GB2530265A

GB2530265A - Diving hot water suit valve & tube installation

Info

Publication number: GB2530265A
Application number: GB1416329.9A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Sean William Duncan Webb; Marcus Jon Darler
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2014-09-16
Filing date: 2014-09-16
Publication date: 2016-03-23
Also published as: GB201416329D0

Abstract

A diving hot water suit valve and tube installation allows removal of the valve from the suit without disconnecting the tubing from it or damaging the suit. To secure the tubing to the valve housing the inside of the tube is expanded by insertion of a ferrule to secure the outside of the tube to the inside of the valve. The tubing is routed around the suit in loops, with holes located along each loop (figure 2). Equal delivery of water from each of the holes is achieved by the connection of both ends of each loop to the valve. The connectors used to create the loops of tubing have restrictors fitted at each of the outlets for balancing the water flow (figure 4). Sleeves of material fitted to the inside of the suit keep the tubes in position (figure 1).

Description

DiviinQ Hot Water Suit, Valve & Tube Installation.

Description:

Back ground of the invention Hot water suits are used in the commercial diving industry for saturation divers. The suits are of a one piece construction and are made from a variety of materials. These range from neoprene to cotton and resemble a baggy overall. A valve is fitted to the suit which delivers hot sea water via a pipe to maintain the divers correct body temperature. This water runs continuously and the valve diverts water to either the inside or outside of the suit as and when the diver requires it. On the inside of the suit, tubes are attached to the valve with holes drilled along their length allowing the water to be distributed to each of the limbs, including hands and feet and the front and back of the torso.

Problem it solves The construction of existing hot water suit valves and tube installations, work on the following method of assembly: The valve has to be screwed into the suit, the tubes distributing the water then have to be fitted to the valve, via pipe tails radially attached to the body of the valve. Once these tubes are attached they are glued to the suit and then fabric tape is glued over the top of them.

If a problem occurs with either the valve or the tubing, the only way of removing the valve is to cut through the fabric tape and peel the glued in tubes out of the suit. If there is a break in the tubing the full length of fabric tape and tubing will require removing and replacing. This is slow, expensive and generally results in the suit being thrown away rather than being repaired. The use of externat pipe tails on the valve, increases the area of stiffness of the suit by an additional 5 cms and as the valve is mounted on the hip this reduces the ability of the suit to bend around the side of the divers body. The ridged area created at the end of the pipe tails also accelerates the wear to the outside of the suit and on the inside of the suit the tube regularly fails where it attaches to the pipe tails.

The current method of distributing hot water from the valve is via single lengths of tube attached to the inside of the suit a tube goes to each arm, one to each leg and one to the front and back of the torso. Because these tubes are single runs with holes drilled along their length the water flow out of the holes recuces the further away from the valve they are and as the tubes vary in length this gives also gives an uneven distribution of water.

While the suit is being used, if any of these tubes get folded at a point along their length the supply of water beyond the fold will reduce or can stop. The existing tubing has a fiat profile with a rectangular hole measuring 8mm by 1.6mm the use of this type of tube and the gluing & taping to fit it to the suit reduces the overall flexibility of the and therefore increases diver fatigue.

What the invention does Our design of Hot water valve and tube installation uses a two piece housing construction, allowing the valve to be removed quickly without the need to cut the tape and tubing away from the suit. Round uniform cross-sectional tube is used to distribute the water through the suit and this has double the volume of existing tubing. To improve distribution further the tubes are configured in to loops or circuits within the suit giving equal flow out of each of the holes along the lengths of tubing. If the tube now has a fold causing a restriction, because both ends of the tube are connected to the valve, water will flow from both ends allowing water to be delivered as normal. Each circuit is connected within the two piece valve housing using ferrules to secure it. This design has eliminated the need for pipe tails and has reduced the area on the suit around the valve that has no stretch. The tube is retained within the valve by placing a ferrule inside the tube. If the tube does break it can be cut at the point of entry to the valve, the ferrule can be pushed back in the opposite direction to the way it was assembled so that the remaining piece of tube can be removed before a replacement piece of tube is fitted. Rather than gluing the tubing directly to the inside of suit sleeves of material have been attached which keep the tubing in position, but allow it to move within the sleeve. The process for replacing the tube is made much easier and quicker that before. This method also increases the overall flexibility of the suit reducing diver fatigue.

Key features of the invention 1. Two piece hot water valve housing allows quick removal and installation of the valve.

2. Connecting both ends of the tubing to the valve in a loop/circuit produces an even delivery of sea water from each distribution hole.

3. Tubing is retained in the suit by sleeves of material rather than being directly glued into the suit, allowing for easier maintenance/repair and making the suit more flexible.

4. Tubing connected to the valve housing internally and increases the flexibility of the suit around the valve and reduces the wear to the outside of the suit and tubes.

