A DIVING APPARATUS FOR SUBMALINE PURPOSES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Cato McKeen, of Irvington, in the County of
Essex, State of New Jersey, United States of America, for the Invention
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Thomas Cato M Keen at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration,
on the 12th July 1865, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent Law
Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, BE IT KNOWN that I, THOMAS
CATO MCKEEN, of Irvington, in the County of Essex; State of New Jersey,
United States of America, have invented "A DIVING APPARATUS FOR SUBMALINE
PURPOSES," and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, true, and
exact description of my said improvements and apparatus, reference being had
to the accompanying Drawings, making a part of this my Specification, in
which Drawings Figure I. represents a side elevation of the apparatus as worn
upon the diver, with the air reservoir upon the outside of the dress; Figure II.
represents the same without the air reservoir or outer rubber or other covering
of the dress, and shows the hoops or rings with which the apparatus is provided

page_text: to protect the diver from the pressure of the water at great depths; Figure III.
represents a side elevation of the apparatus as worn by the diver with the air
reservoir inside of the dress, and without the rubber or other covering of the
dress; Figure IV. represents a rear elevation of the pantaloons as provided
with hoops or rings for protection at great depths; Figure V. represents a
side view of the chest or body armour worn below the helmet and above the
pantaloons, the waterproof clothing or dress would cover this. In all the
Figures the same letters represent the same parts.
The object of this Invention is to enable a diver to carry with him a
sufficient supply of fresh air to supply him for several hours, also to carry
with him buoys which he can inflate at pleasure, so that he can rise to the
surface when he wishes without the aid of other persons, and also to protect
his body and limbs from the pressure and impact of the water when at con-
siderable depths.
The Invention consists in the application to the ordinary diving dress of
a reservoir or reservoirs of capacity to contain and hold a certain quantity of
compressed atmospheric air, sufficient to last the diver for several hours or
while he may remain under the water, and which shall be strapped to the
shoulders, upon the back, or otherwise secured to the dress, and placed either
upon the outside or within the dress, and communicating with the interior of
the same by a pipe or pipes provided with faucets in such a manner that the
supply of air to the interior of the dress can be regulated at any time, and
the diver is free to move in any direction, carrying with him his required
supply of air for breathing.
The Invention also consists in combining with the diving dress and said
air reservoir, or with the diving dress and a separate or single air reservoir.
two (or more or less) expansible buoys communicating with the interior of
the reservoir by means of a pipe or pipes provided with a faucet in such a
manner that by admitting air to the buoys the diver is enabled to rise to
the surface whenever he may desire and without assistance.
The Invention also consists in the use and application of rings or hoops to
the limbs and body of the dress of the diver in such a manner as that his
limbs and body when at great depths shall be protected from the direct
pressure and impact of the water.
To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my Invention, I now
proceed to describe the manner of constructing and using the same.
A represents an ordinary diving dress made of india-rubber or other water-
proof material in the ordinary form; B is the helmet made of sheet copper or

page_text: other suitable material in the ordinary way; C are nuts for fastening clamps,
joining the helmet and the dress; D is the reservoir for compressed air, made
of sheet copper or other suitable material in the shape of a knapsack, or any
other desirable form or shape, provided with straps so that it can be secured
to the back or shoulders and carried conveniently by the diver, as shown in
The Figure I., or made in a tubular air chamber or chambers E, forming a
body armour and worn around the chest and body inside of the dress, as shown
in Figure III., whichever way it is made and worn always leaving the
diver's arms and hands free to work and (as far as possible) his body to bend.
The reservoir must be made sufficiently strong to hold a large quantity of
air compressed into about one-sixtieth or a still smaller fraction of its original
or ordinary bulk, and may be all one chamber or divided into compartments,
one for the air for the use of the diver in breathing and one for that for his use
in inflating his buoys and remounting to the surface. Although Figure III.
displays the reservoir made in a tubular air chamber or chambers when it is
worn around the body within the dress, yet when it is so worn either within
or without the dress the air reservoir may be made of tubes in sections, which
shall be so operated that they shall be successively exhausted of air, or they
may be arranged as one long tube wound in a coil, or the reservoir may be a
complete chamber of smooth flat sides, or any other form of construction may
be adopted. When the reservoir is worn around the chest or body, it also
acts as the chest or body armour, and renders the armour displayed in Figure V.
unnecessary. The air reservoir is provided with a pipe F which extends to
the interior of the dress near the lower part of the helmet. A faucet G opens
or closes the communication between the air reservoir and the interior of the
ddress, and by opening the faucet gradually the diver is enabled to obtain a
proper supply of air until the air reservoir is exhausted or until he desires to
rise to the surface, for the compressed air immediately rushes through the
pipe F. and seeks its natural dimensions. A perforated pipe or tube like
that marked I, made of metal or other material, may be used for spreading or
distributing the air after it enters the helmet. A small pipe, provided with a
valve opening upwards in the top of the helmet, and which pipe may be
cither of metal or of some flexible material, carries off the deteriorated air.
The helmet may have simply the discharge air valve without the pipe, though
I prefer to use the short pipe. The helmet (B) is of metal of the usual
construction of divers' helmets, it rests upon the shoulders and reaches down
over the breast and back so as to meet the body of the waterproof dress or
clothing, to which it is fitted so as to form a water-tight joint, and adjustable

