US3195538A - Hydraulic air bells - Google Patents

Description

July 20, 1965 R. GALEAZZI 3,195,538

HYDRAULIC AIR BELLS Filed Oct. 24. 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 i ;32 3/ g 1 a 55 l. 1 9": 3g 35 I l 1/ l l I i N8 INVENTOR NV 2 ROBERTO G-ALEAZZ) BY ATTORNEYS July 20, 1965 R. GALEAZZI HYDRAULIC AIR BELLS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 001 24. 1960 INVENTOR GALEAJZZ) ROBERTO ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,195,538 HYDRAULIC AIR BELLS Roberto Galeazzi, 27 Via Olrloini, La Spezia, Italy Filed Oct. 24, 1960, Ser. No. 64,333 Claims priority, application Italy, Oct. 28, 1959, 18,132/59, Patent 613,370 3 Claims. (Cl. 128142) This invention relates to hydropneumatic bells or hydraulic air bells for use on underwater breathing equipments or in lungs of the semi-closed or closed type, in

which the polluted breathable gas (either air or mixture of oxygen and air or neutral gas) is led into a hydraulic air bell from which it may be discharged in part.

' The hydraulic air bell according to the invention is an improvement of the bell disclosed in my prior US. Patent No. 2,693,179, the main improvement consisting in providing an hydraulic air bell of the kind of that described in my prior patent with a filter capable of eliminating the CO2 from the polluted breathable mixture exhaled by the lungs user.

Other improvement features of the new bell relate to the suspension of the bell as a whole and to the connections thereof with the breathing fittings (mouthpiece or mask).

The invention will be better understood from the following specification in which two embodiments of air bells adapted to be fitted to underwater breathing equipments are described with reference to the attached drawings in which:

; FIGURE 1 shows diagrammatically a hydraulic air bell fitted to an improved underwater breathing equipment of the type forming the object of my co-pending applicatiom'Ser. No. 64,498 filed October 24, 1960, Patent ment of gas-outlet valve employed in the air bells shown in FIGURES 2 and 3; and

, FIGURE 5' is a vertical longitudinal section through a third embodiment of air bell.

With particular reference to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, the improved breathing equipment forming part of my 'co-pending application, referred to above, usually is composed of the following parts:

(a) A source of breathing gas, usually in the'form of one or'more compressed gas cylinders or steel bottles 1-101-201, the larger cylinder containing a compressed neutraljgas (usually nitrogen) or compressed air and the other two 101 and 201, which may be of lesser capacity, containing compressed oxygen. The cylinders, which are provided with conventional control valves 44, 144, 244 are connected (in parallel when they are more than one, as in the case as shown) to a mixing and distributing conduit 2 connected to a feed pipe 3 which is connected to a pressure reducer 4;

(b) A breathing fitting, comprising a mouthpiece or mask unit 7-8 provided with the necessary feed cock 6 and valves as well as with the connections to the gas ssource to the said hydraulic air bell 10 and, if desired,

toa snorkel or the like 45 (if a mask 108 is employed); (c) A hydraulic air bell 10 of the kind described and shown in my prior US. patent application No. 2,693,179, but provided with a gas filter, in the manner now to be described;

, (d) The means for connecting the various parts into a unitary structure.

Before describing in detail the improved air bells according to the invention a general description of the im- 3,195,538 Patented July 20, 1965 proved'universalbreathing equipment shown in FIGURE 1 of which the air bell forms a part will be now summarily described. I

With particular reference to FIGURE 1, the breathing ing equipment comprises a large cylinder 1 containing compressed air or a neutral gas (usually nitrogen) and one, or more conveniently two, small cylinders 101-201 containing compressed oxygen. The cylinders are mounted in suitable holding means (not shown) including the metallic straps 28-128 and the conventional means for carrying the whole as a knapsack. The cylinders are connected in parallel by means of a conduit 2 which is connected to a pipe 3 which feeds the gas mixture under high pressure (for example up to 150 atm.) to a pressure reducer 4, from which the gas is led by means of a flexible hose 5 to a stop cock 6 mounted on a breathing unit comprising a distributing chamber 7 provided with a pair of tubular necks 50-150 and a mouthpiece 8 (which latter might be replaced by a conventional breathing mask 108). In the distributing chamber 7 opens the outlet of said cock 6 and on the necks 50-150 a pair of corrugated flexible hoses 9-109 are fitted, whose opposite ends are provided with rotary air-tight joints on the inlet and outlet ends (as Will be better explained hereinafter) of a hydraulic air bell 10 of the kind disclosed in my said prior Patent No. 2,693,179 and provided with the improvements according to the present application.

