IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED FOR THE PRE- SERVATION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY, SUCH IMPROVEMENTS OR PARTS THEREOP BEING APPLICABLE TO VARIOUS ARTICLES OF FURNITURE, DRESS, AND TRAVELLING APPA- BATUS
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT.
WILLIAM LAURIE, of Carlton Place, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain;
Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Ninth day of
July, in the thirteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me; the said Robert William Laurie; Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority; that I; the said
Robert William Laurie, my exors, admiors; and assigns, and such others as I;
the said Robert William Laurie, my exors, adñiors, or assigns; should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, within the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and
also within all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED FOR THE PRE-
SERVATION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY, SUCH IMPROVEMENTS OR PARTS THEREOP BEING
APPLICABLE TO VARIOUS ARTICLES OF FURNITURE, DRESS, AND TRAVELLING APPA-
BATUS; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso requiring that I,.

page_text: the said Robert William Laurie, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, shall particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause
the same to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert William Laurie, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by this present Instrument in writing as follows, refer-
ence being had to Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and marks
placed thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to various contrivances or arrangements intended
for the preservation of life and property, and applicable to this end under.
various modifications. And in order that my said Invention may be properly
understood, I shall now proceed to describe my various improvements, referring
at the same time to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed.
And first, with reference to my improvements as applicable to mattresses,
pillows, bolsters, cushions, and chair bottoms. I render these and similar
articles buoyant and serviceable for the preservation of life and property by
the insertion into them of a tube or tubes, or chambers either of a waterproof
or close textured fabric or material, either separate from each other, or in
connection, and stuffed with any suitable buoyant material; the interstices
between such tubes, if any, being filled with cocoa-nut fibre, feathers, hair,
straw, or other suitable distending material. The tubes, as well as the
outer coverings of the mattresses or other similar articles, may be made of
canvas, ticking, or other fabric of close texture, in place of prepared water-
proof fabric, as such close-textured fabrics, although not originally waterproof,
always become so when their substance is saturated with a liquid. Or in place
of such close-textured material any waterproof fabrics may be employed, the
coverings in either case being either single or manifold, as may be deemed
necessary; and where exposed the surface may be ornamented.
In forming
the tubes and coverings I usually employ the material known as Clark's
patent cloth, and the solution used for effecting junctions in it, so that the
edges may be joined without sewing.
In addition to this mode of rendering mattresses and other similar articles
buoyant, I make them further serviceable for preservation of life and property
by attaching to them, either externally or internally, pieces of solid cork or

page_text: other buoyant material, as, for example, the husk of the cocoa nut; and to
assist in preserving the buoyant character of such materials they may be
coated or steeped in any suitable waterproof solution. The several additions
may be attached to articles of the mattress class already made, the finished
article having strings fitted to it to afford a hold for persons in the water.
According to another modification of my improvements I render the articles:
herein-before mentioned serviceably buoyant on the principle of inflation, by
arranging a series of air-tight tubes or chambers in such manner that they
shall severally communicate with what I denominate a compound tubular
valve, such arrangement being intended to enable the user to inflate the whole.
of the air tubes or divisions simultaneously, whilst each tube is nevertheless.
made independent of its neighbour.
Figure I. of the accompanying Sheet of Drawings represents a longitudinal
section of the inflating valve I employ for this purpose.
A series of tubes or
compartments are formed or placed in the article to be made buoyant, as a
mattress, and applied either externally or internally, being in connection with.
the tubes or air passages A, A..B is the shell or outer tube of the inflating
valve, and into this shell the inner ends of the tubes A open. A second or
inflating tube C is fitted to turn or slide in the interior of the shell B, and
having in it a range of openings corresponding to those leading into the
connecting tubes A. During the operation of inflation the holes in the inflating:
tube and its shell are made to coincide with each other, and the air forced
into the tube C then passes into and fills the whole of the tubes or chambers.
When inflated the whole of the openings may be simultaneously closed by moving
the tube Ca short distance longitudinally, or by turning it partially round, so as
in either case to oppose the solid surface of the tube C to the apertures in its
shell. The inflating tube, when applied to a mattress, may either run along one
edge of it, with the tubes A standing across it transversely from one side, or a
double set of transverse tubes or chambers may be adopted, with the inflating
tube passing down the centre. In some arrangements the straight tubular
valve may not be conveniently applicable, and in such cases it may be bent to
a circular or other convenient form, the inner inflating tube being moved
along its shell by means of a slit along the latter. The valves may be formed
of metal, gutta percha, or other suitable material, and, when necessary, the
spaces between the openings may be made air-tight by a packing ring
passed round the outside of the inner tube; and where it is desired
to possess the power of inflation of each tube. separately, the valvular
openings are to be set out of line with each other, in order that by
partially turning the inner tube communications may be opened with each.

