EP0713824A1 - Ceinture de sauvetage gonflable - Google Patents

Ceinture de sauvetage gonflable Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0713824A1
EP0713824A1 EP94308697A EP94308697A EP0713824A1 EP 0713824 A1 EP0713824 A1 EP 0713824A1 EP 94308697 A EP94308697 A EP 94308697A EP 94308697 A EP94308697 A EP 94308697A EP 0713824 A1 EP0713824 A1 EP 0713824A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
belt
wearer
inflatable safety
compressed gas
cartridge
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP94308697A
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German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Dennis Brown
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to EP94308697A priority Critical patent/EP0713824A1/fr
Publication of EP0713824A1 publication Critical patent/EP0713824A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
    • B63C—LAUNCHING, HAULING-OUT, OR DRY-DOCKING OF VESSELS; LIFE-SAVING IN WATER; EQUIPMENT FOR DWELLING OR WORKING UNDER WATER; MEANS FOR SALVAGING OR SEARCHING FOR UNDERWATER OBJECTS
    • B63C9/00—Life-saving in water
    • B63C9/08—Life-buoys, e.g. rings; Life-belts, jackets, suits, or the like
    • B63C9/13—Life-buoys, e.g. rings; Life-belts, jackets, suits, or the like attachable to body member, e.g. arm, neck, head or waist
    • B63C9/15—Life-buoys, e.g. rings; Life-belts, jackets, suits, or the like attachable to body member, e.g. arm, neck, head or waist having gas-filled compartments
    • B63C9/155—Life-buoys, e.g. rings; Life-belts, jackets, suits, or the like attachable to body member, e.g. arm, neck, head or waist having gas-filled compartments inflatable

