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LONDON:

SHACKELL, ARROWSMITH, AND HODGES, JOHNSON'S-COURT, FLEET-STREET.

THE

London

JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES.

No. LXII.

Recent Patents.

TO WILLIAM HENRY JAMES, of Cobourg Place, Winson Green, near Birmingham, Engineer, for his Invention of certain Improvements in Apparatus for Diving under Water, and which Apparatus, or part of which Apparatus is also applicable to other purposes.

[Sealed 31th May, 1825.]

THE object of this invention is to enable persons to remain under water for a considerable space of time, in order to examine the bottom of the sea, to break up wrecks or sunken vessels, for the purpose of recovering property, and attaching such fastenings to packages as shall allow of their being drawn up into ships or boats floating above. The most expert divers can remain under water but a very short space of time, scarcely a minute, which is insufficient for the purposes of attaching grappling irons or other fastenings to the articles required

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to be raised. Hence for the recovery of sunken property diving bells are commonly used, in the employment of which the volume of air contained within the bell keeps the surrounding water from entering, and the persons who are enclosed within the bell have the opportunity of moving about freely, the fresh air for their respiration being occasionally supplied through pipes by a forcepump. But within these diving bells the range of operation is necessarily limited, and the bell has to be shifted from place to place with considerable difficulty, labour, and loss of time.

The design of the present invention is to obviate these inconveniences, and to permit the diver to move about freely in any direction under the water, without limiting his range, and to afford him the means of supplying himself with air for respiration whenever that should be necessary.

The apparatus in question consists of a hood to be placed over the shoulders, and which is made fast round the body and arms by means of elastic bandages; and also a vessel to contain condensed atmospheric air, from which vessel a pipe leads to the interior of the hood, and a cock in the pipe allows a small current of air to flow, or small portions of the air to be transferred from the vessel as the wearer may require it, while under water.

Plate I. fig. 1, represents the diver attired in the apparatus; fig. 2, is a section of the hood and air vessel taken, sideways; a is the metallic air vessel, made particularly strong by means of ribs or partitions, in order to resist the internal pressure of the condensed air when filled, which is to be pressed into the vessel by means of an ordinary condensing air pump; b, is a small valve opening inwardly, to which a tube from the pump, or from a reservoir of condensed air, is attached, and through this

valve the air is to be forced into the vessel, a, until it has acquired a sufficient degree of density. The requisite density of the air in the vessel, will depend upon the depth of that part of the sea where it is to be employed, and the time the diver is intended to remain under water; thirty atmospheres will in general answer the purpose, and be found sufficient for about an hour's consumption; C, is a tube to be made of caoutchouc or some such elastic material, through which the air is to be delivered into the water-tight hood, by the opening of the stop cock, b, which is under the controul of the wearer, and may be made to discharge a greater or less current of air by turning the screw.

The helmet or hood is to be made of thin copper or of sole leather varnished, or of any other material that can be rendered water-tight, and is sufficiently stiff to resist the external pressure. In the frout of the hood a plate of strong glass, or two eye-pieces are to be inserted, for the purpose of enabling the wearer to view the surrounding objects under water. Within the hood is a tube, e, with a flexible end near the mouth, and a spring valve opening outwards, by which the wearer discharges the air from his lungs.

At the lower part of the helmet or hood, round the breast, the back, and the shoulders, a garment is attached made of water-proof material, which is to be fastened round the body of the wearer above the hips, and round the arms by elastic bandages. In the breast or any other convenient part of the helmet a safety valve is inserted, for the purpose of letting off a portion of the air admitted in case its internal pressure should be too great.

The apparatus so constructed is to be attached to the diver as shewn at fig. 1, in the following manner: first, let

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the helmet with the dress be put over his head and shoulders, and then let it be made fast round his body and arms, by means of the elastic bandages; next, let the ringformed vessel, a, be brought upwards and suspended by straps, passing over the shoulders; then connect the elastic tube, c, to the helmet, by a union joint, when the diver will be equipped ready for descending into the water.

Round the bottom part of the air vessel, weights or bags of shot are to be attached, for the purpose of overcoming the buoyancy of the diver and his apparatus, and enabling him to move about and keep on his feet at the bottom of the water.

If a diving bell is employed in conjunction with this apparatus, the diver may go out from the bell, and return as occasion shall require, for the purpose of depositing small articles, and he may carry in the bell one or two extra vessels filled with condensed air, to be exchanged when necessary for the vessel he has worn, and breathed the air from. Instead of forcing the air into these vessels by means of a pump, a reservoir of condensed air may be prepared, and the requisite supplies transferred to the vessels as they are wanted.

This apparatus without the weights may be very advantageously employed in descending mines or other places filled with deleterious gases, the supply of air for respiration being received from the condensed air-vessel, and that exhaled driven out through the discharge pipe.

[Inrolled November, 1825.]

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