NEW SYSTEM of SUSPENSION FOR BEDS AND SEATS TO PREVENT SEA SICKNESS ON BOARD of SHIPS
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by François Lebacq at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th October 1881.
FRANÇOIS LEBACQ, 6, Rue du Nord, Bruxelles, Belgium. "NEW SYSTEM of
SUSPENSION FOR BEDS AND SEATS TO PREVENT SEA SICKNESS ON BOARD of
SHIPS."
My system of suspension consists 1° in two frames placed over one another and
separated by four columns. In the center of the upper frame is a hole of a conical
form, the superior diameter of which is about eighteen inches, and the inferior one
about ten; these diameters can vary according to requirements. The cone as well
as the frames may be made of wood, metal, or wood protected by metal. In the
cone is a rundle of round solid india rubber having a diameter equal to that of the
cone at the middle of its thickness. Upon the rundle of india rubber is placed a
round plate of metal with a cavity or groove at its inferior circumference to lodge
the rundle of india rubber, under which is placed another plate of metal with a plain
surface to prevent the said rundle of india rubber from going down too low when
working in the cone under the pressure of the upper plate with its groove.
Through the two plates are four holes permitting four bent iron branches to be screwed
to the upper plate, the other extremities of the said branches being equally screwed
to the iron support of a bed, which bed is thus suspended between the two frames
and the four columns on the rundle of solid round india rubber, which can move
in every sense, causing thus the bed to remain always in a perpendicular position
notwithstanding the rolling of the ship. 2°. The whole of the above system rests
on two boxes without lid, the surface of which is equal to that of the frames, one
of the boxes being placed upside down inside the other. The bottom of the
exterior box is fixed on the floor of the ship, consequently this exterior box follows
the ship in all her motions during the pitching; the other box, the interior one,
being placed upside down inside the other, its bottom is upwards and supports the
whole weight of the system, the said weight comprising the frames, columns, bed,
and the person laying or sitting on the bed. The bottom of this interior box is
always maintained, and it consequently maintains the whole system at the same
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page_text: level, paralysing thus the effects of the pitching and toss by means of a mechanism,
the description of which is as follows:-A double movement acting by means of
four levers, and pretty near similar to the movement of a weigh bridge, is fixed
inside the boxes on the bottom of the exterior box; the axis or fulcrum of the
levers is at about one third of their lenght in one side (shorter side), and
consequently at about two thirds of their lenght in the other side (longer side). The
extremities of the levers (shorter side) are fixed by means of joints to the bottom
of the interior box, this bottom becoming the top of the box since the box is turned
upside down. This shorter side is the side of the weight to be lifted, the said
weight comprising the whole system as afore stated. As a counter poise and to
equal the specific weight of the whole system a bloc of metal is placed between the
four levers and rests on the extremities of the said levers (longer side) to make a
perfect balance. This mechanism permits the interior box to glide, that is to say,
to work up and down inside the exterior one. Galets or small pulleys placed all
round and between the two boxes prevent their friction. The two boxes are
hermetically shut by means of a piece of leather acting as bellows nailed round
the bottom of the interior box and the top of the exterior one. When the ship
plunges during the pitching a valve at the bottom of the exterior box aspires
the air in such a manner as to fill up the two boxes with it to prevent the interior
box from plunging with the exterior one. The weight of the whole system and its
counterpoise being equal the smallest weight added to one can overweigh the other.
The introduction of the air penetrating between the bottoms of the two boxes makes
the overweight which separates one box from the other by its pressure. A parachute
placed above the upper frame facilitates the separation. To sum up, the upper
mechanism placed above the boxes prevents the bed from following the movements
of the rolling of the ship, this bed being suspended in a cone on a movable rundle
of india rubber, which causes the bed to remain always in a perpendicular position
notwithstanding the movements or motion of the ship. The other mechanism
placed in the boxes prevents the effects of the pitching by maintaining always at
the same level the bottom of the interior box which supports the whole system.
I claim the right to apply the above system of suspension to all sorts of beds and
Beats.