Improvements in Life-saving Apparatus.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Nov., 1895-Accepted, 28th Dec., 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Life-saving Apparatus.
I, JACOB GREENER, of 209 E. Church Street, Elmira, in the County of
Chemung, and State of New York, United States of America, Gentleman,
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 :-
This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in life-saving
apparatus designed to be carried aboard ship to be used in case of ship-wreck
or disaster where it becomes advisable or necessary for the passengers or crew
or both to leave the ship.
It has for its object primarily to provide a simple contrivance carried on the
vessel and designed to be readily brought into operative position when it is desired
to launch the life-boat, as for instance, during heavy seas where, under ordinary:
circumstances and by the usual appliances the launching of the life-boat is a
dangerous and almost impossible proceeding.
The invention embodies a sack designed to be attached to the boom or derrick
to the outer end of which boom or derrick the life-boat is designed to be
mounted so that in case of disaster the lowering of the boom deposits the life-
boat on the water at a distance from the vessel and the sack is brought into
position coincident with an exit in the side of the vessel and thus the life-boat
is not only launched at a safe distance from the vessel, but a safe and protected
passage is provided for the occupants of the vessel therefrom into the life-boat.
When one boat load has been conveyed from the vessel the boom or derrick may
be hoisted and another boat suspended therefrom and launched in a similar
manner until all are saved. The sack may be permanently or detachably secured
to the boom or derrick and the latter lowered or hoisted in the usual way.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear and the
novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, with
the letters of reference marked thereon form a part of this Specification, and in
which: -
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a vessel equipped with my improve-.
ments.
Fig. 2 is a detail partly in vertical cross section and partly in elevation showing
the device in position for use.
Like letters of reference indicate like parts in both of the views.
Referring now to the details of the drawings by letter: A designates the bull of
the ship, B one of the masts, and C the boom or derrick of the usual or any
desired form having at one end a sleeve or ring D embracing the mast and sliding
thereon, while suitable ropes and pulleys E E' are provided for raising and
lowering the boom or derrick in the usual manner. The outer end of the boom
or derrick is provided with any suitable means, such for instance as the hook F,
shown for receiving and supporting the ropes or stays G by which the life-boat H
is suspended therefrom.
I is a sack of any suitable material and form such for instance as stout canvas or
the like, being open at both ends and attached to and hanging from the boom or
derrick in any suitable manner either by permanent or detachable fastenings, and
when not in use may be left in its open condition as seen in Fig. 1 or furled and

page_text: tied in a manner well known to seafaring men.
side with an exit J closed by the closure J.
The ship may be provided in its
Ordinarily the boom or derrick with its snek and life-boat is lifted out of the
way and held lengthwise of the vessel. When it is to be brought into use it is
lowered and brought around into a position substantially transverse of the length
of the vessel, as seen in Fig. 2 and lowered until the boat strikes the water one or
more persons, sailors or others, being first placed in the boat and lowered in it to
man the same, and then the people upon the vessel have simply to pass through
the sack into the life-boat, as will be readily understood from Fig. 2. When the
life boat has been filled the sling is disengaged and the boom or derrick with the
sack hoisted and another life-boat suspended from the outer end and it may be
again lowered to be again filled. The boom may be lowered so that the boat will
rest upon the water or it may be held suspended at a distance above the same until
the boat is filled up, the persons passing through the sack and afterwards
lowered. Of course the exit may be omitted and the persons may enter the sack
over the rail or otherwise, and other modifications in detail may be resorted to
without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of its
advantages.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. A boom or derrick mounted for pivotal and vertical movement and provided
with a sack and means at its outer end for suspending a life-boat, substantially as
described.
2. A boom or derrick mounted for pivotal and vertical movement and provided
with hoisting means combined with a sack mounted upon said boom and designed
to convey persons from a vessel carrying said boom to a life-boat suspended from
the outer end thereof, substantially as described.
3. The combination of a boom mounted for pivotal and vertical movement of a
flexible sack open at the ends and mounted upon said boom and means at the outer
end of said boom for supporting a life-boat, substantially as described.
4. The combination with a vessel of a boom pivotally mounted on said vessel
and means thereon for conveying persons therefrom to a life-boat and means for
suspending a life-boat therefrom and launching it at a distance from the vessel
substantially as described.
5. The combination with a vessel, of a boom pivotally and vertically movably
mounted thereon, a life-boat supported from the outer end of said boom and
flexible sack mounted on the boom between the life-boat and the inner end
thereof and adapted to form a conductor from the vessel to the life-boa
substantially as described.
6. The combination with a vessel having an opening in its side rail, of a boon
pivotally and vertically movably mounted on the mast, a sack suspended from th
boom, means at the outer end of the boom for supporting a life-boat, and means fo
swinging the boom to bring the inner end of the sack coincident with said opening
substantially as described.
Dusted this 26th day of November 1895.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.