A NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENT IN DIVING BELLS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Maurice Sautter, of Paris, Boulevart Montmartre,
No. 14, for the Invention of "A NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENT IN
DIVING BELLS." A communication from Benjamin Maillefert, of Astoria,
State of New York.
Sealed the 5th October 1858, and dated the 27th April 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Maurice Sautter at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th
April 1858.
I, MAURICE SAUTTER, of Paris, Boulevart Montmartre, No. 14, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention for "A NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENT
IN DIVING BELLS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the establishing a communication between
the interior of a diving bell and the surface of the water, so that divers can
enter or come out of the bell above the surface of the water without the neces-
sity of raising the bell. For this purpose a tube is connected to the upper
part of the bell, of sufficient diameter to allow the passage of a man, and in
this tube there are two transverse air-tight partitions, which are constructed,
by preference, partly of glass, so as to admit light to the bell, and in each of
these partitions there is a valve or man-hole of sufficient size for the passage
of a man. By this means when a diver wishes to enter the bell from the
surface of the water, he opens the top valve and enters the tube, then closes
the valve and descends the tube by means of a ladder until he comes to the

page_text: other valve, which he then opens and enters the bell. In a similar way a
diver may also come out of the bell above the surface of the water without the
necessity of lifting the bell. The top of the tube is constructed so that other
tubes may be attached to it when the depth of the water renders it necessary.
The bell is also made with a chamber or chambers, which may be filled with
water or air, according as the bell is desired to float or sink; the bell in other
respects may be worked as an ordinary diving bell.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Maurice Sautter in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th October 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MAURICE
SAUTTER, of Paris, Boulevart Montmartre, No. 14, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Maurice Sautter, Her special licence that I, the said Maurice
Sautter, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Maurice Sautter, 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 Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for." A
NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENT IN DIVING BELLS," a communication from
Benjamin Maillefert, of Astoria, State of New York, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Maurice Sautter, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Maurice Sautter, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-

page_text: This Invention has for its object the establishing a communication between
the interior of a diving bell and the surface of the water, so that divers can
enter or come out of the bell above the surface of the water without the neces-
sity of raising the bell. For this purpose a tube is connected to the upper
part of the bell, of sufficient diameter to allow the passage of a man, and in
this tube there are two transverse air-tight partitions, which are constructed
by preference partly of glass, so as to admit light to the bell, and in each of
these partitions there is a valve or man-hole of sufficient size for the passage
of a man. By this means when a diver wishes to enter the bell from the
surface of the water, he opens the top valve and enters the tube, then closes
the valve and descends the tube by means of a ladder until he comes to the
other valve, which he then opens and enters the bell.
In a similar way a
diver may also come out of the bell above the surface of the water without
the necessity of lifting the bell. The top of the tube is constructed so that
other tubes may be attached to it where the depth of the water renders it
necessary. The bell is also made with a chamber or chambers, which may be
filled with water or air, according as the bell is desired to float or sink. The
bell in other respects may be worked as an ordinary diving bell.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, I will proceed to
describe more fully the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
The Drawing shews a section of a diving bell arranged according to the
Invention. A is the working chamber or body of the bell; B is the tube
connected to the upper part of the bell; this tube I prefer to make about
three feet in diameter, so that it may permit a man readily to pass through
with any tools he may require. a is an air-tight partition across the lower
part of the tube B; in this partition there is a valve or man-hole a¹, of
sufficient size for a man to pass through, and the air-tight partition is con-
structed partly of glass, so as to admit light to the bell. Across the upper
part of the tube B there is another partition 6 similar to the partition a, and
in each partition there is a tap c, the one in the partition a to admit air from
the working chamber A to the tube B, and the one in the partition b to let
the air out of the tube Binto the external atmosphere. The working chamber
A is surrounded by an air reservoir C, and compressed air is forced into the
working chamber A through a pipe leading from the surface of the water, and
between the working chamber A and the air reservoir C there is a tap d, by
which more or less air may be admitted into the reservoir C, so as to raise or
lower the bell; there is also another tape, by which the air may, when necessary,

page_text: be allowed to escape from the air reservoir C. When a diver desires to enter
the bell, he passes through the man-hole b¹ in the partition 6, descends the
ladder h, then closes the man-hole and opens the tap c in the partition. a, to
admit compressed air from the chamber A into the tube B until an equili-
brium is established; he then opens the man-hole a', and descends into the bell.
In the same way when a diver desires to leave the bell, he passes into the tube
B through the man-hole in the partition a, then closes the man-hole and opens
the tap c in the partition b, to permit the compressed air to escape into the
atmosphere; he then opens the man-hole b¹ in the partition b, and gets out.
On the top of the tube B there is a flange, to which another tube may be
connected when the depth of water renders it necessary. When it is required
to change the position of the bell, a sufficient quantity of air is admitted into
the reservoir C to raise the bell slightly off the ground; the diver within the
bell then walks on the ground, and pushes the bell in the direction required;
when the bell has been pushed to the required spot, the air is allowed to
escape from the chamber C until the bell sinks. I would remark that air
reservoirs such as C have before been applied to diving bells.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is, the
combination of a diving bell, having by preference an air chamber or air
chambers (to facilitate the raising and lowering the bell) with a tube, by
which a diver can, without the necessity of raising the bell, enter and leave
the bell above the surface of the water.
In witness whereof, I, the said Maurice Sautter, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
T. BASSET.
MAURICE SAUTTER. (L.S.)