EP2479105B1 - Rescue suit for submarine pilot - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a rescue suit for submarine riders according to the preamble of claim 1.

Such a rescue suit is from the WO2007 / 138281 A1 known. This rescue suit includes an ascension hood and an inflatable lift chamber, as well as an inflatable tube that leads to the inflatable lift chamber and can be connected to a supply of breathing gas. The known rescue suit also has a second inflatable chamber and a gas supply, which is arranged on the rescue suit and carried by the suit. The inflatable lift chamber may be filled with a breathing gas via the inflation tube to create a lift buoyancy for the suit. In rise chamber pressure relief valves are arranged, which are covered by the rise hood. If the pressure prevailing in the first inflatable chamber when filling the ascent chamber with a respiratory gas above a predetermined pressure limit of the pressure relief valves, they are opened and the breathing gas flows from the rise chamber in the interior of the hood and supplies the wearer of the rescue suit in the application with breathing gas ,

In the case of application, the user located in a submarine puts on the rescue suit and goes into an exit lock of the submarine. Therein, the user connects the inflation hose to an underwater supply of a breathing gas (eg, air) to fill the first inflatable chamber and the interior of the ascending hood with breathing gas. During filling, the submarine's exit gate is flooded with water. After complete flooding of the exit lock this is opened, so that the submarine driver can leave the lock up due to the ascending buoyancy generated by the filled ascent chamber on the rescue suit. During the ascent, the ambient pressure (absolute water pressure) continues to decrease and it forms by the expansion of the gas in the rise chamber of the suit there overpressure to the environment. As a result, the breathing gas in the ascent chamber flows via the overpressure valves into the ascending hood and supplies the submarine driver with breathing gas during the ascent. Once the submarine driver has reached the water surface, he can by triggering a valve on the rescue suit open entrained gas supply to inflate the second chamber on the suit and the To provide suit with an additional buoyancy. This additional buoyancy serves to bring the submarine rider on the water surface in a supine position, if he has reached the water surface in prone position. In addition, the additional buoyancy of the second chamber ensures a stable floating position on the water surface.

In this rescue suit, however, the submarine driver must be able to inflate the second inflatable chamber by opening the valve of the gas supply carried along with the suit. However, the submarine rider is often unable to do so because of exhaustion during the ascent.

Pressure relief valves for lifejackets or life suits for submariners are also known from the prior art, which can be switched to two valve positions. During the ascent from the submarine, the pressure relief valve is set to a relatively low overpressure, so that with the ever-decreasing water pressure, which rests on the ascent chamber of the life jacket or the rescue suit, the gas can escape from the rise chamber. On the water surface, the submarine driver can then switch the pressure relief valve to a higher limit pressure, which prevents too much air from escaping from the ascent chamber of the life jacket or the suit, for example due to wave impact. Such a pressure relief valve is in the DE 44 32 070 B4 described. Even with these pressure relief valves, the submarine driver on the water surface has to manually change the overpressure valve from the first valve position to the second valve position. Again, the submariner is often unable to do so because of his exhaustion.

Proceeding from this, the present invention seeks to improve a rescue suit for submariners of the generic type so that the rescue suit in the application on the one hand ensures a stable ascent from the submarine and reliably supplies the submariner in the ascent phase with breathing gas and On the other hand, a stable and automatically entering rescue situation of the submariners on the water surface is ensured without the submarine driver having to manually open or change a valve on the water surface.

This object is achieved with a rescue suit for submarine riders with the features of claim 1. Preferred embodiments of this rescue suit are the dependent claims 2 to 8 refer to. The object is further achieved by a method for rescuing submariners as specified in claim 9. In this method, a rescue suit is used with the features of the claim. Advantageous embodiments of the method can be found in the dependent claims 10 and 11.

The rescue suit according to the invention has a (single) inflatable and closed ascent chamber with a predetermined volume, a rise hood which surrounds a breathing chamber, and a hose with a free end for connection to a stored in the submarine supply of a breathing gas. Through the hose, both the breathing chamber and the inflatable chamber of the rescue suit can be filled with breathing gas. The filling of the inflatable chamber serves to create a lift buoyancy. The supply of the breathing gas into the breathing chamber ensures the supply of the submarine with breathing gas during the ascent. For this, the free end of the hose is first connected to the in-submarine breathing gas supply, while the submarine driver is in the exit gate of the submarine. At the other end of the hose, a gas distributor is arranged according to the invention, which directly via a first gas outlet (ie without detour via the rise chamber, as in the rescue suit of WO02007 / 138281 A1 the case) is in communication with the breathing chamber and via a second gas outlet with the inflatable chamber.

