IMPROVEMENTS IN BALLOONS AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1864

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Richard Archibald Brooman at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th March 1864.-A communication from abroad by Pierre Quentin, of
Paris, France.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BALLOONS AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to
be as follows:-
The chief object of this Invention is to allow persons to ascend without
danger in balloons secured to apparatus on the ground by ropes caused to run
out and in by any convenient appliances. The balloons are, by preference, of
large dimensions, and have attached to them cars capable of holding a great
number of people commodiously seated and protected from sun and rain. The
cars always preserve a vertical position, are held in the air in perfect security,
and are drawn down to the ground without danger. I prefer to employ two
balloons, one of which ascends while the other is descending; they are con-
nected by a wire or other rope put in motion by any suitable appliance with
the aid of a large roller, round which the rope is wound, and from which it is
free to be run out its whole length in either direction. The distance between
the two balloons should be about 300 yards to avoid their coming in
contact with the ropes, and to prevent their getting entangled with each other
when they are influenced by opposite currents at different elevations. The

page_text: rope may be worked by means of pulleys and rollers placed below the plat-
form from which the car is entered, so that the rope may be kept in a vertical
position as far as may be. This apparatus is contained in a construction of
masonry. The ropes which support the balloon and the car and the holding
rope are all united to a cylindrical spar, on which they are free to move, in
order always to maintain the car in a vertical position. The difficulty of this
arrangement is to avoid contact of the holding rope with the car when the
wind gives to the rope very different inclinations. This difficulty may be
obviated in several ways. The rope may be divided into two at its upper end,
and carry a metal frame in which the car is free to move; or two cars may
be fitted to the cylindrical spar with sufficient space between them for the
movements of the rope and other parts; or the car may be formed with a
narrow recess or opening extending from the circumference to about the
centre thereof, so as to allow the rope to receive any inclination without dis-
turbing its equilibrium. I will describe this last arrangement more fully.
When it is desired to land, the car is brought down to the ground, and the
cylindrical spar descends to the upper part of the car, in order that
tho balloon and the rope may be righted without disturbing the car. If
the direction of the wind changes during the time which elapses between the
descent of the car and the embarking of the passengers, I change the position
of the car, so that it may always rise vertically at the time of starting. I
establish telegraphic or other communication between the car and the starting
point. To prevent the car turning round too easily, I divide the holding rope
into two near its end, and attach it to the cylindrical spar at two points
several yards apart. The ropes which support the car are suspended from the
spar outside the points to which the holding rope is connected, and therefore
tend to maintain the spar in a horizontal position; the plane in which the
holding rope moves will therefore always be perpendicular to the axis of rota-
tion, and it can pass out of and re-enter the recess or opening formed in the
body of the car without disturbing the equilibrium thereof. The car is, by
preference, in the form of a truncated cone, and fitted with several rows of
seats. The cylindrical spar is formed of wood about eight yards long, and has
fitted over each end a metal cylinder or tube of slightly larger diameter, and
about 2 feet in length. In very windy weather I employ one or more additional
holding ropes, which are fixed to the masonry before mentioned, and when not
required are coiled in circular recesses formed for the purpose at the starting
point of the balloon. I form the balloons of an outer envelope of strong
tarred fabric to resist internal pressure and atmospheric influences. I line it
with a layer of tissue paper. This outer envelope encloses one or two others

page_text: of lighter and compact fabric coated with india-rubber, and intended to prevent
loss of gas. To prevent the balloon getting out of shape, I either combine the
outer envelope with the ropes which extend from the network to the cylindrical
spar, or I prolong the network in cords, independently of those ropes, to
combine the network itself with the envelope, and I terminate the envelope
thus consolidated by a circular frame about 8 yards in diameter, which I
connect to the centre of the cylindrical spar by mechanism, which regulates
the strain by a strong spring. This frame is provided with two valves, one of
which allows of the exit of air from the lower capacity of the envelope
(separated by an impermeable diaphragm from the upper capacity filled with
gas); when the gas in the upper capacity becomes dilated, owing to the ascen-
sion, the other valve on the other hand allows the external air to re-enter the
lower capacity in proportion as the gas diminishes in volume, owing to the
descent of the balloon. The compression of the balloon may be further
diminished by terminating the bottom thereof by a hyperbolical trunk, which
will allow the wind to exert an internal pressure on the air as on the external
part when the balloon is in a very inclined position during a hurricane.
I have described this Invention chiefly in reference to the employment of
two balloons worked in conjunction one with the other, it will, however, be
understood that only one balloon may be employed.