Life-saving net

Application filed February

This invention relates to a buoyant life saving net which is suitable to be carried on ships at sea and thrown into the sea in case of necessity.

The life saving devices usually carried by ships are life boats, rafts, and individual life preservers. The life boats and rafts are usually extremely heavy and unwieldy. The rafts cannot easily be launched, and it is ex10 tremely difficult to launch a life boat when a heavy sea is tunning. The individual life preservers permit the persons wearing them to float as isolated individuals, and undoubtedly many persons who have been kept afloat by 15 the life preservers and who have not succumbed, have been lost because they, as individuals, could not be located amid the high waves. Patents have been granted on life rafts intended to accommodate a number’ of 20 persons, but these rafts are unsatisfactory and have not hjeen adopted as standard equipment, because they are heavy and unwieldy and cannot be stored inacompact space aboard the ship. Furthermore, the rafts are stiff and 25 inflexible, and are quite likely to injure a person who is in them.

The life net disclosed in the present application overcomes the disadvantages of the life rafts in that it is made of extremely light, 30 buoyant material, so that a large net capable of accommodating a number of persons may easily be thrown overboard by a single person. The life net is composed of a number of individual floats which are joined by flexi35 ble connections, so that the net may easily be folded into a compact space for storage aboard the ship, and when the persons are in the net in a rough sea, the lightness of the floats prevents the persons from being injured if the 40 floats are thrown against them by the sea, and the flexibility of the connections permits the floats to yield so thatinjury is prevented. By the use of the life net disclosed herein a number bf persons will be in a single group, there45 by rendering it much easier for them to be seen from the rescuing vessel and also enabling the weaker persons to be assisted by the strong ones.

These and other objects and features of the M invention will more fully appear in the fol12, 1929. Serial No. 339,290.

lowing description and the accompanying drawings, and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

The drawings illustrate,in perspective, sec₇tion, and detail a preferred form of construe- 55 tion of the life net and embody the broad principles of the invention; '

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective of the life net as it appears in the water. 60

Fig. 2 is a detail of the connections between the individual floats.

Fig. 3 shows the net of Fig. 1 in closed position ready to be folded.

Fig; 4 shows the net of Fig. 3 in partially 65 folded position.

Fig. 5 shows the net of Fig. 3 in fully folded condition ready for stowing.

Fig. 6 is a section through one of the floats showing the manner of constructing the net. 70

Fig. 7 is a smaller net in open position.

Fig. 8 shows the net of Fig. 7 in closed position’ ready to be folded.

Fig. 9 shows the net of Fig. 8 in partially folded position. 75

Fig. 10 shows the net of Fig. 8 in completely folded position ready for stowing.

Fig. 11 shows an individual life preserver having the construction of the larger nets shown in Figs. 1 and 7. 80 : Fig. 12 shows the individual life preserver of Fig. 11, in folded position.

As illustrated herein, the life net is composed of a series of individual floats 1 joined by flexible connections 2. The floats may be 85 made of any extremely light material, but are preferably made of Balsa wood, which is quite cheap and which is one of the most buoyant materials available in commercial quantities, as it floats with approximately 90 four-fifths of its bulk out of the water. The floats are joined by the connections 2, which may conveniently be made of rope and which are of such a length that when the net is folded the individual floats may lie side by 95 side so that the net can be folded in a compact space. The floats are approximately four inches square and twenty-six inches Ion, and the sections of rope 2, which join the floats, should be at least four inches long so that ¹⁰⁰

1,727,902 the floats may be laid parallel to one another when the net is folded for stowing. The advantage of the light material and the flexible connections is that when the net is in open 5 position, as shown in Fig. 1, with persons in the spaces between the floats, and the net with the persons is adrift in a heavy sea, the persons will be uninjured if the floats are thrown against them, because the light weight of the 10 floats will prevent injury, and also the fact that the connections between the floats are flexible, permits the floats to yield if they should be thrown against a person, whereas if the floats were made of heavier material 15 and were rigidly connected, or were made of a single stick of wood running across the entire net, a person in the net would be injured in a rough sea.

