Who invented the first backplate and wing?

[Sam Miller III]

The first Back plate was manufactured by a defunct company called Sea Craft in Wilmington, Mass. in 1960. It was a 1/8 thick aluminum plate to which the scuba tanks of that era were attatched.
They were idenified as follows;
FA 320 singe tank................$15.95
FA 321 double tank...............$21.95
FA 322 triple tank (44cuft) ....$24.95
I do not know who invented it..The company was sold to New Enland Divers in the mid 1960s.

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F.J. Voit, of Santa Ana, California introduced the first detachable back plate in 1963. The back plate attatched to the bands on the tank via clips.
It was identified as follows;
DS 297 single tank unit....$11.00
DS 261 Double tank unit....$13.00
It was designed by Fred Roberts Jr.
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The "BIU" or "Wings" origin and inventor can a probably will be always be disputed. Scuba Pro and Sea tec inflatable systems both introduced units in 1975.

The Scuba pro unit was idenified as follows;
Bouyancy control pack #570 $165.00.
Scuba Pro had a number of very inovative engineers and may have designed the unit, how ever I suspect that they copied the unit forn Inflatable Systems.
It was produced in Ensenada Baja California Mexico (Yes it was Mexican Made!) by Ruben Pena for Scuba Pro in Compton California, USA
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Sea Tec Inflatable systems of Orange California concurrently introduced a unit identified as Back Inflation Unit (BIU) for only $89.00. It was the revolutionary double bag unit that could and was produced and marketed at 1/2 the price of Scuba pro units and the ones that followed.
It was manufactured in Orange California by its designer and CEO Harry Rescigno (Pro++ "re cin o0")

If require more information it will be necessary to purchase my forthcoming book..

Cheers from California where it all started

SDM

 

[Sam Miller III]

I posted to rapidly with out consulting my notes...

The At Pac manufactured by Bill Walters, Larry Scott and Ron Coleman et al in Foutain Valley California, under the titles of Water gil, and several other names probably should be given credit for the very first BIU aka Wings.

The comapny had a number of problems and the exact date of manufacture is difficult to define.

SDM

 

[daniel f aleman]

What Flanagan designed was new and THE major inprovement in the advancement of the backplate: the "flat bottomed "V"; that made his plate different than which came before and became the standard for cave diving - which is now standard for all tech diving.

"I made my first back plate in early 1979 from a surplus aluminum road sign of unknown alloy. I traced the outline from the solid center section of the Scuba Pro BCP onto a paper stencil and transferred this onto the aluminum. I next cut out the aluminum and had a single parallel set of bends, about 2" apart, made in the center of the plate, running from top to bottom, forming a sort of flat bottomed "V", into which I drilled two holes (one top/one bottom), which were used to bolt the plate to extended studs on a set of bands on double 72s. I then proceeded to beat the aluminum around the curvature of the tanks with a sledge hammer, soon discovering that aluminum alloy is pretty tough material, taking several hours to conform the aluminum to the tanks. The webbing off a Navy harness was then attached through a series of slots cut in the metal and the first back plate was born. I used this first back plate on both Double 72s and Double 80s throughout the rest of Sheck's cave course with awesome results. Balance was so easy and my cave diving technique was so improved that I became the envy of my classmates who continued to struggle with their belly-bags."

Greg Flanagan

 

[Jason Ooi]

WOW..WOW..WOW..interesting thread! keep on...

 

[Oriskany Divemaster]

Anyone know what company invented the first backplate and wing? Any pictures?

I heard it was Al Gore.

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

The Popular Science article from July 1953 titled, "Build Your Own Diving Lung" details a wooden backplate, but no wing...

There's also a 3/4 page insert on "How to Use Your Diving Lung" that pretty much covers OW class.

Oh, and the same issue gives plans for an underwater camera housing made of plywood.

 

[Green_Manelishi]

I heard it was Al Gore.

Al Gore invented Internet Diving. It's much safer than diving in real water.

 

[Oriskany Divemaster]

Thanks for the clarification. I always seem to get that one wrong. I just assumed....

 

[Greg Barlow]

AMF Swimaster had a version in 1975 that had nearly the same shape and contour as my Halcyon #55 Explorer wing. It was listed in their catalog, but wasn't sold until the Spring of '75.

As with the other manufacturers' examples, a great idea that was a bit too early in time.

Greg Barlow
Former Science Editor for Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine

 

[H2Andy]

yeah, i'm with aleman

a few companies had been putting out proto-backplates, but it was Flanagan in 1979 who came up with the modern design.

the idea of the backplate has been around for a long time... probably back to the 1950's

oh... and Flanagan never pattented his backplate. never made a penny.