IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR MATERIALS TO PREVENT PERSONS SINKING WHEN IN THE WATER
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BRADFORD FURNIVAL, of Street' Ashton, in the County of Warwick, Farmer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fourth day of June, in the second year of Her reign, did, for Herself,
Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Bradford
Furnival, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said John Bradford Furnival, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Bradford Furnival, my exors, adñiors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR
MATERIALS TO PREVENT PERSONS SINKING WHEN IN THE WATER," communicated to:
me by a certain Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso that I, the said John Bradford Furnival, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Bradford Furnival, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention,

page_text: and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the Drawing hereunto annexed and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:
The Invention relates,-
First to the application of water proof elastic bags or vessels to hats, bonnets,
and caps, in such manner that persons may with facility use the same in order
to buoy themselves up when in the water, and can attach such bags or vessels
to their persons with quickness in the event of danger from shipwreck or
otherwise, and at other times the apparatus is so arranged that the hat, cap, or
bonnet may be worn owing to the life buoy or apparatus being within the hat,
cap, or bonnet, and in no way interfering with the elegance of shape, and adds
I would remark that I
very little to the weight of the hat, cap, or bonnet.
prefer the apparatus superadded to hats, caps, or bonnets, should be of a
fabric known as Mackintosh's waterproof fabric, and made as light as possible
by combining fabrics of as thin and close texture as possible, but I do not
confine myself to such material so long as the fabrics are sufficiently water-
proof for the purpose. And, although I prefer the arrangement of apparatus
of waterproof vessels or bags hereafter described, I do not confine myself
thereto, the object of the first part of the Invention being to combine suitable
buoyant apparatus or vessels to hats, bonnets, or caps in such manner that
when such buoyant apparatus is not required it will be within the hat, cap, or
bonnet, out of the way, without interfering with such hats, caps, or bonnets
being worn. And secondly, the Invention relates to a mode of constructing
life buoys more convenient for carriage when not in use than those heretofore
constructed; and such buoys can more readily and quickly be employed, owing
to the same not requiring inflating by the blowing into the same.
Having thus stated the nature of the Invention, I will proceed to describe
the Drawing annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING,
Which represents a hat having the Invention applied thereto; and I prefer
that the inner lining of the hat, or the hat itself, should be waterproof, whereby
the hat may become part of the buoyant apparatus. The bags or vessels
which I prefer to have applied as the apparatus are of a conical figure, as
shewn at Figure 1, from A to Band from B to C; and such apparatus as shown
consists of bags or vessels of waterproof fabrics, having light hoops of cane or
whalebone or other suitable material to keep the vessels or bags distended
when drawn out of the hat, as shown in the Drawing, and in such manner

page_text: that they will pack close when folded into the hat. E is a ribbon or band' to
attach the hat to any part of the dress, so that in the event of the person
wearing the hat falling into the water and the hat coming off, the same may
be separated from the person; on the contrary, when so attached it would
immediately become the means of support to the person. But in case of
persons having time to prepare before being in the water, such as in cases of
shipwreck, the apparatus is so constructed as conveniently to be attached to the
person by means of the strings or bands E, F; and such is the case in respect
to persons in the water, when they have presence of mind to draw the
apparatus around them; the part from B to D is placed at the back of the
person, and the hat and parts C is to be brought in front of the person, and
the bands or strings E, F, being tied, the apparatus will be secured and held
below the arms of the person, hence offering a life buoy which will sustain and
prevent a person in the water sinking.
Having thus explained the first part of the Invention, I would remark that
the dimensions of the apparatus may be varied, depending on the weight of
the
person who is to use the same. And I would have it understood that the
shape of the apparatus or water-tight vessels applied to a hat may be varied.
In conclusion, it will be evident that, although I have only shown the apparatus
as applied to a hat, yet it will be readily perceived that a bonnet or cap, fitting
the head of the person, may have the same description of apparatus applied
thereto, the object of the Invention being to apply suitable water-tight vessels
of flexible materials in such manner that when out of use the same will fold up
and be within the hat, cap, or bonnet, and at the same time not interfere with
the external shape of such hat, cap, or bonnet; for it will be seen from the
above description that it is only that portion of the hat, cap, or bonnet into
which the person's head enters that is interfered with in applying the Invention,
and so far the construction of hats, caps, and bonnets are substantially the
same, it will not therefore be necessary to enter into a further description
thereof.
The second part of the Invention consists of constructing similar bags or
vessels to those above described as to be applied to hats, caps, and bonnets,
but in this case they are separate, and may be folded together into a very
small compass, and may be carried in the pocket or other convenient part of
the dress. Figure 2 shows two such bags combined together, and having
suitable strings or straps to fasten them round the person. These bags
consist of waterproof flexible fabric of as light material as possible, and there
are a series of hoops of whalebone or other suitable material a, a, a, to distend
the bags when opened out, in order to prevent them collapsing when pressed on

page_text: by the water and the person to whom for the time they may be attached.
Figure 3 shows one of these life buoys folded up when out of use.
When it
is desired to use one of these life buoys, all that is necessary will be to draw
the same out to its full extent, when sufficient air will pass through some of
the joints of the fabric or some portion thereof to fill the same; but I prefer
that all parts of the apparatus may be as air-tight as possible, leaving means
for the air to pass in only at a small waterproof tube, which will conveniently
form on of the strings for fixing the apparatus; and the buoy so extended will
be kept distended by the hoops in place of by the force of air forced or
condensed in waterproof bags, as is the case with bags or vessels which are
now used as life preservers, and which require inflating by the person blowing
into the same, which requires much more time, care, and thought, than
many persons in times of danger possess, while buoys constructed according to
the Invention simply require to be drawn round the person and fastened, by
which sufficient inflation is produced, the requisite distention being obtained by
the hoops. And I would remark, that I have found sufficient air passes
through ordinary waterproof fabrics, which I have made into such bags, without
any other provision for the air to pass in when the buoy is being extended;
but if the fabric be wholly air-tight as well at water-tight, provision is to be
made for the passage of air into the interior, as above described, when the vessel
or bag is being drawn out to its fullest extent. In the Drawing I have shown
the apparatus applied to various parts of the dress, the nature of which will
readily be understood on examining the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Bradford Furnival, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourth day of December, One thousand eight