IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DESCENDING UNDER WATER
Year: 1835

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WILLIAM FRASER, of Ludgate Hill, in the City of London, Artist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fourteenth day of November, in the sixth year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John William Fraser, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said John William Fraser, my exors, adiñiors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John William Fraser, my exors, admors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in His said Majesty's Colonies
and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
DESCENDING UNDER WATER;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso,
that I, the said John William Fraser, shall cause a particular description of
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John William Fraser, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being, had
to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
The Figures A, A, represent divers equiped under water; they are dressed
in a waterproof dress, a jacket and pantaloons, and a copper helmet; B is a
copper hoop, in which is a groove b; this hoop is made to fit inside the waist
of the pantaloons. c is a similar hoop attached to the helmet; the collar of the
jacket is made to fit this hoop in the helmet, and is pressed into it by tying it
round it with a piece of cord; the pantaloons or under dress comes up to the
diver's neck, and is drawn close at the neck with a drawing string, after which
the jacket and helmet is put on, and the lower edge of the jacket is drawn
down over the waist hoop and closely pressed into the groove by putting on
the round. hoop d, which fits the groove, and screwing it up at e; and fare
glasses in the helmet to see through; 9 are weights which are nearly sufficient
to sink the diver and helmet. The weights are connected by two straps, and
are suspended one on the back and the other on the breast, the straps passing
over the shoulders of the helmet at h; they are also connected by a strap round
the body at . j is an elastic pipe, of half an inch area, through which the
diver is supplied with air by a force pump (if not supplied as hereafter
described); is a pipe, of an inch area, for the escape of the air after passing
through the helmet; this pipe is lined with a spiral wire to resist the pressure
of the water. is a thin copper globe attached to the end of the pipe,
through which the air passes in escaping from the helmet, and escapes in
the water by tho-valve 'm opening outwards. The globe must contain air
sufficient to float the escape pipe in the water. The end of tho escape
pipe requires to be supported so as always to be above the dress of the
diver, in the water; otherwise his dress will become inflated with air,
according to the depth of the pipe; and it forms a very important feature of
my improvements that the dress should never be inflated during the time he is
working below the water, and this is at all times effected by having the escape
pipe so large as to admit a free passage of the air, and thus prevent inflating
the dress. A man feels no inconvenience from the pressure of the water on his
body while he breaths air compressed to the same density as the water, and
according to the depth of my escape pipe in the water is the air compressed in
the helmet. If the end of the escape pipe be thirty-three feet above the diver
in the water, the air in the helmet would be nearly equal to one atmosphere

page_text: less dense than the water surrounding the diver, and he would feel a pressure
on his body equal to one atmosphere, which he could not sustain; but if the
end of the escape.pipe was lowered to within six inches of the diver's body he
would feel about the same pressure as if he were but six inches below the
surface of the water, and if the end of the escape pipe is as low in the water
as the diver's dress, then is there an equal pressure on both, and before tho
air can escape it will inflate his dress as low as the level of the pipe. The
object of my escape pipe is, that by allowing the air to escape at nearly the
same depth in the water as the diver, it causes the air to be compressed
according to his depth, and by being of a larger area than thoso used heretofore,
and always floating as high as or higher than the upper part of his dress, the
air escapes freely from the helmet without inflating the dress. The mode of
descending in the water is by attaching two weights (sufficient to sink him)
to a rope which is lowered to the bottom, and he draws himself down by the
rope when he hangs the weights on the hooks o, o. In ascending, he may cast:
off the last weights or draw himself up by the rope; or, by drawing down the
air escape pipe, the air instead of escaping by the pipe will inflate his dress,
which will raise him to the surface of the water.
My second improvement is in attaching a lamp, which must be water-tight,
to the diving apparatus, which may be supplied with air from the same pipe
through which the diver is supplied. is a cylindrical lantern of copper;
p is the bottom, on which is fixed a lamp; the bottom answers for the door and
screws into the lantern. q is the glass; r is a pipe leading from the diver's air
pipe to supply the lamp with air; s is a.brass cock to-regulate the supply of
air; t is a pipe, of an inch area, which is lined. with a spiral wire for the escape
of the air, one end of which is attached to the top of the lamp and. the other
end to the globe float, so that the air escapes from the lamp in the water by
the same valve, consequently under the same pressure of water as the air
from the helmet.
My third improvement is in the manner of supplying the divers with air at
less labour and expence. is a cylinder on board of the vessel, containing air
condensed to thirty or more atmospheres, for the purpose of supplying the
divers, instead of a pump, by screwing the end of his air pipe to one of the
escape cocks of the cylinder, which may be of the same construction as those
used for containing portable gas. A man attends the escape cocks to let the
divers have more air when necessary. The advantage of using the air in this
manner is that the air may be condensed in the cylinder by the men at such
times as the weather or tides may prevent their diving, so that when the

page_text: weather is suitable for diving, one man can attend to the supplying of air to a
number of divers instead of having two or more men pumping air to each.
I would have it understood that I do not claim the construction of the
diving apparatus, but confine my claim of Invention to the application of a
pipe for the escape of the air from an apparatus as described above, by which
the diver is enabled to bend his body in any position that may be requisite
without the danger of his dress becoming inflated with air, or his helmet
admitting the water, and at the same time causing the air he breathes to be
condensed, according to his depth in the water; neither do I claim as new
the use of a lamp under water; but I do claim the use of a lamp which is
supplied with air by the same pipe that supplies the diver, which is done by
the air escaping from the lamp under the same pressure of water as the air
from the helmet, as described above.
And further, I do not claim the use of condensed air for the supply of divers
as new, divers having carried condensed air with them under water; but what
I claim is, the using a vessel containing condensed air which is above the
water, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John William Fraser, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-six.