IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA- MATUS TO BE USED FOR THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE AT SEA
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Johnson, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Boot Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA-
MATUS TO BE USED FOR THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE AT SEA."
Sealed the 8th August 1854, and dated the 10th February 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Johnson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
February 1854.
I, JOSEPH JOHNSON, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Boot
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR THE PPESERVATION OF LIFE AT SEA" to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to an apparatus to be used for the preservation of
life in cases of danger arising from shipwreck or other casualties at sea. To
this end two cases or bags made of any suitable material are used, in the form
of an ordinary pillow, and rendered buoyant by being filled with cork or
other such substance. These cases are to be suspended by suitable means
from the shoulders of the person, so that one rests across the chest, the other
across the back, thereby protecting the same, and are kept in this horizontal
position by straps and buckles or other contrivance. They are also adjustable
perpendicularly, by means of a strap passed between the legs from that resting
on the chest to the one on the back. When the cases or bags above men-
tioned are to be used for a pillow, they are strapped together, and may be
padded with horse hair or other suitable material.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th
August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
JOHNSON, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Boot Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Johnson, Her especial licence that I, the said Joseph Johnson, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph
Johnson, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
TO BE USED FOR THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE AT SEA,"
the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Johnson, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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.
upon
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Johnson, 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 state-
ment and accompanying Drawing (that is to say):-
My Invention relates to an apparatus for the preservation of life in cases of
danger arising from shipwreck or other casualties at sea. The objects I have
in view are to secure a buoyant apparatus capable of sustaining the body in
water, and which may be easily adjusted and prevented from becoming dis-
arranged, at the same time affording a protection against injury to the person
by projection on rocks, or floating portions of wreck, &c., and affording
freedom to the arms, so that they may be used when the wearer is floating, or
for ordinary occupations of seamen, or others when in danger. The apparatus
consists of two bags or cases, made buoyant by cork or other such material,
enveloped in horse hair, and in the form of pillows; these bags are suspended
from the shoulders of the wearer, so that one rests across the chest, and the

page_text: other across the back, thereby protecting the same, and are kept in this
position by straps and buckles or other such contrivance; they are also
adjusted perpendicularly by means of a strap passed between the legs; but
in order that my Invention may be fully understood, I have appended to this
my Specification an illustrative Drawing, which I will now proceed to
describe.
Figure 1 is a geometrical view of the apparatus as it would appear applied
to the person, and in side view; Figure 2 is a front view; and Figure 3, a view
looking on the top. The bag or case for adaptation to the chest is shewn
at a, formed of strong cotton cloth or other suitable material; this bag or case,
it will be seen, is in form of a pillow; it is stuffed with cork shavings, between
which and the cloth is a surrounding stratum of horse hair. The foundation
of the bag or case a, consisting of a flap b, is provided with two bands c, c,
which pass over the shoulders, and these bands or straps are connected to a
second bag or case d, formed in like manner to that represented at a, and
which occupies a position against the back; the head and neck pass between
the straps c, c.
To the flap e of the back case or bag is attached a strap f
which when the apparatus is worn passes between the legs, and is united to
the front flap by a buckle g. The two flaps band e are united at one side by
permanently fastened straps h, h; at the opposite side are also straps, but
provided with buckles, so as to render the apparatus capable of being there
opened, for facility of adaptation; but when these buckles are fastened, the
two cases or bags are secured around the body, and are also prevented from
floating upward by the strap f. The cork in the bags or cases, as before
stated, is enclosed by horse hair, by which means they will afford a soft
pillow, and in case of the outward material being cut or fractured, the cork
will be prevented from getting out, and the buoyancy will be preserved. It
will now be seen that the construction of my improved apparatus affords
perfect freedom to the arms, and a protection against the violence of concus-
sions. I would also observe that the region of the heart is protected from the
influence of waves, by reason of which a wrecked person will be enabled to
bear a lengthened period of floating in water.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be under-
stood that the points of novelty I claim, as secured to me under the above in
part recited Letters Patent, are the adaptation of two buoyant cases or bags,
the one for the front, the other for the back of the body, also the method of
uniting the same around the body, whereby the freedom of the arms is not
interfered with, and the application of the strap passing between the legs;

page_text: also I claim enclosing the cork or other buoyant material with a layer of
horse hair.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Johnson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eighth day of August; in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
JOSEPH JOHNSON. (L.S.)