The hydraulic air bell 10 is attached to the unit mounting the gas cylinders, including the straps 28-128 by means of a strut 29 attached to the rigid member, for example to strap 28, and connected by means of a pivot 30, at right angles to the vertical plane passing through the longitudinal axis of the bell 10, to a strut extension 31 fastened to the base of a U-shaped bracket 32 whose arm ends are fastened to the bell end attachment sockets 34, 134 of the said corrugated hoses 9-109. Thus the bell 10, which possesses a certain buoyancy, is allowed to rock about two horizontal axes contained in two planes at right angles and is urged by the weights 39 to dispose itself with its mouth 309 downwardly, as clearly shown in FIGURE 1.

The bells 10 particularly shown in FIGURES 2 and 3 comprise a substantially cylindrical shell 110 suspended horizontally on the said two tubular necks 35-135 from said joint sockets 34-134 fitted at the end of the said corrugated hoses 9-109. The bell has on its cylindrical shell a wide opening which is urged down by weights 39. One of the tubular necks 35 opens directly into the bell shell 110 (FIGURE 2).

In the embodiments shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, in order to avoid that, under some circumstances, the water penetrates directly into the shell 110 and wets the filter 36, I close the bell opening or mouth either, as shown in FIGURE 2, by means of a frame 37 carrying a perforated plate 210 and an expandable membrane 38, or also, as shown in FIGURE 3, by means of a plate 310 carrying a box having a perforated bottom 41 and a bellows-like top 42.

The bell shell 110 is further provided with one or more vents or outlet valves 40, permitting of exhausting the air from hell 10 whilst avoiding the inlet of water into the said bell. One of the said vents or outlet valves is shown in FIG. 4 as formed by a resilient disc or like member 140, made of rubber or like material, secured centrally of the bell shell 110 and adhering from the outside onto a crown of holes 240 provided in the said shell 110.

The just-described hydraulic air bells are suspended In order 'to overcome this drawback, and at the jsame 7 of which the bell housing 110 is pivotally, mounted."

At least'one of the stirrup arms-,(in' the case asshown,

the. arm 72:) is hollow and is"connected in a ,ccntralposition to an: upstanding hollow pivot 62 provided at its end of the breathing equipment shown in FIGURE 1, orfrom within the mask, as the case maybe, is'le'd through the hose 9, the tubular members 62, 72 and 7S and the with a screw thread. On the pivot 62.. ajunction box 64 is tightly mounted byrneans of. an "inwardly projecting flange provided with apacking ring 66. Above this.

flange, a ballbearing 63, madei of seawater resistant ma terial is mounted and is retainedpressed against said boxflange by two inwardly and outwardly screw-threaded nuts65165.' The junctionbox, in turn, is fastened in a' conventional way to the strap, shown in FIGURE 1, and is provided at one" or both its sides with one or two attachment sockets'for the corrugated hoseor hoses Si and/ or 199.

The'stirrup' 61 carries at its ends thebearings for the horizontal rocking axes of the bell 10.: w

In the embodiment as shown, the stirrup arm 67 is:

solid and has at its end a hole through whicha bolt 68 provided with a threaded end is passed. Onthestem of I this bolt, adjoini-ng'the end of the ann 67, a spacer sleeve 71 is inserted and. in an axial bore' of the bell shell 110 awasher 69 provided'with an outwardly projecting flange is tightly'fitted. In this washer:69j. the end of the, bolt 68 is inserted and the whole is. retained in position by a nut-70 scr'ewed'on the thread end ofbol't68.

The opposite arm 72 of thestirrup 61 is tubular and' I opens'in by its inner end' in the hollow pivot 62and is provided at its outer end with .a rotatable joint 73'provided with a packing ring 74 and 'tightly'mounted on a '7 tubular extension of a pipe section '75 projecting outside the belljshell 110.

jOf course the stirrup arm 67 may be tubular and the suspensionat' the left-hand half of the bell may-be exactly symmetrical to the right-hand half.

