Improvements in or relating to Mattresses for Beds, Berths, and the like, by which they are Made Applicable as Floating Mattresses for Saving Life at Sea, Transporting Goods or Passengers on Rivers, and other like Purposes.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Feb., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 8th Dec., 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 22nd Jan., 1889
Improvements in or relating to Mattresses for Beds, Berths, and the
like, by which they are Made Applicable as Floating Mattresses
for Saving Life at Sea, Transporting Goods or Passengers on
Rivers, and other like Purposes.
communication from abroad by CHARLES JOSEPH PIGEON and Louis JUSTIN
TRISTAN LACROIX, both of Paris, in the Republic of France, Manufacturer and
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON F.C.S. M.I.M.E. of the Agency for Foreign Patent
Solicitors, 6 Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6 Bank Street, Manchester, both in the
County of Lancaster, and 323 High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The present invention relates to floating tubular mattresses intended to be used as
apparatus for saving life at sea (for example in case of shipwreck), but which can also
be used as ordinary mattresses for ships, or for household, military, or other
purposes.
The mattress consists essentially of hermetically sealed cylinders or drums. These
cylinders are formed either of an india rubber tube enclosed in a case of linen, cloth,
or other suitable material, or of a fabric coated with india rubber, consisting of two
sheets of linen, cloth, or other material, between which a sheet of india rubber is run,
and thereby adheres to the fabrics. These cylinders are connected with each other
side by side by seams, and when used as bedding are encased in a casing made like-
wise of linen cloth or other material.
In order to swell each of the cylinders or cause them to subside, they are provided
at one of their ends with an opening, furnished with a cock. The casing enclosing the
cylinders being removed, the two central ones can be forced apart, between these an
impervious pocket is provided. This pocket has something the form of a boat's bottom,
and is provided with two trouser legs terminating in shoes, the soles of which are
ballasted by plates of lead. The legs are also impervious and connected to the pocket
by a water tight joint of any kind.

page_text: When the mattress is ready to be used as a life preserver, the central cylinders are
forced apart, and the pocket as well as the trousers' legs are unfolded. When on the
contrary the mattress is used for bedding purposes, the cylinders are brought back
together, and the legs and pockets folded, and placed in the free space between the two
central cylinders. The stiffening of the cylinders is insured by metal, rush, or bamboo
rods.
A small plank can be placed at the bottom of the aforesaid pocket in order to keep
it in its proper shape.
The mode of action as a life preserving mattress is as follows:-
The user after having forced apart the middle portion of the central cylinders as
described, takes his place in the pocket, places his legs in the trousers, buckles a girdle
attached to the upper part of the pocket or other convenient part, round his waist
which prevents the water from penetrating into the pocket, and passes a brace attached
to the girdle or other part of the apparatus, over his shoulder so as to enable him to
carry the apparatus more easily before he jumps into the water. The brace forms in
the case of a woman and child attempting to save their lives, a fastening for securing
them to the apparatus. The leaden soles tend to keep the apparatus in the proper
position in whatever manner it may fall into the wator and thus compel the body and
head of the person it contains to rise again above the surface of the water. The
mattress can be arranged to receive two persons, for instance, a woman and a child.
To enable a person more easily to enter the pocket between the middle cylinders, the
air contained in the cylinders may be somewhat reduced without affecting materially
the floating power of the apparatus, because the displacement of water produced by the
latter corresponds to a volume of water, the weight of which is far greater than that
of an ordinary man. The life preserving mattress is provided on its sides with rings
or ropes fixed firmly to a cable, which protects the whole surface of the apparatus.
These rings or ropes admit of apparatus being coupled together or fastened to an
object, and they thus form a sort of unsinkablo raft. Several mattrosses, thus con-
nected, would be of great service for transporting baggage on streams or rivers in the
colonies for instance. A special arrangement of the life preserving mattress can be
substituted advantageously to the foregoing, of which the following is a description
11
A certain number of the middle cylinders, two for instance are formed in three parts
or sections, so arranged that the mattress presents at its centre an empty space, which
under ordinary circumstances, is filled up by the centre part of the said middle pair
of cylinders. When the aforesaid centre portion is in place so as to fill up the empty
space, an ordinary mattress for bedding purposes can be placed over the apparatus,
this can also be covered with a thick blanket to render the surface softer.