The gas distributor is preferably shaped such that respiratory gas flowing in from the tube flows primarily through the second gas outlet into the inflatable chamber and secondarily through the first gas outlet directly into the breathing chamber. Suitably, at least in the second gas outlet, but preferably in both gas outlets of the gas distributor, a check valve is arranged, which prevents breathing gas flows from the inflated rise chamber or from the breathing chamber back into the gas distributor.

Through the gas distributor, the coming of the breathing gas supply in the submarine and flowing through the tube breathing gas is passed both into the inflatable lift chamber to generate a buoyancy as well as directly and without detour via a pressure relief valve in the breathing chamber of the ascent hood. In this way, the submarine driver is already sufficiently supplied with breathing gas during the flood of the exit gate of the submarine.

When the submarine driver leaves the fully flooded exit hatch through an open hatch, the free end of the hose is disconnected from the breathing gas supply in the submarine and the breathing gas supply is interrupted. During the following ascent phase, the ambient pressure acting on the inflated lift-up chamber of the rescue suit decreases continuously, creating an over-pressure in the ascent chamber relative to the decreasing ambient pressure (absolute water pressure). To reduce this overpressure, the chamber and the breathing chamber are connected to each other via at least one pressure relief valve. The or each pressure relief valve is suitably set so that it opens only at a relatively high pressure of more than 0.1 bar, preferably of more than 0.14 bar. As soon as the overpressure in the rise chamber exceeds the limit pressure of the overpressure valve in relation to the ambient pressure prevailing in the breathing chamber, the overpressure valve is opened and the respiratory gas in the chamber flows into the respiratory chamber in order to supply the submarine driver with breathing gas during the ascent phase.

Fig. 1:

Schematische Darstellung eines erfindungsgemäßen Rettungsanzugs in einer Vorderansicht;

Fig. 2:

Schematische Darstellung des Rettungsanzugs von Fig. 1 in einer Rückansicht;

Fig. 3:

Darstellung des Oberkörperbereichs des Rettungsanzugs von Fig. 1 in einer Seitenansicht von links (Fig. 3 a) und einer Seitenansicht von rechts (Fig. 3b);

Fig. 4:

Detailansicht des Gasverteilers des Rettungsanzugs von Fig. 1.

Further embodiments and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment. The embodiment will be explained in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1:

Schematic representation of a rescue suit according to the invention in a front view;

Fig. 2:

Schematic representation of the rescue suit of Fig. 1 in a rear view;

3:

Illustration of the upper part of the rescue suit of Fig. 1 in a side view from the left ( Fig. 3 a) and a side view from the right ( Fig. 3b );

4:

Detail view of the gas distributor of the rescue suit from Fig. 1 ,

The in Fig. 1 Rescue suit for submarine riders shown in a schematic front view is formed as a body suit 1 of a waterproof and breathable fabric and comprises a torso region 1a and a lower body region 1b. The upper body portion 1a and the lower body portion 1b are integrally connected with each other. The lower body portion 1b is formed as a trouser part and integrally attached The upper body portion 1a comprises at the front of a chest part and at the back of a back part, which are also integrally connected to each other. At the chest and the back part, a left and a right arm part and a neck part with a neck opening are attached. The rescue suit also comprises a rise hood 20, which the user puts on his head. The ascending hood 20 surrounds a respiratory chamber 14. At its lower end 14b, the ascending hood 20 is open (FIG. FIG. 3 ). The center area of the lift cover covers the chest area of the rescue suit. The upper portion of the ascending hood 20 encloses the head of the submarine driver when the rescue suit is put on. At the front, the ascending hood 20 has a viewing window 20a. At the front of the suit has a zipper 13 with which the suit can be opened to board and closed after boarding.

