CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BEDS OR MATTRESSES TO BE EMPLOYED ON SHIPBOARD, OR IN SIMILAR ARTICLES TO BE USED AS SUPPORTS IN WATER
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Francis Smith, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, India-rubber and Gutta Percha Manufacturer, for the.
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BEDS OR
MATTRESSES TO BE EMPLOYED ON SHIPBOARD, OR IN SIMILAR ARTICLES TO BE
USED AS SUPPORTS IN WATER."
Sealed the 3rd July 1866, and dated the 13th January 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Francis Smith at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th January 1866.
I, HENRY FRANCIS SMITH, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
India-rubber and Gutta Percha Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE. OF
BEDS OR MATTRESSES TO BE EMPLOYED ON SHIPBOARD, OR IN SIMILAR ARTICLES TO
BE USED AS SUPPORTS IN WATER," to be as follows:-
=
My Invention is designed for the purpose of sustaining or floating bodies
or weights in or upon water, which Invention may be employed as beds or
mattresses on shipboard, and be used as supports in cases of shipwreck, or
for pontoons, rafts, buoys, or other similar purposes where buoyancy is
required.
The improvements consist in the novel employment and use of a water-
tight bag or covering containing a packing or stuffing composed of vegetable

page_text: matter of a cellular construction, such as straw, bullrushes, or other similar
material, and in manufacturing such water-tight beds or floats the material
used should be as little broken as possible, so as to keep the air cells perfect,
upon which the buoyancy principally depends. I am aware that floats are
now used in which air is contained within air-tight material, but they cannot
be made sufficiently cheap for general use, and the least aperture destroys
their efficiency. I am also aware that straw has been used enclosed in
fabrics penetrable by water, which becomes saturated and will scarcely float,
and therefore the chief feature of my Invention is the use of a fabric
impenetrable to water as a covering for straw or other similar material of a
cellular construction, so as to depend upon the air naturally contained in the
straw for support, and to prevent the water from displacing the same, by
which means life-sustaining beds may be supplied to ships at as economical
a rate as the description now used. Any waterproof fabric, such as india-
rubber cloth, gutta percha cloth, or oiled cloth, tarpauling, or other similar
material may be used to cover the straw.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Francis Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th July 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
FRANCIS SMITH, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, India-rubber and
Gutta Percha Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unte
me, the said Henry Francis Smith, Her special license that I, the said Henry
Francis Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Henry Francis Smith, 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 Inven-
tion for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BEDS OR MATTRASSES
TO BE EMPLOYED ON SHIPBOARD, OR IN SIMILAR ARTICLES TO BE USED AS SUPPORTS
IN WATER," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said leury

page_text: Francis Smith, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 mouths next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Francis Smith, 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 (that is to say) :-
My Invention is designed for the purpose of sustaining or floating bodies
or weights in or upon water, which Invention may be employed as beds or
mattrasses on shipboard, and be used as supports in cases of shipwreck, or for
pontoons, rafts, bridges, buoys, or as protection to bathers, or for other
similar purposes where buoyancy is required.
The improvements consist in the novel employment and use of a water-
tight bag or covering containing a packing or stuffing composed of vegetable
matter of a cellular construction, such as straw, bullrushes, or other similar
material, and in manufacturing such water-tight beds or floats the material
used should be as little broken as possible, so as to keep the air cells perfect,
upon which the buoyancy principally depends. I am aware that floats are
now used in which air is contained within air-tight material, but they cannot
be made sufficiently cheap for general use, and the least aperture destroys
their efficiency. I am also aware that straw has been used enclosed in fabrics
penetrable by water, which become saturated and will scarcely float, and
therefore the chief feature of my Invention is the use of a fabric impenetrable
to water as a covering for straw or other similar material of a cellular con-
struction, so as to depend upon the air naturally contained in the straw for
support, and to prevent the water from displacing the same, by which means
life-sustaining beds may be supplied to ships at as economical a rate as the
description now used.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Francis Smith, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
HENRY FRANCIS SMITH. (L.S.)