When the apparatus is used as a life preserving device, the opening filled up with
the centre section of the middle cylinders is removed by causing them to turn back on
a pivot or hinge made of cloth, so as to tie on one of the other sections of the middle
cylinders. Brought into this position the centre section or part can be used as a
pillow for the head of the ship-wrecked person. He will place himself in the opening
and introduce his legs into the trousers of impervious material adapted in a convenient
manner to the opening, and which will permit him to walk until the moment of
jumping into the water, has arrived. The centre part presents, besides this, the
advantage of assisting (with the leaden soles) to bring the apparatus back to its proper
position, if it happens to fall into the water upside down. Instead of a large water
tight pocket, a smaller one may be arranged so as to receive the legs of the exhausted
voyager, and act as a support holding them in a horizontal position. The pocket for
the legs may be replaced by a simple belt fixed to the mattress so that the feet may
rest thereon comfortably. To maintain the stiffness of the apparatus longitudinally,
planks of suitable form can be fixed at the lower part of the mattress between the
various cylinders. Furthermore, in order to permit the passenger to move himself and
reach the place where he expects help, the apparatus is, if necessary, provided with
propelling devices of special shape something like an umbrella, and acting in the same
manner as the feet of a palmiped bird.
As mentioned in the foregoing, these floating mattresses can be used as a bed

page_text: mattress, when the pocket and the legs are folded back between the two central
cylinders, after the latter have been brought near each other. It will be understood
that such a mattress can be also used as a spring mattress. The elasticity of the air
confined in its interior makes it an excellent bed. To render it still softer a thick wool
blanket may be laid thereon if necessary. The tubular bed spring mattress thus con-
structed is intended to be placed in an ordinary bed, or in a bamboo, wood, or metal
frame provided with a bottom formed of planks, laths, cloth, network, or straps.
When it is used without a frame, it can be placed in a kind of cradle formed by wooden
laths joined at their extremities by means of straps, or in case of need by ropes. Metal
breast plates made slightly concave, or to suit the shape of the ends of the cylinders,
are provided, having a projection which is provided with a ring receiving the said
straps or ropes. This projection has a hole of rectangular section bored through it to
allow an iron bar of similar section to pass through it, said bar connecting the cylinders
of the mattress together in a rigid manner. The bar is provided for that purpose at
one end with a handle and shoulder and with a cotter or other dovice at the other
ond. The laths of the cradle are provided at intervals with straps embracing the
mattress and fastened to each other by means of buckles, hooks or buttons. Two or
three of the lower laths are, if needed, furnished on their entire length with a flat iron
bar, or with a V or T iron for strengthening the mattress. A special mode of sus-
pending the mattress reduces or deadens the shocks, and jerks, experienced in carriages,
and waggons, and the rolling and pitching experienced in ships. For this purpose
the cradle containing the mattress is suspended at both ends, by rods provided with
washers, each resting on a helical spring. India rubber washers deaden the upward
and downward movement of the washers in case of unusual shocks. When the tubular
bed mattress is placed in a frame, it is suspended by the spring washers. The tubular
mattress can besides be applied to camp beds, more especially when these beds are
intended for sick and wounded men, in the Intter case it roplaces advantageously,
hammocks. For this purpose it is sufficient to place it in a frame made of bamboo
provided with a bottom of nets or belts and suspended in the manner usual for
hammocks. The apparatus will be of great service on sea voyages, and it presents tho
advantage of providing a healthy bedding since the elastic substance is air, which can
be renewed rapidly and easily.
The sulphur contained in the rubber coating of the cylinders is without incon-
venience to the occupant, hut on the other hand, it is an efficient protector against
vermin, also against typhoid, choleric, and other infectious diseases. These advan-
tages render the mattress very convenient owing to its lightness and the small space it
occupies when the air is discharged from it; it is eminently fitted for the requirements
of travellers, explorers, and even of armies on a campaign, but it is obvious that in the
latter case (although its general form and construction remain unaltered) the pockets
and legs are omitted, which are only applicable in the case of apparatus for saving life
at sea.

page_text: Improvements in or relating to Mattresses for Beds, Berths, and the
like, by which they are Made Applicable as Floating Mattresses
for Saving Life at Sea, Transporting Goods or Passengers on
Rivers, and other like Purposes.
A communication from abroad by CHARLES JOSEPH PIGEON and LOUIS JUSTIN
TRISTAN LACROIX, both of Paris, in the Republic of France, Manufacturer and
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street, Manchester, both in
the County of Lancaster, and 323, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, 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 :—
The present invention relates to floating tubular mattresses intended to be used as
apparatus for saving life at sea, (for example in case of shipwreck), but which can
also be used as ordinary mattresses for ships, or for household, military or other
purposes.