Definitions

  • This invention relates to an inflatable swimmer's safety belt and, more particularly, to a swimmer's belt which can effectively be used in both a fresh-water and salt-water environment.
  • My United States Patent No. 5,180,321, issued January 19, 1993, and entitled “Swimmer's Safety Belt” describes a substantially hollow belt, worn about the waist, and able to assume the shape of a lifepreserver in use, while allowing the wearer to swim to safety using whatever swim strokes are convenient.
  • a cartridge is employed, to fill the belt with compressed gas in allowing the lifepreserver so formed to rise up to the wearer's arm level.
  • a preferred inflatable swimmer's safety belt of the present invention goes further in two regards.
  • a feature is provided which restricts the lifepreserver arrangement to rise only up to, and under, the armpits in holding a wearer vertically in the water, and obviates the possibility of the lifepreserver moving over the shoulders and head of the wearer in somehow possibly coming free.
  • a second feature of the invention is to minimize the use of adhesive securements for the belt when temporarily held in overlapping relationship -- prior to deployment --as analysis has determined that many of the commonly used adhesives tend to deteriorate under exposure to ultraviolet rays, and deteriorate rapidly in a salt-water environment -- as where a wearer might fall from a boat, jet-ski, or other watercraft utilized in a sea-water realm.
  • the present invention employs a pair of belts tethered together.
  • a first belt --substantially hollow and worn about the waist -- is able to be filled with a compressed gas from a cartridge coupled with it and actuable by a pin whose placement is controlled by a pulling open of a belt buckle or by a pulling on an included lanyard.
  • This first belt like the one described in my prior United States patent, is secured in overlapping relationship so as to enfold and expand outwardly under action of the compressed gas which fills it.
  • a second belt of this invention is further provided -- of conventional construction and also worn about the waist --, to underlie the first belt, yet being tethered to it.
  • the end result of such combination is to increase the length of the first belt when filled with the compressed gas, thereby forming the lifepreserver tube to ride under the armpits in holding the wearer vertically in the water; however, with the tether attachment, the tube will thus be tied to the second belt, and at a length which prevents the tube from slipping over the shoulders and head of the wearer, even while still allowing him or her to be able to swim about.
  • the second belt of this invention is coupled as part of an enclosure in which the first, substantially hollow belt is retained, prior to its automatic filling under action of the compressed gas once the cartridge is pierced.
  • the arrangement will be appreciated to be such that a closing of each belt about the waist of the wearer -- each with its own closable clasp -- serves to maintain the first, substantially hollow belt ire folded, overlapping relationship (able to unfold and expand outwardly under action of the compressed gas) without the need for any adhesive securement, albeit only a temporary one.
  • an inflatable swimmer's safety belt of the invention incorporates a first, substantially hollow belt 10, constructed of a rugged nylon, polyurethane-coated material or similar leak-proof composition and adjustable in length in any appropriate manner by clip 12, and closable by a clasp arrangement, for example, 14.
  • the arrangement of the clip 12 and the clasp 14 is such as to enable the size of the belt 10 to be adjusted, i.e., to fit the length of the belt 10 so as to encircle the waist of a wearer.
  • the belt 10 is provided with folded, overlapping sections 16 which, when eventually deployed are pinched-off into separate interconnecting sections 18a-18e as an illustration (FIGURE 4), at predetermined intervals 20 along its length.
  • a compressed gas cartridge of a well known type puncturable by a pin (not shown) movable with respect to the cartridge 22.
  • the cartridge 22 is further coupled with the belt 10 so as to discharge its compressed gas when punctured, and so as to fill the belt 10 -- and its sections 18a-18e -- in the nature of a tube, similar to a lifepreserver.
  • a compressed gas cartridge of this type puncturable by a pin actuator and with a cartridge which can be removably coupled and replaced after use, is shown and described in U.S. Patent No. 3,754,731.
  • a carbon dioxide compressed gas cartridge 22 may be employed.
  • any type of device may be employed to actuate the pin in puncturing the cartridge 22 to discharge its compressed gas.
  • a lanyard 24 may be "jerked” to cause the pin movement to puncture the cartridge (FIGURE 1), as described in Patent No. 3,754,731.
  • a separate "buckle-lift” arrangement 26 may be employed, whereby an "upwards-pulling” can cause the actuation to puncture the cartridge, in a manner similar to that described in my aforementioned United States patent.
  • the belt 10 may be worn by a swimmer, or simply as a safety belt by an occupant of a watercraft, and when adjusted for comfort and size by the clip 12 (or by any other type of clip and clasp arrangement 14) closes to fit the waist of the wearer, with the compressed gas cartridge 22 then sealed. If the swimmer wearing such belt then finds himself or herself in difficulty in the water -- or if the occupant of the watercraft wearing such belt inadvertently falls out into the water -- the lanyard 24 or pull 26 can be "jerked” or “lifted” accordingly, so as to cause the puncture of the cartridge 22 and the automatic filling of the hollow belt 10 and its sections 18a-18e as a lifepreserver.
  • a second belt 30 is also provided, similarly constructed of a rugged nylon, polyurethane-coated material or similar leak-proof composition, adjustable in length in any appropriate manner, as by the clip 32 and clasp 34 to encircle the waist of the wearer.
  • this second belt 30 is of a conventional construction to be worn about the waist, underlying the first belt 10, and contradistinct therefrom in not being hollow or sectionalized as at 18a-18e.
  • this "conventional" belt 30 forms part of an enclosure 36 which fits about the waist of a wearer at the small of the back and within which the overlapping folds 16 of the first belt 10 are temporarily secured (FIGURE 3).