page_text: air tube one after the other. It is evident that this class of valve may
be employed for inflation in various articles and under numerous modifi-
cations. The inflatable tubes may also be inserted in stuffed mattresses or
similar articles in a collapsed state, ready for inflation when required; or they
may be made. to constitute the body of the mattresses in themselves when
inflated. In applying my improvements to life buoys or floats I inflate a
series of tubes by my compound valve, or I stretch a single or double covering
of canvas, ticking, or other material, waterproofed or not, over discs of wood or
other suitable material, which discs are grooved round their peripheries to receive
a cord or band for tightening up the covering upon the discs to form a series
of separate chambers inflatable by expanding or drawing out the end discs
when the covering is dry, allowing air to pass through to the interior; and
when saturated with water the unwaterproofed fabric becomes sufficiently
impervious to resist the entrance of water or the exit of the contained air.
It is also evident that floats made on a similar principle may be kept perma-
nently distended or inflated by stretching the material over an unyielding
support, either with or without compartments. To render it available for use
in the water, strings are attached to the float, and to secure the tightness of the
seams, when they occur in any of my arrangements, a waterproof solution may
be applied to them. When a waterproof fabric is used I inflate each chamber
by means of my compound valve passed through the discs. I also construct
another kind of buoy or float by means of bags or simple sheets of a water-
proofed fabric, or of canvas or other close-textured material, to be distended
over chairs, tables, or similar articles of a buoyant character, so as to obtain a
buoyant power available for the preservation of life and property.
Another branch of my improvements has reference to boats, and to arrange-
ments or modifications of furniture or domestic apparatus, whereby they are
rendered available as boats. I take a mattress, constructed as I have herein-
.before described, and having an additional loose waterproof covering or bag,.
the open mouth of which is brought over the centre of the mattress and
arranged so as to receive the lower part of the body and tie closely round the
waist. The sides and ends of the mattress are surrounded by wood or cork,
forming its mouldings or edge pieces when used as a berth; and a set of
moveable poles, on which the mattress rests when used as a bed, may be used
as oars to propel the floating apparatus. When not intended for floating the
human body the mattress is then reversed, the tick side being upwards, and
the space formed in the cover may be used as a receptacle for goods. Handles
or loops are attached to the sides to serve as thole pins or rests for the oars.
I also construct boats in a similar manner, with the only difference, that

page_text: the mattress is placed on a solid bottom of wood or cork, and having a
loose waterproof cover to receive both the person and the bedding when
employed as a life boat. And in order to provide breadth of beam the
covering is made with side pockets or bags for the reception of buoyant
materials, with additional rods and cordage to keep them distended.
According to another modification of my buoyant or life-preserving hammock,
this article is made to serve as a portmanteau, as represented in the plan,
Figure 1, the mattress forming the body having a loose waterproof cover with
an opening A formed in the centre, corresponding to an opening in the mattress,
so loose as that the body inserted falls below the level of the buoyant mattress;
this pendant portion being formed into leggings to receive the legs of the user.
Or instead of the loose outer cover the mattress may be furnished with separate
leggings. Such buoyant mattresses or hammocks, if defended with a wooden
or metallic framework jointed so as to fold, and supplied with loops B, B, for
the oars, are ready at any time for conversion into life boats. Additional
buoyancy may also be given to such apparatus by passing round the rim of the
hammock an empty tube or bag C, C, inflatable, or capable of containing
clothes or other buoyant articles, when used as a float, with the additional con-
venience afforded by the enclosure as a receptacle for various things under
ordinary circumstances. Hinges or joints are provided at D, D, to admit of
folding up transversely, or the fold may be longitudinal. I also make use of
bags for the preservation of life and property by arranging them to suit partly
as articles of dress. The bag is made large enough to receive the body, and is
prolonged at one end to form leggings, contrived to fold up within or without
the bag, when the latter is used simply as a bag. The contrary end has
attached to it sleeves contrived to fold in' a similar manner, and the opening of
the bag or its lining is made to draw close round the neck of the person whose
body is contained in the bag by strings or elastic bands. The sleeves may be
made to terminate in gloves, and the leggings in shoes; or these terminations
may be separate, the wrist portions being tightly secured by bands or strings.
If necessary the upper portion may be detached from the body of the bag, 'and
arranged to form a cap and spencer in one or separately. In the upper por-
tion of the bag I place a double fold of the waterproof material, as a tube for
the reception of buoyant materials, or as an air space, the position of the space
being just opposite the chest and back when the bag is placed upon the body.
It thus acts both as a support and protection for the body and any articles
deposited within it. Portmanteaus and similar articles may be also rendered
available for use, either on land or at sea, by the same general arrangement, as

