IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF SHIPS, LIFE, AND PROPERTY AT SEA, AND ON INLAND WATERS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Rees, of Machynlleth, in the County of Mont-
gomery, North Wales, Watch and Clock Manufacturer, for the Invention.
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF SHIPS, LIFE,
AND PROPERTY AT SEA, AND ON INLAND WATERS."
Sealed the 23rd September 1864, and dated the 28th March 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Rees at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th
March 1864.
I, JOHN REES, of Machynlleth, in the County of Montgomery, North Wales,
Watch and Clock Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF SHIPS,
LIFE, AND. PROPERTY AT SEA, AND ON INLAND WATERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention is based upon the well-known fact that air is lighter than
water.
The Invention consists in certain arrangements of apparatus hereafter
described whereby air is rendered available for the preservation of ships, life,
and property at sea and inland waters. There are certain unoccupied cavities
in all floating vessels, and I render these available for the purposes of my
Invention by constructing or forming india-rubber or gutta percha air tubes
or reservoirs of the same shape and dimensions, or nearly so, as the cavities
themselves. In ordinary or fair weather these tubes or reservoirs are com-
pressed so as to occupy as little space as possible; but in anticipation of foul
weather or any danger whatever they are inflated, partly by their own weight

page_text: and elasticity, and partly by means of force or air pumps, so that thus filled
with air they may take up as much of the aforesaid unoccupied cavities as
possible. I make the decks of vessels to which the appliances before described
are applied air-tight and strong enough to bear, in case of accident, the upward
or supporting force or pressure of these air tubes and reservoirs.
The second part of my Invention consists in the construction and employ-
ment of apparatus for saving life by providing for those on board certain
india-rubber, gutta percha, or other waterproof coverings. These are made so
as to cover the entire body, fitting the limbs so as to admit of their use, having
provision for light and respiration, and furnished at certain parts with tubes or
enlargements capable of being filled with air according to requirements.
Sometimes I attach small hand paddlewheels or screw propellers to these
cases or coverings, so as to enable the person or persons using them to proceed
with considerable speed to avail himself or themselves of proffered aid or of a
place of safety.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Rees in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th
September 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
REES, of Machynlleth, in the County of Montgomery, North Wales, Watch
and Clock Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said John Rees, Her special licence that I, the said John
Rees, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Rees, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF SHIPS, LIFE, AND PROPERTY AT
SEA, AND ON INLAND WATERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said John Rees, 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

page_text: 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 John Rees, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
This Invention is based upon the well-known fact that air is lighter than
water.
The Invention consists in certain arrangements of apparatus hereafter.
described whereby air is rendered available for the preservation of ships, life,
and property at sea and inland waters. There are certain unoccupied cavities
in all floating vessels, and I render these available for the purposes of my.
Invention by constructing or forming india-rubber or gutta percha air tubes or
reservoirs of the same shape and dimensions, or nearly so, as the cavities
themselves. In ordinary or fair weather these tubes or reservoirs are com-
pressed so as to occupy as little space as possible; but in anticipation of fou!
weather, or any danger whatever, they are inflated partly by their own weight
and elasticity, and partly by means of force or air pumps and bellows, so that
thus filled with air they may take up as much of the aforesaid unoccupied
cavities as possible. I make the decks of vessels to which the appliances
before described are applied air-tight and strong enough to bear, in case of
accident, the upward or supporting force or pressure of these air tubes and
reservoirs.
To carry this part of my Invention into effect I place between the bean's or
spars under deck air-tight bags or cases, the size of the cases being regulated
by the spaces that may be found available. These bags or cases are by
preference placed between two decks, or, in other words, the bags or cases are,
secured to the under side of one deck, and boards are placed beneath and
firmly fixed, thus chambers are formed to contain these aforesaid bags or
cases. When these cases are not in use they are drawn up and fit close to
the under side of the deck of the ship or vessel; they are in communication,
through pipes fitted with cocks or valves, with air reservoirs, pumps, bellows
on deck, so that when the cases are required to be used the cords which have
drawn them up to the under side of the deck are released and air is forced
in until the inflation is complete. I make the hatches or inlets to the hold.
from the deck perfectly air-tight by means of vulcanized rubber nailed round
all the hatches, so that by applying lever pressure thereto no air. can enter or
escape from the interior or hold. Tubes are led from the air pump, or from