In the improved bell 10 shown'in FIGURE-5 the casing orshell 1:10.:is divided by a horizontal partition '81 into' an upper chamber 82and a lower chamber'85.

The upper chamber 82 is filled wi h filtering material which may be introduced or evacuated by removing the screw plug 56. The partition has'a hole 84 in its centre, the edges of which are provided with a seat-forming packing material, the said filtering material filling. the chamber 82 being preventedfrorn flowing down through the hole 84 by a perforated shield 87.

Thepartition has also one or two side holes 83, likewise covered by a perforated shield 86 and through which' open the inner endof the pipesection' 75 communicating 7 through the joint 73 and the tubular'members 72 and 62 with the corrugated hose or hoses 9 and/ or 109. l 'j perforations of the shield 86' into the filter chamber 82 in which it is purified by the filtering material and comes through the perforations'of; the shield 87 and the hole 84 7 into the lower bell chamber.85,.where' it collects and may be again inhaled by flowing in reverse direction (see double arrow). 'If thezair accumulatesin excess in the chamber 85, it may bubble outthrough the openings 309.

' It, on the contrary the chamber85 is flooded with water, the float 89 does no longer compress the spring 92-.which thus pushes, said float until the valve member 9i) adheres against the-valve seat 91, thus intercepting the communication with the filter chamber 82.

When, for any reason, the bell is strongly inclined or with its stern in substantially horizontal position, or even capsized, the spring92, whose force is in excess of the float'bouyancy, pushes the float 89 towards the opening 84, until the valve 90-adheres against the seat 91.

I claim: i

1 1; For use withflunderwater breathingequipment,an air bell havinga shell of substantially cylindrical form and a horizontal axis, a hollow-pivot and, a second pivot for said 'shell. arranged substantially in correspondence.

o' f'theaxisfof said; shell and at opposite endsthereof, said .shell being provided with a pair'ofwide'mouth openings symmetrically spaced from the. central plane'transverse to the axis of the shell, a weight fastened in a central positionv between; said mouthopenings'. so as'to urge the mouth openings downwardly when the .bell is suspended on said ,two' pivots, a partition. arranged substantially paralleltoand above the said cylindrical shell axis and having a central aperture and a" side perture, said apertures being covered by a perforated wall, air filtering material within the shell and supportedon said partition,

a-bore'opening in the top of saidshell, a removable plug' closingi said. bore-opening and which'when removed permits adding .filtering material in the space above said partition; a valve. seat formed on said central aperture of saidipa'rtition, a valve below said. aperture; meansfor urgingsaidvalveagainst' saidseat when water enters into the, lower part of the bell "below said partition to a predetermined level, a stirrup-like suspension member having two arm'sxof which at least one is hollow, the ends of I "said arms being rotatably supported in said pivots with said hollow arm communicating with said hollow pivot,

a duct connectingthe space above said partiti-onwith said hollow pivot, s'aid stirrup-like member having a vertical hollow'pivot communicating with said hollow stirrup arm anda box "rotatably mounted on said vertical pivot and provided with atleast one hollownipple" for connection 7 of: a flexible tube; I

The lower bell chamber 85 is provided, as usual, with 5 wide lower openings 309 and with a central'weight' 39 from which a vertical stem 88 projects upwardly. On this' stern a coil spring 92 is inserted, on the top of which bears a float 89 slidably mounted on the freetop endof said stem 88 and provided at its top with an annular valve member 90 adapted to co-act' with the seat 91 when thc float is urged towards said partition 81'; The force said spring 92 is so related to the weight of the 'float 89 and to' its buoyancy that, with the bell upright, when the float is out of water, its weight is vsuflicient tocompress the spring 92and to keep the valve member Qtlclear of its seat 91', but it is urged against its seat when the 'float is immersed inwater, as well. as when the bell is not substantially upright. Furthermore the force of the saidspring .is sufiicient to overcome the float'buoyancy.

