Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/80

 Change Yourself into a Fish

Here's an invention that supplies every- thing a man lacks to swim under water

���A one-man marine suit which can be used for salvag- ing, life saving and for wartime duty

��IF you know the story of the submarine you will at once see the similiarity between the invention illustrated and the first submarine, built during the reign of King James I. That old U-boat was constructed of wood and was designed to be propelled by oars extending out through holes, the water being prevented from coming in by goat skins tied about the oars and nailed to the sides, to make a watertight joint. In the one-man sub- mersible described here, human arms take the place of oars, rubber and steel sup- plant goatskin and the propelling power consists of two separate units, one for sur- face and the other for underwater running, such as we have in our modern submarines.

I n i ts present de- velopment, the inven- tor, Worth R. Barrin- ger, of Den- ver, Colo., plans to construct the boat of aluminum and to have it take the lines of a big f ish. The nose

��Gasoline tank Ventilators-*. Electric light Window

��SubmerqinqtanH, Control tevers Camera

��uascLwhe submerged l^ubber slfieve

��The propelling power consists of two separate units, one of them for surface and the other for underwater swimming

��portion has its sides fitted with glass win- dows and the bottom portion has a tele- scoping window, so that the operator can guide the vessel where he desires, lying in a longitudinal position with his legs pro- jecting out behind like the tail of a fish. Directly above the shoulders of the opera- tor is a gasoline engine connected with a shaft which revolves the propeller. A compressed air motor with a storage tank takes up the space beneath the operator's body and is to be used when the boat is submerged. Collapsible tanks under his arms correspond with the ballast tanks of a submarine and water is taken in or expelled according to whether it is de- sired to rise or sink. Levers to operate both engines are within convenient reach. To work them, the operator must remove one hand from its rubber sleeve.

To supply air for the interior of the shell when the boat is running on the sur- face, floating-ball ventilators are provided which automatically close when water strikes them. The body portion of the apparatus is fastened by straps to the shoulders of the operator, so that he can walk upright with it, or swim in any direction — something no m.an can do with an ordinary diver's equipment. The boat in its present form weighs about one hundred and twenty pounds, but for navi- gating work at a depth of one hundred feet or more, it would have to be very much sturdier and heavier than it now is.

The inventor says it is possi- ble to make his boat the fastest underwater machine in the world, capable of a speed of forty miles an hour, with a radi- us of action of twenty miles.

��engine Cham drive

���e^ covering

��64

�� �