CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PACKING CASES, BOXES, TRUNKS, PORTMANTEAUS, AND OTHER ARTICLES FOR CONTAINING GOODS, WHICH IM- PROVEMENTS MAY, UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, BE APPLICABLE TO THE PRESERVA- TION OF LIFE
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
JOHNSON IRVINE, of Peckham, in the County of Surrey, Lieutenant in Her
Majesty's Navy, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fifteenth day of June, in the sixth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas
Johnson Irvine, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her special licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Thomas Johnson Irvine,.
my exors, admors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Thomas Johnson
Irvine, my exors, adññors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter, during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within that part of Her Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland called England, Her Dominion of Wales, 'and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PACKING CASES, BOXES,
TRUNKS, PORTMANTEAUS, AND OTHER ARTICLES FOR CONTAINING GOODS, WHICH IM-
PROVEMENTS MAY, UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, BE APPLICABLE TO THE PRESERVA-
TION OF LIFE;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that
I, the said Thomas Johnson Irvine, shall cause a particular description of the

page_text: nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Johnson Irvine, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Inven-
tion consists in rendering packing cases, boxes, trunks, portmanteaus, and
other like articles impermeable to, and buoyant in water without diminishing
or at least diminishing materially their stowage capacity, so that they may
both serve to hold goods and to act occasionally as life buoys for the preserva-
tion of persons from drowning, and the manner in which my said Invention is
performed is fully set forth and exemplified in and by the following description
thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 of these Drawings represents a marine trunk of my improved
construction, before the outer covering is put on. Figure 2 is an external
view of the same when covered and in a finished state, with the lid thrown
up to shew the interior construction. The foundation
or inner body of the
trunk is made of wood, as usual. I then nail, glue, or otherwise attach to
the outside of this body strips of wood (a, a) of the depth of about half an
inch, placed at equal distances from one another and arranged chequerwise, as
shewn in Figure 1. I fill in the square frames or chequers formed these
strips of wood with pieces of cork (6, 6, 6) which are made to fit them exactly
and are besides glued on to the wooden body or foundation. Or I leave these
squares empty, so that, when the outer covering is put on, they may serve as
so many air vessels to give buoyancy to the apparatus. I cover the whole of
the outside with enamelled.leather, bullock's hide, or some other suitable stout
waterproof material. The outer edges I protect with metal as usual; and for
the
purpose of greater security, I bind the body of the trunk with one, two,
or more bands (c, c) of brass or other metal, which bands are also made to
serve as hinges for connecting the body of the trunk with the lid, and may be
locked together by the ends in front. The trunk is lined throughout on the
inside with caoutchouc cloth, or any other suitable waterproof material. Near
to the top there is attached to the inside a rectangular spring frame F, a
detached view of which in section is given in Figure 3. This frame is of
about three inches deep, and one inch and a quarter wide, and consists of
bottom, side, and end pieces of wood d, e, f, connected after the manner of a
pair of bellows to a wooden top g, by means of an intermediate flexible web
(h) of any suitable waterproof material. It contains inside a number of

