IMPROVEMENTS IN KNAPSACKS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Drumgoole Brady, of Cambridge
Terrace, in the County of Middlesex, Esquire, for the Invention
of IMPROVEMENTS IN KNAPSACKS."
Sealed the 3rd November 1858, and dated the 14th May 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Drumgoole
Brady at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 14th May 1853.
1, JOHN DRUMGOOLE BRADY, of Cambridge Terrace, in the County
of Middlesex, Esquire, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN KNAPSACKS" to be as follows:-
The chief objects of my Invention consist in rendering knapsacks
lighter, in making them fit the back more easily than heretofore, and
in making them perfectly waterproof; and for these purposes I make
the body or frame of gutta-percha or straw board, moulded into the
precise shape required, or, if preferred, the inner frame may be made of
wood, or of a combination of wood and straw board. I then cover the
frame with that waterproof material known as "American cloth," or
with other suitable waterproof material.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Drumgoole Brady in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 14th November 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN DRUMGOOLE BRADY, of Cambridge Terrace, in the County of
Middlesex, Esquiro, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most. Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Drumgoole Brady, Her special
licence that I, the said John Drumgoole Brady, niy executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Drumgoole
Brady, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN KNAPSACKS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Drumgoole Brady, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and scal, 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 Drumgoole Brady, 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 Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say:
My Invention consists in a mode or modes of constructing knap-
sacks, whereby they are rendered lighter, are made to fit the back
more easily than heretofore, and are slung or suspended in such

page_text: manner that they may be carried with increased comfort, without in
any way impeding or interfering with the free movements of the
wearer, and whereby they are also made perfectly waterproof.
Figure 1, of the Drawings annexed represents a front view of a
knapsack constructed according to my Invention, closed and ready for
use. Figure 2, is an end view of the same; and Figure 3, a view of
the knapsack open, for the purpose of shewing more distinctly the
different parts of which it is composed. A, A, is the body or case of
the knapsack, which is made gradually tapering, or narrowing in-form,
both in depth and breadth, from the top towards the bottom, as shewn
in Figures 1, and 2. The body or frame thereof is composed of gutta-
percha or compounds thereof, or of papier maché, or straw board,
moulded into the precise shape required, or it may be made of wood,
or of a combination of wood and straw board or papier maché; and
when thus made of other materials than gutta-percha, or compounds
thereof, it is covered with undressed skin or leather, or vulcanized
india-rubber cloth, or American cloth, or painted canvas, or other
suitable waterproof material, so as to make a knapsack both light and
waterproof. B, is a flap, which is capable of being raised, so as to
admit of the articles required to be carried being placed in the case A,
of the knapsack. This flap is fastened down by the tabs a, a, which
are passed over the studs b, b. The flap is composed of any suitable
waterproof material, and may or may not form a part of the same piece
which covers the case. C, C, are leather straps, by which the knap-
sack is slung these straps are entirely unconnected with the knapsack,
and may be altogether detached from it. a, x, are double buckles,
which are fitted to the straps C, C, when required, for carrying the
great coat without the knapsack. The straps C, C, are passed round
the back of the pack over the studs at the bottom, then through the
two links at the top of the pack, and then brought up in front, where
they are connected by the buckles d, d, through which the shoulder
straps D, D, or slinging parts of the straps C, C, are passed. The
great coat, when carried, is to be placed under those straps, and between
the two links at top. C', is a cross strap, which connects the ends of
the straps C. C. c, is a fixed buckle at one side, and e', another buckle

page_text: or hook at the other side, attached to the bottom of the pack A, by
means of which the straps D, D, are secured, after passing over the
shoulders, and may be adjusted to the case of the wearer. E, is a
pocket, which is inside of and attached to one of the outer flaps F, F,
and is folded over and secured in its position by means of the outer
flaps F, F, lacing over it, as shewn at g, y; this pocket is intended to
contain a shirt, socks, or other portions of the soldier's necessaries, and is
to be distended so as to suit the conformation of the wearer's back, and
keep the knapsack in a perpendicular position, or the pocket may be
attached to one side without the flaps F, F, and made fast at the other
side by means of straps and buttons or other fastening; the mode of
slinging the knapsack by means of straps unconnected with and
detached from it may also be adopted with knapsacks of a different
form and construction from that shown.
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
constructing of knapsacks as hercin-before described and represented in
the Drawings hereunto annexed, as also the mode of slinging the same,
whereby they are rendered lighter or more casy to carry, are made to
fit the back more comfortably, and are at the same time waterproof.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Drungoole Brady, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of November,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.