IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUSES TO ENABLE PERSONS TO PROGRESS IN SWIMMING
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Cox, of Gorgie Mills, in the County of Edin-
burgh, Glue Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUSES
TO ENABLE PERSONS TO PROGRESS IN SWIMMING."
Sealed the 12th January 1858, and dated the 16th July 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Cox at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th July
1857.
I, JOHN Cox, of Gorgie Mills, in the County of Edinburgh, Glue Maker,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUSES TO ENABLE PERSONS TO PROGRESS IN SWIMMING," to be as follows:-
This Invention is for improvements on an Invention for which Letters
Patent were granted to me for England the 19th of January 1841, for con-
structing swimming apparatuses to be fitted to or worn on or round the legs,
feet, arms, or hands of an individual, capable of having expanding and con-
tracting motions given to them, similar in action to the web feet of aquatic
birds.
Hitherto in the construction of these swimming apparatuses to be worn on
or round the legs, the body (into which the leg is inserted) to which the cloth
and ribs were attached was of flexible material in the shape of a stocking.
The cloth was sewed to the stocking, and the ribs sewed or tied to the cloth,
the cloth forming the only hinge for motion. The check cords were also sewed
to the stocking, and very soon the whole fixings gave way, and there was a
considerable amount of "slip" or play in the working of the apparatus
which rendered a considerable part of the stroke ineffective. 1 now hinge tho

page_text: - ribs of the apparatus independently of the cloth, and thus not only give addi-
tional strength but prevent slip; and I make the ribs to support the cloth
instead of the cloth supporting the ribs. In order further to give strength to
the apparatus, I use for the body gutta percha, sheet metal, vulcanized india-
rubber, leather, or other suitable material possessing such rigidity as will
permit wire to be firmly fixed to it to serve as the centre or pivot for the hinge
of the ribs, and which is rigid enough to resist the abutment of the ribs without
collapsing. Further, instead of sewing the cloth to the body, I stick it firmly
to it with a waterproof solution. The body being of rigid material, or com-
paratively so, admits of the apparatus being fixed to the feet, hands, or arms,
as well as to the legs.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Cox in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th January
1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN Cox,
of Gorgie Mills, in the County of Edinburgh, Glue Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Cox, Her special licence, that I, the said John Cox, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Cox, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUSES
TO ENABLE PERSONS TO PROGRESS IN SWIMMING," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Cox, my executors or administrators, by an in-
strument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals,
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 John Cox, do hereby declare the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manuer the same is to be performed, to

page_text: be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to
say:-
This Invention is for improvements on an Invention for which Letters
Patent were granted to me for England the Nineteenth of January, One thou-
sand eight hundred and forty-one, for constructing swimming apparatuses to
be fitted to or worn on or round the legs, feet, arms, or hands of an individual,
capable of having expanding and contracting motions given to them, similar in
action to the web feet of aquatic birds.
Hitherto in the construction of these swimming apparatuses to be worn on
or round the legs, the body into which the leg is inserted to which the cloth
and ribs were attached was of flexible material in the shape of a stocking.
The cloth was sewed to the stocking, and the ribs sewed or tied to the cloth,
the cloth forming the only hinge for motion. The check cords were also seweḍ
to the stocking, and very soon the whole fixings gave way, and there was a con-
siderable amount of "slip" or play in the working of the apparatus which
rendered a considerable part of the stroke ineffective. I now hinge the ribs
of the apparatus independently of the cloth, and thus not only give additional
strength but prevent slip; and I make the ribs to support the cloth instead of
the cloth supporting the ribs. In order further to give strength to the
apparatus, I uso for the body gutta percha, sheet metal, vulcanized india-
rubber, leather, or other suitable material possessing such rigidity as will
permit wire to be firmly fixed to it, to serve as the centre or pivot for the
hinge of the ribs, and which is rigid enough to resist the abutment of the ribs.
Further, instead of sewing the cloth to the body, I stick it firmly to it with a
waterproof solution. The body being of rigid material, or comparatively so,
admits of the apparatus being fixed to the feet, hands, or arms, as well as to
the legs.
=
Figure 1 represents my improved swimming apparatus as applied to the
leg; Figure 2 is a section of the same; and Figure 3 is a plan on a small
scale of the apparatus expanded. A is the body, which is made of gutta
percha, vulcanized india-rubber, sheet metal, or other suitable material; B, B,
are the ribs, which are hinged or jointed to the body A at a, by pieces of brass
or copper wire, or other suitable joints or hinges; C is the propelling web,
which is fastened to the body A by means of a waterproof solution, or in any
other suitable manner. This web may be of waterproof material, such as oil-
cloth, india-rubber webbing, or other suitable material, and is fastened at its
outer extremity by suitable fastenings to the ends of the ribs B, B, at b, b.
D, D, are cords or thongs, which are fastened to the body A at their inner

page_text: ends, and to the ends of the ribs B, B, at c, c. These cords are for preventing
the opening out or expanding of the ribs and web too far, and for causing the
web to keep a firm hold of the water while the apparatuses are being thrust
backward by the swimmer. A strap E has its two ends fastened to the body
A by metal loops F. This strap passes down each side of the leg and under-
neath the foot of the wearer, and serves as a stirrup to exert his pressure upon
while in the act of swimming. A broad piece of metal or other material G is
fastened firmly to the body A, and passes down on the back of the leg, where
it is secured by a strap H above the ankle. A piece I is likewise fastened to
the body A, and continued upwards on the back of the leg, so as to strengthen
the body A, and afford facilities for strapping to the leg. A strap or straps, as
at J, is fastened to the upper part of the body A, and is continued upwards,
and fastened to or round the leg below the knee, so as to prevent the appa-
ratus from slipping down over the feet and keep it steady on the leg. Besides
using the strap I, I sometimes employ two portions of hoops K, K, (made of
sheet metal, gutta porcha, vulcanised india-rubber, or other material,) as
shewn in Figure 4. L, L, are pieces (of any suitable material sufficiently
rigid) which are fastened at their upper ends d, d, to the body A, and at their
lower ends e, e, to the portions of hoops K, K. These pieces L, L, and por-
tions of hoops K, K, may have a sufficient spring in them to keep them closo
and firm to the legs of the wearer, and the check cords may be fixed to the
hoop portion. M is a ring or hoop of vulcanised india-rubber which is fixed
by one part to the inside of the body A. The leg of the wearer is passed
through this ring, which by its elasticity helps to secure the apparatus to the
leg, but various modes of attachment to the leg may be adopted, and the shape
of the body variously modified.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the improvements
in apparatuses to enable persons to progress in swimming herein-before
described and represented in the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Cox, have hereunto set my hand
and scal, this Fifteenth day of January, One thousand eight hundred
JOHN COX. (L.S.)