IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE USED IN CONNECTION WITH THEATRICAL AND SCIENTIFIC EXHIBITIONS, APPLICABLE ALSO TO OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Rufus Gibbon Wells, of New York, United States
of America, at present of 123, Chancery Lane, London, Scientific
Lecturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE USED
IN CONNECTION WITH THEATRICAL AND SCIENTIFIC EXHIBITIONS, APPLICABLE
ALSO TO OTHER PURPOSES."
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with nis Petition,
on the 18th January 1873.
I, RUFUS GIBBON WELLS, of New York, United States of America, at
5 present of 123, Chancery Lane, London, Scientific Lecturer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATus
TO BE USED IN CONNECTION WITH THEATRICAL AND SCIENTIFIC EXHIBITIONS, APPLI-
CABLE ALSO TO OTHER PURPOSES," (to be as follows) :-
I employ pneumatic discs of suitable forms or shapes of rubber, com-
bined with other materials, strengthened with cloth, canvas, leather,

page_text: cords, wire, or other material, and by means of bolts, screws, or levers
attach the discs to different objects, and then apply it to any smooth
surface, whether plane, convex, or concave, and by the use of springs
cause it to adhere to the surface by atmospheric pressure.
To remove these discs with ease I place a valve near the centre, or in
some cases use a cord or wire attached to the edge of the disc, which
when actuated admits air between the disc of india-rubber or other
material and the smooth surface to which it may have been applied.
I employ a morter or cannon, in which I put a parachute or large.
umbrella, with an object or person attached to it, and by means of
springs, compressed air, gas, or any explosive, propel the person or
object against a stationary fixed glass or moving solid surface, and by
means of the pneumatic discs keep the persons or object there as long as
desired. Also persons may be thrown out of the mortar or cannon with-
out the parachute.
I apply these discs for gymnastic purposes to the performer, so that
the artist is able to perform many wonderful feats upon swinging mirrors
or other solid substances. I apply the discs to tables, stands, boxes,
stools, chairs, hats, dishes, and many other objects which may be used
for utility or amusement.
I can also apply the discs for raising or lowering heavy merchandise
or other weights with great facility and economy.
These pneumatic discs can also be employed as a bracket or peg for
hanging or suspending any article or object upon, as knobs for drawers
and for other purposes. I attach one end of a cord or wire to the centre
of the rubber, which is enclosed in any suitable frame, and when the
disc is placed against the wall or other object the cord is pulled
which creates a vacuum, and causes it to adhere tightly to the object.
The other end of the cord or wire is fastened to a peg or other projection,
and on releasing same the disc can be readily removed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Rufus Gibbon Wells in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 18th July 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Rurus
GIBBON WELLS, of New York, United States of America, at present of
123, Chancery Lane, London, Scientific Lecturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the 18th day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand cight hundred and soventy-three, in the thirty-sixth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Rufus Gibbon Wells, Her special licence that I,
the said Rufus Gibbon Wells, my exccutors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Rufus Gibbon Wells, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE USED IN CONNEC-
TION WITH THEATRICAL AND SCIENTIFIC EXHIBITIONS, APPLICABLE ALSO TO OTHER
PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Rufus
Gibbon Wells, 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 bo 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 Rufus Gibbon Wells, 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 accompanying
Sheet of illustrative Drawings and to the figures and letters marked
thercon (that is to say) :-
This Invention consists in the improved construction of pneumatic
discs, and the application thereof to obiccts of utility, instruction. and

page_text: The discs are made of india-rubber, strengthened with cloth, canvas,
leather, wire, or other material, and are secured by screw bolts and nuts
to a backing of any required description. At that part of the backing
through which the said screw bolt or screw bolts pass a hollow or
cavity is formed, so that the screws when tightened or "screwed up "
will "draw in "the disc, and form a concavity upon its outer surface,
which outer surface is smooth and even in all other respects.
The backing carrying the disc I attach to the objects which are
required to be operated with, and then apply the disc to any smooth
surface, whether plane, convex, or concave, to which the said object is
to be attached. When the disc is pressed upon the desired surface the
concavity in the centre thereof will be reduced, and the air will be forced
from between the surfaces, thus forming a vacuum, when by means of
the atmospheric pressure upon the exposed side of the disc sufficient
power will be obtained to retain the object in position upon the surface
to which the apparatus is applied.
When the apparatus is of very large dimensions springs are employed,
if required, to maintain the outer edge of the disc in contact with the
surface to which the said discs are applied.
To remove these discs with ease I place a valve near the centre, or in
some cases use a cord or wire attached to the edge of the disc, which
when actuated admits air between the disc of india-rubber or other
material and the smooth surface to which it may have been applied.
In carrying this Invention into practice, according to one modification,
I proceed as follows:-I employ a mortar or cannon, in which I put a
parachute or large umbrella, with an object or person attached to it, and
by means of springs, compressed air, gas, or an explosive, propel the
person or object against a stationary fixed glass or moving smooth solid
surface, and by means of the pneumatic discs keep the person or object
there as long as desired.
Also, objects may be thrown out of the mortar or cannon without the
parachute by employing a rod with a disc attached thereto, the person or
object to be projected from the mortar or cannon holding or being
secured to the rod.
The cannon or mortar that I employ is a sufficiently strong frame,
constructed with interior guides, channels, or grooves. for guiding a

page_text: movable platform attached to a rod, thus forming a piston, upon the wad
or platform of which the person or object to be projected or impelled
stands or is placed, and the propelling force is applied to the said
piston.
I apply these discs for gymnastic purposes to the performer, so that
the artist is able to perform many astonishing feats upon swinging
mirrors or other solid substances. I also apply the discs to tables,
stands, boxes, stools, chairs, hats, dishes, and many other objects which
may be used for utility or amusement.
I can also apply the discs for raising or lowering heavy merchandise
or other weights with great facility and economy.
In the accompanying Drawings I have shewn in Figures 1 and 2 respec-
tively a plan and section of one of these discs, in which A is the disc; B,
the backing; C, the screw bolt; D, the nut, which may be of any desired
shape other than that shown; and E, a washer for closing the aperture
through which the screw bolt passes.
The straps or bands for securing the disc to the object to be operated
with are secured in any suitable way to the backing of the disc.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
I claim, the improvements in apparatus to be used in connection with
theatrical and scientific exhibitions, applicable also to other purposes, as
herein described and shown on the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Rufus Gibbon Wells, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of July, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
RUFUS GIBBON WELLS. (L.S.)