page_text: for putting on and off. By the apparatus described the diver is enabled to
walk on the ground under water in whatever direction he may desire and his
hands are left free to work.
For the purpose of protecting the lower limbs and the body of the diver
from undue pressure and impact of the water at great depths, I provide the legs
and body of the dress with a series of rings or hoops, shown in side elevation
in Figure III. and rear elevation in Figure IV., and numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, &c.
These rings or hoops are made of metal, and may be hollow like tubes or
not, they are graduated in size to correspond with the different parts of the
dress, and they are inserted at intervals within the rubber or other material
constituting the dress, or attached within it, so that they will keep the dress
free of the body and limbs and relieve them of the direct pressure of the
water (which is most felt at great depths), and at the same time permit the
motion and bending of the body and limbs in any direction.
J is one of the buoys fitted under the arm and laced to a similar buoy on
the other side of the diver by the lacings K, before the chest and behind the
back. These bags or buoys are made of india-rubber or some other flexible
or suitable material, and may be covered with a cordage netting. These
buoys communicate with the interior of the air reservoir D by a pipe L,
which may be opened or closed by a faucet M, and which, if the reservoir is
divided into two compartments, would enter that compartment intended for
the air for inflating the buoys. When the diver is in the water if the buoys
are inflated he will stand head and shoulders out of water, when the mouth-
piece of his helmet may be opened and he can converse with those on board
his boat or vessel or ashore. The buoys are provided with an exhaust
pipe N, which has a faucet O, by opening which the air in the buoys is allowed
to escape, the arms being used to press it out of the buoys if necessary, when
the diver will gradually sink. For the sake of convenience in reaching the
faucet O, I prefer carrying the escape pipe N inside of the helmet, and placing
the faucet O in front of the helmet, as shown in Figure I. When the diver
being submerged wishes to rise to the surface, he fills his buoys by turning
the faucet M, the air rushes into and inflates the buoys and they bear him
In this method not only can the diver rise to the surface, but he can
also bring articles of considerable weight with him. He can also, by graduating
the supply of air in the buoys and their consequent inflation, suspend himself
at any required depth in the water without either touching the bottom or
rising entirely to the surface.
up.
The operation is as follows:-Before putting on the dress the air reservoir D

page_text: is filled with air compressed more or less according to the capacity of the
reservoir and the length of time it is desired to remain under water. IE
it is assumed that a grown person requires for his breath sixty cubic feet
of atmospheric air of the ordinary pressure per hour, and if the capacity of
the compartment of the air reservoir D, intended for breathing purposes, is
equal to four cubic feet, the air must be compressed to about one thirtieth of
its original bulk to last two and to about one-sixtieth of its original bulk to
last four hours, and the compartment intended for air for buoying purposes
must be supplied with a sufficient quantity of compressed air to supply the
buoys and fill them for the purpose of rising to the surface. After both
compartments of the reservoirs have been supplied with the requisite quantity
of air, the faucets G and M being closed, the diver puts on the dress, and by
means of weights attached to the dress descends to the ground, when he opens
the faucet G to supply him with the requisite amount of air for breathing;
the reservoir D being strapped to his back or placed around his body either
within or without his dress leaves him free to use his arms and hands to the
best advantage, he can walk on the ground in any direction, and is uncontrolled
in his movements. During this time the buoy J is compressed or collapsed, so
that it exerts only little or no upward strain on the diver. If the diver wishes
to ascend he opens the faucet M, the air rushes into the buoy J and inflates
it, and the buoyancy thereby given to the buoys causes them to the rise to the
surface of the water, carrying with them the diver and the whole apparatus.
It is thus scen that by means of my apparatus a diver is enabled to descend to
the bottom, move about on the same, and to ascend to the surface of the water,
or suspend himself at any required depth in the water without the assistance
of any other person, so that he has control of all his movements, and so that
the danger of suffocation by an interruption or acident to the connections
between the diver and any person above is avoided. The diver can thus
work with much more safety than with any other diving apparatus, and he
can apply his whole energy to the work to be performed.
What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-
First, the employment of the independent air reservoir or knapsack D,
constructed and operating substantially in the manner and for the purposes
herein shown and described.
Second, the use and application of the expansible buoy J in combination
with the air chamber or reservoir D, whether with or without separate
chambers, constructed and operating in the manner and for the purposes
described.

page_text: Third, the use and application of hoops or rings to the diving dress, con-
structed and operating in the manner and for the purposes described.
Third, the use and application of hoops or rings to the diving dress, :con-
structed and operating in the manner and for the purposes described.
THOMAS CATO M'KEEN. (L.S.)