IMPROVEMENTS IN LIFE- PRESERVING SEATS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nathan Thompson, junior, of New York, in the
United States of America, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LIFE-
PRESERVING SEATS."
Sealed the 21st November 1854, and dated the 18th September 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nathan Thompson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th September 1854.
I, NATHAN THOMPSON, junior, of New York, in the United States of
America, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN LIFE-PRESERVING SEATS" to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of apparatus whereby a seat is rendered a self-
adjusting life preserving seat. The seat is similar to that of an ordinary stool,
the sides at the upper part being boxed in as usual, & a bottom is fitted thereto
in such manner that the sides and bottom of the seat form a water-tight
compartment. At the lower part of the sides of the seat other water-tight com-
partments are hinged or otherwise attached, so that, when the seat is laid upon
its side, the body of a person, by being pressed against such water-tight
compartments, may open them out to admit the body of the person to pass
between them, and after such passage through of the body the water-tight
compartments are caused to assume their former positions by the action of
india-rubber or other suitable springs.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Nathan Thompson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th March 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, NATHAN
THOMPSON, junior, of New York, in the United States of America, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Nathan Thompson, Her special licence that I, the said Nathan Thompson,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Nathan
Thompson, 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 LIFE-PRE-
SERVING SEATS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Nathan
Thompson, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Nathan Thompson, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof (that is to say) :-
-
This Invention consists of apparatus whereby a seat is rendered a self-
adjusting life-preserving seat. The seat is similar to that of an ordinary stool,
the sides at the upper part being boxed in as usual, and a bottom is fitted
thereto in such manner that the sides and bottom of the seat form a water-
tight compartment. At the lower part of the sides of the seat other water-
tight compartments are hinged or otherwise attached, so that when the seat is
laid upon its side, the body of a person, by being pressed against such water-
tight compartments, may open them out to admit the body of the person to
pass between them, and after such passage through of the body the water-tight
compartments are caused to assume their former positions by the action of
india-rubber or other suitable springs.

page_text: And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a side view, Figure 2 an end view, and Figure 3 a section, of a
self-adjusting life seat, constructed according to my Invention. a is the top of
the stool or seat; there is underneath it a water-tight compartment b. c and d
are water-tight cases, which are hinged at a¹ to the legs or sides a³, a³, of the
seat. To the top of the cases c and d are attached springs of vulcanized india-
rubber ff, which ordinarily hold the said cases in the position shewn in
Figures 2 and 3; but when these seats have to be used for sustaining persons
in the water, the person, by pressing against the cases c and d, throws them into
the position shewn in Figure 1, and by dotted lines in Figure 3. The person
then enters into the space g, between the water-tight compartments b, and c, d.
h, h, are notches for the accomodation of the arms of the person using the seat
in this manner.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the exact details described; but what I claim is, the arrangement and
combination herein described of the water-tight compartments b, c, and d.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nathan Thompson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
5 Witness,
T. BASSET,
2, Ruo Drouot, Paris.
NATHAN THOMPSON, J. (L.S.)