US3570030A - Life saving buoyancy system - Google Patents

Abstract

A LIFE SAVING BUOYANCE SYSTEM IN WHICH A BUOYANT MASS LOCATED IN THE REGION OF THE CHEST OF THE WEARER AND SEPARATE AND DISCRETE BUOYANT MASSES IN THE WRIST OR FOREARM REGIONS OF THE WEARER ARE SECURED TO THE WEARER''S BODY SO AS TO ORIENT THE BODY OF A FLOATING WEARER FROM A FACE DOWN, "DEAD DOG" POSITION TO A FACE UP, HEAD OUT OF THE WATER POSITION AND TO SUPPORT HIM IN THAT POSITION. IF DESIRED, A BUOYANT MASS MAY BE POSITIONED BEHIND THE WEARER''S HEAD TO ENSURE THAT HIS HEAD IS OUT OF THE WATER WHEN IN THE FACE UP POSITION.

Description

March 15, 1971 E. a. BAKER 3,570,030 LIFE sAvxNG BUOYANGY sysnvn Filed Feb. D. 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Edgar G. Baker BWJWM ATTORNEYS E. G. BAKER LIFE SAVING BUOYANCY SYSTEM March 16, 1 971 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb.V s, 1969 INVENTOR Edgar G. Baker ATTORNEYS Mmdn 1971 E, G, BAK-ER LIFE sAvING BUoYANcY SYSTEM v 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fild Feb. 3, 1969 |NvEN-ron Baker ATTORNEY 3 3,570,030 LIFE SAVING BUOYANCY SYSTEM Edgar G. Baker, Carbondale, Pa., assigner to Gentex Corporation, New York, N.Y. Filed Feb. 3, 1969, Ser. No. 795,839 Int. Cl. B63c 9/10 U.S. Cl. 9-338 18 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A life saving buoyancy system in which a buoyant mass located in the region of the chest of the wearer and separate and discrete buoyant masses in the wrist or forearm regions of the wearer are secured to the wearers body so as to orient the body of a floating wearer from a face down, dead dog position to a face up, head out of the water position and to support him in that position. If desired, a buoyant mass may be positioned behind the wearers head to ensure that his head is out of the water when in the face up position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Many different types and styles of buoyant life preservers, vests, jackets, belts and the like, are known in the prior art.

Historically, the design of a buoyant life jacket or preserver has involved the solution of a number of problems. Most of the solutions, however, raised new problems or had objectionable side effects.

The first problem which arose in connection with the design of life preservers other than merely floating the wearers body was that of ensuring that a person floating face down in the water was turned to a face up position suciently rapidly `to prevent him, even though unconscious, from inhaling water. One` of the .proposed solutions to this problem was the manufacture of a buoyant jacket or vest, the material of which provided a differential -buoyancy in the region of the chest of the wearer so as to create a turning moment tending to rotate the wearers body to a face up position. One of the problems incident to this solution to the problem of turning the wearer face up was that the rapidity with which the turning action took place depended in some degree on the bulk of material which was used and the disposition of the buoyant material. That is, many designs were objectionally bulky and the location of the buoyant material for creating the turning moment was such that it interfered with movement of the body and so forth.

Not only did the requirements for producing the turning moment noted above create objectionable bulk in certain regions of the wearers body but, also, the opinions of safety experts who set standards for life jacket design have been such that the minimum buoyancy for protection is relatively large resulting in excessive bulk.

In testing buoyant jackets in the prior art, generally the jacket is tested in three standard positions of the body to determine whether or not the action of the jacket in turning the body to a face up position is sufficiently rapid. These three standard test positions are the dead man position, a spread eagle position and an in line position. In the dead man position the victim is lying prone in the water face down with his arms and legs extending in opposite directions; that is, with his arms overhead and the feet extending generally in the opposite United States Patent O direction. In the spread eagle position, both arms and legs of the wearer are separated by an angle of approximately degrees. In the in line position the victim is prone with his arms at his sides and with his legs parallel to each other.