page_text: the air chamber on deck to the various compartments or cases that may be
applied. Safety valves are also fitted to the air reservoir on deck. I prefer
to secure the upper part of the bags or cases to the deck by copper nails.
Now supposing I fit these cases to the under side of the deck in a compart-
ment of a ship, one of the cabins, for example, I calculate the cubic contents;
and so regulate the number and size of the cases I apply, but take care that
when these cases are inflated that they shall fill, or nearly so, the cabin before
referred to.
When not in use they are secured by cords and hooks under the
deck quite out of the way; by releasing these cords the bags or cases fall; and
on opening different valves on deck they to a certain extent become inflated,
and the inflation is completed by the air puinp or bellows. By the adoption
of appliances before described a leaky ship can be preserved from sinking, and
if not damaged to a very great extent, her sailing qualities will not be mate-
rially impaired, and if the deck holds together she will never sink. A ship
fitted with these cases can,' in the space of from ten to fifteen minutes, be put
into a perfectly safe state, and the air can be discharged when danger is over
in less time than it took to inflate them.
The second part of my Invention consists in the construction and employ-
ment of apparatus for saving life by providing for those on board certain
india-rubber cloth of double texture or other waterproof coverings; these are
made so as to cover the entire body, fitting the limbs so as to admit of their
use, having provision for light and respiration, and furnished at certain parts
with tubes or enlargements capable of being filled with air according to
requirements.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a front view, Figure 2 is a back
view, and Figure 3 is a side elevation of this apparatus for saving life upon
sea and inland waters, and constructed according to my Invention. The neck
is formed of a gusset of pure rubber of a V shape, capable of a considerable
amount of elasticity, and through which the occupant of the dress is admitted.
The collar is tubular, made to open by a button and spring, and to shut in
front. The two compartments of the armis, as well as that on the top, are to.
a certain extent self-inflating. The helmet or hat has two tubes fitted to it
which act as respirators, one passes up under the face covering, through the
brim of the hat, and descends over the crown outside the face cover; the
other travels in the reverse direction, thus a free current of air is admitted to
the occupant of the dress. The face cover is formed of pure rubber with an
elastic cord to secure and make it water-tight to the collar of the dress. The
dress can be fitted in a minute, and the occupier may plunge into the sea or
other waters without fear of drowning; he will be immersed to under his arms

page_text: or the pit of the stomach. By inflating more compartments the apparatus
may be made more buoyant, so as to enable him, for example, to sit, or even
to stand, on the surface of the water, and to use his hands for working paddles,
or for any other purpose. The paddle wheels or screw propellers may be
simply held in the hands and worked so as to enable the person or persons
using them to proceed with considerable speed to avail himself or themselves
of proffered aid or of a place of safety.
Figures 4 and 5 are views of another description of these propellers; they
are attached to the legs of the wearer by straps a, a, and to the body by a
strap b, c, d, e, are three small toothed wheels in gear with one another, and
having motion communicated to them through a winch handle f on the shaft
of the first wheel. The shaft 9 on which the wheel is keyed carries paddles
or screws h, h. Thus, by attaching an apparatus. of this description to the
body after the dress before described is applied, and on communicating motion
to the paddles through the handle f, a person may propel himself on the water
at a considerable speed.
Figure 6 is a view of another appliance. I sometimes use in combination
with the dresses before described the oval or round surface a, on which the foot
or feet of the wearer, for it is applied with equal facility to both feet, act as a
paddle to propel the body through the water. b, b', are air cells, provided at
top with a valve c and inflated by means of a tube long enough to reach the
mouth of the wearer, in order to increase the buoyancy of the apparatus.
Figure 7 is a view in section of another appliance I use in combination
with my apparatus for aiding in supporting the body on the water. It consists
of a compartment a for containing air supplied through a valve b. This com-
partment a is provided at bottom with a board c in which a stick or handle d
is stepped, and which passes up and through an aperture formed in the top of
the compartment a, but so that no air can escape thereby. By placing this
appliance on the surface of the water, and the body being steadied by the
handle, great support is given to the body, and it thereby tends in a great
measure to facilitate passage on the surface, and at the same time to prevent
the user from falling. All the appliances or apparatus herein-before described
will float should they become detached, so that they cannot easily be lost.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the protecting or preserving of ships and other vessels from sinking
by the employment of atmospheric air, substantially in manner herein-before
described,
Second, the construction of dresses or apparatus for saving or preserving

page_text: life on sea and on inland waters, substantially as herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Third, the construction and employment of apparatus for propelling persons
in the water, constructed and acting substantially in manner herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Rees, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of September One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-four..