AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR GIVING STABILITY TO LIFE BOATS AND OTHER BOATS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Michael Grouse, of 549, Oxford Street, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR GIVING
STABILITY TO LIFE BOATS AND OTHER BOATS."
Sealed the 18th August 1857, and dated the 21st February 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Michael Grouse at the.
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st February 1857.
I, MICHAEL GROUSE, of 549, Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS
FOR GIVING STABILITY TO LIFE BOATS AND OTHER BOATS," to be as follows:-
On each side of the boat I suspend a bar, turning upon a pivot in or near
the gunwale. The lower ends of these bars descend to some distance below
the bottom of the boat, and between the lower ends I suspend a roller or
cylinder to serve as ballast, which, acting upon the bars as levers, will act with
great power in giving stability to the boat. The cylinder or roller turns upon
an axle which connects the lower ends of the bars. When the boat gets
into shoal water the cylinder trails over the ground, the bars gradually turning
up towards the stern of the boat, so that when beached the cylinder assumes
the position shewn by the dotted lines in the annexed Drawing, in which a is
the boat; b, one of the bars; c, tho pivot on which it turns; d, the cylinder or
roller; .e, the axle on which it turns; and f, a rope or chain for raising the
apparatus when requisite.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in. pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Michael Grouse in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th August 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MICHAEL
GROUSE, of 549, Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Michael Grouse, Her special licence that I, the said Michael Grouse, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Michael
Grouse, 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
GIVING STABILITY TO LIFE BOATS AND OTHER BOATS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Michael Grouse, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Michael Grouse, do hereby declare the
nature of, the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:
My improved apparatus for giving stability to life boats and other boats
consists of a weight (constituting the ballast) suspended at a considerable
distance below the boat's bottom, by means of a bar on each side of the boat
turning upon pins or an axis in the upper part of the boat. By this arrange-
ment, the ballast acting upon the bars as lovers, a smaller weight of ballast is
required; and by means of chains or ropes the apparatus can be regulated to
suit the depth of water without holes being cut in the boat's bottom for
the purpose, as in the case of sliding keels.
Figures 1 and 2 represent the apparatus applied to a life boat, Figure 1
Leing a side elevation, and Figure 2 an end elevation. The same letters
indicate the same parts in each Figure.

page_text: a is the boat; b, b, bars attached to an axle c, working in bearings d; e is
the ballast, formed as a cylindrical roller, which is free to turn upon the
tie rod f, which connects the lower ends of tho bars; 9, 9, ropes attached to the
bars, and passing over the pulleys h, h, for the purpose of raising or lowering
the ballast, which may be allowed to hang perpendicularly below the boat's
bottom, or may be raised to the level of the keel, as indicated by the dotted
lines; and in the event of the boat coming into shoal water, the bars will turn
upon their axle and the ballast will roll over the ground. k, side guard
or guide bar.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I would observe that I do not limit myself to the
precise details herein described, as they may be varied to suit any peculiarities
in the vessels to which the apparatus may be applied without departing from
the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my Invention the apparatus
herein described, composed of a weight constituting the ballast, suspended by
two side bars turning upon an axle or pivots in the upper part of the boat.
In witness whereof, I, the said Michael Grouse, havo hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
JAMES MURDOCHI.
MICHAEL GROUSE. (L.S.)