AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR THE SAFE CONVEYANCE FROM SEA TO LAND OF SHIPS' PAPERS, DOCUMENTS, MONEY, AND OTHER VALUABLES WHEN WRECKS OR OTHER CASUALTIES OCCUR AT SEA
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Aspinall, of Middlesborough-on-Tees, in the
County of York, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
THE SAFE CONVEYANCE FROM SEA TO LAND OF SHIPS' PAPERS, DOCUMENTS,
MONEY, AND OTHER VALUABLES WHEN WRECKS OR OTHER CASUALTIES OCCUR AT
SEA."
Sealed the 24th October 1862, and dated the 25th April 1862..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Aspinall at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
April 1862.
I, JAMES ASPINALL, of Middlesborough-on-Tees, in the County of York, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS:
FOR THE SAFE CONVEYANCE FROM SEA TO LAND OF SHIPS" PAPERS, DOCUMENTS,.
MONEY, AND OTHER VALUABLES WHEN WRECKS OR OTHER CASUALTIES OCCUR. AT
SEA," to be as follows:-
The apparatus consists of various thicknesses of cork fastened together,
through the centre of which an aperture is made sufficiently large to receive
a water-tight brass or other metal tube or vessel, which is to be inserted and
fixed therein, the mouth of the tube or vessel being closed with a cap, which
is to be screwed thereon, so as to secure any letters or papers in the tube..

page_text: The cork is enclosed in a case of sheet copper, and to the exterior of this
case a brass plate is soldered, on which the name of the ship, owner, master
or port may be engraved or stamped. These buoys may be of various sizes
and shapes, round, square, or otherwise, and the tube or vessel, cap, and name
plate may be of various materials, such as zinc, gutta percha, or india-rubber,
suitable for floating on the sea, and the tube or vessel may be secured, either
with a screwed cap, india-rubber or cork stopper, or otherwise, as may be
found most serviceable.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Aspinall in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th October 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
ASPINALL, of Middlesborough-on-Tees, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Aspinall, Her special licence that I, the said James
Aspinall, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said James Aspinall, 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 "AN
IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR THE SAFE CONVEYANCE FROM SEA TO LAND OF 'SHIPS'
PAPERS, DOCUMENTS, MONEY, AND OTHER VALUABLES WHEN WRECKS OR OTHER
CASUALTIES OCCUR AT SEA," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Aspinall, 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.
170
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Aspinall, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,

page_text: 'ment:-
This Invention consists of an improved apparatus, whereby papers or
valuable. articles may be contained and secured, and be cast adrift in the sea,
in the event of shipwreck or other casualty, and be enabled to float on the
surface of the water, so as to afford a chance of their recovery, and an
opportunity of communicating intelligence as to the probable fate of the
yessel from which such apparatus should have been committed. to the
ocean. The apparatus consists of various thicknesses of cork fastened
together, through the centre of which an aperture is made, sufficiently large
to receive a water-tight brass or other metal tube or vessel, which is to be
inserted and fixed therein; the mouth of the tube or vessel being enclosed with
a cap, which is to be screwed thereon, so as to secure any letters or papers, or
valuable articles, in the tube.
The cork is enclosed in a case of sheet copper, zinc, or other metal, and to
the exterior of this case a brass plate may be soldered (or otherwise secured)
on which the name of the ship, owner, master, or port may be engraved or
stamped. These buoys may be of various sizes and shapes, round, square, or
otherwise, and the tube or vessel, cap and name plate, may be of various
materials, such as zinc, gutta percha, india-rubber, or other durable material,
suitable for floating on the sea, and the tube or vessel may be secured, either
with a screwed cap, india rubber or cork stopper, or other fastening, as may
be found most serviceable. The apparatus may be used for scientific and
other purposes, such as for ascertaining the direction of currents.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I will now
proceed to describe the same in reference to the accompanying Drawing, and
to the letters of reference marked thereon.
The Drawing shews a side elevation of the apparatus with one side of the
cover removed in order to shew the interior tube. a is a metal casing or
chamber of zinc, copper, or other suitable metal or material; and b, the tube
which contains the papers or valuables; c is a screwed cap, which closes the
tube; d, d, are layers of cork, which render the apparatus buoyant in the sea.
The shape of the apparatus may be varied, as required, and it may be made
of any desired dimensions. The tube or vessel, of whatever material made,
may also be inserted in or attached to life buoys, which are now or which
hereafter may be in use.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, I would remark in conclusion,

page_text: that I do not limit myself to the precise details herein expressed and shewn, as
the same may be varied or modified in many ways without departing from the
principles on which my Invention is based; but what I claim, and desire to
be secured to me by the herein in part recited Letters Patent is, the "improved
apparatus," consisting of a casing, tube (or other receptacle) and cork, sub-
stantially as herein described and illustrated by the Drawing hereto annexed,
and applicable to the purposes set forth.
1
In witness whereof, I, the said James Aspinall, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
EDWIN B. BLOORE,
Middlesborough.
JAMES ASPINALL. (L.s.)