US2182104A - Underwater goggles - Google Patents

Description

DecQs, 1939. C, H, wlLEN ET XL 2,is2,104

UNDERWATER GOGGLES Filed sept. 9, 1938 2y sheets-sheet 1 Patented Dec. 5, 1939 anais 'altares onennwaran docenas Charles Henry'Wi-len and Alexandre Kramarenko, Nice, France Application September 9, i939, Serial No. wii

In France September 2%, i937 6 maints. 2nd@ wearer of the goggles.

In an application filed September 4, 1937,-b Alexandre Kramarenko, Serial No. 162,399-, there is shown and described'a submarine fishing gun which is adapted to shoot a pointed 'memben such as an arrow, by a person swimming, diving .or submerged under water. In order to do this effectively, the person should wear an apparatus such as the goggles to be described herein, in order to keep the water out of the eyes and thereby not obstruct the vision.

It is therefore the principal object of our in- -vention to provide an apparatus or goggles which will snugly t over the eyes of the user and effectively keep water out of the chamber formed in the apparatus forward of the part which engages the users face.

While certain types of goggles have heretofore been proposed for underwater use, there are many objections to them; for example, certain designs use individual metal frames each with a glass therein, like ordinary spectacles, they frames being made of aluminum which is`subject to corrosion in salt water.. We have found from practical tests in shooting sh under water in the manner described in the said Kramarenko application that the glasses or goggles must lie dat across the face of the user; that is to say, the glass or glasses must be in the same plane, otherwise the person is quite likely to see double in the water due to the refraction ofthe light rays passing through the water.

Our experience with prior types of glasses has been that the' range' of vision is limited therein, so it is a further object of our invention to provide goggleshaving a wide range of vision without any blur or double vision therefrom. To accomplish this, we have found, from experiments, that the goggle herein described fulfills the primary objects above stated, together with other objects which will be clear to one familiar with the use of. this type 'of apparatus.

Our invention will be readily understood and appreciated by reference to the annexed drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a View of a swimmer oruser of one form of our invention, in which an auxiliary air chamber is shown protruding upwardly from the goggles.

,Figure 2 is a front view of the goggles shown in Figure l, on a somewhat enlarged scale but without the auxiliary air chamber.

Figure 3 is a rear View of Figure 2. Y

Figure 4 is a view looking down on the top of Figure 3. c

Figure 5 is an end view of the goggles, a portion p being broken away to show the means of attaching the holding means or strap.

Figure 6 is a section on the line 6 8 of Figure 4. Figure 7 is a view on a much reduced scale showing a modified form of the apparatus.'-

In the various views, wherein like numbers refer to .corresponding parts, I illustrates the bridge portion of the goggleshaving a formation 2 adapted to t over the noseof the user. Fastened in the bridge portion I is a single piece orl sheet of suitable glass 3, such as a non-breakable or non-shatterable type. The glass 3 is hermetically sealed into the bridge portion l which can be made of any suitable material, rubber vulcanized to the proper point being preferred.

As shown in Figure 6 the glass 3 is set into are- Av20 cess 4 in the bridge and a suitable cement v5 is' Y used to hermetically seal the glass 3 in the forward portion of the bridge. As shown in Figure 2, the opposite ends or extremities of the bridge have a considerable taper 6 extending rearwardly to an opening indicated by the line 'l which is the boundary'of what we term the rim portion of the apparatus.

As shown in Figures 1 to 6 inclusive, the rim is composed of two spaced flaps 8 and 9 which project outwardly from` the bridge I. Integrally connected between the flaps 8 and 9 are a plurality of spaced braces IIJ which are of bendable material, it -being understood that in our preferred form the entire vstructure is made of'rubber lso that the flaps B and 9 and braces I0 are bendable, and the outer ap 9 which engages the face of the user is adapted to be pressed toward the flap 8 through the bending of the braces l0. At opposite ends of the rim formed bythe flaps 8 and 9 there are reenforcements II and I2 which are preferably moulded integrally with the .aps 8 and 9; and passing below these reenforcements or anchor portions, are fasteners i3 and I4 which arein the shape of metal clamps. In 45 order to prevent the metal fasteners I3 and I4 y from cutting into the portions II-and I2, we prefer to position over the fasteners, behind the .portions II and I2, reenforcement members l5 and I6 which are preferably in the form of rub- 50 berl tubing which is slipped over the fasteners before they are forced into closed position when assembled to the goggles. Joining the fasteners I3 and I4 is a flexible strap il which can be adjusted to get the 'right 'tension through the 5g;v

medium of the member it forming a part of the fasteners i3 and ld;

By forming the rim in this manner, we get a self-adjusting and easy engagement surface of substantial width or area around the eyes of the user, so that when the strap il is properly adjusted, a water-tight contact is insured at the face-engaging portion of the apparatus.

