Improvements in Convertible Cloaks and Ground Sheets or Beds for Military and other Purposes.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Feb., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 11th Nov., 1890-Accepted, 3rd Jan., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Convertible Cloaks and Ground Sheets or Beds
for Military and other Purposes.
I, ROBERT SCHOFIELD MILNE, a Soldier of Her Majesty's Regular Forces, at
present serving in the 1st Royal Dragoons, at Colchester in the County of Essex, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to further improvements in the cloak, convertible into a sack-
like covering and ground sheet, for military and other purposes, which formed the
subject of a previous application for Letters Patent dated the 29th day of May 1889
No. 8916.
The principal objects of my present improvements are to dispense with the loose
lining of the cape portion of the garment described in the Specification accompanying
my aforesaid application and to enable the body portion or cloak and the cape portion
to be worn separately or conjointly, to ensure a closer and more comfortable fit around
the neck of the wearer and when the cloak and cape are worn together to enable each
to be worn either side outwards without regard to which side of the other is pre-
sented to view as may be required by the exigencies of service, climate, weather, and
other circumstances, as the case may be.
According to my present improvement, I prefer to make the article of cloth coated
on one face with india rubber and the cape separate from the cloak or body portion,
the line of division substantially following the line taken by the neck cord described
in the Specification of my said former application and these two separate portions are
connected when required for conjoint use by means of a set of staples and eyelets
with which the meeting edges of the two parts are provided, the staples and eyelets
being similar to those described in the Specification of my aforesaid application and
being secured in the same way by a cord. When the article is to be worn, this cord
also serves the purpose of a neck cord to gather together in folds the part or parts
along which it is applied and draw it or them closely around the neck of the wearer.
Several sets of such staples and eyelets may be provided along these meeting edges
to admit of the latter being united in various different ways according to requirements.
For example, when the two parts are united for use as a ground sheet and covering,
for use when sleeping in the open, the edge of the one part is overlapped upon the
corresponding edge of the other, the staples inserted in the eyelets and the neck cord
threaded through the staples. A loose fly or flap of waterproof material is attached
to the one part so as to lie over the overlapping edge of the other part to which it is
buttoned or otherwise secured so as to make a practically rain-tight joint proof against
the driving effect of wind. When the article is to be worn in its entirety, the two
parts may be united as above described so that, in case of a nocturnal alarm, the
soldier on rising from his bed can, in a few seconds, gather the ground sheet into
folds by means of the cord double back the cape on to the body portion and throw the
whole over his shoulders in the form of a caped cloak which leaves him the free use
of his arms, as described in my former Specification. When, however, it is necessary
to have regard to the appearance presented by the combined garment, that is to say,
when it is desirable that the outer faces of the two parts (cape and cloak) should
present a uniform appearance, the cape portion may be united to the cloak portion by
another set of staples and eyelets along the meeting edges, which are brought into
use by wholly superposing the cape upon the cloak portion the meeting edges being
presented in the same instead of opposite directions so as to be flush or nearly so,
instead of making a lap joint as before described. In addition to the staples and
eyelets, both parts are provided with sets of guides or runners through either of
which the neck cord may be threaded when it is required to wear the one part

page_text: separately from the other, such guides or runners for the neck cord being provided on
both faces for use according to which face is to be worn outwards, it being essential
to a close fit around the neck that the cord should be at the outer side.
A further improvement consists in providing each of the long edges of the ground
sheet, which also constitute the front meeting edges of the cloak, with a loose fly or
flap permanently attached to the face of the part which is overlapped by the other
part so that the flap may in turn overlap the overlapping edge and be buttoned or
otherwise secured thereto so as to make the joint proof against the rain driving
effects of wind whether when the article is used for sleeping in or when worn,
besides in the latter case serving to conceal the fastenings from view.
These
meeting edges, as well as those at the lower edge of the cloak, are provided with
series of staples and eyelets secured by multiple branch cords, whereby their instant
release can be effected as described in iny former Specification.
