1924 McGuinness and Davies

Whether the fantasies of Davies and Mc Guinness ever came to reality is doubtful. Their design of a pneumatically operated atmospheric diving suit does not seem very realistic. In fact, they are looking for a solution to force the friction that cannot be overcome by human strength with tools. However, the friction at depth will be so extreme that a simple calculation will quickly show that this approach will not work at greater depths.

In spite of this, Davies claimed the following in their patent:

1. A diving suit -comprising movable limbs and power operated means for moving same, for the purpose specified.

2. A divingsuit having jointed limbs  and its joint members relatively movable by means operated by compressed air controlled by the diver.

3. A diving suit as claimed in claim 2 in which the joint operating means comprise a cylinder and a piston therein connected respectively to the relatively movable joint members of each joint.

4. A diving suit as claimed in claim 3 in which the cylinder is curved to lie alongside the wall of the limb and the piston is mounted on a piston rod curved to travel in the cylinder.

5. A diving suit as claimed in claim 3 in which the cylinder and piston arrangement is duplicated and the piston connections comprise suitably guided Bowden wire.

6. A diving suit as claimed in any of the preceding claims in which the power supply to the joint operating means is controlled by a valve or the like operable by a slight displacement of a limb or portion of the – diver’s body from its natural position within the suit. A diving suit as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the power operated limbs are jointed by means of transverse angularly movable joints associated with similar diagonally disposed joints for the purpose specified.

For further details see the patent below.