page_text: explained in reference to the bag or portmanteau hammock, as applied to
general articles of dress. My improvements are adapted to render boas, muffs,
tippets, and apparel of a similar nature serviceable as life preservers by the
insertion into them of a waterproof tube, stuffed or distended with buoyant
materials, and to render them still more efficient the tubes shall be divided
into several compartments, to be either stuffed or inflated by the compound
valve herein-before described. Various other articles of dress, as fishing boots,
the lining of caps, bonnets, and hats, or the articles themselves are rendered
carpable of distension or inflation by the adaptation of the buoyant belt
arrangement herein-before described, or by a pocket or pockets, as I shall
explain hereafter, or by the division of a double lining into compartments
which are all inflatable by the compound valve before described.
Figure 2 of my Sheet of Drawings represents my improvement as applied
to a hat. In this arrangement either the body of the hat is waterproofed or it
is fitted with a waterproof lining, as shewn in dotted lines. The additional
lining or bag A, represented as drawn out for inflation, is fitted with an inflating
aperture at B, and the whole of the bag, as well as a portion of the hat or its
lining, being divided into compartments for safety. I also make the pockets
of coats or other articles of dress of waterproof material capable of being
drawn out and fastened at the top, so as to render such pockets buoyant when
distended, or by another modification the pocket is made in the form of a closed
bag of waterproof material folding inwards like a double night cap, and having
an inflating valve attached. Two or more of such pockets may be connected
by a tube, so as to be inflatable by one operation, if necessary.
Another branch of my Invention has reference to an improved mode of
constructing portable baths, so as to be available for the preservation of life
and property.
Figure 3 of the Sheet of Drawings is a side elevation of one of my portable
baths in a partially collapsed state. The receiver for the water is composed
of two discs A, B, to which are attached the end edges of a tubular covering
of a waterproof material, distended on hoops as at C, C. An opening formed
in the bottom disc receives the end of a flexible tube D, terminating in a
rose jet at E. To fill it, the end of the flexible tube is placed in water, and
the upper disc is elevated to cause an internal rush of water. When used as
a bath, the weight of the body, or any dead weight applied to the surface of
the upper disc, forces out a stream of water by the rose jet suitable for direction
against any portion of the body, or for the purposes of a shower bath. The
rose is to be detached from the end of the flexible tube and placed in the

page_text: opening in the lower disc, so that when elevated above the body, with pressure
applied to the top, a shower of water is produced. To receive the water
falling from the jet, a waterproof carpet, with a tubular- curtain held up or
listended by inflated tubes, may be used. This may be effected by placing an
annular tube at the top and bottom of the curtain, connected with one or
more vertical tubes passing up the sides. To adapt it as a life preserver, all
that is necessary is to fill the receiver with air instead of water, in which state
it will give a very considerable buoyant power.
My Invention is also applicable for the preservation of life and property, by
preventing shipwreck in certain cases. Figure 4 of the Sheet of Drawings
represents a side elevation of the apparatus I employ for this purpose, and
Figure 5 is an end view. The contrivance is intended to act on the principle
of what is well known as the "otter" used for fishing purposes. A is a tube
or cylinder of wood, or other suitable material, which may be divided trans-
versely into compartments, having a deep keel B attached to it longitudinally.
This keel may be formed of the same material as the cylinder A, being
strengthened by ribs or bands C, C, and ballasted by a weight or weights
attached to the keel. Double ropes E, E, and F, F, are attached to the
covers of the apparatus, and these ropes are brought together and joined at
the points G, G, whence they are each continued by a single line of rope to
the ship. When this apparatus is hove overboard it floats vertically in the
water, as represented in the Drawing, and in this position any angle may be
given to it, in reference to the line of movement of the ship, by simply hauling
up more or less one of the attaching ropes. Its effect upon the ship is to check
her way when, for example, she is in danger of driving ashore; it will make her
hold a better wind, and keep her off a lee shore when missing stays in tacking,
by bringing her head up to the wind. With one end hauled forward, so as to
set the plane of the apparatus at any other angle than a right angle 'with the
line of the vessel's motion, an increased holding effect is obtained by the wedge
or inclined plane action thus occasioned, and the apparatus then tends to haul
off the vessel. To keep a ship nearly stationary and prevent her driving in a
gale, I employ a water sail, as represented in elevation in Figure 6 of my
Sheet of Drawings, in the form of a sail or sheet distended upon spars so as
to fold up or collapse for stowage. The action of this apparatus is similar
to that described in reference to Figures 4 and 5, being worked by rope-
tackle attached to its corners, as before explained. To allow the holding
surface of the sail to obtain a better. purchase by sinking into deep water,
floats or buoys A, A, may be attached to the upper spar by ropes, whilst

