AN IMPROVED. LIFE RAFT OR BOAT
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alexander Melville Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 9th June 1881. A communi-
cation from abroad by William Meyer Van Wagenen, of Newark, in the
County of Essex, State of New Jersey, United States of America.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent. "AN IMPROVED. LIFE RAFT OR BOAT." [A commu-
nication from abroad by William Meyer Van Wagenen, of Newark, in the County
of Essex, State of New Jersey, United States of America.]
The object of this Invention is to provide a compact, strong, easily constructed
and easily handled life raft or boat for carrying cargo, to be carried on the deck of
a vessel or to be suspended from its davits.
The Invention consists in a raft or boat composed of two or more long flat
bottomed floats or pontoons connected together side by side by means of hinged
and pivoted braces or beams and other devices. in such a manner that they may
be held in close contact with each other, and thereby occupy comparatively little
space, or may be drawn and held apart so as to form a comparatively large raft.
And it consists further of an attached folding platform or deck for covering the
'midship section of the raft and of adjustable gunwales to be secured around the
edges of the deck, so that a cargo may be safely held and carried thereon.
The pontoon raft sections are preferably of such shape that when brought side
by side together they form a long, narrow, oval, or elliptical raft, which is
suspended from the davits in such manner that as the raft is lowered its sections
will move apart from each other to the full extent permitted by the cross beams, so
that the latter can be adjusted and the raft be thereby ready for use almost
immediately on its reaching the water.
The cross beams or timbers preferably extend from outside to outside of the
pontoon raft sections and are pivoted thereon, so as to readily move in a
horizontal plane. Said timbers are also hinged in the middle in such a manner
that they may be folded laterally.
.
When the raft is in the water, the timbers are straightened and are locked by
bolts, and when in this position the ends of the timbers bear laterally against
stops fastened along the outer edges of the pontoons and are thereby more firmly
held.

page_text: The deck or platform is secured on the timbers parallel with the raft sections by
means of upward extending pintles of the hinges of the two extreme cross
timbers. It is made in three longitudinal sections more or less hinged together so
that the side sections may be folded over on the central section.
When the cross beams and deck are extended and secured, a strong capacious
raft, boat, or catamaran, is formed, capable of living in the heaviest seas and almost
uncapsizable.
To further strengthen the raft and make it safer for passengers and cargo, the
deck is enclosed between raised side and end rails or gunwales. The end rails are
secured in place, extending from one pontoon to the other, and resting upon both
by the insertion of their posts into corresponding sockets that are secured on the
inner faces of the pontoons, and the side rails are fitted in places in a similar way
and also by the introduction of their ends between the vertical braces on the inner
faces of the end rails.
These rails or gunwales are further secured by hooks or other suitable devices.
The pontoons may be made hollow and watertight, or may be filled with cork
or other buoyant material, or may be divided interiorly into air tight cells or
chambers, and may be constructed of wood or metal as may be most desirable.