page_text: spiral springs s, s, which cause it to press strongly against the lid when it is
brought down upon it, and so 'to make it difficult for any water to pass through
between them. The better to exclude the water, the upper surface of 'the
top (g) of the frame is covered with a strip of strong flannel'or woollen cloth;
and strips of similar flannel or cloth are glued to the-inside of, the lid at the
edges where the top of the frame and lid come into contact. As these springs
allow. also of the frame being compressed considerably, the web part (h).is.in
proportion to such compression forced out, and the admission of water at the
joining of the box lid still more effectually prevented. To the lower edges of
the spring frame there is attached an overall cover G, made of caoutchouc or
other waterproof material, which, after the trunk has been filled, is gathered
together at top, in the manner shewn in Figure 2, and tied as tightly together
as may be by a tourniquet or any other suitable means. L, L, are lashings
which are attached to the "outside of the trunk for persons to hold on by in
the event of the trunk being thrown overboard, and had recourse to as a life
buoy. A trunk, constructed as aforesaid of 'the dimensions of two feet six
inches in length, and one foot three in width, has been found to possess so
much buoyancy in water, even, when packed with seventy pounds weight of
goods, as to be capable of sustaining eight full-grown persons.
Figures 4 and 5 represent a box made exclusively for the purpose of holding
letters and dispatches, or specie, or other like valuable articles. Figure 4 is
án inner case, which is made of tin or other metal well cemented at the joints,
and is 'covered on the bottom and sides with a jacket consisting of thin plates
of metal or wood, divided on both sides into chequers, as in Figure 1,. either
by strips of metal, or if the plates are of metal by ridges raised on the surfaces
of the plates, of which chequers those on the inner side are left empty. to serve
ás air vessels," and those on the outer are filled with cork. Over the jacket
there is a covering of caoutchouc cloth, or some other suitable waterproof
material, which binds the whole fast together. The inner case, when thus
completed, fits into the outer case, Figure 5, where it may be either perma-
nently fixed or left-free to be removed at pleasure. .M, M,.are two collared
apertures on the top of the case (Figure 5) with screw threads on the outside,
through which apertures the letters or other articles are to be introduced.
NN, are caps which are afterwards tightly screwed on' to M,.M, by means
of a spanner, represented separately in Figure 6. The outer case (Figure 5).
is.constructed in all respects in the same manner as that of the marine trunk
first before described...with the exception of, the overall cover G, which is
omitted, and with the exception also that the lid is, for the sake of greater

page_text: tightness, secured to the body by a number of screws (t, t, t). Instead of the
mail box just described, it may, in some cases, be found more convenient to
make use of a trunk such as that first before described, placing the mail bags
in the trunk, and covering them over with the overall cover G.
Figure 7 represents what I call a boat trunk, from its being so constructed
as to be readily convertable into a boat capable of holding one or more
persons, and of carrying at the same time as great a weight of luggage or
provisions as before. In so far as regards the materials of this trunk and the
water-tight manner in which they are put together, it differs in no respect
from that first before described, but instead of having a single lid as usual, it
is covered in at top by four boxes B', B2, B3, B, each made water-tight in the
same way as the box itself, which descend to nearly the middle of the trunk,
and are attached to four sides by hinges, so that in this case of shipwreck
they may all be turned over, as represented in the Drawing (Figure 7), and
the owner (with another if he choose) take refuge in the body of the trunk,
which, by the increase of area thus given to it, will have its buoyancy greatly
increased. To steady these boxes when thus turned over, they may be secured
externally by spring bolts or lashings to the body of the trunk.
Figure 8 represents a trunk of an octagonal form, which may be constructed
according to either of the modes first before described, the three top angles
forming the lid, and the five lower angles the body.
And having now described what I consider to be, generally speaking, the
best modes of carrying my said Invention into effect, I declare that a good
and serviceable article of the sort first before described, and somewhat cheaper
(though on the whole of inferior quality) may be made by using, instead of
the spring frame F (Figure 4), a cushion made of woollen, wadding, horse-,
hair, or any other common elastic material; and that I reserve to myself a
right to the use of such or any other equivalent substitute for the spring
frame.
And I declare that what I claim as my Invention is, the making, in manner
before described, of packing cases, boxes, trunks, portmanteaus, and other
articles for containing goods impermeable to and buoyant in water, without
diminishing or at least diminishing materially their stowage capacity, so that
they may both serve to hold goods, and to act occasionally as life buoys for the
preservation of persons from drowning.
In witness whereof, I, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth
Domber One thousand sight hundred and forty three
THOMAS JOHNSON (L.S.) IRVINE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifteenth day of December, in
the year of our Lord 1843, the aforesaid Thomas Johnson Irvine came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped accord-
ing to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Fifteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-three.