Many of the buoyant jackets and life preservers presently in use effectively overcome the problem of turning the wearer face up from any of the three standard test positions outlined above. While accomplishing this result they may be excessively bulky and, in addition, may be so cumbersome and clumsy as to interfere with normal movements.

In many instances the body of a person falling into the water assumes a position which is different from any of the three standard test positions described above. Particularly a victim falling into the water may surface face down with his arms and his legs submerged and extending generally downwardly from the body. This apparently results from the fact that on impact, the arms, legs and body of the wearer submerge at nearly the same rate. However, when the wearer surfaces, the trunk of the body precedes the appendages because of the greater buoyancy of the trunk and the lesser buoyancy of the appendages. The resulting position is known as the dead dog position. While many of the buoyant jackets and vests known in the art operate satisfactorily to turn the wearer face up from any of the three standard test positions, they do not successfully solve the problem of floating the wearer face up from the dead dog position. Attempts to modify the standard designs in an effort to obviate this problem have not proved satisfactory. The turning moment required to rotate the victim from the dead dog position to a face up position necessitates such a bulk of material and such a high degree of eccentricity of the material as not only to be objectionable but as to be entirely impracticable.

I have invented a life saving buoyancy system which overcomes the problems of buoyant jackets and vests of the prior art. My system readily rotates a victim from the dead dog position without requiring excessive bulk or excessive eccentricity of buoyant material in the chest region of the wearer. My buoyancy system increases the rate of turning of the wearer from any face down position over that provided by Ibuoyant jackets of the prior art. My buoyant system does not require as great a total buoyancy as does a jacket of the prior art. My buoyancy system permits the wearer a greater degree of freedom of movement than do jackets and the like of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One object of my invention is to provide a buoyancy system which overcomes the defects of buoyant vests and jackets of the prior art.

Another object of my invention is to provide a life preserving buoyancy system which quickly turns a victim from the dead dog position Ito a face up, head out of the water position.

A further Iobject of my invention is to provide a life preserving buoyancy system which turns a victim from any face down position to a face up position more rapidly than do buoyant jackets and the like of the prior art.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a life preserving buoyancy system which requires less total buoyancy than do buoyant jackets and the like of the prior art.

Other and further objects of my invention will appear from the following description.

In general my invention contemplates the provision of a life preserving buoyancy system in which a buoyant mass supported in the region of the chest of the wearer cooperates with separate and discrete buoyant masses in the wrist or forearm regions of the wearers body to produce a turning action which quickly turns the wearers body from any face down floating position, including the dead dog position, to a face up, head out of the water position. I may provide a buoyant mass disposed generally behind the head of the wearer t ensure that his head is kept out of the water.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings which form part of the instant specification and which are to be read in conjunction therewith and in which like reference numerals are used to indicate like parts in the various views:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of my life saving buoyancy system in position on the body of a wearer.

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation of my life saving buoyancy system in position on the body of a wearer.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating the initial position of a oating wearer of my life saving buoyancy system in a dead dog position.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating the action of my life saving buoyancy system in beginning to move the wearer from the dead dog position of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating the face up head out of the water position to which a wearer of my life saving buoyancy system is moved from the dead dog position.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view illustrationg one form of the wrist portion of my life saving buoyancy system.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an alternate form of the Wrist portion of my life saving buoyancy system.

