Improvements in or Connected with Hand Rails or Bulwarks for Ships and other Vessels whereby the same are Rendered Suitable for Life Buoys.
Year: 1889

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or Connected with Hand Rails or Bulwarks for Ships
and other Vessels whereby the same are Rendered Suitable for
Life Buoys.
I, GUSTAF HENRIK LIDBECK, of Karlskrona, Sweden, Lieutenant Royal Swedish
Navy, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is
to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
This invention relates to improvements in or connected with hand rails or bulwarks
for ships and other vessels whereby the same are rendered suitable for life buoys, such
life buoys not requiring or not occupying much space and are at any time readily to
hand when required. For this purpose the buoys are so arranged as together to
constitute one of the fixed parts of the vessel, viz. the hand rails or bulwarks running
round the stern or round the whole vessel. In order to form at one and the same
time hand rail and buoys, the band rail is made up or composed of airtight boxes
arranged one after another and fixed, but capable of being loosened or removed
simultaneously by means of a disconnecting device common to all which may be con-
veniently operated by the attendant on the captain's bridge. Should anything happen
causing the sinking of the vessel for example, all the boxes can be disconnected at the
same time from the captain's bridge, and when they come into the water they float,
each in itself forming a life buoy.
In order that my invention may be fully understood I will now proceed to describe
same with reference to the accompanying drawings.
on a,
Figure 1 shows the railing constructed according to my invention in cross section
b of Figure 2 which latter shews part of the same railing in longitudinal section,
and Figure 3 is a side view of the same. Figure 4 is an end view of one buoy or box-
detached. Figure 5 is a detail of the mechanism for disengaging, Figure 6 is a
modification of the disengaging gear, and Figure 7 is a general view shewing the
stern of a small vessel fitted with life saving apparatus constructed according to my
invention.
A is the buoy having the shape of a boat preferably made of tinned copper plate
and air-tight. On the top it is provided with a wooden covering B. Under the
somewhat projecting edge or border of the platform B the whole buoy is surrounded
by a flange of angle iron, by means of which the buoy rests on a frame D. The
wooden covering B and the flange C have (viewed from the top or in plan) a rect-
angular shape. The frame D is composed of two angle irons running along the
railing and firmly united with cross plates E. to the stanchions of the railing. At
the fore end of the buoy with respect to the head of the vessel, see Figure 3, the
flange C is wider than on the sides in order to be covered by the flange of the next
buoy situated ahead, that is one overlaps the other. In a bearing F fixed to the
transverse plate E there is a pivotted hook G which takes onto a shoulder H fixed on
the buoy, the flange of which as before stated is superposed. The shoulders H are
bevelled or sloped on the top or surface on which the hook G takes so that the more
the hooks are tightened the more the buoys are pressed to the substructure of the
railing. The shoulders H are secured to the superposed flange C of each buoy, and
the adjacent flange is recessed to permit the shoulder to fit. The hook G retains in
this way the adjacent ends of both the buoys at the standards of the railing which
standards are placed two abreast. Between every pair of standards counted length-
ways there is a buoy and at every standard a hook G, retaining the buoys. The hooks
are provided with lever arms Hi and these are coupled together by means of a rod 1
guided and retained at its place by cross pieces K screwed fast to the standards as
hewn in Figure 5. The tie rod is jointed at each cross piece K and there is a spring
ox L between the bottom L' of which and the cross piece there is a spiral spring
T

page_text: acting upon the rod I in such a direction that the hooks G are held closed. On the
Captain's bridge there is a roller which may be turned by means of a hand spiko
wheel, and to the roller are chains or ropes suitably connected to the tie rods I so
that by turning the roller the captain can move the tie rods, so as to disconnect the
buoys from the grasp of the hooks. Every hook is provided with a tilting lever M,
which, at the disconnection of the hook, raises the buoys so as to make them perfectly
loose. The roller is provided with a ratchet device for preventing the springs on the
tie rod from closing the opened hooks. The buoys are provided with ropes in the
usual manner.
Railings with double standards are employed usually on largo vessels. For small
vessels with only single standards for the railing, the hook G may be fixed direct to
the standards, as shewn in Fig. 6, and the tie rods may be substituted by wire ropes
which are to be united with tho hooks by means of screw links N. The disconnecting
of the buoys is effected as above described.
• If so desired the buoys may evidently be placed at the side of the railing, so as to
form a longitudinal stay for the same. For supporting the buoys cross pieces may bo
employed resembling the cross plates, projecting out of the railing in the one direction,
on which cross pieces, longitudinal bands corresponding to the lateral pieces aro
fixed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
First: The arrangement of life buoys on vessels wherein the buoys are made in the
form of airtight boxes, placed end to end either on top of the railing and continuing
around the whole or a portion of the vessel, so as to serve as a hand rail, or fixed at
the side of tho said railing as a longitudinal stay thereto substantially as set forth.
Second: In life buoys, the combination with the arrangement as claimed in Claim 1
of the devices for simultaneously securing and disconnecting the buoys, such devices
being essentially composed of hooks fixed to the railing, and taking onto a shoulder on
each buoy, such end of each buoy being so arranged as to overlie the end of its
adjacent buoy, together with the connecting rods and chains or their equivalents and
the windlass or such like device whereby the said buoys may be simultaneously secured
or released from the bridge of the vessel or from other convenient place substantially as
set forth.
1000
GUSTAF HENRIK LIDBECK.
By Brewer & Son,
33, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agents.