AN IMPROVED LIFE BUOY WITH TRACTIVE CABLE
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jean Roturier, of Bayon, in the Department of
Gironde (France), Captain of a Merchant Ship, for the Invention
of "AN IMPROVED LIFE BUOY WITH TRACTIVE CABLE.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jean Roturier at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th September 1873.
I, JEAN ROTURIER, of Bayon, in the Department of Gironde (France),
5 Captain of a Merchant Ship, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED LIFE BUOY WITH TRACTIVE CABLE," to be as
follows:-
The object of my Invention is to furnish on board vessels sure and
always ready means of saving the lives of persons that may fall over-
board. For this purpose I provide a buoy which may be of the form of
a spheroid, ellipsoid, or egg shaped, made of wood, cork, or other light
material, or may be made hollow of sheet metal, or of canvas, or other

page_text: fabric stretched round a framing, and filled in wholly or partially with
cork cuttings. From this buoy two wings are made to project, one, at
either side, which serve to support it steadily on the water, and to allow
it to glide easily thereon along the surface; these wings may be of sheet
metal, or of canvas, or other fabric mounted on a framing, or they may
be of malleable cast iron, projecting from a ring of the same material
embracing the buoy. At the hinder part of the buoy are attached two
cords, extending some distance behind the buoy, and provided with cork
or other floating handles, which the person to be saved can readily lay
hold of; there is also attached to the hinder end of the buoy a projection
of the form of a large cleat, which the person can also seize, and within
the arms of which he can secure his legs when he reaches the buoy.
To the front part of the buoy is attached the tractive cable or rope,
preferably by three branch cords secured to rings spaced equally round
the largest part of the periphery of the buoy; this rope extends to a
windlass barrel mounted in a box or casing on board the vessel; the
barrel is provided with a spring or other suitable friction brake by which
the running out of the rope can be controlled, and with a winch handle
by which the rope can be wound in. The cover of the box is provided
with two supports on which the buoy is rested when not in use, some
length of the rope being laid free on the box so that the buoy can readily
be thrown into the water in case of alarm.
In operating with this apparatus when a person falls overboard the
buoy with the first portion of the rope being ready to hand is at once
thrown overboard and the vessel is stopped as quickly as possible while
the buoy rope is permitted to run out; when the person to be saved has
got hold of the handles or otherwise secured himself to the buoy the
barrel is turned by the winch handle so as to draw the buoy in
towards the vessel.
In cases where the person to be rescued is too far off before the buoy
can be thrown to him a floating projectile may be fired from a cross bow
or spring tube mounted near the buoy at the stern of the vessel. This
projectile has a front of a caoutchouc or other soft material so that it
does not hurt the person towards whom it is fired, and it is provided
with a light line of sufficient length, the end of which is attached by a
spring catch to the rope of the buoy. By means of this line the person
to be rescued, if the projectile reaches him, can draw himself up to the
buoy or draw the buoy towards him.

page_text: It may be remarked that the projectile with its line might be employed
to send a letter or other light from one vessel to another, or from a
Ivessel to the shore.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Jean Roturier in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th March 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JEAN
ROTURIER, of Bayon, in the Department of Gironde (France), Captain
of a Merchant Ship, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of September, 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 successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Jean Roturier, Her special license that I,
the said Jean Roturier, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Jean Roturier, 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 LIFE BUOY WITH
TRACTIVE CABLE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Jean Roturier, 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 Jean Roturier, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that
is to say:
-

page_text: $
The object of my Invention is to furnish on board vessels sure and
always ready means of saving the lives of persons that may fall over-
board. For this purpose I provide a buoy, which may be of the form
of a spheroid, ellipsoid, or egg shaped, made of wood, cork, or other light
material, or may be made hollow of sheet metal, or of canvas, or other
fabric stretched round a framing, and filled in wholly or partially with
cork cuttings. From this buoy two wings are made to project, one at
either side, which serve to support it steadily on the water, and to allow
it to glide easily thereon along the surface; these wings may be of sheet
metal, or of canvas, or other fabric, mounted on a framing, or they may
be of malleable cast iron, projecting from a ring of the same material
embracing the buoy. At the hinder part of the buoy are attached two
cords, extending some distance behind the buoy, and provided with cork
or other floating handles, which the person to be saved can readily lay
hold of; there is also attached to the hinder end of the buoy a projection,
of the form of a large cleat, which the person can also seize, and within
the arms of which he can secure his legs when he reaches the buoy.
To the front part of the buoy is attached the tractive cable or rope,
preferably by three branch cords, secured to rings spaced equally round
the largest part of the periphery of the buoy; this rope extends to a
windlass barrel mounted in a box or casing on board the vessel; the
barrel is provided with a spring or other suitable friction brake by which
the running out of the rope can be controlled, and with a winch handle
by which the rope can be wound in. The cover of the box is provided
with two supports on which the buoy is rested when not in use, some
length of the rope being laid free on the box so that the buoy can readily
be thrown into the water in case of alarm.
In operating with this apparatus when a person falls overboard the
buoy with the first portion of its rope being ready to hand is at once
thrown overboard and the vessel is stopped as quickly as possible, while
the buoy rope is permitted to run out. When the person to be saved
has got hold of the handles or otherwise secured himself to the buoy the
barrel is turned by the winch handle so as to draw the buoy in towards
the vessel.
In cases where the person to be rescued is too far off before the buoy
can be thrown to him a floating projectile may be fired from a cross bow

page_text: projectile has a front of caoutchouc or other soft material so that it does
not hurt the person towards whom it is fired; and it is provided with a
light line of sufficient length, the end of which is attached by a spring
catch to the rope of the buoy; by means of this line the person to be.
rescued, if the projectile reaches him, can draw himself up to the buoy
or draw the buoy towards him.

page_text: Fig. 5 represents the projectile P, which may be fired from a cross
bow to carry a line to a person who has fallen overboard in case he
should be beyond the reach of the buoy thrown by hand. The head of
the projectile p is made of caoutchouc so as not to hurt the person
should it strike him; k is a loosely coiled light line attached to the 5
projectile, and provided with a spring catch by which it can be con-
nected to the rope of the life buoy.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I claim,―
First. The use for saving life at sea of a buoy having a rounded body 1
provided with a wing or wings for steadying it on the surface of the
water and with floating handles, substantially as herein described.
Second. Connecting the life buoy, referred to above, by means of a
three-branched rope to a winch barrel on board the vessel, whereby the
buoy can be allowed to run out to a distance and can be drawn up to 1
the vessel, substantially as herein described.
Third. The arrangement, substantially as herein described, of the
barrel box with supports for the buoy and accommodation for a loose
coil of the buoy rope so that the buoy is kept ready to be thrown over-
board without delay.
Fourth. The use for sending a cord of communication of a floating
projectile with caoutchouc head, and with a light cord and spring catch,
substantially as herein described.
2
In witness whereof, I, the said Jean Roturier, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of March, in the year of our 2
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Witness,
ALBERT CAHEN,
Civil Engineer,
of 32, Boulevard Magenta,
at Paris.
J. ROTURIER. (L.S.)