The'operation of the above described bell is as follows: When the bell is upright and the valve 90 is clear of its seat 91 the exhaled polluted air from themouthpiece r 2. An 'underwater breathing equipment comprising at least one: breathing gas cylindenmeans for holding the 'cylinden a' face piece, a breathing ,fitting onsaid face piece, means connecting said cylinder directly and controllablyan'd only to said breathing fitting, apartially hollow stirrup-likemerribenhaving two coaxial pivots forming part of a first swivel joint and-fastened to the saidj cylinder-holding means, a hydraulic air bell formed of a shell having a mouth and suspended from ,said stirruplike member by said piyots'of the first swivel joint,- means V on said bell urging". the bell to a positionwith its mouth downwardly, a flexible tubular conduit connecting said breathing fitting to the hell by means of a second swivel joint, n air filter supported on fa" partition'in said bell" and'lonly partly filling the'bell so as to leave an ample freespace above the bell mouth, atleastone aperture in said partition 'puttingthespace at interior of said .filter in communication with the free space within said bell,

a vertically disposed valve under said aperture," a, spring urging said valve'to close said aperture, said valve having suflicient weight to overcome said spring when the bell is normally disposed with the valve in vertical position,

a float secured to the valve to buoyantly lift the valve and close said aperture upon entrance of a predetermined amount of water into the bell, and at least one filter port in said partition in communication with said tubular conduit by means of the stirrup-like member and said first and second swivel joints, said filter port and tubular conduit forming a regenerative air path entirely seperate from and independent of the air path defined by said breathing gas cylinder and means connecting the cylinder to the breathing fitting.

3. An underwater breathing equipment according to claim 2 in which the air filter is arranged at the top of the bell shell and is separated from the free space at the bottom of the bell by said partition, said one aperture beinga central opening and said filter port being a side opening in said partition, a tubular member putting in communication the interior of said filter with said flexible tubular conduit by connecting said filter port to the hollow portion of said stirrup-like member, a valve seat fitted around said central opening, a stem fastened to the bell shell aligned with said central opening, said float and valve being guided on said stem so as to be able to move towards or away from said valve seat, said spring tending to urge said float with its valve towards its seat, the whole being so arranged that, when water in excess enters the free space of the bell, in Whatever position of said bell, the valve on the float is urged against the seat on the said central opening to prevent the communication of the interior of the air filter with the free space at the interior of the bell.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,693,179 11/54 Galeazzi 128142 2,732,840 1/56 De Sanctis 128-142 3,005,453 10/61 Wellenstcin et a1. 128142 FOREIGN PATENTS 534,908 3/41 Great Britain.

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner.

HAROLD B. WHITMORE, Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. 2. AN UNDERWATER BREATHING EQUIPMENT COMPRISING AT LEAST ONE BREATHING GAS CYLINDER, MEANS FOR HOLDING THE CYLINDER, A FACE PIECE, A BREATHING FITTING ON SAID FACE PIECE, MEANS CONNECTING SAID CYLINDER DIRECTLY AND CONTROLLABLY AND ONLY TO SAID BREATHING FITTING, A PARTIALLY HOLLOW STIRRUP-LIKE MEMBER HAVING TWO COAXIAL PIVOTS FORMING PART OF A FIRST SWIVEL JOINT AND FASTENED TO THE SAID CYLINDER-HOLDING MEANS, A HYDRAULIC AIR BELL FORMED OF A SHELL HAVING A MOUTH AND SUSPENDED FROM SAID STIRRUPLIKE MEMBER BY SAID PIVOTS OF THE FIRST SWIVEL JOINT, MEANS ON SAID BELL URGING THE BELL TO A POSITION WITH ITS MOUTH DOWNWARDLY, A FLEXIBLE TUBULAR CONDUIT CONNECTING SAID BREATHING FITTING TO THE BELL BY MEANS OF A SECOND SWIVEL JOINT, AN AIR FILTER SUPPORTED ON A PARTITION IN SAID BELL AND ONLY PARTLY FILLING THE BELL SO AS TO LEAVE AN AMPLE FREE SPACE ABOVE THE BELL MOUTH, AT LEAST ONE APERTURE IN SAID PARTITION PUTTING THE SPACE AT INTERIOR OF SAID FILTER IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE FREE SPACE WITHIN SAID BELL, A VERTICALLY DISPOSED VALVE UNDER SAID APERTURE, A SPRING URGING SAID VALVE TO CLOSE SAID APERTURE, SAID VALVE HAVING SUFFICIENT WEIGHT TO OVERCOME SAID SPRING WHEN THE BELL IS NORMALLY DISPOSED WITH THE VALVE IN VERTICAL POSITION,

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