The rescue suit further optionally comprises a nose clip 2 for closing the nose of the user, a closure buckle 15 for shaping and stabilizing the rise chamber 19, adjusting straps 3 for adapting the suit to the size of the user, a whistle 22, a mouth inflation valve 18 for blowing the ascent chamber 19 by the user and a first bag 4 in which an insulating glove is housed, and a second bag 5 in which an emergency equipment kit is stored. In the hip area, a third pocket 6 is provided, in which a one-man inflatable rescue island is housed with an associated inflator. The pockets 5 and 6 are preferred as in Fig. 1 attached to the front of the suit so that the submariner has as much access to the contents of the bags as possible. The adjustment straps 3 provided in the chest area on the left and on the right side of the suit serve as well as adjusting straps 7 on the overshoes 8 for adapting the rescue suit to the size of the user.

The rescue suit also has an inflatable rise chamber 19, which is arranged in the form of a buoyancy stole in the upper body region on the outside of the suit. The rise chamber 19 has a closed and predetermined volume and extends, as from the FIGS. 1 to 3 visible, from the chest over the neck area to the neck of the user. The neck area is designed in the form of a neck pillow 19a ( FIG. 3 ). Like from the FIGS. 3a and 3b Obviously, the ascending cover 20 covers the inflatable rise chamber 19. The ascending hood 20 Surrounding breathing chamber 14 is connected via a pressure relief valve 16 in the wall 19b of the rise chamber 19 with the rise chamber 19 ( Fig. 3a and 3b ).

On the back of the rescue suit ( Fig. 2 ) runs a hose 11, which has at its free end a connecting piece 12 for connection to a arranged in the submarine breathing gas supply. The other end of the tube 11 is connected to a gas distributor 10. The gas distributor 10 is in Fig. 4 shown in detail. The gas distributor 10 is tubular with a pipe wall 24 and a pipe mouth 25 and has an inlet channel 17 to which the hose 11 is connected. The gas distributor 10 further comprises a first gas outlet 22 and a second gas outlet 23. The first gas outlet 22 is expediently formed by an opening in the pipe wall 24 and the second gas outlet 23 is expediently formed by the pipe mouth 25 of the tubular gas distributor 10. The first gas outlet 22 communicates directly with the breathing chamber 14, and the second gas outlet 23 communicates with the inflatable rise chamber 19. At least in the second gas outlet 23, which is in communication with the inflatable rise chamber 19, a check valve 21 is arranged. Also in the first gas outlet 22, a check valve 20 can be provided in an expedient manner, as in Fig. 4 shown. How to continue Fig. 4 it can be seen, the respiratory chamber 14 communicates with the inflatable rise chamber 19 via pressure relief valves 16, which are arranged in the outer wall 19b of the rise chamber 19.

Due to the selected shape of the gas distributor 10, the breathing gas coming from the tube 11 flows primarily through the second gas outlet 23 into the inflatable rise chamber 19 and laterally through the first gas outlet 22 into the breathing chamber 14, because the flow resistance due to the selected configuration of the gas distributor through the second gas outlet 23 is lower than through the first gas outlet 22. The gas distributor is expediently made of an airtight material, for example. Made of aluminum or plastic. It can also be made of an airtight textile material.

• In einem Notfall oder einer Notfallübung legt der sich in einem havarierten Unterseeboot in tiefem Wasser befindliche Unterseebootfahrer den Rettungsanzug an und begibt sich in eine Ausstiegsschleuse des U-Boots. Dort verbindet er den Anschlussstutzen 12 des Schlauchs 11 mit einem im U-Boot angeordneten Vorrat eines Atemgases, wie z.B. Luft oder mit Sauerstoff angereicherte Luft, und öffnet ein hier nicht zeichnerisch dargestelltes Sperrventil, so dass Atemgas aus dem Vorrat über den Schlauch 11 in den daran angeschlossenen Gasverteiler 10 strömen kann. Vom Gasverteiler 10 strömt das Atemgas zum einen direkt über den ersten Gasauslass 22 in die von der Aufstiegshaube 20 umgebene Atmungskammer 14 und zum anderen über den zweiten Gasauslass 23 in die aufblasbare Aufstiegskammer 19. Während des Befüllens der Aufstiegskammer 19 und der Atmungskammer 14 mit dem Atemgas wird die Ausstiegsschleuse des U-Boots mit Wasser geflutet. Steigt der Wasserspiegel in der Ausstiegsschleuse über die Unterkante der Öffnung 14b in der Aufstiegshaube 20, so bläht sich diese ballonartig über dem Kopf des Benutzers auf und bildet zusammen mit dem Gas in der Aufstiegskammer 19 ein Auftriebsvolumen, welches den U-Bootfahrer nach oben zur Wasseroberfläche tragen kann. Während des Flutens der Ausstiegsschleuse steigt der darin herrschende Druck auf den durch den absoluten Wasserdruck gebildeten Umgebungsdruck an. Aus dem Atemgasvorrat wird während des Flutens permanent eine so hohe Atemgasmenge nachgeliefert, dass beide Kammern, also die Aufstiegskammer 19 und die Atmungskammer 14, jederzeit auf einem Druck oberhalb des absoluten Drucks in der Ausstiegsschleuse liegen. Damit sind während des Flutens sowohl die Aufstiegskammer 19 als auch die Atmungskammer 14 jederzeit vollständig mit Atemgas aufgeblasen, wobei der in der Aufstiegskammer 19 herrschende Überdruck gegenüber dem Druck in der Atmungskammer 14 geringer ist als der Grenzdruck der Überdruckventile 16, so dass diese nicht öffnen.