Dated this 12th day of February 1890
R. S. MILNE.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
Improvements in Convertible Cloaks and Ground Sheets or Beds
for Military and other Purposes.
I ROBERT SCHOFIELD MILNE late a Soldier of Her Majesty's Regular Forces,
and now of Bodafon Hall, Llandudno, North Wales, Gentleman, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to he
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
.
My invention relates to improvements in the cloak, convertible into a sack-like
covering and ground sheet for military and other purposes, which formed the
subject of a previous application for Letters Patent dated the 29th day of May 1889,
No. 8916.
The principal objects of my present improvements are to dispense with the loose
lining of the cape portion of the garment described in the Specification accom-
panying my aforesaid application; to enable the body portion or cloak and the cape
portion to be worn separately or conjointly to ensure a closer and more comfortable
fit around the neck of the wearer; and, when the cloak and cape are worn together,
to enable each to be worn either side outwards (without regard to which side of
the other is presented to view) as may be required by the exigencies of service,
climate, weather, and other circumstances, as the case may be.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this Specifi-
cation, wherein
Figure 1 shews the article when worn as a combined cloak and cape.
Figure 2 shews the two portions of the article developed in the flat, the cloth side
being supposed to be upward; and
Figure 3 shews the parts as combined for use as a ground sheet and covering or
bed for sleeping in, the rubber-coated side being supposed to be outwards.
Figures 4, 5, and 6, are sectional detail views; Figure 4 being a section on line x-x
Figure 3 Figure 5 a section through the neck of the combined cloak and cape; and
Figure 6 a cross-section on line y-y Figure 3.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.
According to my present improvement, I make the article of any suitable woollen
cloth coated on one face with india-rubber.
The cape A is separate from the cloak or body portion B, the line of division sub-
stantially following the line taken by the neck cord described in the Specification of
my said former application, and these two separate portions are connected, when
required for conjoint use, by means of a set of staples on the body portion B and
eyelets a on the cape portion A with which the meeting edges of the two parts are

page_text: provided, the staples and eyelets being similar to those described in the Specification of
my aforesaid application and being secured in the same way by a cord a threaded
through the whole series of staples b after they have been inserted in their corre-
sponding eyelets. When either part A or B of the article, or the complete article, is
to be worn on the person, this cord c also serves the purpose of a neck cord to
gather together in folds the part or parts along which it is applied and draw it or
them closely around the neck of the wearer.
Several sets of such staples and eyelets may be provided along these meeting edges
to admit of the latte being united in various different ways, according to requirements.
For example, I have shewn the part A provided with a row of eyelets a and with rows
of staples 6. The part B I have shewn as provided with a row of eyelets a' and with
two rows of staples b 63, one row on each of its opposite faces. This is clearly
seen in Figure 4 which is a partial section of the cape and cloak portions where
they are joined together. In all cases the staples on the one part A or B corre-
spond in position to the eyelets of the other part B or A, as the case may be.
When the two parts AB are united to form a ground sheet and covering for
use when sleeping in the open (as shown in Figure 3) the parts are laid out, as
in Figure 2, with the waterproof surface on the ground, the edge of the one part B
is then inserted between the edge of the part A and a flap C, hereafter described;
one row of the staples 6' of the part A are then inserted in the eyelets a¹ of the
part B and the neck cord c threaded through the said staples. Or the staples b
of part B may be inserted in eyelets of part A and secured by the cord c, the
only difference being that in the former case the cord c would be at the outer
side of the ground sheet, as in Figures 3 and 4, and in the latter case it would
be at the inner side. In either case a waterproofed loose fly or flap C, permanently
attached to the part A and provided with buttonholes v, is buttoned to corresponding
buttons on the waterproof side of the part B so as to cover the junction between
parts A B in such a manner as to make a practically rain-tight joint, proof against
the driving effect of wind. In case of a nocturnal alarm, the soldier on rising
from his bed can in a few seconds gather the ground sheet into folds, by means
of the cord c, double back the cape A on to the body portion B and throw the
whole over his shoulders in the form of a caped cloak which leaves him the free
use of his arms, as described in my former Specification.
