US1110614A - Life-saving appliance. - Google Patents

Description

s. EDMONDS. LIFE SAVING APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20,1912.

Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

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S. P. EDMONDS. LIFE SAVING APPLIANCE.

APPLIGATION FILED NOV. 20, 1912.

Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

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UNITED s'r TEs PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL'P. EDMONDS, OF GATONSVILLE, MARYLAND.

' LIFE-SAVING- .APPLIANCE.

1 Specification of Letters Patent.

To all whom it may concern: 1 n 1 Be it known that I, SAMUEL P. EDMoNDs, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Catonsville, in the county of Baltimore and. State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Life-Saving Appliances, of which the following is a specification. 1 1 My invention relates to life-saving apparatus which may serve as mattresses for use not only in bunks and beds on shipboardbut also in houses, and hotels along water-ways where floods and-overflows may take place suddenly and endanger the lives of those living in the vicinity.

- The main object of my invention is to provide a mattress which, when used in the ordinary manner upon a bed, retains its resiliency but which is. at all timesavailable for immediate use as afloat and willsustain 1 a number of persons for agperiod of days.

In my present invention I provide an envelop surrounding the mattress which is I water-proof and may be substantially airtight so that it may constitute a pneumaticcasing and thus add tothe-buoyancy of the.

mattress, which is itself formed ofbuoyant material." I preferably inclose the waterproof envelop with an o'utercasing or tickingcto form a suitable cover and to act as a protecting sheath for the inner casing.

The several objects of my invention will appear from the following description in connection with the accompanying draw-' ings, in which I 1 1 a j 1 Figure 1 is a, perspective view of'a-mattress embodying my invention and showing its use as a life-saving float; Fig. 2,isla perspective1 view of ,the same with portions of the'inner and outer covers ripped open and laid open to expose the mattress and metal frame; Fig. 3, is a bottom plan view of my life-preserving mattress with one corner of the outer cover turned back and other por-1 tions of the outer and inner covers cut away" to expose themattress; :Fig. 4c, is ald'etail" showing one end of'the mattress and frame.

in section, taken on the line 4-4: of Fig. 3; Fig. 5, is a detail showing in section a water-proof fabric which I may employ for the inner pneumatic cover; Fig. 6, is a detail of one corner of the outer cover showing the manner of inclosing or, pocketing the 1 metal frame; and Fig.7, is adetailshowin the manner of forming-the water-proo joints. 1 1

It is absolutely essential that the float should be rigid and not sag in the center or bend under the great' torsional stresses to which it may be lsubjected by the violence of the waves. It is therefore necessary to Patented Sept. 15, 1914. Application filed November 20, 1912 Serial No. 732,473.

provide .a rigid marginal stifleningframe. However, when used "as a mattress upon 1 bunklor bed, it is desirable to retain all of the available resiliency of the mattress. For both reasons I place the frame at thebottom of the mattress and secure the bottom of the outer cover thereto in a manner to maintaln 1t taut and to prevent any sagging. 1

The mattress 1 may be constructed of felt.

or other resilient material and beprovided with the usual ticking. Such mattresses possess sutlicient buoyancy tobe used as floats-"but I prefer to employ a resilient filler such as water-proof silk floss, which is "in itself a substantially water-resisting ma- I terial, to prevent being water-soaked in case the cover becomes ruptured or torn.

For the purpose of making the mattress thereof,- I incase the .mattre'ssqin a watera pneumaticenv elop. 1This latter features adds very materially to the buoyancy or weight-sustaining capacity of the mattressfloat. I prefer to construct the water-proof water-proof and also to add to the buoyancy envelop of a cloth or fabric illustrated in i Fig. 5, in which the two layers of strong, light cloth PAFinclose and are cemented together byca layer or film of water-proof paint This multi-ply fabric is very serviceable and is especially adapted for the purposes of this invention because the waterproof layer or film isthoroughly protected from abrasion or wear by the outer cloth layers.

All of the seams of the waterproof envelop are made water-proof. I have illustrated in Fig. 7 one method of constructing I thelwater-p'roof seam or joint. After, the meeting edges of the envelop are sewed together, as at 7, the projecting ends of. the cloth are turned back or returned as shown on the right-hand side of Fig. 7, and then fastened down, by means of water-proof glue as shown ontheleft hand side. The entire seam is then covered by a strip of cloth 8 which is securely fas-J teneddown across the entire seam and pro-I j ijecting ends by means of water-proof glue. This glued joint is preferably made upon the inside of the water -proof casing upon three sides thereof to better protect-it must necessarily be placed upon the outside of the fourth side or end after the mattress has been inserted.

An outer cover or casinglO, which may bemade of ticking, is-placed overthe inner, q water-proof envelop or casing.

gmal stiffening frame is constructed of holserted, the free edge .of the strip may be sewed down' to the bottom of the cover .to

' thereby ilncase the frame securely i113 pocket. This forms a very secure union'be tween the frame and the outer cover at the lower outer edge or margin of the cover so that the same may be mamtalned-t'aut and will be prevented from sagging when sustainingthe weight of the mattress and the person or personsthereon. This is-impor tant .asjit'is very desirable to prevent themattress from becoming dished to'let water into or upon the float.