The described rescue suit is used in the application as follows:

• In an emergency or emergency exercise, the submarine rider, who is in deep water in a damaged submarine, puts on the rescue suit and goes into an exit lock of the submarine. There he connects the connecting piece 12 of the tube 11th with an arranged in the submarine supply of a breathing gas, such as air or oxygen-enriched air, and opens a not graphically illustrated check valve, so that breathing gas from the supply via the hose 11 in the gas distributor 10 connected thereto can flow. From the gas distributor 10, the breathing gas flows on the one hand directly via the first gas outlet 22 in the breathing chamber 14 surrounded by the rise hood 20 and on the other via the second gas outlet 23 in the inflatable lift chamber 19. During the filling of the rise chamber 19 and the breathing chamber 14 with the breathing gas The submarine exit hatch is flooded with water. If the water level in the exit lock rises above the lower edge of the opening 14b in the rise hood 20, it balloons over the user's head in the manner of a balloon and together with the gas in the rise chamber 19 forms a buoyancy volume, which lifts the submarine up to the water surface can carry. During the flooding of the exit gate, the pressure prevailing therein rises to the ambient pressure formed by the absolute water pressure. From the supply of respiratory gas, such a high quantity of respiratory gas is permanently supplied during the flooding that both chambers, ie the rise chamber 19 and the respiratory chamber 14, are always at a pressure above the absolute pressure in the exit sluice. Thus, both the ascent chamber 19 and the breathing chamber 14 are completely inflated at any time during the flooding with breathing gas, wherein the pressure prevailing in the rise chamber 19 overpressure against the pressure in the breathing chamber 14 is less than the limit pressure of the pressure relief valves 16 so that they do not open.

After complete flooding of the exit lock, the submarine driver closes the valve of the breathing gas supply and disconnects the connecting piece 12 from the breathing gas supply. Thereafter, a hatch opens in the exit gate and the submarine driver rises due to the caused by the filling of the ascent chamber 19 and the breathing chamber 14 buoyancy from the exit gate through the hatch upwards towards the water surface. During the ascent to the water surface of the ambient pressure (absolute water pressure) decreases continuously and the gas in the two chambers (rise chamber 19 and breathing chamber 14) expands. This creates an overpressure in the breathing chamber filled with respiratory gas 19 with respect to the environment and in relation to the respiration chamber 14 open to the environment in the lower region 14b. The expanding in the breathing chamber 14 breathing gas can escape through the opening in the lower region 14 b in the environment (water). As soon as the rising during the ascension phase

Overpressure has exceeded the limit pressure of the pressure relief valve 16, open the pressure relief valves 16, which allows breathing gas from the rise chamber 19 to flow into the breathing chamber 14 and in this way can flush the breathing chamber 14. In the process, the CO ₂ exhaled by the submarine driver is removed and he is permanently supplied with fresh respiratory gas during the ascent phase.

