US3026522A - Diving helmet - Google Patents

Description

March 27, 1962 c, J, D] JULIO 3,026,522

DIVING HELMET Filed July 2, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ANVENTOR CARL J. DI JULIO MQLZZU? ATTORNEY March 27, 1962 c. J. D] JULIO 3,026,522

DIVING HELMET Filed July 2, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5 FIG. 6

INVENTOR United States Patent 3,026,522 DIVING HELMET Carl J. Di Julio, 2 W. Chesapeake Ave., Towson, Md. Filed July 2, 1958, Ser. No. 746,130 8 Claims. (Cl. 22.1)

This invention generally relates to apparel, and more particularly it pertains to a hood or helmet for use by skindivers in underwater exploration.

In the art of skindiving, as practiced while working in cold water or under ice, it is customary to wear a head-protecting hood. Conventional hoods have many shortcomings aside from being ill-fashioned. Since the latter hoods are worn with glass-faced masks, the eyes and nose area cutout is necessarily air-containing. Consequently, an excess of air forces its way beneath the hood despite well-intended attempts at tight-fitting thereof to the head configuration of the user. This air collects at the top of the hood where the pressure is less and has been known to distend the hood to a degree so as to remove it from the head of the wearer.

This introduction of excess air in the hood is unavoidable because it often is necessary to expel Water from a face mask by deliberate pressurization through the nostrils. Furthermore, it has been found possible to communicate between divers by placing their heads in contact or close proximity with each other and speaking within the hood. Of course, it is necessary to remove the breathing piece from the mouth to do this and to form a speaking air chamber in front of the lips which then becomes another source of entrapped air.

It is therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide a hood for divers with a vent valve for the escape of entrapped air.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hood for divers with a speaking cavity.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a hood for a skindiver with a formed chin receiving pouch.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a forehead receiving cavity in a diving hood or helmet used by a skindiver.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hood with a cushioned Water-tight hearing area for a mask of a skindiver.

Another object of this invention is to provide a neck apron on a hood for a skindiver.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a free-adjusting aperture for a mouthpiece in a hood for a skindiver.

Other objects and advantages of this invention Will become more apparent from the following detailed descriptions and accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a hood for a skindiver embodying features of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a material lay-out pattern for a portion of the hood of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is another portion of the pattern;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a pattern for mask-bearing area of the hood;

FIG. 5 is a top view of a valve plate;

FIG. 6 shows a portion of the hood top giving further details of the valve;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a detail of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is. an elevation of a portion of the hood illustrating the details of a watertight slide fastener therefor; and

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a modification of the details of FIG. 7.

Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawing, it can be seen the hood of this invention is a head-enveloping enclosure 10 which may be made of sponge rubber or equivalent material. Hood 10 has an eye and nose 3,026,522 Patented Mar. 27, 1962 opening 12, a mouth opening 14, and a chin pouch 16. A throat apron 18 is provided as Well as a mask cushion 20.

A forehead cavity 22 is formed in the hood 10 as will be described subsequently. The side or sides of the hood 10 may be provided with a slide fastener 24. A valve plate 26 of novel construction is provided at the top of the hood 10. This valve plate 26 will also be described in detail subsequently.

Hood 10 is constructed by cementing together sponge rubber sheet cut along the lines of the patterns as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. These patterns, as well as the pattern of FIG. 4, are only partly shown, the remainder, beyond "the broken lines, being a mirror image thereto.

The pattern of FIG. 2 in its entirety, is a basic hood piece 28. The cut edges of the pattern with like letters CC, HH, and FF when joined together form a head enclosure when the periphery L is also joined to its mirror counterpart.

A collar 30, shown in FIG. 3, is joined along N and P to N and P respectively, of hood piece 28. Collar 30 is also joined to itself at Q to form a collar encirclement.

Ac'ushion 20, obtained from the pattern of FIG. 4, is joined together at R to its mirror counterpart to form a dish-shaped piece having an eye and nose opening 13 and a mouth opening 15.

When cushion 20 is cemented face-to-face against hood piece 28, the eye and nose openings 13 and 12 and mouth openings 15 and 14 coincide, respectively, and will hereafter be designated as eye-nose opening 12 and mouth opening 14.

If the slide fastener 24 of FIG. 1 is not desired, a cutout slit 32 is made as shown in FIG. 2 and the edges KK thereof joined together with cement. Otherwise, the cloth parts of two mating portions 34 and 36 of the slide fastener 24 are interposed and cemented between two overlapping flaps 38 and 40 of the sponge rubber on either side of a long slit cutout 42 made in the neck portion of hood piece 28, as best shown in FIG. 8. The half portions of a longitudinally split rubber tube 44 of FIG. 8 is cemented to one flap 38 beneath the slide fastener portion 34 and there-along for its entire length.

It will be noted that the above-described construction forms a well-defined chin pouch 16 and forehead cavity 22 both contributing to comfortable wearing. In addition, the neck apron 18 depends downwardly toward the chest of the wearer, providing a smooth water-tight seal without choking the diver.

