Benoît Rouquayrol (1826–1875) was a French inventor. Along with

Auguste Denayrouze August Denayrouze (1837–1883) was an inventor of a demand valve for control of breathing air supply, and one of the inventors of a diving suit, along with Benoît Rouquayrol. Biography Denayrouze was born on October 1, 1837, at Montpeyroux, ...

, Rouquayrol invented a diving suit and breathing apparatus.

Biography

Benoît Rouquayrol was born on June 13, 1826, at Espalion, in the Aveyron department of Southern France. He became an engineer at the Saint-Étienne School of Mines. He became employed at a company involved in bituminous coal mining and foundries in Aveyron, and became the director of accounting by 1865. In 1860, Rouquayrol became concerned with mine safety problems related to firedamp (flammable natural gases in coal mines). He created a rescue apparatus consisting of a pressurized gas chamber coupled to a pressure regulator that he called the "Regulator for Equalization of Compressed Gas". In 1864, with the help of the French Navy lieutenant

(also of Aveyron), Rouquayrol created the first diving suit. This diving suit won the gold medal at the

1867 Events January–March * January 1 – The Covington–Cincinnati Suspension Bridge opens between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky, in the United States, becoming the longest single-span bridge in the world. It was renamed a ...

World's Fair, and drew the attention of the author

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

. Verne included the diving suit in his fictional depiction of a contemporary submarine voyage, ''

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' (french: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers) is a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. The novel was originally serialized from March 1869 through June 1870 in Pierre-J ...

''. Rouquayrol died on November 14, 1875, at

Rodez Rodez ( or ; oc, Rodés, ) is a small city and commune in the South of France, about 150 km northeast of Toulouse. It is the prefecture of the department of Aveyron, region of Occitania (formerly Midi-Pyrénées). Rodez is the seat of the ...

, Aveyron, France.

Chronology of patents and inventions

* April 14, 1860: Rouquayrol disclosed a patent for a regulator designed for a rescue-apparatus for miners who were victims of firedamp or asphyxiation * January 16, 1862: Rouquayrol disclosed a patent for the "Rouquayrol Isolator" composed of a regulator with a diving mask fitted over the nose and mouth, using a vulcanized rubber seal affixed inside a metallic beak. This system eliminated the need for a heavy metallic diving helmet. * August 25, 1863: a patent for a "hydraulic joint" pressurizing pump, in which the pistons were fixed and the body of the pump moved. Additionally, Rouquayrol contributed to related inventions in co-operation with

and others.

External links

*
Musée du Scaphandre
(Diving Suit Museum), Escalion, France

from ''Undersea Warfare'', the official magazine of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force. Winter 2004. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rouquayrol, Benoit 1826 births 1875 deaths 19th-century French inventors People from Aveyron