Improvements relating to Life Buoys and other Life-saving Appliances.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Sept., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 9th July, 1890-Accepted, 9th Sept., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Life Buoys and other Life-saving
Appliances.
1 WILLIAM BALCH 7 Field View London Fields Hackney London, E. in the County
of Middlesex do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
My invention relates to life buoys life rafts and other life saving appliances and has
for its object to provide means for maintaining them as stead as possible when in the
water. For this purpose I arrange in connection with life buoys and the like tubes or
other receptacle adopted to contain oil.
The said receptacle is preferably closed by means of a stopper or its equivalant
which is secured to some part of the vessell carrying the buoy in such a manner that
when the buoy is released so that it may drop into the water the said stopper or its
equivalent is automatically withdrawn from the receptacle thereby allowing the oil to
flow therfrom or the stopper may be removed by hand before allowing the buoy to
drop.
The floats of the apparatus or life buoy &c. are made of the most suitable shape
made in air and water tight compartments with seats suspended and a foot rod
attached from one end of the apparatus to the other or from side to side and so placed
that it revolves on an arm at each end of apparatus &c. or an arrangment may be
fitted to automatically lock itself by means of a drop down tongue attached to the end
eye of the rod or elsewhere or by other automatic or other arrangments.
When the drop down tongue is preferred and the apparatus thrown overboard the
tongue drops into a slot or between two peices of metal at the end of the apparatus
thus locking the foot rod and keeping it a fixture direct underneath the apparatus or
life saving appliance so that when the people are thus seated they cannott fall back.
Becketts and lines are also attached for securing the people, and other arrangments
for protecting people also provisions & signals, &c.
The apparatus to be made of aluminum or other metal or material.
Shackle or other arrangments are attached to the apparatus for keeping the same
steady when up in place, and attached to a sliding rod, fixed to the ship.
This th
L
L1000
Improvements relating to Life Buoys and other Life-saving
Appliances.
I, WILLIAM BALCH of 7 Field View London Fields, Hackney, London, Pensioner
Royal Navy, 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 :-
This invention relates to improvements in life-saving apparatus, and is designed to
provide means for sustaining a number of persons from sinking when immersed in
the water.
I will now describe the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in
which
Fig. 1 shows an elevation of the life-buoy consisting of two or more floats a, con-
nected by a shaft or tube b. The floats are hollow water-tight compartments and to
each of them I attach a number of life lines c, and also any number of seat bars d.
On the shaft b, I hang at each end the stirrup g, with eyes, so as to swing thereon
and fitted with a drop-weight e, which is pivotted to the top of the eye f, so as to drop
[Price 6d.

page_text: in the slot j, and lock the stirrup in its proper vertical position, no matter which way
it may happen to fall when the buoy is cast into the water.
Fig. 2 shews a plan view of the buoy with the shaft broken off.
Fig. 3 shews the end view of the shaft with the locking arrangement of the eye fon
the stirrup g.
Fig. 4 shews a side view of Fig. 3.
Openings o are inserted in the shaft for the purpose of attaching the buoy to the
ship.
Fig. 5 shews the buoy as attached to the ship's stern, and secured by the ropes n. n.
The stirrup g falls downward and is locked in that position by the weight e, which
falls into the top or bottom slot j on the end of the shaft b.
The apparatus can be constructed of aluminium bronze or some other not easily
oxidised metal or of any other suitable substance. Chambers or receptacles for pro-
visions can be provided, also a protecting guard to keep off sharks.
An electric battery may also be fitted for supplying light at night or for firing
signals or ringing bells in fogs. The battery cells can be formed of aluminium or
other suitable substance.
For the positive pole carbon or metal can be used, and small shot formed of zinc or
aluminium, or other suitable metal for the negative pole. These shot can be enclosed
in a pot or bag, or packed with sand or sawdust, holes being placed in the pot to admit
the exciting fluid. The battery may be put in action automatically by means of a
spring, which when the buoy is thrown into the water, is released so as to close the
circuit. A flag can also be provided for use in the daytime, and a supply of oil for
calming the waves.
In fixing the buoy to the ship, slings and slide rods can be employed so as to keep
it in a steady position when the ship is labouring.
For disconnecting it, levers or electrical attachments can be provided, and these can
be placed in any convenient part of the ship's deck, as for instance at the wheel bridge,
so that on a man falling overboard, the buoy may be instantly released.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. In an apparatus for saving life at sea, the combination of a life buoy constructed
of two or more floats connected by a shaft or tube, with the lines c, the seat rod and
chains d, the stirrup g, falling in either direction, the locking weight e, and slot j, as
herein described and set forth.
2. In an apparatus for saving life at sea the buoy with or without the battery, as
herein described and set forth.
ד
S. S. BROMHEAD,
97, Newgate Street, London, E.C., Patent Agent.