THE London JOURNAL AND REPERTORY OF Arts, Sciences, and Manufactures. CONJOINED SERIES. No. LXVIII. To JOHN BETHELL, of Mecklenburgh-square, in the county of Middlesex, gentleman, for his invention of certain improvements in apparatus for diving and working under water, and inspecting from above, objects which are beneath the surface of the water.-[Sealed 31st January, 1835.] THIS invention is described as consisting, first, in several improvements in the diving apparatus or helmet and dress worn by the diver, and the mode of steadying him and the baskets or buckets used to bring up articles from below, against the action of the tide or current; secondly, in the mode or method of enabling the divers to converse with each other, and with the persons in the attendant boats or vessels above; thirdly, in protecting the divers or pearl fishers from sharks or other fish of prey; fourthly, in suspending the divers in cages or on VOL. XI. K stages, to enable them to be moved over the surface of the bottom of a ship or vessel, or along the sides of walls of docks or piers, or other such places, where a footing cannot be obtained for the diver; fifthly, in illuminating the ground or objects under water by reflectors or mirrors directing the sun's rays upon the part required to be illuminated, and in the mode of supplying air to lamps burning under the water, for the purpose of more perfectly supporting combustion therein; sixthly, in an improved construction of portable diving bell, formed of air-proof and waterproof cloth or fabrics, protected by framework; seventhly, in an improved construction of single-action force pumps for supplying the divers or bells with air; eighthly, in the application of an hydraulic engine, similar in its action to an hydraulic press, where the expansive force of compressed water is exerted upon a piston in a cylinder, to obtain the required power to raise heavy weights or wrecks of ships or vessels sunk under water; and, ninthly, in the improved method of surveying and inspecting from above, objects which are beneath the surface of the water, by illuminating such objects, or the bed of the sea, and inspecting with telescopes or tubes, partially immersed in the water, to enable the persons above to see more distinctly below. My several improvements in the diving apparatus, or helmet and dress worn by the diver, and the means of steadying him against the action of tides or currents upon the air pipes, &c., and forming the first part of these improvements, consists in an improved mode of preventing the escape of the fresh air out of the helmet or dress, excepting through the proper exit pipe, and in the mode of letting out from the helmet, or getting rid of the foul air, or that exhaled from the lungs of the diver; also in furnishing him with an extra weight attached to a cord or rope, to enable him to ascend or descend in the water at his own pleasure, without the aid of ladders or assistance from the persons in the attendant vessel above; and, further, in steadying the diver against the action of tides or currents upon the air pipes or tubes, and signal lines, by passing them through rings connected with a moored or steadying rope; and in an improved construction of diving helmet or hood, formed of India rubber, or air and waterproof cloth, and distended, if desired, by a skeleton framing, all of which improvements are represented by the several figures referred to in the accompanying drawings. “Plate IV., fig. 1, represents a front and side view of the diver equipped with a dress and helmet, having some of my improvements adapted to it: a, a, is the helmet, formed of metal connected to the waterproof dress b, b, by rivets, and fitted with glasses, to enable the diver to see out of the helmet in the usual manner. The lower part of the dress c, is connected to the upper part b, after being put on, by tying them tightly one over the other with a cord passed round a metal hoop or ring at d, shown detached at fig. 2, and in section at fig. 3, the cord pressing the two parts of the dress into the angular recess formed in the hoop, and thereby making an air and water-tight connexion, by which means the escape of the fresh air out of the dress is prevented. The diver being supplied with air by a force pump, through the pipe e, in the usual manner, and the foul air is taken off by a short pipe placed on the inside of the helmet, shown by dots atƒ, in fig. 1, which pipe is open at one end to the interior or top part of the helmet; the lower end is connected to the short flexible pipe g, on the outside, extending sufficiently below the helmet A to enable the diver to place the mouth piece h, into the ends of pipes attached to air and waterproof bags, for the purpose of filling them with the exit superfluous and foul air when required to lighten, buoy, or bring up any part of a wreck or article, and to assist the divers in their operations under water; but which air bags are not new, and form no part of my invention. By this pipe f, the exit air is only allowed to escape. It will be seen by this method of preventing the escape of the fresh air and getting rid of the exit air, that the foul air must be first carried off, from its being lighter than the fresh air, it consequently rises to the top part, where it is first to escape; by this means, the diver has a much better supply of fresh air to breathe without its being mixed with that he has exhaled: i, i, are the usual weights placed upon the body of the diver, but which are not of themselves sufficient to overcome the buoyancy of the air in the helmet; k, is an extra weight placed in a pocket formed on the side of the dress, which, with the weights i, i, is sufficient to keep him below the water. This weight is connected to a cord for rope, which is coiled round the cleet m, fixed to the dress when the diver is at work. When he wishes to ascend to the top of a wreck or any higher situation, he has only to take the weight k, out of his pocket, and drop it, when the buoyancy of the air in his helmet and dress will cause him immediately to rise in the water to the height desired, the diver uncoiling the cord or rope from the cleet as he rises: when he has arrived at the proper height, and has steadied himself against any part of the wreck, he proceeds to pull up the weight, winding the cord round the cleet, and places the weight again in his pocket, when he is free to walk about as before. When the diver wishes to descend into the hold of a vessel, or down the sides of a wreck to a lower situation, the weight is to be again dropped, and as soon as it reaches the bottom the diver can pull himself down by the cord; the weight is then to be placed in the pocket, and the diver proceeds with his operations. "Fig. 4, represents several divers at work on a wreck, with the attendant vessel containing the air pumps, &c. The diver at A, is in the act of rising, having dropped the weight k, and is unwinding the cord 7, and letting it slide through his hands. The diver at B, has risen to the top of the wreck, and is in the act of drawing up the weight k. The divers at C, D, are at work on the wreck. "In order to steady the divers against the action of streams or tides, and facilitating the delivery of the air pipes and signal lines to their movements, I adopt the following means:-p, p, is a steadying rope, extending from the attendant vessel to weights on the wreck, or at the bottom, or to mooring blocks or anchors; q, is another rope or line, having double rings or hoops lashed on to it at r, r, r; the rope p, passes through one set of these rings or hoops and the air pipes or tubes e, and signal lines through the other set, shown more particularly in the enlarged partial view at fig. 5. When the diver is about to descend, the steady rope p, is first passed through all the rings on one side of the rope q, and the air pipes e, and signal ropes through the other. The weight or mooring anchor of the steady rope is then cast overboard, and when at the bottom, the upper end of the rope is made fast to some part of the attendant vessel; the diver then descends, and, as he is going down the ladder s, the rope q, with its rings, is delivered out to his movements, at the same time the air pipes and signal lines are allowed to go overboard, the rings |