  • the ends of the second belt 30 are fixedly secured at 38 -- as by a "tacking" --, and including a Velcro or other adhesive fastener 40 in temporarily holding the folded sections 16 of the belt 10 in place prior to deployment -- in which event the unfilled sections 18a-18e are enveloped within the enclosure 36, and hidden from sight, thereby forming a portion of the first belt 10 at the small of the wearer's back (i.e.
  • Reference notation 42 in FIGURES 3 and 4 will be understood to be separate Velcro, or other adhesive securements in wrap-over, and envelop the sections 18a-18e within the enclosure 36, before the puncture of the compressed gas cartridge.
  • the inflatable swimmer's safety belt of the invention will be appreciated to take on the appearances of FIGURES 1 and 2, wherein the first belt 10 overlies the second belt 30, about the waist of the wearer, at the small of the back, and with the temporarily secured, folded, overlapping unfilled sections 18a-18e enveloped within the enclosure 36 -- all as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2.
  • the compressed gas in cartridge 22 will be appreciated to not only fill the belt 10 and/or its sections 18a-18e, but will also act to unfold and expand outwardly the folded-over sections 18a-18e, previously held within the enclosure 36. More specifically, the filling by the compressed gas which is released will be seen to unfurl the Velcro sections 42, so as to increase the length of the belt 10, to free it from the enveloping confines of the enclosure 36, and to form the lifepreserver of increased length which results so as to permit the belt 10 to raise over the chest area to the wearer's arm level -- done automatically as the inflated sections 18a-18e ride up in the water.
  • the unfolding and outward expansion of the belt 10 can be predetermined, to allow the belt to ride under the armpits of the wearer, and to thereby hold the wearer substantially vertical in the water.
  • the overlapping belt portions 18a-18e were selected so that with a carbon dioxide compressed gas cartridge 22, the length of the belt 10, when filled, increased by approximately 25 cm, to allow the belt 10 to rise to the armpits of the wearer, from its initial position at the wearer's waist.
  • a tether is further included between an underside surface of the belt 10 (as at 52) and a topside surface of the belt 30 (as at 54).
  • a tether is identified by the reference notation 55 in the drawings, and is selected of a length to restrict the upward riding of the belt 10 when expanded to form the tube riding upwardly towards the arm level of the wearer. In such manner, the tube so formed is prevented from riding over the shoulders and/or head of the user, to become otherwise "free", or to just clear away a sufficient amount to reduce its capacity to hold the user vertical in the water, with the head out-of-the-water.
  • the tether 55 may also be temporarily housed by a Velcro or other adhesive securement 56, until the first belt 10 is deployed.
  • Reference notation 60 in FIGURES 3 and 4 will be appreciated to comprise a removable cap which permits the release of the compressed gas from the sections 18a-18e when it is desired to refold the belt 10 for placement into the enclosure 36 after use, or to manually fill the sections by wearer's breath, and where the sections 18a-18e may tend to leak in the event that the inflatable swimmer's safety belt is worn in the water for a prolonged period of time.
  • the preferred embodiments described employ the compressed gas cartridge 22 in position on the belt 10 between the enclosure 36 and the closable clasp 14.
  • the compressed gas cartridge 22 may be removably coupled with the belt 10, for replacement after use.
  • the compressed gas which fills the cartridge 22 is selected of a buoyancy to allow the belt 10 to float in any water environment.
  • the tether 55 will be noted to prevent the floating belt from going over the wearer's head, once inflated.
  • conventional belt 30 always clasped about the wearer's waist, appropriately selecting the length of the tether 55 then prevents this from occurring, as the amount of "play" available for the belt 10 is thus limited.
  • the clasps 14, 34 closed to restrain the enclosure 36 about the small of the back, no need will be seen to exist to provide a temporary adhesive securement of the folded, overlapping relationship of the belt 10, waiting for the compressed gas to fill the interconnected sections 18a-18e in lengthening the belt 10 in forming the lifepreserver tube.
  • Such elimination of the temporary adhesive securement -- whose strength has been noted to weaken in a water environment (and especially in a salt-water environment) -- simplifies the manufacture of the safety belt, and concommitantly reduces its manufacturing cost.
  • the compressed gas cartridge 22 is shown as being coupled to the belt 10 at a position adjacent to its side, the activating pin and its actuator (24 or 26) can be located anywhere along the belt 10, just so long as it can be easily reached to puncture the cartridge.
  • versions of the present invention can also be foreseen where the cartridge 22 would, itself, become water activated, as by an accidental falling of the wearer from the boat, jet-ski or other watercraft, and to thus cause such activation to release the compressed gas in filling the substantially hollow belt 10.
  • the safety belt has been described as using a pair of belts 10, 30 of rugged nylon, polyurethane-coated or similar leak-proof composition, it will be understood that all that is necessary is for the belt 10 to be of a buoyancy to float when filled with the compressed gas employed --no matter what manufacture is employed for the belt 10, and no matter whether the compressed gas is of a carbon dioxide, or other mixture. Also, a comparable modification might utilize a double-chambered version for the belt 10, consisting of two inflatable belts, to afford double securing in the event a cartridge misfires or one of the belts incurs a leakage. For at least such reasons, therefore, resort should be had to the claims appended hereto for a true understanding of the scope of the invention.
EP94308697A 1994-11-24 1994-11-24 Ceinture de sauvetage gonflable Withdrawn EP0713824A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP94308697A EP0713824A1 (fr) 1994-11-24 1994-11-24 Ceinture de sauvetage gonflable

