IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING AIR TO PERSONS EMPLOYED. UNDER WATER, OR IN PLACES WHERE NOXIOUS GAS, AIR, OR VAPOUR PREVAILS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Michael Henry, of 84, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR SUPPLYING AIR TO PERSONS EMPLOYED. UNDER WATER, OR IN PLACES WHERE
NOXIOUS GAS, AIR, OR VAPOUR PREVAILS."-A communication from abroad
by Benoist Rouquayrol, of 33, Boulevart Saint Martin, Paris, France.
Sealed the 16th September 1864, and dated the 28th March 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Michael Henry at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th
- March 1864.
I, MICHAEL HENRY, of 84, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING AIR TO PERSONS EMPLOYED UNDER WATER, OR IN
PLACES WHERE NOXIOUS GAS, AIR, OR VAPOUR PREVAILS," communicated to me
from abroad by Benoist Rouquayrol, of 83, Boulevart Saint Martin, Paris,
France, to be as follows:-
The apparatus comprises a reservoir of compressed air, and an air chamber
and pumps for supplying the same. The air chamber is covered with a plate
or lid of less diameter, on which is a piece of elastic material, by which it is
connected to the sides of the chamber, and which forms a second chamber over
the former; the two are caused to communicate by a rod, which, when pressure
is applied to the lid or plate, opens a valve and affords passage for the air, the
flow whereof is regulated by two other chambers connected by a tube or

page_text: otherwise.
The air flows from one reservoir or chamber to the other. The
whole may be enclosed in a casing, and springs may be used for transmitting
pressure to the plates or lids. The two apparatus may be together or apart.
The air vessel may be carried on the workman's back. A tube leads from the
air vessel to the workman, who may wear a strip of caoutchouc or other
material between the lips and the teeth. The action of the valve may be so
regulated that the same air may be breathed twice.
The pumping apparatus consists of a series of four (or more or less) pumps,
cylinders, or barrels, which communicate so that air drawn into and compressed
in the first or largest flows therefrom into the next, or next in size, in which it
is more compressed, and so on from one to the other, so as to become more and
more compressed until it reaches a sufficient pressure to be admitted into the
air vessel. The pumps may be arranged to raise the pressure in a regularly
increasing geometrical progression. Water is pumped in or admitted to
submerge the pistons and certain parts of the pump, and form a hydraulic
joint to prevent the air when it has entered the pumps from escaping till it
has passed through the whole series. The pistons are attached to a plate, and
they may be fixtures, while the cylinders, barrels, or pump bodies are worked
up and down or to and fro by a break, beam, or otherwise. The pistons may
be solid or hollow, with a valve at top.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Michael Henry in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th
September 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MICHAEL
HENRY, of 84, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agent, send
.greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Michael Henry, Her special licence that I, the
said Michael Henry, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Michael Henry, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times. thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great

page_text: Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands; and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING AIR TO PERSONS EMPLOYED UNDER
WATER, OR IN PLACES WHERE NOXIOUS GAS, AIR, OR VAPOUR PREVAILS," communi-
cated to me from abroad by Benoist Rouquayrol, of 33, Boulevart Saint
Martin, Paris, France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said:
Michael Henry, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly.
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
"
:
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Michael Henry, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, as communicated to me, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:
The Invention relates to apparatus for supplying air to persons employed
under water, or in places where noxious gas, air, or vapour prevails.
The apparatus, constructed according to these improvements, comprises 'a'
reservoir of compressed air, and an air chamber and pumps for supplying the
same; the air chamber is provided with a plate or lid of less diameter than
itself, on which is a piece of elastic material which connects it with the sides of
the chamber, and thus forms a second chamber over or at the side of
the former; the two are caused to communicate by a valve which is opened by
a rod when pressure is exerted on the plate, and allows the air to flow out;
this contrivance I call an air box, and the outflow of air may be regulated by
combining two such contrivances or air boxes, and causing them to communi-
cate with each other by a tube or other connection through which air flows.
from one box to the other. The boxes may be surrounded by a casing and
springs used for pressing on the plates. A tube leads from the air vessel to
supply the workman who may wear a mouth-piece consisting of a strip of
caoutchouc held between the lips and teeth. The action of the air valve is.
preferably so regulated that the same air may be breathed twice.
The pumping apparatus consists of a series of two, three, four, or more
pumps, cylinders, or barrels, which communicate with each other, so that air.
drawn into and compressed in the first or largest flows therefrom into the next
in size, in which it is more compressed, and so on from one to the other, and
as the cylinders differ in capacity it becomes more and more compressed in its