It will be noted that the glass 3 is spaced a material distance forwardly of the rim and that due to the angular spread 1, shown more particularly in Figure 2, and further due to the fact that a single continuous piece of glass is used, a wide and unobstructed range of vision is obtained. Furthermore, the structure being made of rubber is substantially unbreakable, noncorrosive and impervious to water.

In certain cases the bridge l may be provided with an orifice i9 in which may be inserted the stem 2B of an auxiliary air container or chamber.

2l which may be used when the swimmer is going into relatively deep Water, for example, to a depth of twenty feet or thereabout, in which case the pressure ofthe Water acting on the container- Which is made of compressible material such as soft rubber-will compressthe same and force the air therein into the chamber formed between the glass 3 and the facial rim, thereby tending to Y balance the pressure of the water againstthe glass 3 and relieving the pressure against the face of the swimmer. When the air container 2l is not used, the hole I9 is stopped up with a suitable' plug 22.

'an opening i9 to take the auxiliary air chamber or container 2i.

From the above description it will be seen that the 'glass 3 is always in the same plane and the arrangement is such as to provide the clearest vision possible, thereby lessening the fatigue and discomfort of the user. It will be noted in passing that the strap i7 is preferably made Wide enough sc as to cover the opening into the ears of the user, further adding to the comfort of the user; in fact, the strap may carry suitable pads to entirely covery the ears and keep water outv of them.

It is also to be further noted that the construction of the goggles is such as lto leave the nose and mouth free for normal breathing, which we believe to be a new and important feature in a mono-goggle using a single glass in the same plane.

Having thus described the preferred form of our invention, what we claim is:

1. Goggles especiallyffor use under Water cornprising a bridge portion impervious to water and adapted to t on the nose and across the eyes of a user, a single piece of plate glass hermetically sealed in and carried by the bridge portion and forming the forward wall of a chamber, said chamber having a rim at a substantial distance aieaioe to the rearof the glass and adapted to :fit the face of the user, said rim being impervious to water but readily compressible and having a contact area so as to insure that the chamber is securely closed when in place on the user, and

` bridge portion a substantial distance forwardly of the eyes and sealed in position on the bridge, the goggles having a rim impervious to water spaced from theglass and formed to t around the eyes of a user and being compressible so as to yield to a holding force, the rim opening hav- Ying a length to span across the eyes of a user while the opening in the bridge which is closed by the glass is materially greater than said rim opening, and means for holding the goggles onto the head of auser so the rim will make a substantially water-tight joint with the users face.

3. Underwater goggles as set forth in claim 2, further defined in that the rim comprises two portion and having bendable braces spa-ced at intervals between the flaps, the outer flap being the one which directly engages the face'of the user.

4. Apparatus for seeing under water comprising a structure to be worn over the eyes of a user, said structure including a bridge of material impervious to water and having a formation to t the nose, a single glass plate carried by the front portion of the bridge and sealed therein, the structure having a rim spaced from the glass and adapted to make a single-loop contact around the eyes of a user, the glass being materially longer lengthwise of the bridge than'the longitudinal length of the opening formed by the rim to provide wide-angle Vision through the glass,

the rim being compressible, and means for holding the structure onto the head of a user solas to compress the rim and form a closed chamber around the eyes.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4, further characterized in that ya compressible air container is carried directly by the bridge, said air container having a passagewayjinto the space between the glass plate. and the face of a user whereby when they user goes into relatively deep water the air in said container is forced by the pressure of the water on the container into said pressure of the water on the container'into saidv space as and for the purpose described, and still further dened in that .the rim is in the form of a sealed duct provided with means for passing air under pressure thereinto. i

CHARLES H. WILEN.

spaced flaps extending outwardly from the bridge i l i 1 ALEXANDRE KRAMARENKO. i

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