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP94308697A EP0713824A1 (fr) 1994-11-24 1994-11-24 Ceinture de sauvetage gonflable

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0713824A1 true EP0713824A1 (fr) 1996-05-29

Family

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Family Applications (1)

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EP94308697A Withdrawn EP0713824A1 (fr) 1994-11-24 1994-11-24 Ceinture de sauvetage gonflable

Country Status (1)

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EP (1) EP0713824A1 (fr)

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2322335A (en) * 1997-02-25 1998-08-26 Connor Edward O Swim aid
ES2166294A1 (es) * 1999-11-12 2002-04-01 Fontanes Jose Manuel Regueira Cinturon salvavidas autohinchable
WO2002098729A1 (fr) 2001-06-07 2002-12-12 Walter Herrmann Ceinture de sauvetage
WO2013086549A1 (fr) 2011-12-16 2013-06-20 Giese Fritjof Ceinture de sauvetage avec corps flottants gonflables
FR3035371A1 (fr) * 2015-04-23 2016-10-28 Bouees De Sauvetage U Float Dispositif d'aide a la flottabilite pour nageur-sauveteur

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3130424A (en) * 1962-05-31 1964-04-28 Anthony S Santangelo Automatically inflatable flotation device for bathing suits
FR2057610A5 (fr) * 1969-08-29 1971-05-21 Casasola Florent
FR2080857A6 (fr) * 1969-08-29 1971-11-26 Casasola Florent
FR2573382A1 (fr) * 1984-11-22 1986-05-23 Claulin Guy Bouee de sauvetage autogonflable
GB2184069A (en) * 1985-11-25 1987-06-17 Barry Neil Bettell A life belt
WO1987005578A1 (fr) * 1986-03-13 1987-09-24 Mariotto Monique Dispositif individuel de sauvetage

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3130424A (en) * 1962-05-31 1964-04-28 Anthony S Santangelo Automatically inflatable flotation device for bathing suits
FR2057610A5 (fr) * 1969-08-29 1971-05-21 Casasola Florent
FR2080857A6 (fr) * 1969-08-29 1971-11-26 Casasola Florent
FR2573382A1 (fr) * 1984-11-22 1986-05-23 Claulin Guy Bouee de sauvetage autogonflable
GB2184069A (en) * 1985-11-25 1987-06-17 Barry Neil Bettell A life belt
WO1987005578A1 (fr) * 1986-03-13 1987-09-24 Mariotto Monique Dispositif individuel de sauvetage

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2322335A (en) * 1997-02-25 1998-08-26 Connor Edward O Swim aid
ES2166294A1 (es) * 1999-11-12 2002-04-01 Fontanes Jose Manuel Regueira Cinturon salvavidas autohinchable
WO2002098729A1 (fr) 2001-06-07 2002-12-12 Walter Herrmann Ceinture de sauvetage
WO2013086549A1 (fr) 2011-12-16 2013-06-20 Giese Fritjof Ceinture de sauvetage avec corps flottants gonflables
FR3035371A1 (fr) * 2015-04-23 2016-10-28 Bouees De Sauvetage U Float Dispositif d'aide a la flottabilite pour nageur-sauveteur

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