IMPROVEMENTS IN LIFE BUOYS AND OTHER APPARATUS FOR SAVING LIFE AND PROPERTY AT SEA."
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alexander Robinson at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th September 1878.
ALEXANDER ROBINSON, Engineer, of No. 4, Great Queen Street, St. James's,
London, S.W. "IMPROVEMENTS IN LIFE BUOYS AND OTHER APPARATUS FOR
SAVING LIFE AND PROPERTY AT SEA."
My Invention relates to the improvement of life belts, life suits, life buoys, life
seats, life floats and rafts and boats by means of the introduction of a construction
embodying an automatic principle of instantaneous extension & inflation, which
I shall proceed to describe. I make all these modifications accordingly on the fol-
lowing construction common to all-The skeleton or framework is lightly but
strongly made of boards, or laths, or rods of wood, cane, or iron. This framework
consists of two corresponding parts, or in a modification of multiple pairs, as follows:-
These sides are not attached to each other as fixtures; they are connected together
by a steel spring or springs, which, construction allows of their movement to and
from each other within a limited space as follows:-This construction in every case
is covered or fitted with an air-tight bag of waterproofed canvas or caoutchouc
webbing, large enough to allow of the full extension of the springs, and flexible
enough to fold up easily when the upper and lower frameworks are approximated.
I operate these springs as follows:-When it is desired to close the floats, buoys,
seats, or rafts into that very convenient form which my construction allows, the
twin or multiple twin frames are pushed together by the use of ordinary force, and
as soon as this is accomplished they are caught up or clamped together by means of
a hook or button secured to one of the frames, and working into a corresponding
catch or eyelet on the other; or the frames may be simply kept closed by means of
an external cord or strap fastened round them with a slip knot or leash; and this
catch or eyelet on the one hand, or the hook or button on the other hand, may be
constructed on to or in a moveable slide, lock bolt, or handle, which works to and fro
in a slot or round a fixed centre, and operates by means of an india-rubber stopper
to close the adit or vent hole, which is situated at a convenient part of the upper or
lower frame; or in the modification where the frames are closed by a cord or strap

page_text: externally a handle working parallel to the framework may be used, which at its
first motion sets free the bow knot or leash, thus permitting the springs to act and
the air to rush in, while by continuing the motion of the handle a valve or
vent hole is closed, or a peg forced in, and the buoy or raft, &c., rendered perma-
nently buoyant and fit for its work, which is by inherent floating power to prevent
the drowning of crews in emergency, and also the sinking of ordinary property.
Having thus described the Invention, and adding now that I place elastic manacles,
or webbing, or ropes on all suitable parts of my buoys, floats, seats, or pontoons,
&c., to enable persons or property to be readily and safely floated, I shall now
proceed to describe certain modifications of my Invention which I intend to claim,
displaying the powers and fitness of my construction for seagoing purposes. I
propose to use a star-shaped buoy, its rays consisting of extensible flexible cylinders,
each with a coil of light spring within, all meeting at a common centre, one
handle to operate the whole by means of multiple hooks or catches and a common
vent hole; the rays of this stariform or octopoid buoy to be connected together,
whether extended or not, by means of cords bearing another Invention of mine,
namely, india-rubber manacles, through which the hands or arms may be slipped,
and by which they are held without exertion to the person to be saved.
The
extreme lightness, and the great portability and compactness of this form, render
it the best possible form of buoy, and it is one which can be carried by a lady or
gentleman as easily as an opera glass, although it is capable of sustaining three or
more persons. Another modification to which I desire to draw express attention is
that of a seat and buoy combined. It is evident that on my principle a seat or
float may be made capable of floating four or five persons, which shall not occupy
more than one inch in thickness when not extended. Thus half a dozen floats
or seats, capable consequently of floating twenty-four persons, may be stacked
or packed in a space not more than six inches in depth, multiplied by the length
and width of an ordinary chair cushion. Extreme accessibility and flotative power
is what I claim for these floats or seats, and I design them to be placed on deck or
otherwise so as to be quite efficacious in preventing panic in emergencies, and for
saving life at sea. Another modification which I propose is that of a knapsack to
be attached to the figure in the same way as an ordinary knapsack. Again, a float
similar to a section of my proposed buoy, and capable of being carried in the waist-
coat pocket, may be employed. Further, for rafts, for ropes of floats, or for pontoons,
whether for an emergency or for a gangway, or for bridge making, my plan of con-
struction is effectual and appropriate; and I also propose to use it for stationary
buoys as marks; or life boats may be immensely improved by a suitable number of
canvas-protected spring box floats built on to their sides, and their power of
flotation increased almost indefinitely, according to necessity. Horses and animals,
too, may thus be saved, and casks or boxes, beds, chairs, or tables, &c., may thus be
built with a double spring top on my principle.