The invention is best described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in
which,
Figures 1 and 2 represent in side and end elevations respectively, each being partly
in section, a tubular mattress made of four cylinders and covered with a blanket.
Figures 3, 4 and 6 are respectively a side elevation, an end elevation, and a partial
plan view of the same tubular mattress in a wooden cradle.
Figure 5 shows in plan and elevation the manner of suspending the mattress and
cradle by their extremities.
Figure 7 is an elevation of the tubular mattress transformed into a life-saving
mattress, showing the arrangement as used to receive a woman and child.
Figure 8 is an end view of the floating mattress containing one person only.
Figures 9 and 10 are plan views of the foregoing figures.
Figure 11 shows various means of manoeuvring the life saving apparatus.
Figure 12 is a section of a modification of the life saving mattress showing the
manner of using it.
Figure 18 is a plan view, and
Figure 14 is a side elevation of the same.
The mattress consists essentially of hermetically sealed cylinders A or drums.
These cylinders are formed either of an india rubber tube enclosed in a case of linen,
cloth, or other suitable material, or of a fabric coated with india rubber, consisting of

page_text: two sheets of linen, cloth, or other material, between which a sheet of india rubber
is run, and thoroby adheres to the fabrics. These cylinders are connected with each
other side by side by seams, and when used as bedding are encased in a casing B
made likewise of linen cloth or other material.
In order to inflate each of the cylinders or cause them to subside, they are provided
at one of their ends with an opening, furnished with a cock C. The casing enclosing
the cylinders being removed, the two central ones can be forced apart; between these
an impervious pocket E is provided. This pocket has something the form of a boat's
bottom, and is provided with two trouser legs F F terminating in shoes, the soles of
which are ballasted by plates of lead. The legs are also impervious and connected to
the pocket by a water tight joint of any kind.
When the mattress is ready to be used as a life preserver, the central cylinders are
forced apart, and the pocket E as well as the trousers' logs FF are unfolded (sec
Figures 7, 8, 9, 11). When on the contrary the mattress is used for bedding
purposes, the cylinders are brought together, and the legs and pockets folded, and
placed in the free space between the two central cylinders. The stiffening of the
cylinders is ensured by metal, rush, or bamboo rods G.
A small plank can be placed at the bottom of the aforesaid pocket E, in order to
keep it in its proper shape.
The mode of action as a life preserving mattress is as follows:-
The user, after having forced apart the middle portion of the central cylinders
as described, takes his place in the pocket, places his legs in the trousers, buckles a
girdle H attached to the upper part of the pocket or other convenient part, round his
waist, which prevents the water from penetrating into the pocket E, and pusses a
brace I attached to the girdle or other part of the apparatus over his shoulders, so as
to enable him to carry the apparatus more easily before he jumps into the water.
The brace I forms, in the case of a woman and child attempting to save their lives,
a fastening for securing them to the apparatus. The loaden soles tend to keep the
apparatus in the proper position in whatever manner it may fall into the water, and
thus compel the body and head of the person it contains to rise again above the
surface of the water. The mattress can be arranged to receive two persons, for
instance, a woman and a child (see Figures 7 and 9). To enable a person more
easily to enter the pocket between the middle cylinders, the amount of air contained
in the cylinders may be somewhat reduced without affecting materially the floating
power of the apparatus, because the displacement of water produced by the latter
corresponds to a volume of water, the weight of which is far greater than that of an
ordinary man. The life preserving mattress is provided on its sides with rings or
ropes K, fixed firmily to a cable which protects the wholo edge of the apparatus.
These rings or ropes K admit of apparatus being coupled together or fastened to an
object, and thus form a sort of unsinkable raft. Several mattresses thus connected,
would be of great service for transporting baggage on streams or rivers, in the
colonies for instance. A special arrangement of the life preserving mattress can be
substituted advantageously for the foregoing, of which the following is a description
with reference to Figures 12, 13, and 14.
A certain number of the middle cvlinders, two for instance, are formed in three
parts or sections L, M, N, so arranged that the mattress presents at its centre a spaco,
which under ordinary circumstances is filled up by the centre parts M M of the said
middle pair of cylinders. When the aforesaid centre portions M M are in place so as
to fill up the space, an ordinary mattress for bedding purposes can be placed over
the apparatus, this can also be covered with a thick blanket to render the surface
softer.
