Improvements in Life Saving Apparatus.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Aug., 1995-4ccepted, 12th Oct., 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Life Saving Apparatus.
We, ROBERT BUSTIN, Dealer in Live Stock 222 Britton Street, and ROBERT
KELTIE JONES, Brewer 182 Germain, Street, both of St. John, in the Province of
New Brunswick, Dominion of Canada, 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 :-
"
.
The invention relates to life saving apparatus, the purpose being to provide
means so greatly simplified in construction and operation, that the passengers and
crew upon a vessel which takes the ground at some distance from the shore, in a
heavy sea having such weight that the ship is in danger of breaking upon in a
short time, may be easily and rapidly brought to dry land by the lift-line ordinarily
used in such cases; the escape by way of such line being rendered so simple, and
speedy, by the invention, that the danger of a loss of life by a sudden breaking up
of the wreck, before the present life-saving methods can be carried out, is
practically prevented. In short, it is aimed to provide means whereby any number
of persons can be carried from a wrecked ship to shore almost immediately after
the life-line is secured at both ends.
It is one essential feature of the invention that it provides means of the utmost
simplicity, both in construction and operation, whereby any required number of
travellers may be placed in very rapid succession upon a life-line immediately after
said line is made fast at both ends, the life belt attached to the said traveller being
capable of adjustment upon the person almost instantaneously and with such
simplicity that neither instructions, nor assistance, is required to enable a
shipwrecked person to use the invention. It is well known that in very many cases
of wreck, not only passengers having little knowledge of the sea, but even old
sailors, may, under some circumstances, wholly lose their presence of mind and
become incapable of helping themselves, or others. It is especially necessary,
therefore, that in life-saving apparatus of this nature, the manipulation or adjust-
ment should be of the most simple character and, as far as practicable, independent
of special knowledge and cool judgment. It should, also, be capable of rapid use
and permit the passage of a number of persons in close succession, in contra-
distinction to the method now in use, in which one person is brought from a wreck
in a breeches-buoy, which must be returned to the wreck by the out-haul of the
hip line, and then dragged back by the inbaul with the second rescued person,
and so on.
We may add that many cases occur in which persons who are to be
removed from a wreck become wholly unmanageable, and instances are not wanting
in which syncope has been induced by sudden fright under similar circumstances.
For these reasons it is essential that the invention shall comprise means of the
utmost simplicity and capable of the most speedy and secure attachment, whereby
the person to be rescued shall be as secure, in passing from the wreck to the shore,
as if enclosed within the "breeches-buoy.'
It is one purpose of the invention, therefore, to combine with the life belt a
strap, or auxiliary belt, permanently and pivotally connected to said life-belt at a
single point, and ordinarily retained on its outer surface by means of loops, or
keepers, from which said auxiliary belt may be withdrawn by a single, quick move-
ment, turned upon its point of pivotal attachment, and buckled, or otherwise
secured, around the body of the person who is to leave the wreck, whereby such

page_text: person is so securely fastened within the life belt that escape therefrom-shall be
impossible until the land is reached.
It is a further purpose of the said invention to provide means by which a
traveller, with a life-belt attached, may be placed upon the life-line, or hawser,
after the latter has been attached to any part of the wreck, said adjustment being
made instantaneously and permanently maintained.
It is one object of the said invention also, to provide a simple form of friction
brake, adapted to be controlled by the person in the life belt and to check the
speed of the traveller upon the life line, or hawser, should; the inclination of the
latter be so great as to require it.
It
Finally it is one important purpose of the said invention to provide suitable
means whereby a sudden. list of the wreck, or a continuous surging of the hull,
may be permitted without danger of suapping the hawser, or tautening it so
suddenly and with such force as to injure or remove an occupant of a life belt.
also essential to provide a construction whereby either a single traveller, or
a number of travellers, each having a life-belt attached, may be operated by an
"in-haul" and "out-haul," whereby any number of said travellers may be returned
to a wreck, after those who are rescued are free. from the life-belts, the. whole
series of said travellers being connected temporarily together for this purpose.
To enable others to clearly understand and to practice the, said invention, we
will now describe the same in detail, making reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which―
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a traveller, detached from any hawser, but showing
the-riding friction-brake.
Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same.
Fig. 3 is a vertical section, taken from front to rear and substantially, in the
central line of Fig. 2.
Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view, showing one of the life belts detached from
its traveller.
Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the operation of the invention.
Fig. 6 is a detail view of a preferred form of tension device.
Fig. 7 is a detail section a modified form of tension device.
