IMPROVEMENTS IN LIFE BOATS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Barrington, of Mallow, in the County
of Cork, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LIFE BOATS."
Sealed the 1st September 1853, and dated the 7th March 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Bar-
rington at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 7th March 1858.
I, WILLIAM BARRINGTON, of Mallow, in the County of Cork, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LIFE BOATS" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in constructing life boats with buoyant cham-
bers or materials unequally distributed, so as, in combination with a
weight, to cause the boat to right herself when upset; also in adapting
and applying to such boats self-acting valves of a peculiar construction,
by means of which water may be discharged therefrom.
The buoyancy is effected by means of chambers, either empty, or filled
with buoyant material formed at the bottom, sides, and ends of the boat,
but so arranged as to give more buoyancy to one side of the boat when
upset than to the other. The chambers in the bottom and sides of the
boat are formed underneath the floor of the same, and are of unequal

page_text: dimensions. There is also a chamber formed in one side at the upper
part of the boat. The weight is fixed in or over the keel.
The self-acting valves for the discharge of water from the boat are
adapted in size and number to the dimensions of the boat. They are
placed within peculiarly formed tubes or channels occupying a space in
the centre of the boat between its floor and bottom. The tubes or
channels have a grating at each end, through which water may pass
the valves, being between the two gratings. These valves open outwards,
and are so constructed that as the buoyancy of the boat comes into
operation it relieves the valves from the external pressure by which
they are kept closed, and causes an increased pressure from the water
within the boat by which they are opened and the water is discharged.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Barrington, in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 5th September 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1,
WILLIAM BARRINGTON, of Mallow, in the County of Cork, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS er most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for IIerself, IIer heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Barrington, Her special licence that
I, the said William Barrington, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as J, the said William Barrington, my oxecu-
tors, 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 nake, 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 BOATS," upon the condition (amongst others) that 1, the said Wil-
liam Barrington, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven
tion, and in what mannor the same was to be performed, and cause

page_text: 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 William Barrington, 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 statement, reference being had to the drawings here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):
My Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LIFE BOATS" is intended to
supply to such boats or vessels the means of speedily righting them-
selves when upset, by constructing them with buoyant chambers or
materials unequally distributed, so that one side shall be more buoyant
than the other, and by having a weight fixed at the bottom or lower
part of the boat; when the boat is upset the excess of buoyancy at one
side has a tendency to bring her into her proper position by acting
on the opposite side of the centre of gravity to that which is less
buoyant, and by this means the weight or ballast also operates to
restore the centre of gravity to its position by pressing down the
middle of the boat while the buoyant side is at the same time raised
by the pressure of the water against or under it.
The improvements under my Invention also include the use of
valves fitted in the lower part of the boat, such valves opening out-
wards, and being kept closed by the pressure of the water on which the
boat is floating, but opening when the pressure is transferred to the
inside by the boat being filled or partly filled with water, and allowing
any water to escape through them from the inside of the same.
In order, however, that my Invention may be fully understood, I
will describe it more particularly by the aid of the accompanying
drawing, which represents a life boat constructed according to the
improvements above referred to.
Fig. 1, is a plan or horizontal view; Fig. 2, is a longitudinal section;
and Fig. 3, a tranverse section of the boat. A, is a hollow or buoyant
chamber or a lining of cork, or other suitable, light, or other buoyant
material, underneath the floor of the boat. It is formed, as shown at
Fig. 3, in order to facilitate the passage of water therefrom to the

page_text: valves below it. B, is another similar chamber or lining placed
along the top of that side of the boat which is intended to be made
more buoyant than the other; C, is also a similar chamber or mass of
buoyant material extending from end to end of the boat, but placed a
little out of the centre towards the side intended to be made the more
buoyant. The ends of the boat are also supplied with similar buoyant
chambers or materials. The quantity of buoyant matter thus unequally
distributed may be varied, as also the mode of its distribution, so long
as it is disposed or arranged in such a manner as to give a sufficient
excess of buoyancy to one side of the boat more than to the other.
The inequality of weight thus unavoidably produced is counterbalanced
when the boat is in an upright position by a weight or weights
suitably placed at or near the keel; this weight or weights is shown
at D. Fig. 3. In order also to increase the steadiness of the boat
ballast may be used as usual.
E, E, are self-acting valves, fitted within the tubes or passages F,
which have a grating G, G, at their upper and lower end. These
valves are adapted in capacity and number to the dimensions of the
boat. They are fixed on a pivot or point of motion e, and have their
seat or closing point at . It will be seen on reference to Fig. 3,
that these valves are kept closed by the upward pressure of the water.
as also by their own weight while the boat is in an upright position,
but they will open on the boat being filled with water above the usual
floatage level, a pressure on the inside being then produced by the
buoyancy of the boat. When the boat is upset the weight D, by
acting in one direction, while the extra buoyant side of the boat B,
and C, is pressed in an opposite direction by the water relatively to the
centre of gravity, has a tendency to restore the boat to her upright
position; the ballast in her bottom helping to produce the same
result. The large quantity of buoyant material within the boat has a
tendency to relieve the valves E, E, from the pressure by which they
are closed, and to produce the pressure upon them of the water from
the inside of the boat by which they become opened and allow the
water to escape.
The boat, when employed for ships use, is intended to have two
straps to pass under the bottom, and terminate in two eyes at or near

page_text: To these eyes
the level of the gunwale at the end of the cross seats.
may be fastened four chains, which may be brought together in a large
eye or ring at the centre, from which the boat may be lowered by a
single rope or pulley; guide ropes may be fastened to the ends of the boat
to keep her parallel with the vessel from which she is being lowered.
The ordinary means of lowering by pulleys at each end may, however,
be employed. The chains should be fastened to the eyes at the
gunwale of the boat in such manner as to admit of their being easily
removed when the boat has been lowered, and they may be afterwards
placed in the boat as ballast, or in case of need thrown overboard; rope
ladders also may be placed along the sides to enable people more
easily to climb into her.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that
I do not intend to confine myself to the precise forms, arrangements,
and proportions of the parts shown and described; neither do I claim
as of my Invention the application of the materials referred to otherwise
than when arranged and distributed on the principle and for the
purpose described. But what I do claim as of my Invention is,―
First, the unequal distribution of the buoyant chambers or material
so as to act in the manner described; and,
Secondly, the self-acting valves and their appurtenances in their
general features, as constituting the means of discharging water from
the inside of the boat as described.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my
seal, this Second day of September, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty three
WILLIAM
BARRINGTON.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by William Barrington, C.E.,
0
party hereto, in presence of
J. B. FERRITER, of Lodge,
Six Mile Bridge, C. Clare.
(L.S.)