A towing spar 3 is preferably provided for 20 each net and is adapted to be removably connected to the· net by any suitable means, such as snap fasteners 4. Lines 5 running from the towing spar may be used to connect the net to a life boat, or another life net, 25 if desired. The floats are maintained in their correct positions by fastening together the ropes or other connecting means 2, by any suitable devices, such as light metallic juncture plates 6, which may be made of rustproof 30 metal, as shown in Fig. 2, or the ropes may be twisted together, as is shown in Fig. 6, or tied together, as is shown in Fig. 8.

The connecting means 2 may be joined to the floats in any suitable manner. A simple 33 construction is shown in Fig. 6, in which the floats are composed of two sections of wood . 7 and 8. Each section is grooved to form onehalf of a round hole extending longitudinally through the float, and the connecting means, 40 shown in Fig. 6 as a rope, is laid in the groove of one section, after which the other section is put in position, and the two sections are firmly joined by screws 9. This Construction enables any float to be removed and replaced 45 very easily without taking the entire net apart, and in contradistinction to those rafts or nets which are formed of buoyant sections strung on a rope so that the rope must either be cut or the entire net taken apart to remove 30 or replace any interior float.

From the above description of the life net and its construction, taken in conjunction with Figs. 3, 4 and 5, it will be easily understood how the net may be folded for stowing.

The net is spread on the deck-in the position shown in Fig. 1, and the towing spar is removed. The opposite corners of the net are then stretched so that the floats come into the position shown in Fig. 3. The rows 60 of adjacent floats are then folded in layers, as is shown ..in Fig. 4, with the two rows 10 and 11, wKich contain the largest number of floats, on the bottom. The net is then folded so that the rows 10 and 11 lie next 65 to each other, in which case the entire net will be folded into a space approximately 3½ x 3½ x 2 ft., and will form a package weighing approximately one hundred pounds if the floats are made of Balsa wood with rope connections. After the net is entirely folded, 70 a light, but strong, band 12 is put around the package in such a way that it can easily be removed. The ends 13 of the band may conveniently overlap, and be cemented together with water-soluble cement. The junc- 75 ture should be protected, for instance, by an easily removable waterproof covering 14, such as waterproof paper, so that the ends of the band do not separate when the package is· exposed to water on shipboard. Before the 80 net is thrown overboard the waterproof covering may easily be torn off and the net thrown over as a single bundle. The water of the sea will then loosen the cement connecting the ends of the bands 13 and the net 85 will spread into the position shown in Fig. 1.

In Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10 there is shown a small net intended for use by four persons. The net has four spaces, and the construction is like that heretofore described in connec- SO tion with the larger net shown in Fig. 1. The net shown in Fig. 7 has a spread dimension of approximately 5 ft., but when completely folded, as is shown in Fig. 10, it makes a compact bundle of only 16 x 16 x 26 inches. 95

In Figs. 11 and 12 an individual life preserver is shown. The construction of this life preserver is similar to the construction of the life nets. When folded, as is shown in Fig. 12, the space occupied by this life pre- 100 server is approximately 8 x 8 x 26 inches, yet its buoyancy, if made of Balsa wood, is sufficient to support a person in the water. This size life preserver is especially adapted for use in small pleasure boats, where it is 105 extremely desirable to conserve space.

The life nets disclosed herein are extremely practical. The cost is quite low, and they are very easy to make and repair. When opened up, the large size net, shown in Fig. 1, no will accommodate twenty-five persons and will spread over an area of approximately 12 ft. square, yet for stowing it can be folded into a bundle approximately 3½ x 3½ x 2 ft., and is so light that one seaman may throw it Π5 overboard. Several of the large size life nets may be stowed in a life boat of the usual size, and the necessary towing spars may be laid on the seats. All that is necessary, in order to prepare the life net for use, is to cut the 120 band 12, or tear off the waterproof protecting material 14 from the ends 13 of the band, and throw the net overboard as a bundle. Immediately upon striking the water, the net will spread if the band 12 has been cut, or it will 125 spread shortly after striking the water, if the ends 13 of the band are held together by the water-soluble cement. When the net, as shown in- Fig. 1, is in its spread condition it will accommodate twenty-five persons who 130

1,727,902 will be together in a group and will be able to render to one another such assistance as may be necessary.

Although a particular and preferred form of the invention has been described, it is recognized that modifications may be made and it is distinctly to be understood that the invention is to be construed as broadly as the claims, taken in conjunction with the prior art, may allow.