page_text: weights B, B, are hung to the bottom to carry the whole down. When this
apparatus is used in a tide-way or in a current its action will tend to assist
the ship's movement, the water acting like the wind on the ship's sails. The
apparatus is also capable of use as a raft when the weights are removed, the
buoyant mattresses or other articles of the same class herein-before described
being slipped between the ropes or bands C, C, employed to strengthen the
frame and cover. My Invention has also reference to the manufacture of
what I term a buoyant or "life rope," formed by the inflation of waterproof
tubing, either in one line or in several divisions twisted together, so as to
produce a tube rope. Or, instead of inflation, the tubes may be distended
by stuffing them with buoyant materials, or the requisite buoyancy may be
obtained by covering light ropes; such as those made of cocoa-nut fibre, with
a waterproof cover or coating, whether the whole rope is so covered by one
envelope or by adopting a cover or coating to each division or strand. These
ropes may be made of any length or thickness, and if necessary an additional
float may be attached to them, or the rope itself may serve as a buoy or
float when coiled up. I also make life preservers or floats of any suitable
form by stuffing cases of a waterproof material with inflated tubes, or with:
tubes distended with buoyant materials, as cocoa-nut husks or fibre dipped in a
waterprooof solution, and such floats may be attached to life ropes of the
class herein-before mentioned. Similarly I manufacture floats suitable for
attachment beneath the seats and thwarts of boats, and for fitting to the bow
and stern, extending to the gunwale, which may be cased in with wood;
or ordinary boats may be converted into life boats by placing a belt of
large size, made as herein-before described, beneath the seats and thwarts.
And in addition the cushions or seats of the boats may be formed, as described
in reference to mattresses, so as to answer as floats or buoys; or water-
proofed floats formed with separate chambers, each supplied with a separate
valve placed in its own disc and conimunicating with the external air by
means of a tube or passage made in the thickness of the disc or attached to
its surface, may be used.
My improvements have reference also to the construction of life boats or
boats of the ordinary kind.
Figures 7, 8, and 9, represent various arrangements applicable for this
purpose. Figures 7 and 8 represent two midship sections of boats fitted with
my apparatus, and Figure 9 is a plan of a complete boat, shewing the appli-
cation of two arrangements. A series of floats or buoys A, A, are arranged
along the sides of the boat and beneath the thwarts, and, if necessary, along

page_text: the bottom and at the bow and stern, as at B, B. One or more of the side
floats, as C, C, are loosely attached either by a link or set loose in a case or
guide open to the water at top and bottom. D is a tube or chest, of which
one or more may be used, for holding a quantity of shifting ballast, either
in one mass or loose, as in the state of shot, in addition to a portion of
fixed ballast on the keel. The curve may of course be varied to a greater
or less degree to suit any boat and secure the ballast from shifting until
it upsets. So long as the boat is not upset the ballast remains in a
receptacle E, formed at one end of the tube D, so as to bear directly over the
line of keel; but when the capsize takes place, this ballast falls over with the
movement of the boat, taking the direction of the arrow; it reaches the
opposite closed end of the tube, on the side of the boat to which the loose
floats are attached. The bottom of the boat then being upwards, as the set of
floats are immersed, the loose ones traverse or rise upwards in the water
to the extent of the movement which is allowed them, and this action causes
their side of the.boat to sink deeper into the water than the opposite one
where the floats are fixed. This inequality of buoyancy is also increased by
the action of the ballast in its fall to the lower side, and the combined action
causes the boat to regain an upright keel. In Figure 9 I have in addition
represented another arrangement to be used as a substitute for the moveable
floats in conjunction with the shifting ballast. F, F, and G, G, are air-tight
cases or air receivers, placed two on each side of the boat, partially filled
with air and connected together by transverse tubes H, H. When the
boat capsizes, and one side is immersed deeply into the water by the
action of the shifting ballast, the air case on that side is compressed by the
action of the water, so that the air in it is forced out of it along the
tubes H, H, into the opposite case, buoying up the opposite side sufficiently to
cause the boat to right when assisted by the action of the ballast. Instead
of placing the ballast so as to run to one side only, two or more ballast
chambers may be used, arranged to turn to opposite sides, with one so
arranged as to permit its ballast to go to either side by a continuous tube,
then the boat will right on either side, just as the preponderance of ballast
is to the one side or the other. Or instead of this arrangement one channel
only, may be used, the ballast in a solid piece having its choice of going to
either side. Immediately on the boat's assuming its upright position in
the water, the air in the inflated case will at once divide itself between the
two as at first. If necessary, the air cases may be used in greater number,
or for security they may be divided into compartments, each with a con-