When the apparatus is used as a life preserving device, the space ordinarily filled
up by the centre sections M-M of the middle cylinders, is opened by causing them
to turn back on a pivot or hinge made of cloth, in such a manner as to cause them
to lie on one of the other sections of the middle cylinders. Brought into this position
the centre section or part can be used as a pillow for the head of the shipwrecked
person. He will place himself in the opening and introduce his legs into the trousers

page_text: of impervious material attached in a convenient manner below the opening, and
which will permit him to walk until the moment of jumping into the water has
arrived. The centre part presents besides this, the advantage of assisting (with the
leaden soles) to bring the apparatus back to its proper position if it happens to fall
into the water upside down. Instead of a large water tight pocket E, a smaller one P
may be arranged so as to receive the legs of the exhausted voyager, and act as a
support holding them in a horizontal position. The pocket for the legs may be
replaced by a simple belt fixed to the mattress so that the feet may rest thereon
comfortably. To maintain the stiffness of the apparatus longitudinally, planks of
suitable form can be fixed at the lower part of the mattress between the various
cylinders. Furthermore, in order to permit the passenger to move himself and reach
the place where he expects help, the apparatus is, necessary, provided with pro-
pelling devices of special shape, something like an umbrella, and acting in the same
manner as the feet of a palmiped bird.
As mentioned in the foregoing, these floating mattresses can be used as a bed
mattress, when the pocket and the legs are folded back between the two central
cylinders, after the latter have been brought near cach other. It will be understood
that such a mattress can be also used as a spring mattress. The elasticity of the air
confined in its interior makes it an excellent bed. To render it still softer a thick
wool blanket may be laid thereon if necessary. The tubular bed spring mattress thus
constructed, is intended to be placed in an ordinary bed, or in a bamboo, wood, or
metal frame, provided with a bottom formed of planks, laths, cloth, network, or straps.
When it is used without a frame, it can be placed in a kind of cradle formed by
wooden laths R, joined at their extremities by means of straps, or in case of need by
ropos S. Metal breast plates T made slightly concave, or to suit the shape of the
ends of the cylinders, are provided, having a projection which is provided with a
ring U receiving the said straps or ropes. This projection has a holo preferably of
rectangular section bored through it, to allow a preferably iron bar V of similar
section to pass through it, said bar connecting the cylinders of the mattress together
in a rigid manner. The bar V is provided for that purpose, at one end, with a
handle and shoulder V, and with a cotter or other device at the other end. The laths R
of the cradle are provided at intervals with straps embracing the mattress and fastened
to each other by means of buckles, hooks or buttons. Two or three of the lower
laths are, if needed, furnished on their entire length with a flat iron bar or with a V or
Tiron, for strengthening the mattress. A special mode of suspending the mattress
reduces or deadens the shocks, and jerks, experienced in carriages, and waggons, and
the rolling and pitching experienced in ships. For this purpose the cradle containing
the mattress is suspended at both ends, by rods W, provided with washers ✗ each
resting on a helical spring Y. India rubber washers deaden the upward and down-
ward movement of the washers in case of unusual shocks. When the tubular bed
mattress is placed in a frame, it is suspended by the spring washers. The tubular
mattress can besides be applied to camp beds, more especially when these beds are
intonded for sick and wounded men, in the latter case it replaces advantageously,
hammocks. For this purpose it is sufficient to place it in a frame made of bamboo
provided with a bottom of nets or belts, and suspended in the manner usual for
hammocks. The apparatus will be of great service on sea voyages and it presents
the advantage of providing a healthy bedding since the elastic substance is air, which
can be renewed rapidly and easily.
The sulphur contained in the rubber coating of the cylinders is without incon-
venience to the occupant, but on the other hand it is an efficient protector against
vermin, also against typhoid, choleric, and other infectious diseases. These advan-
tages render the mattress very convenient owing to its lightness and the small space
it occupies when the air is discharged from it; it is eminently fitted for the require-
ments of travellers, explorers, and even of armies on a campaign, but it is obvious that
in the latter case (although its general form and construction remain unaltered) the
pockets and legs are omitted, which are only applicable in the case of apparatus for
saving life at sea.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A buoyant mattress for ship or other use, forming at the same time a life
saving or transporting apparatus, said mattress consisting essentially of a number of
elastic and impervious cylinders capable of inflation, and united to each other by
seams; two of said cylinders having an opening between them, and a pair of
impervious trousers' legs depending from said opening, and containing suitable
weights for balancing said apparatus, substantially as and for the purposes described.
2. In a buoyant mattress such as described the central cylinder or cylinders
divided into sections such as L M N, and provided with means for retaining said
sections in an open or closed position, substantially as and for the purposes described.
3. In a life saving or transporting mattress, the palmiped propellors, whereby the
apparatus may be advanced and steered, substantially as described.
Dated this 7th day of December 1888.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.