The reference numeral .1, in said drawings, indicates the frame of that part which
we term the traveller, as it is adapted to move upon the hawser, which is made fast
to a wreck and to an anchor upon the shore.. It consists of two parallel parts of
skeleton form in order to secure the least weight that is consistent with the
necessary strength, and in the upper and partly enclosed end of the frame is a
pulley, or sheave 2, having a grooved periphery and adapted by its form, to ride
upon the manilla bawser, such as is commonly used by the life saving stations in
this country. The frame is preferably constructed of a suitable metal,, such as
brass, and is cast in one piece. In one of its parallel sides, between, the periphery
of the pulley 2, and the bottom of said frame, is. formed a transverse opening 3, of
such width as to readily permit the hawser, orilife-line, to euter, in order that the
sheave, or pulley 2, may engage with, and rest thereon: This opening 3 is closed
by a gate of any suitable form; such, for: example, as a pivotted device capable of
closing any required part of said. opening. 3, its end being fastened by a spring-
pressed latch. As one of many different forms of the gate and latch may be
employed without any departure from the invention. We have shewn a single
form only, in Figs. 1 and 2, consisting of a single, pivotally mounted device 4,
capable of being thrown across the opening 3, and a spring pressed latch 5, upon.
the exterior of the frame, adapted to engage the gate and hold it in such position
as to retain the hawser.
Upon the lower end of the frame, is a hanger 6, in which is swivelled the shank
of a snap hook 7, the latter being confined therein by means of a nut 7ª screwed on
the threaded end of the shank. While the hook may be of any preferred form,
we have shown a pivotted latch 8, set in a countersunk recess in the rigid member,
so that there shall be no projecting points to foul lines, or clothing,

page_text: Connected. to. the snap. hook 7 is one end of the life belt 9. This, belt is of any
suitable width. and. length and is usually formed of strong webbing, although any
other suitable material may be used. At one end said belt, is provided with two
loops 10 and 12, the former being engaged with the snap-hook 7, while the latter
furnishes means by which the other end of the life belt which is furnished with a
strong snap hook 13,,may be attached,, so that it will assume substantially the form
seen: in. Fig. 4. In this.form.it may either pass. beneath the thighs, and support,
the user in a. sitting position,, as shown in Fig. 5; or,; it may, when necessary,
encircle the body beneath, the arms, as the circumstances of each case may require.
We will. mention, at this point that. it is a fact well known to sailors and to the
crews of life-saving stations,, that cases occur in. which persons not only lose all
presence of mind, in a. shipwreck,, but. become, in some cases, deranged,, and even
unconscious, by reason of fright. In rescuing such persons no dependence can be
placed upon their intelligence or coolness and each person must be secured: in the
life. belt in such a.manner. that he cannot in any manner escape from it. In order
to provide an extremely simple attachment for this purpose, which may be applied'
to and removed from the person. with great ease and rapidity, we provide the life-
belt, with an auxiliary belt, or strap. 14,, of any proper material and fasten the same
to the life belt 9 by a single pivottal: attachment 15 which may consist of a simple
rivet. This attachment will usually be located near one of the ends of the. belt:
shown in Fig. 4, and from, said point the strap 14 will lie on the exterior of the life
belt, or it may be otherwise disposed, as, for example, by simply looping it through
the belt. 9. At a point. on said belt, substantially opposite the pivotal attach-
ment 15, a transverse piece. 15 is secured, a. buckle 25 being provided at each end
to afford. a fastening for. the free end. of the strap 14, so that no care is required. in
fastening the same,, as it may be carried around the occupant of the belt in either
direction.. The construction. is. such, however, that by a single rapid movement of
the hand the auxiliary, belt or strap. may be entirely released, and it may then. be
carried around the body under the arms of a person. sitting, in the belt, and its
ends connected. by a buckle,, or any other suitable fastening, whereby the body
may be "trussed," so to speak, in a position which renders escape from, the life
belt impossible: The ease: and rapidity with which this attachment may be made,
removes the difficulty of dealing. with such cases; a difficulty which is said to
have been fatal,, in some instances, to numbers of persons who were detained' upon
a wreck,, which was rapidly breaking up, by the panic of a few which rendered.
them powerless to help themselves. The excessive time and labor required* to
bring several panic-stricken and practically demented persons safely to land gave
the heavy and powerful surf time to break the vessel up. and utterly destroy the
mooring of the sea end of the hawser. Had it been possible iu such cases to strap
such unfortunates into life belts by a few seconds of simple work, and to ship the
travellers carrying said belts upon the hawser, or shore line, either connected, or
disconnected, it is undoubtedly true that all on board might easily have. been
saved.
In most cases the hawser, or shore-line, is secured well up upon the lower mast
of the wreck, and even when drawn taut there will be, under ordinary circum-
stances,. more or less inclination which may cause the traveller to run at a perilous
speed. To check the same, when necessary, we provide a friction brake, consisting
of a band lever 17, the fulcrum 18 thereof being between. the parallel sides of the
frame 1. From the fulcrum the lever is curved to form a sufficient mass of metal'
to bring the centre of gravity below the periphery of the pulley 2; and its end is
provided with a shoe 19, grooved to correspond substantially with the hawser.
The handle projects downward, and forward; and lies in front of a person who sits
in the life belt 9. A moderate force applied to this lever will diminish, or check
the movement of the traveller almost instantly.