page_text: necting tube for its opposite neighbour. Or the unequal buoyancy may
be gained by discharging the air into other receivers placed in any con-
venient part of the boat, as at K, without forming an air communication
directly across it. When the boat is turned over and in such a manner that
no air is inclosed beneath it, the elevating power of the buoyant apparatus
tends to cause a vacuum beneath it so as to suck in a body of water. To
counteract this holding-down force, I place an air valve in the bottom of
the boat, as at I, arranged so as to be kept closed by a weight or otherwise,
so long as the boat floats on its keel, but when turned over this valve opens
and permits of a free admission of air to the interior. To admit of the
discharge of water from the boat after any casualty, a set of valves or lids
opening outwards are placed at intervals along the sides of the boat, and to
add still further to its value as a life boat, the helm is contrived to work on an
axis somewhat like a scull, so as to be capable of an easy unshipment. In place
of the floats herein-before described as attachable to boats, I employ, where appli-
cable, lengths of bamboo coated with a waterproof solution, and fixed beneath
the seats, at the sides, or between the timbers of the boat. My improvements
in the preservation of property refer also to the preparation and use of letter
and parcel envelopes of any suitable waterproof material or fabric, as paper or
cloth, such envelopes or covers being made either of a partially transparent.
material so as to permit the address of the enclosed letter or parcel to be read
through it, or of any opaque substance, in which latter case the address may
be placed upon the outside of the cover itself. The edges of such envelopes
or covers are to be prepared with a waterproof solution, which is also to be
used for fastening or closing up the necessary aperture in such covers.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
improvements, and the manner in which the same are or may be carried into
effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements of mechanism or apparatus which I
have had occasion to describe or refer to, as many variations may be made
without deviating from the principles or main features of my Invention; but
what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the system, method, or arrangement of rendering mattresses and similar
articles of domestic use available for the preservation of life and property, by
the formation or insertion into them of a stuffed tube or tubes, compartments,
or chambers, or by the use or employment of such tubes or compartments
inflated as herein-before_described by my compound tubular valve.,

page_text: Second, the use or employment of the said compound tubular valve for
general purposes of inflation, as herein-before described.
Third, the adaptation or use of buoyant materials, as cork and cocoa-nut
husks, in the solid form, in or to mattresses and similar articles..
Fourth, the application and use of collapsed inflatable tubes in stuffed
mattresses and similar articles.
Fifth, the system or method of rendering boas, muffs, and articles of a like
class buoyant by means of stuffed waterproof linings, or by the formation
in them of compartments stuffed or inflatable by my compound tubular
valve.
Sixth, the application to coats, hats, and general wearing apparel of water-
proof pockets or receptacles inflatable or convertible into buoyant bags in the
manuer herein-before described.
Seventh, the peculiar construction of buoyant belts or floats, as herein-
before described.
Eighth, the peculiar construction or arrangement of berths or hammocks
for the purposes herein-before described.
Ninth, the use or application of waterproof or other bags as covers for
articles of furniture or other buoyant objects, for the production or formation
of floats or buoys.
Tenth, the use or application of canvas or other close-textured fabrics in
the formation of floats and other buoyant apparatus for the preservation of
life and property, as also the method of inflating the compartments of buoyant
apparatus, by the hercin-before described application of my compound tubular
valve.
Eleventh, the use or application of the peculiar arrangement of a bath as a
buoyant power, as herein-before described.
Twelfth, the use and application of waterproof bags and portmanteaus, and
similar articles, constructed as herein-before described, for the preservation of
life and property, as well as the protection of the body from the effects of
water.
Thirteenth, the employment or use of the life or buoyant rope, as herein-
before described.
Fourteenth, the adaptation and use of the otter, water sail, and raft, for the
purposes herein-before described.
Fifteenth, the application and use in life boats of floats or buoys, as
described, together with the peculiar arrangement of shifting ballast with
moveable or traversing floats or buoys, and the arrangement of collapsable air
floats or receivers, and air inlet valves, as herein-before described.

page_text: Sixteenth, the application and use of a waterproof material in the forma-
tion of envelopes or covers for letters and parcels.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert William Laurie, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Fourth day of January, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty.