AN IMPROVED KNAPSACK SUPPORTER
Year: 1864

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George Davies at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th November
1864. A. communication from abroad by De Witt Clinton Baxter,
Colonel in the United States Army, Benjamin Jones Burr, junior, and
Jonathan Mather Scholfield, all of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United
States of America.
I, GEORGE DAVIES, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of
Middlesex, and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow, Civil
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED KNAPSACK SUPPORTER," (a communication to me from
abroad by De Witt Clinton Baxter, Colonel in the United States Army,
Benjamin Jones Burr, junior, and Jonathan Mather Scholfield, all of Phila-
delphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America,) to be as follows:-
The ordinary knapsack is attached to the person of the soldier by straps
passing over his shoulders and under his arms, and there being nothing to
hold it off from his body, it obeys the law of gravitation, and falls close in
upon "the small of the back," where it presses and chafes in a painful manner,
and keeps up a heat and irritation extremely prejudicial to the health of the
soldier. The pressure of the shoulder straps also upon the nerves and blood
vessels of the axilla obstructs the circulation, producing local congestion,
throwing the blood to the head and large organs, and producing faintness,
vertigo, and a tendency to apoplexy and paralysis. These causes add to the
necessary labor of the soldier in carrying his outfit, a great deal of prevent-

page_text: able pain, fatigue, and injury; all of which become conspicuous on long or
forced marches in the great amount of straggling that takes place. The
shoulder straps, besides their other ill effects, prevent all freedom of motion
in the arms, and render it almost impracticable for the soldier to handle his
piece while his knapsack is on his back; hence the first thing a soldier
cloes, on going into action, is to throw away his knapsack. On long or forced
marches, also, great losses occur from this cause, losses that are to be
measured alone by the pecuniary cost of the outfit thus relinquished, but by
the suffering, privation, and sickness they bring to the men who, with their
knapsacks, lose their means of cleanliness and protection against the effect of
atmospheric change.
The nature of this Invention consists in supporting the sack by means of
strips of wood, metal, or other rigid material extending from the shoulders to
the hips in a vertical or nearly vertical position, so as to prevent all pressure
upon the loins, which are left free, whilst the weight is thrown vertically upon
the person of the soldier. The two strips are connected together at or near
the top by a strap and at the bottom by a broad band of leather or other
suitable material. To the upper end of each of these strips are hinged,
rivetted, or otherwise secured two curved shoulder straps of metal or other
rigid material which pass over the shoulders, and terminate in front of the
breast so as to leave the arms perfectly free. To the end of each of these
rigid, shoulder straps a short strap is connected, and the latter two other
straps are attached passing in an inclined position on each side partly round
the loins of the wearer, and secured to the lower ends of the strips, before-
mentioned.
The lower ends of the shoulder straps and of the short straps, 'above-
named, are connected together respectively in a diagonal direction by two
crossed straps which assist in maintaining the front ends of the shoulder straps
in their proper relative position, and this on a part of the body least liable to
be injured or inconvenienced by their pressure. The knapsack is confined to
the supporter by means of straps which are fastened to the latter and pass
round the former, being secured by means of buckles.