When a ship takes the ground in a heavy sea, and especially when the tide is
making, it is possible that the bull may roll, or move otherwise, thereby causing.
the top hamper to vibrate. In such a case a three inch manilla hawser will some-
'

page_text: one or
times snap, and the surging of the same, even if it holds, may be very dangerous
to those who escape by it to, the shore. In order to maintain the tension and
permit the movements of the vessel to. be made without injury to the hawser, I
provide the tension device shown in Figs. 5 and 6. This device may consist, of
more powerful coiled springs 20 (a plurality of such springs being
preferable) secured at one end to the auchor, and at the other end to the hawser.
We prefer, however, on some accounts, to use the form shown in Fig. 6, which
consists of a series of elastic strands 21, usually formed of highly elastic rubber
and passed through heads, or spreaders 22. The strands are then brought together
and connected to an eye 23, or other suitable fastening device. A structure of this
type will give a large degree of elastic yield, sufficient to protect the hawser from
dangerous strains and prevent it from surging with such violence as to cause danger
to those in the life belts.
Should the traveller become inverted upon the hawser, or shore line, from any
cause, provision is made by which it may still move thereon, with the minimum
friction. For this purpose we mount a grooved roll 24, of less diameter that the
pulley 2, in the frame of the traveller above the lever of the friction brake,
between its fulcrum and the brake shoe. The lever is substantially balanced upon
its fulcrum so that in case of inversion it will simply turn so far as to bring the
roll 24 on the shore line.
!
:
The belt 9 is preferably provided with a series of cork floats 26, formed and
attached in any suitable manner, whereby the belt may, upon occasion, serve as a
life preserver. These floats will ordinarily be of the same kind as those used upon
the life-belts of the men employed in the life saving stations.
We may also substitute for the tension device heretofore described, the form
shewn in Fig. 7, in which a coiled spring 27 is arranged within a cylinder 28 and
compressed between one end of said cylinder and a movable head 29 having a
spindle 30 which passes through the spring in' the line of its axis and through the
head, or end of the cylinder 28. The other head is provided with a fastening 31,
and the end of the spindle has a like fastening 32, whereby said tension device may
be secured to the shore anchor and to the hawser.
The travellers are each formed, or provided, with rigid loops 33, on opposite
sides of the pulley 2, to form means for the interconnection of a series of the
travellers by short chains having snap hooks, or other suitable means of fastening,
as seen in Fig. 5. These loops 33 also will serve as a means for attaching the
inhaul, and outhaul, as also shown in Fig. 5.
.
:
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
―
./
1. In a life saving apparatus, a traveller having a pulley adapted to ride upon a
shore line or hawser, and provided with an opening in one of the sides enclosing
said pulley to admit the hawser, a movable gate to close said opening, and means
for attaching a life belt, or other suitable support, to said traveller, substantially
as described.
2. In a life saving apparatus, a traveller adapted to carry a life belt, or other
support, and provided with a pulley which will ride upon the shore line, or hawser,
one of the two sides enclosing the pulley having an opening through which the
hawser, or shore line may pass, in order to place the traveller thereon, or remove it,
after said line is attached at both ends, substantially as described.
3. In a life saving apparatus, the combination with a traveller adapted to carry
a life belt, or other support, of a pulley enclosed between the sides and adapted to
ride on the shore line, or hawser, one of the sides having an opening to admit said
hawser, and a friction brake consisting of a lever fulcrummed on the traveller and
having a shoe adapted to compress the hawser on the pulley, substantially as
described.
4. In a life saving apparatus, the combination with a shore line, or hawser of a

page_text: tension device adapted to yield to the rolling or other movement of the ship and
thus prevent the breaking and violent surging of the hawser, substantially as
described.
5. In a life saving apparatus, the combination with a shore line or hawser, of a
tension device consisting of a series of elastic strands arranged in apertures in
separating heads, or spreaders, their ends being brought together and fastened,
substantially as described.
6. In a life saving apparatus, the combination with a traveller adapted to move
upon a shore line, or hawser, of a life belt attachable to and detachable from said
traveller, and an auxiliary belt or strap pivotally connected to the life belt at one
point and normally lying in loops or keepers, on the outer face of the same, whereby
a person sitting in the life belt may be securely strapped therein, substantially as
described.
7. In a life saving apparatus, the combination with a series of individual
travellers, each having a pulley adapted to move upon a shore line, or hawser, and
each being provided with an opening in one of the two sides supporting said pulley
in order to permit the traveller to be placed upon and removed from the hawser, of
means for temporarily linking or connecting together a plurality of said individual
travellers, and an out-haul and in-haul, substantially as described.
8. In a life saving apparatus, a traveller consisting of parallel sides, a pulley
journalled to revolve between the sides and adapted to ride upon the shore line, or
hawser, and means for detachably connecting a series of said travellers to each other-
and to the out-haul and in-haul, substantially as described.
Dated this 20th day of August 1895.
ABEL & IMKAI,
Agents for Applicants.