US242448A

US242448A - Life-raft

Info

Publication number: US242448A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1881-06-07
Anticipated expiration: 1898-06-07

Description

(ModeL) T. HALL. Life Raft.

Patented June 7,1881.

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N. PETERS. Pholo-Lilhogmphor. Washington. D. C.

NITED STATES PATENT ()FFIGEQ THOMAS HALL, OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

LIFE-RAFT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,448, dated June '7, 1881.

Application filed July 14, 1880. (Model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS HALL, of Newton, Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Life-Rafts,of which the following is a specification The object of my invention is the saving of life at sea; and it consists, mainly, of a double float or raft made of cork, wood, air-tubes, or otherlight and buoyautmaterials, of such form or shape that they may be fitted or attached to the outside of a boat of the kind now in common use, and carried on board ships and steamboats.

The rafts or floats are usually made in two parts, one being placed on each side of the boat, to which they are secured by suitable fixtures and lashings, as represented in the drawings hereto annexed, and making a part of this specification.

When the parts of the raft ale united they form a cradle or holder in which the boat rests, and the curved ends of the rafts are nearly in contact with each other at the bow and stern. I prefer to make the raft of such materials as can most readily be made to conform to the shape of the boat, but straight cylinders or caissons may be used.

The rafts are alike, and the description given below applies to both of them. (Marked in the drawings A A.)

Figure 1 is a top view of the floats, showing the position of an inclosed boat. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section of the floats or rafts.

The boat inclosed in the space or cradle between the two raftsis shown at B; the thwarts at O; D, the keel; E, the rudder; F, the tiller; P, the painter.

The lower sides of the floats A A, beneath the boat B, may be nearly level or straight, the outer sides being rounded and projecting beyond the sides of the boat, as shown in Fig.

2, the upper edge of the floats being of about the same height as the gunwale R.

A series of small eyebolts, Q, are secured to the gunwale of the boat, carrying suitable cords S, which serve as lashings to hold the floats firmly in contact with the boat.

The floats are provided on the upper surface, and at intervals throughout their whole length, with one or more rows of rings, V V, and through these, from the eyebolts,thelashin gs S are rove, and thence are passed under the bottom of the floats A A, as shown in Fig. 2. Life-lines are rove through and fastened to the rings V.

On board a ship or steamboat the raft and its included boat is carried on deck or hung from the davits in the usual manner, and when launched it takes the water without danger of upsetting. The boat may be filled with peo ple, and the life-lines will support a large number of those who are in the water, both being used simply for floating, or the lashings S S may be cut and the floats detached from the boat, which can then be rowed, with its passengers, to any desired point, and return to take off those who are clinging to the floats and their attached life-lines.

What I claim is A cradle or holder, of cork or other buoyant material, in two parts, which, when placed lengthwise together, have between them a centralcavity or recess of the same form as a boat, and within which cavity a boat may rest, held by suitable ropes or lashings, and supported in an upright position, substantially as herein described.

THOMAS HALL. [L. s.]

In presence of- W. P. BRINLEY, FREDK. TURNER.