RU76310U1 - PERSONAL PERSONAL INSURANCE DEVICE - Google Patents

Abstract

A personal bather safety device containing a collar made in the form of a collar, a gas source and an inflatable reservoir mounted on a collar carcass, characterized in that the collar carcass is made in the form of a reinforced hose equipped with bypass valves made with the possibility of actuation upon reaching a predetermined threshold pressure in the hose, and the inflatable tank is made in such a way that when filling it with gas, the most swollen areas are located in the area of the user's cheeks.

1 n.p. f-ly, 4 ill.

Description

The claimed technical solution relates to the field of devices designed to ensure personal safety on the water, and can find application in the equipment of sailors, tourists, fishermen and swimmers, including children.

The problem of preventing accidents on the water has long been known, and there are various directions in the search for a solution to this problem. The most common methods of personal water insurance include increasing the buoyancy of a person by linking it with external devices that have excessive buoyancy. Among such devices can be called a cork belt, a lifebuoy, as well as inflatable devices made in the form of a raft, vest or belt. All these devices have a fairly simple design and high reliability, allowing a person to stay on the water for a long period of time. The main disadvantage of the known devices is their bulkiness, not conducive to their constant wear, which reduces their value as a safety device in unforeseen circumstances.

Numerous attempts are known to create compact safety devices designed to be discreetly worn. Typically, compactness is achieved through the use of inflatable structures, which when inoperative look like clothing accessories. For example, the inflatable belt described in US Pat. No. 2,165,300 [1] looks like a normal belt. Carbon dioxide cylinders integrated in the belt increase buoyancy in 2-3 seconds

the owner of such a belt. A similar design was also patented in Russia (see RF patent No. 2094299 [2]). Among the patented solutions in this area can also be mentioned inflatable bracelets (see US patent No. 7,264,525 [3] and 7,267,509 [4]). The main disadvantage of such devices is their placement on the human body, leading to the fact that only a person who is able to hold his body in water in a position close to vertical can use the belt. This device is not suitable for use by children and individuals who are unconscious.

The devices described in US patent No. 7,150,668 [5], where a shirt with a built-in inflatable collar, and No. 6,659,689 [6], where a vest with an inflatable collar is proposed, can be considered a more successful option. These devices are very effective, but their lack of compactness and complexity of manufacture have prevented their widespread distribution.

Described in US Pat. No. 6,948,991 [7], a two-chamber collar circle for children performs its task well in keeping the child afloat, but it is not designed to be worn and activated immediately. It is rather a device for training in swimming than for insurance against accident on the water.

Closest to the claimed technical solution is the device described in US patent No. 7,125,302 [8]. The device in the form of a compact collar is able to instantly activate, i.e. inflate from built-in gas cylinders or from the reaction of chemical elements in the event of a signal from the sensors of cardiac activity. Thus, this decision really performs the role of personal water insurance for not-so-healthy bathers. Moreover, the collar design provides

the presence of a hard hoop made in the form of a torus or parts of a torus, which serves to prevent the suffocation of the bather when the device is activated. Several options for a rigid element and attachment of an inflatable part to it are proposed. However, the presence of a hard element around the neck is uncomfortable for most people. In addition, this does not allow the safety collar to be convenient for prolonged wearing and invisible to others.

The problem to which the claimed utility model is directed is to develop an improved design of a personal safety device for a bather. In this case, the main factors are the compactness of the device, its simplicity and the ability to disguise it as common accessories among bathers.

The technical result is achieved through the development of an improved design of a personal bather's safety device, in which there is a frame made in the shape of a collar, a gas source and an inflatable tank mounted on a frame-collar, characterized in that the frame-collar is made in the form of a reinforced hose equipped with overflow valves made with the possibility of actuation upon reaching a predetermined threshold pressure in the hose, and the inflatable tank is made in such a way that when filling it about gas, the most bloated areas are located around the user's cheeks.

When implementing the inventive design, it seems appropriate to supply an inflatable tank with an additional section with a diameter of 2-5 centimeters and a length of up to 1 meter, at the upper end of which an emergency alarm device is placed, while

an additional section is configured to occupy a vertical position with respect to the water surface.

As one of the options for the practical implementation of the claimed device, it is supposed to make such a device in the form of a neck accessory for a bather’s clothing, for example, a neck scarf.