Any important but not so key features * Restrictors are fitted to the pipe connectors at the arms, legs and helmet connections to ensure the even delivery of water throughout the suit.

* Round tubing used to double the volume of water that can be delivered and improve the flexibiTity of the suit.

* The Knob on the valve has a large chamfer to help increase flow into the main bore of the valve.

The Spindle on the valve which holds the knob in place, has its diameter necked from 14mm to 8mm for most of its length increasing the volume in the bore of the Main Housing helping to equalise the delivery of water.

* The Main Housing of the valve has a full radius at the bottom of main bore to improve the even delivery of water from the 6 radial holes which connect to a large radial groove which balances the delivery further.

* The suit pattern has pre-bent arms and legs a more natural static position for the user, reducing diver fatigue.

A brief introduction to the drawings

Drawing 1: Tube Sleeve.

Shows a cross section of the method used to retain the tubing that distributes sea water within the suit.

Drawing 2: Hot Water Distribution Circuits.

Shows the Hot Water valve with the loops/circuits coming from it. Allowing sea water to be delivered from each end of the tubing creating equal flow at each hole within the loop/circuit. The connectors used within the circuits, require the outlet bore to be reduced to the same size as the holes within the tubing using a restrictor (See drawing 4).

Drawing 3: Tube/Ferrule Ass'y.

This demonstrates the method used to attach the tubing to the valve housing via the manifold.

Drawing 4: Connector.

This shows the method used to restrict the and balance the flow of water within the loop/circuits of tubing.

Drawing 03H WV: Shows an exploded view of the Hot Water Valve Assembly, items 5 and 6 are the two pieces that make up the housing.

More detailed description with reference to drawings one or more examples of your invention Drawing 1: Tube Sleeve.

Using two pieces of material, a sleeve is produced which is glued to the inside fabric of the Hot Water Suit. Through the sleeve is fed the tubing, which the hot sea water will pass.

This tubing has holes drilled along its length to allow the water to fill the suit.

Drawing 2: Hot Water Distribution Circuits.

From the Hot Water Valve, water is fed around the suit using loops/circuits of tubing, each end of the loop/circuit of tubing is connected to the valve which allows water to flow down each end creating uniform pressure within the tube, which in turn produces an equal flow from each of the holes drilled in the tubing. For this to work effectively, where connectors are used in the loop/circuit any outlet holes in those connectors have to be reduced in size (See drawing 4). Connectors are used to distribute hot water to the feet, hands and to the helmet of the diver.

Drawing 3: Tube/Ferrule Ass'y.

The holes in the manifold that have been produced to attach the tubing, are counter bored and the surface finish is rough this roughness is important as it helps prevent the tubing from being pulled out of the manifold if any pressure is applied.

The method of assembly is as follows; Push the tubing into the hole in the manifold until it is flush with the inside of the manifold.

* From the inside of the Manifold push the Ferrule into the end of the tube to expand it, trapping it against the hole in the manifold, further retention is achieved by the counter bore within the hole.

Drawing 4: Connector.

This shows the method used to restrict the size of the hole in the connector which has been chosen to deliver water to the hand, foot or helmet de-mister. The restrictor is required to great back pressure in each of the loop/circuits to balance the flow of water within them.

Drawing 03H WV: The two piece construction of the valve body, comprising of the Manifold (Item5) and the Main Housing (Item 6) allow the valve to be quickly removed and replaced. The Manifold is connected to the tubing distributing sea water around the suit via the Ferrules (Item 4) and these hold the manifold in place. This allows the valve to be installed at any time after the manufacture of the suit, when the suit becomes beyond economical repair, the valve can be easily removed and refitted into a new suit. If a tube becomes damaged the design allows the user/technician to pull the damaged tubing through the Sleeve, replace it and connect the new tube into the Manifold using very basic tools, preventing minimal down time of the suit.

Claims

Diving Hot Water Suit, Valve & Tube Installation.Claims: 1 A hot water suit valve & tube installation that allows removal and installation of the valve without the need to damage or disconnect the tubing from within the hot water suit.
2 A hot water suit valve & tube installation according to claim 1, in which equal delivery of water from each of the holes in the suit is achieved by having a number of loops/circuits tubes, with both ends of each loop/circuit connected to the hot water suit valve.
3 A hot water suit valve & tube installation according to claim 1, in which the tubing is secured to the valve housing by expanding the inside of the tube (Drawing 3), making the outside of the tube expand securing it to the inside of the valve.
4 A hot water suit valve & tube installation according to claim 1, in which the connectors (Drawing 4) have restrictors fitted to ensure the even delivery of water throughout the suit.
A hot water suit valve & tube installation according to claim 1, in which the tubes used to distribute water are retained in the suit by sleeves of material.
6 A hot water suit valve & tube installation according to claim 1, the valve to be fitted after manufacture of the suit.