights sealed around and with a cupola at its summit
perforated for ventilating the interior, the perforations being guarded against any
direct entrance of water.
The door for entrance and exit is adapted to be closed water tight by a packing
around the doorway.
The interior is provided with seats, and straps with buckles are secured to the
walls to draw over the bodies of occupants to sustain them in extremely rough
weather, and loops are also secured below the seats for the occupants to thrust
their feet in for the same purpose
The paddle wheels are secured upon short shafts provided with pinion gears
which are engaged and operated by spur gears mounted on a cranked shaft which
revolves in bearings secured to the boat, the crank extending across the interior of
the hull, in a position convenient to be worked by the occupants.
The bearings of the wheel shafts and rudder post are packed to exclude
water.
The cupola at the top furnishing air may be a tube of any desired height
and the boat may be any size, to hold from one person to one hundred, or even
more
The keel is provided with a sufficient amount of fixed ballast to keep the boat
right side up with any load which it can properly carry.
A boat of this construction of twenty feet in diameter it is estimated can
seat and carry one hundred and twenty seven persons of an average weight of
140 pounds each, with water and provisions for a few days; and a boat of this size
may be propelled by four men at the rate of eight miles an hour.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th November 1883.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of the firm of A. M. and W. Clark of 53 Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent Agents
" AN IMPROVED LIFE BOAT " A communication to me from abroad by Tobias
Hamilton of Centrefield in the County of Highland, and State of Ohio, United
States of America, Carpenter..
This Invention relates to that class of small boats which are carried by ships and
other sea going vessels to use as a means of escape from the vessel, and it has for
its object to provide means whereby such life-boats shall be made capable of
carrying a large number of persons with provisions; means of guarding said boat
against being swamped by launching under excitement, or on a rough sea, and
means whereby the occupants may propel and guide the boat without permitting
water to enter as hereinafter described and claimed.
In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a side elevation of the life-boat.
Figure 2 is a central vertical longitudinal section and Figure 3 is a horizontal
section part in plan of the same. A is the body or hull of the boat made preferably
of sheet iron, though wood or any other material may be used instead. The
characteristic difference of this boat from common boats is first that this boat is
circular in its horizontal sections, except that a segment is cut away from each of
the two sides to admit the propelling paddle wheels B within the theoretical circle,
the sides of the boat next the wheels being vertical planes and the floor of the boat
over each wheel being a horizontal segment, serving as a seat, or as a storage room
inside, and a cut water, a keel, a sternpost and a rudder D are formed outside of
the circular contour; second, the hull of the boat is provided with sides forming a
vertical cylinder and a roof nearly spherical joining the upper edge of the cylinder.
Thus the hull of the boat is a complete shell approximately spherical and
impenetrable to water.
The roof is provided with lights sealed around and with a cupola C at its summit
perforated for ventilating the interior, the perforations being guarded against any
direct entrance of water. E. is the door for entrance and exit, and it is adapted to
be closed water tight by a packing around the door-way.
The interior is provided with seats and straps with buckles are secured to the
walls to draw over the bodies of occupants to sustain them in extremely rough
weather, and loops are also secured below the seats for the occupants to thrust their
feet in for the same purpose.
The wheels B are secured upon short shafts provided with pinion gears a a which
are engaged and operated by spur gears & mounted on a cranked shaft b which
revolves in bearings secured to the boat, the crank extending across the interior of
the hull, in a position convenient to be worked by the occupants. The bearings of
the wheel shafts and rudder post are packed to exclude water.
The cupola at the top furnishing air may be a tube of any desired height and the
boat may be of any size, to hold from one person to one hundred, or even more.
The keel is provided with a sufficient amount of fixed ballast to keep the boat right
side up with any load which it can properly carry.
It is estimated that a boat of this construction of twenty feet in diameter can
seat and carry one hundred and twenty seven persons of an average weight of 140
pounds each, with water and provisions for a few days; and that a boat of this size
may be propelled by four men at the rate of eight miles an hour.

page_text: Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of performing
the same I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the herein
before in part recited Letters Patent is:
1. A life-boat whose shell or hull is approximately spherical as described
2nd A life-boat having an approximately spherical shell segmentally cut away at
its two sides as described, in combination with two paddle wheels journaled in said
sides and means within the hull of the boat, for propelling said wheels as shown
and described.
3rd A life-boat having an approximately spherical shell provided with a projecting
cutwater, keel and stern post as shown and described.
4th A life-boat having an approximately spherical shell provided with a cupola
or ventilating pipe projecting above its top as shown and described.
In witness whereof I the said Alexander Melville Clark have hereunto set my
hand and seal this 26th day of November A.D. 1883.
A
M CLARK (r.s)