Thus, it is proposed to exclude rigid collar elements from the prototype design [8], instead of which tubular elements are used in the form of hoses with reinforced walls, for example, nylon reinforced with carbon fiber. When gas is supplied under sufficiently high pressure, for example, 5-8 atmospheres, the tubular elements acquire the necessary rigidity, forming a frame around the bather’s neck. A soft reservoir made of water- and gas-impermeable fabric is fixed on the outside of the tubular elements and communicates with these elements by a system of one-way bypass valves that operate after a predetermined threshold pressure is created in the tubular elements. The volume of the soft reservoir is 10-17 liters, depending on the expected load. In the activated state, the soft reservoir should mainly take the form with a complex profile - the largest volumes are located in the area of the cheeks and chin of the bather, which allows you to keep the mouth and nose of the bather above the water level, even if it is unconscious.

Depending on the model, the device may have one or more external reservoirs communicating with each other by gas pipelines for simultaneous filling with gas.

The source of the working agent, gas, is miniature high-pressure cylinders or chemical elements, for example binary ones, which provide the almost instantaneous formation of a large amount of gas upon mutual contact. The same mechanism is provided in most analog solutions.

To attract the attention of rescuers, the soft reservoir can be equipped with an additional inflatable element that can be deployed, such as, for example, an airplane's rescue ladder, in a direction close to the vertical with respect to the water surface. At the upper end of such an element, a simple signaling device such as a colored flag, flashlight or antenna of an emergency transmitter can be placed, if the bather has such a transmitter.

The claimed design may include additional elements provided for in other known solutions, for example, an automatic device that activates a safety collar when immersed to a certain depth (see US patent No. 3,130,424 [9]), or an automatic device that activates a safety collar when changes in the physiological state of the bather (see prototype [8]).

The absence of rigid elements makes it possible to give the safety device various initial forms, for example, a detachable decorative ribbon around the neck or a fashionable neck scarf, which do not create inconvenience during prolonged wear and can be activated at any time.

The accompanying drawings show the basic design of the inventive safety device (Figure 1), a top view (Figure 2), view

in cross section along the axis AA and one of the possible embodiments of the device (Figure 4).

Figure 1 shows a tubular element 1 with reinforced walls in an unfilled gas state, an external tank 2 in an unfilled gas state, a gas source 3, a fastener 4. Bypass valves 7 are also indicated.

2, the tubular member 1 and the outer reservoir 2 are shown in a gas-filled state. Also shown is a fastener 4, bypass valves 7 and a signaling device 6 located on an additional inflatable element.

Figure 3 shows a section of the image of the activated safety devices in a section along AA. The reinforced tubular element 1 has acquired the necessary rigidity due to filling with gas under pressure and acts as a frame. The external tank 2 in a gas-filled state creates the necessary margin of buoyancy, while its preferred shape is shown in that in the area adjacent to the back of the head, the diameter of the tank is much smaller than the diameter of the tank in the area adjacent to the cheeks and chin. Figure 3 also shows an additional inflatable element 5 with a signal device 6 located at its top.

Figure 4 shows one of the embodiments of the inventive device in which the external tank 2 is made in the form of a decorative scarf, while there is no fastener 4 (it is replaced by a node 4 tied from the ends of the scarf). Small-sized gas sources 3 and bypass valves 7 are placed in the tubular element 1.

The simplicity of the design of the inventive safety device allows its mass production as a disposable accessory available to a wide range of consumers.

Claims (3)

1. Personal bathers safety device containing a collar made in the form of a collar, a gas source and an inflatable reservoir mounted on a collar-frame, characterized in that the collar-frame is made in the form of a reinforced hose equipped with bypass valves made with the possibility of actuation upon reaching a predetermined threshold pressure in the hose, and the inflatable reservoir is made in such a way that when filling it with gas, the most inflated areas are located in the area of the user's cheeks. 2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the inflatable reservoir is equipped with an additional section with a diameter of 2-5 cm and a length of up to 1 m, at the upper end of which an alarm device is placed, while the additional section is configured to occupy a vertical position with respect to to the water surface. 3. The device according to any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that in the initial state it is made in the form of our bather’s clothing accessory.