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1921-5 – Diving Armor by Joseph Salim Peress.

Peress explaining his new armored diving suit at the Shipping Exhibition, at Olympia, London, England. It was manufactured in stainless steel by Staybrite Silver in England. Source: Getty Images

Joseph Salim Peress with his new armoured diving suit.  Source: Getty Images

In 1921, Joseph Salim Peress filed for patent the first spherical type joint, which used a fluid to transfer the pressure. He built his first diving armour suit in 1925, which unfortunately did not work.

Source: Springfield Missouri Republican, Dec 18, 1925.

Steel Diving Suit Invented By Briton – By International News Service
London – A new diving-suit which, it is claimed, will be vastly superior to the now famous German suit [Neufeldt and Kuhnke] which was used in connection with the locating of the lost British submarine M. 1, has been invented by J. S. Peress, a young English engineer.
The new suit, which is made of rustless steel and is similar in appearance to the grotesque German suit, is composed of fifty pieces, and weighs 550 pounds. It is claimed that the suit has been tested with safety to work at the great depth of 650 feet, which is approximately 300 feet deeper than the present world's diving record.
The secret of Peress' suit is said to lie in the superiority of its joints. The joints of other diving suits are made unworkable at great depths by the pressure of the sea, but the joints of the Peress suit are made of frictionless metal, and are constructed on a patent floating joint principle, which renders them practically unaffected by pressure.
Unlike the German model, Peress' invention is not fitted with oxygen cylinders, although these can be fitted if necessary. The air is pumped down in the ordinary way through an armored pipe, which also carried electric and telephone wires.
The suit is fitted with delicately constructed mechanical hands, which can be changed for powerful tools should the diver be dealing with a wreck. Peress' invention is the culmination of five years research work.



Flexible joint for diving dresses

Publication number    US1402645 A
Publication type    Grant
Publication date    Jan 3, 1922
Filing date    Apr 30, 1921
Priority date    Apr 30, 1921
Inventors   Joseph Salim Peress
Original Assignee    Joseph Salim Peress

See Peress' "Tritonia" suit here (not yet published).

See other early Underwater Robots here.



1918 – Diving Armor by Rudi De Graff.

Publication number    US1368786 A
Publication type    Grant
Publication date    Feb 15, 1921
Filing date    Jan 12, 1918
Priority date    Jan 12, 1918
Inventors    Rudi De Graff

The invention relates to diving suits designed for service at great depths, one hundred feet or more, and the object of the invention is to provide a metallic suit or armor capable of withstanding successfully the great pressure due to deep submersion, and also permit free movements of the body and limbs of the diver.

Another object is to provide means for supplying air at atmospheric pressure to the interior of the suit, and for removing the vitiated air therefrom through non-collapsible separate conduits.

Another important object is to provide means for insuring the flexible joints of the suit independently against the entrance of water while permitting such joints to move freely.

A further object is to provide a form of universal joint for certain articulations of the suit, to permit movement in all directions while held water-tight by the pressure of the water.

A further object is to provide a form of joint having folding leaves for certain other articulations, constructed to allow free movements of the limbs without cramping.

See other early Underwater Robots here.

Caption: Walters suspended from ship's derrick and about to be lowered into the deep with the aid of a helper.

"Marine Scarecrow" Wins Fortune From Sea Floor
VANCOUVER, B. C., Aug. 18.-Frank Walters, "Marine Scarecrow," makes his living on the bottom of the sea. And it's a good living, too, because Walters, a professional diver, salvages the valuables from wrecked ships. Brazen mermaids couldn't make Walters lose his cool head if they wanted to, because it's encased in part of the heavy aluminum armor he wears, and which is his own invention. Under fathoms of water, in the eternal marine twilight, the prowling "scarecrow" exhumes his treasures from the graveyards of North Pacific ships with only the curious fish for companions. Sunken vessels he has recently searched are the "Princess Sophia," the "State of California," the "Islander," with a quarter million gold in her gaping hold, the "Mariposa," "Zilla May," "Dora' and other mercantile marine corpses that clutch treasures in bullion. Walters has made a fortune in gleaning the sea floor.

