AN IMPROVEMENT IN LIPE-PRESERVING VESTS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane; in-the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN LIPE-PRESERVING VESTS."-A commu-
nication from T. A. Delano, residing in the United States of America..
Sealed the 17th June 1859, and dated the 25th January 1859:
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th January 1859.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in. the County. of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN LIFE-PRESERVING VESTS," to be
as follows:
This Invention of an improvement in life-preserving vests relates to vests
that are suitable for ordinary wear, but. which are furnished. between the.
exterior and, the lining with a float of india-rubber or other flexible material,
that can be inflated at pleasure in a few moments without the removal of the
vest from the person. By the term "vest," as employed in this Specification,
I mean to include all close-fitting garments of similar character, i. e., fitting to
the upper part of the body, and fastening in front, whether worn by men or
women. The vest may be of any fashion to suit the taste, and there is an

page_text: inflatable float applied within the vest, between the exterior and the lining
thereof. This float is made with a pipe which can be tucked into the vest or
drawn out to a suitable position for the wearer to apply the mouth to its
screw-valve mouth-piece, so as to inflate the float. There are buttons and
button holes to the vest, both arranged in the usual manner and used to fasten
the vest when it is worn with the float uninflated.
-
The improvement which constitutes the present Invention is the use of
elastic straps attached to the button-hole side of the vest at the back of the
button-holes, one opposite each button-hole, on every one but the bottom one,
and gradually increasing in length from the bottom one upward. These
straps are furnished with button-holes, which, when the ordinary button holes
are unfastened, can be secured to the buttons, and by the straps being elastic,
they enlarge the vest sufficiently to permit the inflation of the float, and
when the float is inflated, they confine the vest snugly around the body, but
at the same time, by their elasticity, prevent any painful pressure of the inner
side of the inflated float (which, by inflation, assumes a rounded form) upon
the chest of the wearer, as the latter is expanded by the dilation of the lungs.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 25th July 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Edward Newton, 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 "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN LIFE-PRESERVING VESTS," being a communication from abroad'
by T. A. Delano, residing in the United States of America, upon the condition

page_text: (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the.
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention of "An Improvement in Life-preserving Vests" relates to
vests that are suitable for ordinary wear, but which are furnished between
the exterior and the lining with a float of india-rubber or other flexible.
material that can be inflated at pleasure in a few moments, without the
removal of the vest from the person..
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1.
is a view of a vest spread open, and constructed according to the present
Invention; Fig. 2 is a view exhibiting the same in the condition in which it
is worn as an ordinary vest; Fig. 3 is a view exhibiting the same in the
condition in which it is worn, when there is any risk of the wearer being
precipitated into the water; Fig. 4 exhibits the air-inflated float of the vest
spread out.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the
several Figures. The Drawing represents the application of the Invention to a
man's vest only, but by the term "vest," as employed in this Specification, I mean
to include all close-fitting garments of similar character, i. e., fitting to the
upper part of the body, and fastening in front, whether worn by men or women.
The vest may be of any fashion to suit the taste of the wearer. A is the
inflatable float, the form of which is shown in Fig. 4, and the manner of
applying it within the vest between the exterior and the lining thereof is
shown in Fig. 1, in dotted outline. This float is made with a pipe a, which
can be tucked into the vest, or drawn out to a suitable position for the wearer
to apply the mouth to its screw valve mouth-piece b, so as to inflate the float;
c, c, are the buttons, and d, d, the button-holes of the vest, both arranged in
the usual manner, and used to fasten the vest when it is worn with the float A
uninflated, as shown in Fig. 2; e, e, are elastic straps attached to the button-holė
side of the vest at the back of the button-holes, one opposite each button-
hole on every one but the bottom one, and gradually increasing in length from
the bottom one upward. These straps are furnished with button-holes y, y,

page_text: which, when the button-holes d, d, are: unfastened; can be secured to the
buttons c, c, and by the straps being elastic, they enlarge the vest sufficiently
to permit the inflation, of the float, and when the float is inflated, they confine
the vest snugly around the body, but, at the same time, by their elasticity,
prevent any painful pressure of the inner side of the inflated float (which, by
inflation, assumes a rounded form) upon the chest of the wearer, as the latter
is expanded by the dilation of the lungs. The straps e, e, may be buttoned to.
the buttons c, c, at all times, and the button-holes d, d, buttoned. over them
when the vest is worn on ordinary occasions; the middle portions of the.
straps being in that case tucked inside the vest out of sight, and all that would.
be necessary to prepare the vest for inflation, would be to unbutton the button-
holes d, d. It is more convenient, however, to have a set of buttons f, f,
inside the vest, to which the holes g, g, of the straps are buttoned by turning
the straps back within the vest as shown in Fig. 2, when the button-holes d, d,
are used. In the latter method of arranging the straps when it is necessary
to inflate the float after unbuttoning the holes d, d, the other holes g, g, will
require to be unbuttoned from the buttons f. f, and then buttoned on to
'those c, c.
It will be observed that the float A extends from the sides or
breasts of the vest across the back and under the arm-holes; thus, an air
chamber extends almost entirely around the person of the wearer at that point
where it will give the greatest support to the upper part of the body.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, and the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, the
mode herein shewn and described of making life-preserving vests; I claim
particularly, the combination of the elastic fastenings or straps e, e, with an
inflatable air chamber or float, as herein shewn and described..
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)