page_text: passage through the series, and it thence flows into the air reservoir. The
pumps are preferably so arranged in respect of dimensions as to raise the
pressure in a regularly increasing geometrical progression. Water is pumped
in to cover or overlay the pistons, and form a hydraulic joint, whereby the air
after having entered the series of pumps is prevented from escaping till it has
passed through them all. The pistons are attached to a plate, and are fixtures,
and the cylinders or pump bodies are worked up and down by a break, a beam,
or other means; the pistons may be solid or they may be hollow, with a valve
at top.
"
Having thus set forth the nature of the Invention, I proceed with reference
to the Drawings, to describe more particularly in what manner it may be
carried into effect.
Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, and Figure 2 a plan of the
apparatus. A is a vessel or chamber forming a reservoir of compressed air ;
this reservoir communicates with a series of pumps P, P¹, P", P, and also
with an air chamber B; which is provided with one or more contrivances;
herein called air boxes, through which the air is delivered from the chamber
to supply the diver or workman. Figure 4 is a detached view of a chamber B
with one such air box. This air box is constructed by forming the chamber
with a recess C nearly closed by a plate a, b, which being of less diameter
than the recess does not quite extend to the sides thereof; on this plate is
fastened a disc or piece of caoutchouc c, which extends to and over the edge
of the recess, and is attached thereto, so as to close it, whereby a second
chamber C is formed at the top of the chamber B, with which it communicates
by an orifice o, opened and closed by a valve f¹, worked by a rod f, that is to
say, when pressure is exerted on the plate a, b, such pressure being transmitted
by this rod opens the valve f¹, and allows air to flow from B to C; the
arrangements C, a, b, c, o, f, ƒ³, combined as above described, form the con-
trivance which I call the air box. When the chamber is furnished with one
such box, as in Figure 4, the outflow of air will be continuous, but not regular.
Now to render such outflow regular, the air chamber is provided with two air
boxes B', B³, employed in combination, as in Figures 1 and 2; these boxes,
each of which is constructed substantially like the air box, Figure 4, are at
the side of the chamber, and communicate with each other by means of a
passage p; e is a pipe opening at one end into the box B, and leading there-
from to the mouth-piece or inhaling apparatus of the diver or other workman;
D is a casing over the boxes; d, d', are springs which press on the moveable
plates a, b. Air is pumped into the reservoir A by the pumping apparatus P,
P¹, P", P¹¹, through the pipe Z, and passes from A into the chamber. B, and

page_text: thence through the box B' and passage p to the box B³, whence it is conveyed
through the pipe to the respiratory organs of the diver or workman: The
chambers A and B may be fixed rigidly together, as in Figures 1 and 2, or
they may be apart and placed in communication by a flexible or other pipe,
which connects them together; the air chamber may sometimes be carried on
the workman's back.
I now proceed to describe the pumping apparatus. P, P', P; P, are
four pumps for compressing the air and supplying it to the reservoir A. These
pumps communicate with each other by. pipes or passages: Each pump
consists of a travelling cylinder and a stationary piston, that is to say, the
cylinders or bodies of the pumps have a reciprocating up-and-down motion
communicated to them by : a brake G; H, worked by any motive power, and
they are fitted with pistons fixed to a base plate E. Each cylinder differs in
diameter or working capacity from the others, and atmospheric air is admitted
into and compressed in each of these cylinders, in turn beginning with the
largest, and so on to the smallest, that is to say, the air is first drawn into
and compressed in the largest pump P, and thence passes into and is com-
pressed in the next in size P¹, it thence passes into and is compressed in P",
(which is the smallest but one,) and lastly, it passes into and is compressed in
the smallest of the series P, whence it follows that the pressure of the air is
raised to a greater degree in each pump in succession. From the smallest
pump P, the compressed air passes through the pipe Z into the reservoir A.
The cylinders should be so arranged, as to their dimensions or capacities, that
the elevation of pressure of the air shall be in a regularly increasing geo-
metrical progression; say, for example, at a ratio of 2, viz., thus if raised
to 2 atmospheres in pump P, it will reach 6 atmospheres. in P¹, 15 in P",
and 40 in P. Of course the pumping apparatus may be constructed with
more or less than four cylinders, and may be arranged for other series, ratios,
or progressive rates of increase of pressure than as above. R is a pump
which is worked by the brake and forces water into the cylinders P,P¹, pu, pm,
so as to keep the upper surface of each piston constantly covered or overlaid
by a layer of water, which forms a hydraulic joint or packing, and prevents
the air in the pumps from leaking out; the water is pumped in a little at a
time at each stroke of the brake.
Figure 8 is a sectional elevation of a smaller or two-cylinder pump con-
structed on the same principle as the pumping apparatus, Figures 1 and 2,
except that its two cylinders are of equal diameter; this pump is intended for
supplying a small air chamber at low pressure, and it may be made of small
dimensions, so that the pump, air chamber, and connecting pipe may be packed

page_text: in a box for convenience of carriage. The pistons are kept under a layer of
water, as in the apparatus Figures 1 and 2.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same may be performed, I declare that I claim,--
First, the air chamber provided with what I call an air box or air boxes,
the parts of which are arranged and combined as herein-before described; and
this I claim, whether a single air box be used' as in Figure 4, or two air boxes
in combination, for obtaining a regulated outflow as in Figures 1 and 2.
Second, I claim the pumping apparatus in respect of the arrangement and
combination of parts of which the same consists, as herein-before described
and exemplified in Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Michael Henry, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of September, in the year One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
E. DE PASS,
84, Fleet Street,
London..
M. HENRY. (L.S.)