I For the purpose of providing suitable fasteningdevices to secure persons or articles to the mattress-float or raft, lashings 15' are secured to the corners, preferably by passing'thr'ough the outer covering 1 and b'eingtied to the tubular frame 12. These may conveniently be crossed diagonally overthetop ofthe mattress. Suitable handholders" or loops 16, are provided upon 2 either'side, and cross-straps 18,eXtend across the top and over the sides'to furnish addi-' tional securing or holdingdevices. In

storm or on rough water, one is subjectedto: forward, backward and sidewise motions and in fact combinations of these which render it exceedingly important to provide for properly securing oneself to the'raft. It will be observed that thediagonal lashings 15, secured to the corners of the mat- I I I LA" life savingappliance, comprising a buoyant, resilient body portion, a. water-; f'ji- :p'roof envelop therefor, constiuting-"a pn'eu-' fmati'c bagor casing, an outer protective coverfor said envelop, and a metal stiffen-1 fing frame secured within thew-outer. cover", along" the bottom edge thereof,and;-holding :7: ithe same taut across the entireIbottonr of jthe body portion-:1 v t- ;-2. A life-saving appliance, comprising a buoyant, resilient body portion, a water- ?proof' envelop therefor, an outer protective cover therefor, a metal stiffening. frame se-g cured to the outer cover" along the bottom {edge thereof, and holding the same taut 1 across theuentire bottom of the body por- 7 tion, lashings secured to. the corners-ofisaidi frame, and cross-straps secured to inter-.

tress-frameprovide means for bracing against forward and backward motions, while the cross-straps 18, take care of the sidewiseor transverse movements and the" two sets of securing-devices therefore (:0 operate'm a proper manner to-resist stresses in all directions. Thus a person may sitin the triangular space between the interse'c; tion of the lashings and the adjacent cross-strap I8, and-by wrapping the lash mgs about the legs and grasping the crossstrap, be enabled to maintainta secure positioniupon the mattressfloat or raft. The

.pull upon'either of the diagonal lashings is I transmitted to the corner of the metal frame land isfthusdividedbetween and resisted by the two frame bars at right-angles to each other, thatis the thrust upon the'fram'e' is- The marto more efficiently structure. 7 i a Y 7 While I have described the structure illustrated in the drawings, in detail, I amawarei 110 divided into two 1. component forces along thetwo framebars. This arrangement sub ects the frame to less racking than would be thexcasegif the lashings extended longiltudinally from end to end ofthe frame and fastened to intermediate points inthegbars, since such an arrangement would subject.

the bars to sidewise or transverse stresses tendingto bend them. For the purpose of steadying Ythe'raft I may attach a weight by means ,of ropes secured to the corn'ers'of the frame so that the weight will be sus pended centrally fand act as an equilibrat'or. When the inattre'ssis in use'uponabed, the ropes will extend along the edges and hwill not be in theway' or interfere ner with its normal use.

The many advantageousfeatures of tress, provides a pneumaticflfloating body :which iscapable of sustaining heavy loads and possesses the advantage ofremaining high or mostlyabove the water.' The-outer cover-prevents: abrasion and wear of thel inner water-proof c0ver. The" ,mattress self is buoyant and furnishes a reservex of floating material which will keep the mat tress and'itslo'ad afloat evenwhen the cov eringsbecome punctured or ruptured, al though notas high above'the water. The I intersecting, lashings and: crossstrap's, af-" ford ample securing devices and transmit the stresses to the frame in the-most'advans tageous manner. 'Itis' oftenfideslrable to unite or supermoin any I manmy; invention will' now be appreciated, es-ffpeclally "by naval engineers. The water :tight inner envelop; surrounding the m'at' posetwo mattresses toform a-duplex float, I-ni this case it is"preferabletoarr-angeithe r frames at the' top and'at the'bottom soas brace and. stiffen the that changes may be made therein without mediate opposite points of the frame and intersecting said lashings, whereby strains on the lash are transmitted to the frame at the intersections of the side and end members thereof, said lashings forming longitudinal bracing members while said cross straps constitute transverse bracing members.

3. A life-saving appliance, comprising a buoyant, resilient, body portion having an inclosing-cover or casing, an outer protective envelop therefor, having a pocket extending around the lower edge thereof, having its edges secured to the sides and bottom respectively of the envelop, and a stiffening frame secured within said pocket and holding said envelop taut across the bottom. thereof.

4:. A life-saving appliance, comprising a buoyant, resilient body portion, a waterproof fabric surrounding the same and having the seams or joints sealed to provide a pneumatic casing, an outer protective cover, and a marginal stiffening frame within said cover and secured along the bottom edges thereof.

5. A life-saving mattress, comprising a buoyant resilient filling of material not readily absorbent of water, and having a suitable cover, an outer protective envelop therefor, and a rigid marginal reinforcing frame extending around the bottom edge of said mattress and secured within said outer protective envelop.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signa ture in presence of two witnesses.

SAlVIUEL P. EDMONDS.

Witnesses:

J. ROBERT GOULD, F. J. SEIFERT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

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