In the upper portion of the hood 10, as previously mentioned is a valve plate 26, as best seen in FIGS. 1, 5, 6, and 7. Valve plate 26 is a rubber disc provided with a plurality of holes or apertures 46 located in a circle near its periphery. The top of hood piece 28 is perforated and a short rubber tubing section 48 is cemented therein so as to protrude somewhat above the surface. A plurality of holes or apertures 50 are made in a concentric circle around the tubing section 48. The diameter of the locus for holes or apertures 50 is somewhat less than that for holes 46 in valve plate 26.

Plate 26 is centrally positioned over tube 48 and is cemented to hood piece 28 only around its circumference. Since tube 48 protrudes upwardly, valve plate 26 is thereby made to bulge upwardly in its center, thus being drawn away from holes 50, and forming a valve chamber 52 between the hood 10 and the valve plate 26.

However, holes or apertures 46 being located near the cemented periphery of valve plate 26, rest tightly against hood piece 28 as best seen in FIG. 7.

An excess of air pressure within the hood 10 is able to find an outlet through holes or apertures 50 into valve chamber 52. As the pressure increases, valve plate 26 bulges still further upwardly, rising away from tube section 48, and uncovering its axial passage. Still more air is thereby admitted to chamber 52 until the bulge of valve plate 26 opens the plurality of holes or apertures 46 allowing the entrapped air to vent into the surrounding water. Upon release of the pressure in chamber 52, valve disc 26 collapses upon tube section 48 and holes or apertures 46 again are closed against the top of hood piece 28 to prevent ingress of Water therein,

As shown in the bracketed part to FIG. 1, an extendable passage 54 in the form of a convoluted bellows is secured to mask cushion 20 enclosing the mouth opening 14. An opening 56 is provided in the outward end thereof to fit a conventional breathing apparatus mouthpiece (not shown).

With the bellows of passage 54 collapsed, the diver is able to mouth the piece or should he wish to converse he can extend the bellows, thus providing room for the ejected mouthpiece without introducing water into the hood 10.

Furthermore, a cavity is formed into which his lips can extend and move, facilitating the utterance of words. The convolutions of the bellows 54 having a large surface exposed to the water also help transmit sound vibrations thereto.

On some occassions it is helpful to be able to temporarily pressurize the interior of the hood 10. For instance, it might be desirable to shift the hood around to a more comfortable position. In this case, the valve plate 26 can be held down with the flat of the hand of the diver to retain the desired air.

Instead of utilizing the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 7, the arrangement of FIG. 9 can be utilized. A disk 60 of rubber or equivalent material is positioned between the valve plate 26 and the hood piece 28 as shown in FIG. 9 and is cemented to the valve plate 26. This disk 60 is arranged to cover the apertures 50 and the aperture 62 for the previously mentioned tubing section 48. In actual use, the air from the interior of the hood 10 passes through the apertures 50 and 62 and forces the disk 60 upwardly and enters into the chamber 52. When sufficient pressure is built up in the chamber 52, the air escapes through the apertures 46 in the valve plate 26 Obviously, many other modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. A diving helmet arrangement, comprising, structure defining a hood for fitting the face and head contour of a user thereof, and a valving arrangement positioned in the top of said hood for the escape of entrapped air from the interior of said hood, said valving arrangement including a first valve means having a member integrally secured to the upper portion of said hood and extending upwardly therefrom, said member having an opening extending therethrough and communicating with the interior of said hood, and a plate member positioned on top of said hood over said opening and secured to said hood around the marginal edges of said plate member to form a chamber between said hood and plate shaped member, said plate member being of arcuate shape and having a contour conformation corresponding to the top of said hood, said plate member being arranged to close said opening in said first member upon a reduction in pressure in said hood; and a second valve means in said plate member in series with said first valve means having at least one opening formed therein and arranged to communicate with the exterior of said hood when sufiicient pressure is built up in said chamber, whereby air entrapped in said hood can escape therefrom when the pressure in said chamber is suflicient to open said openings in said members.

2. An arrangement as recited in claim 1, with said plate member having a plurality of valve means formed therein along its periphery for the escape of said entrapped air from said hood.

3. An arrangement as recited in claim 2, wherein said hood has a plurality of apertures formed therein and positioned about said first mentioned member for the escape of air from the interior of said hood into said chamber.

4. An arrangement as recited in claim 1, and additionally structural means forming a cushioned water-tight hearing area for the user of said hood.

5. An arrangement as recited in claim 1, and additionally structural means defining a forehead receiving cavity in said hood.

6. An arrangement as recited in claim 1, and additionally structural means defining a chin receiving pouch in said hood.

7. An arrangement as recited in claim 1, and means defining a free-adjusting aperture for a mouthpiece in said hood.

8. An arrangement as recited in claim 1, and structural means defining a speaking cavity in said hood.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,463,926 Schneidt Aug. 7, 1923 1,520,049 Beman Dec. 23, 1924 2,465,998 Bowditch Apr. 5, 1949 2,478,126 Ostby Aug. 2, 1949 2,569,451 Browne Oct. 2, 1951 2,647,264 Hutton Aug. 4, 1953 2,695,609 Nourse et al Nov. 30, 1954 2,785,674 Wong Mar. 19, 1957 2,869,133 Garbellano Jan. 20, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 44,924 Holland Aug. 15, 1938

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