Arthur Hemenger was listed earlier when he obtained a patent in 1890.
A later patent of Hemenger’s of 1893 carries the use of spiral wires considerably further. A metal casing is retained for the trunk, but both arms and legs are now covered with wire-stiffened waterproof cloth . The inventor complacently remarks:
“… (the) yielding arms and legs permit the diver to move his limbs about with more perfect freedom, for the coils will spread on one side and come together on the other when a limb … is bent. . . .
Read Arthur Hemenger’s patent here: https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/59/02/43/e62361db948d8b/US496686.pdf
Therebreathersite was founded by Jan Willem Bech in 1999. After a diving career of many years, he decided to start technical diving in 1999. He immediately noticed that at that time there was almost no website that contained the history of closed breathing systems. The start for the website led to a huge collection that offered about 1,300 pages of information until 2019. In 2019, a fresh start was made with the website now freely available online for everyone. Therebreathersite is a source of information for divers, researchers, technicians and students. I hope you enjoy browsing the content!