By the check valves 20 and 21 in the first gas outlet 22 and the second gas outlet 23 of the gas distributor 10 prevents breathing gas from the rise chamber 19 and the respiratory chamber 14 can flow back into the tube 11. Thereby, the rising chamber 19 is kept just below the opening pressure (limit pressure) of the relief valves 16 when the submarine driver has reached the water surface and floats on the water surface. The ascent chamber 19 therefore forms a rescue means, which stabilizes the submarine rider in a faint-safe swimming position and preferably holds in a supine position on the water surface. The pressure relief valves 16 are suitably set so that the amount of air expanding in the rise chamber 19 during the ascent to the water surface on the one hand safely escape through the pressure relief valves 16, the pressure in the rise chamber 19 on the other hand, but at the same time still high enough to the submarine driver give the water surface sufficient buoyancy so that it can lie in a stable floating position on the water surface. In contrast to the rescue suits known from the prior art, the rescue suit according to the invention is characterized in particular by the fact that the submarine driver at the water surface neither an additional gas supply for inflating a second ascent chamber (as in the WO02007 / 138281 A1 described) has yet to change the opening pressure (limiting pressure) of a pressure relief valve has (as in the DE 44 32 070 B4 described).

The invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment. Thus, only a single pressure relief valve 16 may be provided. The arrangement according to the invention can also be designed only as a lifejacket and not illustrated here as a full body suit.

Claims (11)

1. Escape and survival suit or jacket for submariners having an inflatable ascent chamber (19), an ascent hood (20) which surrounds a breathing chamber (14), and a hose (11) with a free end for connection to a supply of a breathing gas, the breathing gas being supplyable through the hose (11) to both the breathing chamber (14) and the inflatable ascent chamber (19) to produce buoyancy for ascent, characterised in that arranged at the other end of the hose (11) there is a gas distributor (10) which is connected directly to the breathing chamber (14) through a first gas outlet (22) and to the inflatable ascent chamber (19) through a second gas outlet (23).
2. Escape and survival suit or jacket according to claim 1, in which the gas distributor (10) is formed so that breathing gas flowing into it from the hose (11) flows primarily through the second gas outlet (23) into the inflatable ascent chamber (19) and secondarily through the first gas outlet (22) into the breathing chamber (14).
3. Escape and survival suit or jacket according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that a non-return valve (20, 21) is arranged in the first gas outlet (22) and/or in the second gas outlet (23).
4. Escape and survival suit or jacket according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the gas distributor (10) is tubular in shape with the first gas outlet (22) formed by an opening in the tube wall (24) and the second gas outlet (23) formed by the tube mouth (25).
5. Escape and survival suit or jacket according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the breathing chamber (14) is connected to the inflatable ascent chamber (19) through at least one pressure control valve (16).
6. Escape and survival suit or jacket according to claim 5, in which the or each pressure control valve (16) opens at a limit pressure of 0.1 bar.
7. Escape and survival suit or jacket according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the ascent hood is open at its lower end (14b) so that excess breathing gas or exhaled air can escape into the environment.
8. Escape and survival suit or jacket according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that a connector (12) is provided at the free end of the hose (11) for connection to the supply of breathing gas.
9. Method of escape and survival for submariners from a submarine lying in deep water with the following steps:

   a. provision of an escape and survival suit having an inflatable ascent chamber (19), an ascent hood (20) and a hose (11) with a connector (12) at one end of the hose (11),

   b. donning of the escape and survival suit by a submariner,

   c. connection of the hose (11) through the connector (12) to a supply of a breathing gas,

   d. direct supply of the breathing gas through the hose (11) and a gas distributor (10) connected to the hose (11) into the breathing chamber (14) and into the inflatable ascent chamber (19), the breathing gas flowing from the hose (11) into the gas distributor (10) and from there through a first gas outlet (22) into the breathing chamber (14) and through a second gas outlet (23) into the inflatable ascent chamber (19).
10. Method according to claim 9, characterised in that after donning the escape and survival suit the submariner enters an escape chamber of the submarine and once the breathing gas supply is on, the escape chamber is flooded, the supply of breathing gas being maintained during flooding in order to maintain the breathing gas chamber (14) and the inflatable ascent chamber (19) at a pressure which is greater than the continuously rising ambient pressure in the escape chamber during flooding.
11. Method according to claim 10, characterised in that the breathing chamber (14) is connected to the inflatable ascent chamber (19) through at least one pressure control valve (16), the pressure prevailing in the inflatable ascent chamber (19) during the flooding being less than the limit pressure of the or each pressure control valve (16).

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