Source: Logansport Pharos-Tribune, August 18, 1921.

Frank Walters was constructing his aluminium diving suit from 1916. Source: New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16375, 1 November 1916, Page 9

A professional diver from New Zealand, he also invented and improved diving dress as well. See Canadian patent 192,333.

Submarine Armor Suit

Publication number US1359132 A
Publication type Grant
Publication date Nov 16, 1920
Filing date May 21, 1919
Priority date May 21, 1919
Inventors Walters Frank W
Original Assignee Walters Frank W

Earlier in 1921, Walters had set a new deep-sea diving record of 396 feet. Source: Brownwood Bulletin Texas, March 26, 1921.

See other early Underwater Robots here.

1919 – Diver's Armored Suit by Victor Campos. Rendering by Jason Clark. 

Diver's suit
Publication number    US1414174 A
Publication type    Grant
Publication date    Apr 25, 1922
Filing date    Jul 17, 1919
Priority date    Jul 17, 1919
Inventors    Victor Campos
Original Assignee    Victor Campos

1. A diver's suit of a non-flexible pressure resisting material having members connected with each other by a leak-proof joint, the joint comprising two parts, of which one part is provided with a recess containing a liquid and the other part is provided with a flange fitting into the said recess with its end spaced from the bottom of the recess and bearing against the said liquid.
2. A dlver's suit of non-flexible pressure resisting material having members connected with each other by a joint, the joint comprising two parts of which one is provided with an annular recess containing a liquid, and the other part is provided with an annular flange fitting into the said recess and bearing against the said liquid, the said flange having inner and outer packing rings, and means holding the said flange part in position on the said recessed part and the said parts on the body.
3. In a divers' suit; a body, a limb, and a joint for connecting the limb thereto, said joint consisting of a flanged member having an annular recess-containing a liquid, a flange on the member and fitting in the recess with its end spaced from the bottom of the recess and bearing on the liquid, a retaining ring engaging the flanges of the limb and member, and bolts passing through the ring and flange of the member into the body.

The suit is not known to have been made.

See other early Underwater Robots here.

Caption: Two Small Models Which were Built to Demonstrate the Operation of the Walking Legs That Took the Place of Driving Wheels

Source: Popular Science Monthly, Aug 1921
"WALKING" MOTOR CAR TRAVELS SLIPPERY ROADS

A true nonskidding motor car has been evolved by a Czecho-Slovakian inventor in which the driving members are feet and legs instead of wheels, and which propels itself by a heel-and-toe walking action. The four legs of the odd contrivance are attached to the throws of a crankshaft in such a way that as it revolves they are first lifted, then carried forward and lowered, and again carried backward.
Another part causes them to rock backward at the top as they descend, which brings the heel of the foot in contact with  the ground first. As the shaft continues to turn, the heel gives a backward shoving impulse and rises. The toe then comes into contact and imparts a shove. The throws of the crankshaft are so spaced that the eight heels and toes follow each other with their impulses in rapid succession and at exactly equal intervals.

Caption: The circular motion of the driving crank is converted into In action

Source: Popular Science Monthly, Jan-Jun 1922
Automobile Walks on Steel Feet over Rough Ground

Toy models of a walking automobile driven by the reciprocating action of steel feet and legs attracted much attention at the International Motor Exposition at Prague. The illustration shows the walking drive to be simple in principle.

The circular motion of the driving-crank is converted into a perfectly uniform horizontal motion of the mechanical feet. The wear and tear on the main parts of the mechanism Is virtually nil, and the treads and guide-rolls may be readily replaced. The capacity of the drive is considerable and the fuel consumption low.
Its inventor claims that over rough ground the walking drive is more efficient than the caterpillar truck. This is debatable, even if a wheel or caterpillar must surmount all obstacles on the ground, while a walking-truck need only deal with 20 per cent of them. The device is not intended to repine wheels on vehicles traveling over smooth roads, but it is said to be an advantage to tractors working in soft soil.

Most likely these models were made by Václav Zbořil.

See full patent details here.

Patent number: 1511928
Filing date: Aug 22, 1922
Issue date: Oct 14, 1924