US3147752A

US3147752A - Mouthpiece for breathing apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3147752A
Application number: US65729A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jacques Y Cousteau; Gagnan Emile
Original assignee: La Spirotechnique Industrielle et Commerciale
Current assignee: La Spirotechnique Industrielle et Commerciale
Priority date: 1959-11-30
Filing date: 1960-10-28
Publication date: 1964-09-08
Anticipated expiration: 1981-09-08

Description

sept. s, 1964 J. Y. COUSTEAU ETAL MOUTHPIECE FOR BREATHING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 28, 1960 UnitedStates Patent O 3,147,752 MOUTHFIIECE FOR BREAT NG APPARATUS Jacques Y. Cousteau, Paris, France, and Emile Gagnant, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, assignors to La Spirotechnique Filed Get. 28, 196i), Ser. No. 65,729 Claims priority, application France Nov. 36, 1959 4 Claims. (Cl. 12S-147) The present invention relates to an improvement to the mouthpieces used in breathing apparatuses, particularly in underwater breathing apparatuses.

It is known that such mouthpieces are usually connected on the one hand to the divers mouth through a Short lateral conduit and on the other hand to a demand air regulator through an inhalation hose and to an expiration valve to ambient environment through an expiration hose, each one of said hoses being connected to one end of the mouthpiece.

During the operation of the breathing apparatus provided with such mouthpiece, when the carrier of the apparatus inhalates, the demand regulator admits to the inhalation hose an air flow which is to undergo a 90 degrees alteration of course before arriving to the carriers mouth. A slight excess of pressure is created by this air speed into the expiration hose, so that the pressure near the expiration valve is slightly above the pressure of the air delivered to the diver. This can result in an air leak through the expiration valve during inhalation.

Such leaks are particularly observed with the breathing apparatuses of the injection type, Where the pressurized air coming from the regulator arrives at the end of the inhalation hose then flows through said hose at a high speed, thus producing an excess of pressure in said hose.

The mouthpiece of this invention is an improvement on U.S. Patent number 2,875,756 assigned to the same assignee.

The mouthpiece according to the invention allows to eliminate the above mentioned disadvantages as well as air leaks through the expiration valve during inhaiation, while giving to the apparatus carrier an improved ease of breathing. It is characterized in that a deector is tted on to the mouthpiece wall, facing the short conduit to the mouth, to deviate the inhalated air ow over to said mouth conduit.

This deflector can have varied shapes. It can be a bent baffle-plate fitted tangentially or nearly tangentially to the inside Wall of mouthpiece and whose free end is close to the end of the mouth conduit, or else a straight battle-plate, fitted to said wall in front of the mouth conduit. The end of said baffle-plate is preferably at right angles to the cross-section of the mouth conduit, but it can also be oblique over said cross-section.

Some examples of varied mouthpieces according to the invention and illustrated in the accompanying drawing are given hereunder, being understood vthat the invention may be embodied otherwise than as specifically described.

FIG. 1 illustrates the mouthpiece of this invention in relation to associated equipment in a breathing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a section of mouthpiece provided with a deector Whose end is at right angles to the mouth conduit.

FIG. 3 is a section of mouthpiece provided with a transversal bathe-plate in front of the mouth conduit.

FIG. 4 is a section of mouthpiece provided with a deflector Whose sides make some angle with the center-line of the mouth conduit.

FIG. 1 diagrammatically represents in section a portion of a breathing apparatus which portion comprises a mouthpiece 1, 2 which is provided for purposes of illustration with a deector 6 more particularly described and illustrated with respect to FIGS. 2 to 4 inclusive. The

ice

branches of the mouthpiece 1, 2 are connected by expiration hose S to an air regulator 20 which in turn is connected by a tube 22 to a primary air regulator or a pressurized air tank, not shown, an inhalation hose 4 joins the other branch of the mouthpiece 1, 2 to regulator 20. The expiration valve 26 located in close proximity to the diaphragm of regulator 20 functions as is described in U.S. Patent Number 2,875,756.

The mouthpiece of this invention illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 4 inclusive comprises a cylindrical casing 1, laterally connected to the mouth conduit 2 provided with rubber parts 3 to facilitate its holding by the users teeth. This mouthpiece is connected to the demand regulator through a rubber inhalation hose, whose end 4 is shown on the figures of the drawing, and to the expiration valve through a rubber flexible expiration hose. A detlector 6 such as a bent battle-plate tted tangentially to the inside wall of said cylindrical casing or a straight thin- Walled battle-plate or a wedge type deector, directs the iiow of inhaled air to the users mouth, as shown by the continuous line arrow. This deilector may possibly be supported by an inner sleeve 7, as shown in FIG. 3. The breathed out air ilows to the expiration hose as shown by the dotted line arrow. Said deector may also not occupy the whole cross-section area of casing 1; as shown in FIG. 4, some distance can be provided between the end of the deilector and the end of the mouth conduit, so long as this distance is small enough not to impair the deflection ofthe air ilow.

What we claim is:

1. In a breathing apparatus of the open cycle type comprising a mouthpiece means connected by an inhalation air hose to a demand air regulator particularly of the injection type and connected by an expiration air hose to an exhaust valve, the improvement comprising said mouthpiece means being integrally formed as a T-pipe junction forming inhalation and expiration conduits, said inhalation and expiration conduits being aligned and connected to form opposed branches of said T-pipe junction means, the third branch of said T-pipe junction forming a common mouthpiece conduit of said T-pipe junction, and a deilector means being positioned transversely of substantially the whole cross-section of the conduit and extending between said inhalation and expiration conduits to direct air flow from the inhalation conduit toward the mouthpiece conduit and permit the escape of air from said mouthpiece conduit to said expiration conduit.

2. In a breathing apparatus according to claim l, Wherein the deflector is a bent bathe-plate tted tangentially upon the inside wall of the opposed branches of the T-pipe junction.

3. In a breathing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detiector is a straight bale perpendicular to the inside wall of the opposed branches of the T-pipe junction.

4. In a breathing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the end of the deilector is approximately perpendicular to the cross-section of the mouthpiece conduit.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,362,775 Sebouh Nov. 14, 1944 2,865,369 Kline Dec. 23, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 8,154 Great Britain 1907 288,430 Germany Nov. 1, 1915 733,473 Great Britain July 13, 1955

Claims

1. IN A BREATHING APPARATUS OF THE OPEN CYCLE TYPE COMPRISING A MOUTHPIECE MEANS CONNECTED BY AN INHALATION AIR HOSE TO A DEMAND AIR REGULATOR PARTICULARLY OF THE INJECTION TYPE AND CONNECTED BY AN EXPIRATION AIR HOSE TO AN EXHAUST VALVE, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING SAID MOUTHPIECE MEANS BEING INTERGRALLY FORMED AS A T-PIPE JUNCTION FORMING INHALATION AND EXPIRATION CONDUITS SAID INHALATION AND EXPIRATION CONDUITS BEING ALIGNED AND CONNECTED TO FORM OPPOSED BRANCHES OF SAID T-PIPE JUNCTION MEANS, THE THIRD BRANCH OF SAID T-PIPE JUNCTION FORM-