Improvements in Life-boats.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Aug., 1895-Accepted, 9th Nov., 1895
Improvements in Life-boats.
I, REGINALD HADDAN, of the Firm of Herbert Haddan and Co., of 18
Buckingham Street, Strand, W.C., London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention a communication to me from abroad by George Bluemcke,
of 174 Pearl Street, New York City, N.Y., United States of America, Manufacturer,
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of this invention is to provide a life-boat which is adapted to carry
one or more persons and which can be folded up and stored away in a
comparatively small space when not in use. The peculiar and novel construction
of this life-boat is pointed, out in the following Specification and claim and
illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which-
Figure 1 represents a longitudinal vertical section of the frame-work of the
life-boat when expanded and ready for use, the plane of section being indicated by
the line xx Fig. 2.
Figure 2 is a plan or top view.
Figure 3 is a transverse section of the same in the plane y y Fig. 2.
Figure 4 is a similar section showing also the water-proof and buoyant outside
covering of the frame-work.
Figure 5 is a horizontal longitudinal section in the plane z z Fig. 1, on a larger
scale than the previous figures.
Figure 6 is a vertical section of a modification of the mechanism for expanding
and closing up the boat.
Figure 7 is a side elevation of the frame-work of the boat when folded up.
Figure 8 is a plan or top view of the same.
Figure 9 is a transverse vertical section in the plane u u Fig. 7.
Figure 10 is a transverse vertical section in the plane v Fig. 7.
In this drawing the letter A designates the keel which is made of a stiff bar
of iron or steel and to one end of which is firmly secured the stem B while to
its opposite end is firmly secured the stern post Č. With the stem is combined
an elastic supplementary stem 11 and with the stein post is combined an elastic
supplementary stern post 13. (Best seen in Figs. and 8.) Between the stem B
and the stern post Care situated a series of ribs 14, 15 which are elastic and
preferably made of narrow strips of sheet steel. They extend from the keel in
opposite directions and are connected to the same by hinge joints 16, 17. (Best
seen in Figs. 3 and 9.) The ribs 14, 15 extend through guides 18, 19 which
are secured or formed on elastic bars 20, 21 which are connected at their front
ends by means of hinge joints 22 to the supplementary stem 11 and at their
rear ends by means of hinge joints 23 to the elastic supplementary stern post 13.
The elastic supplementary stem 11 is provided with pins 24, which extend through
holes in the upper end of the stem B and the elastic supplementary stern post 13
is provided with pins 25 which extend through holes in the upper part of the
stern post C. The object of these pins 24, 25 is to steady the elastic portions 11
and 13.
D is a flat plate best made of sheet metal and intended to form the seat for
the occupant or occupants of the life-boat. This seat is guided by rods 26
which are secured at their bottom ends in the keel A and at their upper ends
in plates 27 which are secured to uprights 28 (Fig. 10) firmly fastened to the

page_text: keel A. When the boat is closed up, (Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10) the seat D slides up on
the rods 26 and when the boat is expanded for use, (Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4) the
seat slides down to the position shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4 and it is locked in
this position by any suitable means. For this purpose pins 29 can be used
which are inserted into holes 30 (Fig. 10) provided for that purpose or the
rods 25 may be provided with screw threads and made to engage corresponding
screw threads in the seat (see Fig. 6) so that by turning these screw rods in one
direction the seat is depressed and by turning them in the opposite direction the
seat is raised.
The seat D is connected to the ribs 14, 15 by means of braces 31, 32 (best
seen in Fig. 9) which are connected to the seat by hinge joints 33, 34 and to
the ribs by hinge joints 35, 36. When the boat is folded up, these braces
occupy nearly upright positions (Figs. 7 and 9) but when the seat D is depressed,
the braces 31, 32 are gradually forced outward and the ribs 14, 15 are spread
open to the position shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. In order to retain the boat
firmly in this latter position, rigid bars 37 are used, the ends of which are hook
shaped and engage eyes 38 secured to some of the riba 14, 15. The braces 31, 32
are made telescopic so that they can extend when the boat is folded and contract
when the boat is unfolded. Fiom the stem B and the stern post C project
bars 39, 40 respectively which are bent downward and secured in the keel A.
These bars serve as additional guides for the seat D and they increase the strength
of the boat.
With the frame-work of the boat is combined a water-tight flexible covering E
which may be made of one or more layers of sail cloth and an outside layer of
india rubber. This covering (see Fig. 4) is provided with an aperture F through
which a person can reach the seat D when the boat is expanded. The edges of
the aperture F are formed into a jacket G provided with sleeves H H, a neck-
band and button flaps J so that when the person occupying the seat passes his
or her arms through the sleeves H H and buttons up the flaps J, the aperture F
is tightly closed and the body of the person is protected, leaving the head only
projecting above the neck-band I.
On the upper portion of the covering E is firmly secured a broad belt K of
cork or other buoyant material which is intended to increase the buoyancy of
the boat and to prevent the same from capsizing.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is.
1. A life-boat the framing of which is composed of a keel of practically rigid
material, a stem and a stern post of practically rigid material firmly secured to
the keel, a supplementary stem and stern post of elastic material firmly secured
to the keel, a series of elastic ribs secured to the keel between the stem and the
stern post, a series of longitudinal elastic side bars provided with eyes to engage
the ribs and connected at their ends with the supplementary stem and stern
post, two upright standards firmly secured to the keel, a seat guided by said
standards and constructed to move up and down on the same, and braces hinged
at their inner ends to the seat and at their outer ends to the elastic ribs
substantially as described.
2. The combination with the keel A, the stem B and the stern post C of a
supplementary stem 11 provided with guides 24 which engage the stem B and of
a supplementary stern post 13 provided with guides 25 which engage the stern
post C substantially as described.
Dated this 13th der of A vous 1005