The parts A B would generally be united in the way above described when on
active service abroad and therefore one row of eyelets a and staples is all that
is required for foreign service but when, however, as is the case on home service,
it is necessary to have regard to the appearance presented by the combined cloak
and cape, that is to say when it is desirable that the outer faces of the two
parts A B (cape and cloak) should present a uniform appearance, the cape
portion A may be united to the cloak portion B by one of the other sets of staples
and eyelets above referred to. Thus, if the cape A be superposed upon the cloak
portion B so that the meeting edges are presented in the same direction (as in
Figure 5) so as to coincide, or nearly so, with each other, then either the staples b,
or the staples 2, of the part B are inserted in the eyelets of part A and secured
by a cord c; the staples 6 being used when the dull or cloth side of the cape and
cloak is to be presented to view, and the staples 62 being used when the glazed
or rubber-coated surface is to be outwards. Similarly, and under the same
circumstances, either of the sets of staples 6' may be secured in the eyelets a¹.
In addition to the sets of staples and eyelets above mentioned, both parts A and B
are provided with sets of guides or loops d through either of which the neck cord c
may be threaded when it is required to wear the one part A or B alone (i.e. separately.
from the other) such guides or loops for the neck cord being provided on both faces
for use, according to which face of the garment is to be presented to view, it being
essential to a close fit around the neck that the cord should be at the outer side. The
said guides or loops d are made of a similar material to the surface on which they are
applied and they are secured thereto by sewing.
A further improvement consists in providing each of the long edges of the ground

page_text: sheet, which also constitute the front meeting edges of the cloak and cape, with a
loose fly or flap D D₁ permanently attached, the one to the one face of the parts A B,
and the other to the other face, so that, whichever face of part B is outermost, the
overlapping edges of the said part (after being united by staples, eyelets, and a
multiple cord, or by the simple neck cord when worn as a cloak, as in my said former
Specification) may in turn be overlapped by the flap D or D', as the case may be, the
said flap being buttoned or otherwise secured so as to effectually exclude rain or wind
when the article is worn as a cloak, the flap serving to conceal the fastenings from
view. These meeting edges are provided each with twin series of staples 1, 2, 3, 4,
and each with a single row of eyelets 5 and 6 so that either set of staples and eyelets
may be used according as it is desired to wear the waterproof or the cloth side outer-
most or according as it is desired, in either of these cases, to overlap the one or other
of the meeting edges. Whichever set of staples and eyelets is used, the staples
on the
one edge are passed through the eyelets of the opposite odge and are secured therein
by a multiple branch cord consisting of a continuous main cord K with a number of
short tabs or branches which each pass through one of the staples so that by pulling
on cord K the whole of the tabs can be instantly withdrawn and the release of the
whole of the staples effected simultaneously, as described in my former Specification.
The cloak portion B is provided with sleeves E and pockets and with a slit Fat
back, held closed by staples and eyelets, and provided with a gusset piece f (in the
case of a mounted soldier) to admit of the cloak stretching over the horse's back, all
as described in my previous Specification.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the inven
tion and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I declare that what 1
claim is :-
1. The construction of the herein described convertible cloak and ground sheet or
bed in two parts A B united by staples, eyelets, and a running cord serving also as
the neck cord when the article is worn as a cloak, substantially as, and for the purposes,
described.
2. In the herein described convertible cloak and ground sheet or bed made in two
parts. as described, the combination, with the overlapping edges united by staples and
eyelets and a running neck cord, as described, of an overlapping flap adapted to make
a rain and wind tight closure, substantially as specified.
Dated this 11th day of November 1890.