VOIT (W.J. VOIT RUBBER COMPANY) was founded in 1922 by William J. Voit in Worthington, Indiana. The company specialized in the production of rubber products, developing and specializing in the manufacture of sports balls. In the 1940s, Voit also manufactured rubber equipment for water sports (inflatable boats and floats).
Companies Owen Churchill and Sea-Net Company, outsourced their production of masks and fins with VOIT. In 1946, Willard Voit, son of William, took over the company and by the 1950s VOIT already had its own line of masks, fins and diving accessories.
VOIT, along with Rene Sports, Sea Net and Fisher Sporting Goods, advertised the first issue of Skin Diver magazine in December 1951 as a supplier of diving equipment.
In the following years, VOIT witnessed the rapid growth of diving activity and developed a product line for underwater hunting activity and after an agreement that was reached in 1956, in exchange for rubber products such as hoses, fins, masks, etc., VOIT obtained authorization to use two projects of double hose regulators from US Divers:
– DA NAVY APPROVED – Two-stage double hose regulator;
– DW OVERPRESSURE – Single stage double hose regulator;
VOIT made changes to the initial designs of the US Divers regulators and created their own visual identity, leading to the VOIT LUNG VR1 (single-stage) and VOIT LUNG VR2, two-stage.
In 1936, Cliff Garrett founded AiResearch, a company that made air coolers for military aircraft and known for the importance of quality in all their products. In 1938 the company name was changed to the Garrett Corporation and have developed many innovations in the aircraft industry. Garrett also acquired the Northill Company, a manufacturer of nautical products.
Garrett AiResearch Corporation of Los Angeles, California, produced the second double hose regulator designed in the U.S.A. The regulator’s project began in 1952. Garrett, through its subsidiary Northill, began production for the US Navy in 1954. Designed by Robert Kimes and Robert Kesler, it was released for sale to the public in 1955.
Northill Air Lung is a single-stage, balanced, downstream type regulator. Both ends of the floating valve stem see ambient pressure, one in air and the other in water. With lowering cylinder pressure throughout the dive the floating valve seat balances against springs to keep the lever pressures and the breathing effort fairly constant.
Scientific Underwater Research Enterprises, owned by Zale Parry and Parry Bivens, who was active in the construction of hyperbaric chambers and equipment tests, conducted a series of tests on the Air Lung regulator.
In September 1953, AiResearch, Northill Company, brought to the NEDU (United States Navy Experimental Diving Unit) two pre-production models of the Air-Lung, which proved to be a complete redesign of the experimental model presented for evaluation in 1952. Tests proved that the Northill pre-production Air-Lung was suitable as a shallow water swimming and diving unit to a depth of 150 feet, but the mouthpiece was unsuitable and the reserve mechanism needed to be re-designed to prevent accidental triggering.
The Air-Lung went into production for the remainder of 1954 and the finished units all went to the government and to be used for ongoing testing by the NEDU.