IMPROVE- MENTS IN AND RELATING TO DIVING APPARATUS AND APPARATUS FOR ENABLING PERSONS TO BREATHE FREELY IN A VITIATED ATMOSPHERE, SUCH IMPROVEMENTS BEING APPLICABLE IN THE CASE OF DIVING BELLS AND SUBMARINE BOATS, AND IN PART ALSO TO APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING PURIFIED OR PARTLY PURIFIED GAS UNDER PRESSURE FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Ernest Easthope at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th August 1882.
ERNEST EASTHOPE, of Wolverhampton in the County of Stafford, "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN AND RELATING TO DIVING APPARATUS AND APPARATUS FOR ENABLING
PERSONS TO BREATHE FREELY IN A VITIATED ATMOSPHERE, SUCH IMPROVEMENTS
BEING APPLICABLE IN THE CASE OF DIVING BELLS AND SUBMARINE BOATS, AND
IN PART ALSO TO APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING PURIFIED OR PARTLY PURIFIED GAS
UNDER PRESSURE FOR OTHER PURPOSES
"
This invention has for its object improvements in-that class of apparatus
employed in diving, and analogous operations, by which the ordinary air pump
and connecting pipes are dispensed with, a supply of gas and means for purifying
the same, being conveyed as an adjunct to the diving or other dress or to the
diving bell or submarine boat; and relates, firstly, to apparatus employed for
supplying oxygen gas to a receiver or reservoir attached directly to the diving
dress or dress worn by a person in which to enter a vitiated atmosphere or to the
diving bell or submarine boat; and, secondly, to apparatus whereby such gas after
passing into the dress, bell or boat, aforesaid, is, together with the air contained
within such dress, bell or boat, circulated and purified.
The apparatus for supplying the oxygen gas under pressure consists of a retort
or vessel into which the ordinary ingredients for producing the gas under heat
are charged, a deep syphon partially filled with water and having the down leg
of the tube of a small diameter and the up leg of a large diameter, a connecting
pipe from the retort to the smaller tube of the syphon, and a connecting pipe from
the larger tube of the syphon to the receiver into which the gas is to be supplied.
The gas as it is produced passes from the retort into the smaller tube of the syphon,
forcing the water contained therein into the larger tube of the syphon, and thence
bubbling up through the water in the larger tube of the syphon it passes direct
through the connecting pipe into the receiver. The gas is cooled and purified in
its passage through the water. A cup and tap is mounted over the top of the
syphon, through which water is supplied to the syphon; and a pressure gauge is
mounted on the piping from the syphon to the receiver to indicate the pressure of
gas within the receiver. When the receiver is properly charged it is disconnected
[Price 2d1

page_text: from the apparatus by which the gas has been supplied and is ready for use.
A tap is fixed in the piping connecting the syphon with the receiver, and is closed
previously to the receiver being disconnected therefrom, in order to retain within
the apparatus any gas remaining therein so that the same may be discharged into
another receiver.
Similar apparatus to that just described, and either with a retort or other vessel,
accordingly as to whether heat is necessary to produce the gas or not, may be
employed for supplying purified or partially purified gases under pressure for other
purposes.
The apparatus for circulating and purifying the oxygen gas together with any
air contained within the dress or bell or boat, aforesaid, consists, of a small fan or
bellows, or other exbauster or blower, driven by an electro-motor or by clockwork
or by other convenient means, such fan or other blower or exhauster being
employed in combination with a purifier or filter, and the whole being contained
within a case attached directly to the dress worn by the diver or person entering a
vitiated atmosphere, or to the diving bell or submarine boat. When a battery is
employed in connection with an electro-motor attached to a diving or other dress,
as aforesaid, such battery is preferably swung on pivots or centres so as to
maintain itself in a vertical position during the varying positions which may be
assumed by the person wearing such dress.
Oxygen gas is allowed to pass from the receiver or reservoir, aforesaid, through
a small tap and connecting pipe into the dress, diving bell or submarine boat,
aforesaid, as desired by the person under water or in a vitiated atmosphere, and
the said gas, so admitted, is, together with the air contained within the dress, bell
or boat, drawn off by means of the fan or bellows or other exhauster or blower, and
driven through the purifier, from whence it passes in a purified state back again
to the dress, bell or boat, aforesaid.
By the employment of apparatus constructed according to this invention, not
only are the usual air pump and connecting pipes dispensed with, but the mouth
of the diver or other person using the apparatus is quite free from any mouth-piece
or tube, or other encumbrance, and the breathing is also entirely free from the
difficulty and oppression incidental to the employment of the valves sometimes used
in apparatus of this nature