FIG. 8 is a front elevation of an alternate form of my life saving buoyancy system.

lDESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED `EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIGS. l and 2 of the drawings, my life saving buoyancy system is adapted to be donned by a wearer 10. The system includes a life jacket or vest portion, indicated generally by the reference character 12, which may be of any suitable type known to the art. One form of jacket which may comprise part of my system includes respective front right-hand and left-hand buoyant masses 14 and 16 which can be formed of any suitable material such, for example, as unicellular foamed polyvinyl chloride. Respective right-hand and left-hand fabric pockets or envelopes 18 and 20 may receive the buoyant members 14 and 16. ' Fabric shoulder portions 22 and 24 connect the front envelopes to a rear envelope or pouch 26 which receives a rear buoyant member 28 which may be made of the same material as are the members 14 and 16. A back extension 30 of the fabric envelope is formed with respective tunnels 32 and 34 which receive respective straps or belts 36 and 38 adapted to secure the jacket or vest to the wearers body. These belts 36 and 38 extend around to the front of the wearers body and are secured together generally in the chest area and in the waist area of the wearer by respective fasteners, such as buckles 40 and 42 or the like. As is known in the art, portions of the respective belts 36 and 38 may be looped around the buoyant bodies 14 and 16.

While I have described a particular form of vest or jacket 12 as comprising a part of my life saving buoyant assembly, it is to be understood that any suitable type of vest or jacket or the like can be used. In general, it is required principally that the vest have buoyant material in the region of the chest of the wearer and that, preferably, some buoyant material be disposed behind the wearers head so as to hold his head out of the water when he is in a face up position.

In addition to the buoyant vest 12, my life saving buoyancy system includes respective masses 44 and 46 of buoyant material positioned on the wrists of the wearers. Preferably, in order that the wrist or forearm masses 44 and 46 are not lost, they may be secured to the respective envelopes 18 and 20 by cords 48 and 50 or the like.

Referring now to FIG. 3, I have shown the wearer 10 floating in water 52, for example, in the dead dog position with his face down and with his extremities extending generally downwardly in the water. As has been explained hereinabove, this position is a natural one for a person to assume upon rising to the surface after having plunged into the water, owing to the fact that the body torso is more buoyant than are the arms and legs. The position illustrated in FIG. 3 is the initial position before the turning action of my life saving buoyancy system takes place.

Referring to FIG. 4, I have illustrated the position of the wearer 10 about two to two and one half seconds after he assumes the position shown in FIG. 3 under the turning action of my floatation system. Forces exerted by the buoyant masses 44 and 46 tend to move the body from the position shown in FIG. 3 toward the vertical position such as is illustrated in FIG. 4. It might be thought that with a buoyant mass on each of the wearers wrists, the action of one would counteract the action of the other. I have discovered, however, that this does not take place. It appears that with a mass on only one of the wearers wrists or forearms, a tendency results to rotate the body about its longitudinal axis. If, however, masses are placed on both the wearers arms, his body is forced more in an upward and backward direction. To explain more fully, I observe that with the body of a person in the dead dog position in the water, his arms and legs have the same stabilizing effect on the torso as does the keel of a boat. My masses of buoyant material upset this stabilizing effect by raising the arms to the surface of the water. It produced this effect on a person wearing a buoyant jacket of the type which would not turn a person from a dead dog position. In addition, the rate at which the person was turned to a face up position from other positions was increased as much as 40%. Once the person has been turned to the face up position, he will remain in that position owing to the action of the buoyant mass in the chest area.

After the wearers body has moved from the position shown in FIG. 3 to the position shown in FIG. 4, under the inuence of my buoyancy system in a very short time of about two seconds, his body rotates to the generally face up position illustrated in FIG. 5. This movement of the body is in part produced by the material of the chest buoyant members 14 and 16.

I have discovered that by use of the buoyant masses 44 and 46 in combination with the jacket 12, the time for turning the wearers body from a face down to a face up position is appreciably reduced, being about five seconds or less as contrasted with around ten seconds for what are considered to be excellent jackets of the prior art. This is in addition to the fact that my buoyancy system will move the wearers body from a face down, dead dog position whereas jackets of the prior art have been unsuccessful in achieving this result.

In addition to the enhanced turning action afforded by my buoyancy system, I have discovered that I can make :my system with an overall buoyancy which is appreciably less than that of a jacket of the prior art and yet I am able to accomplish the superior turning results outlined above. By way of example, I may use a jecket having a buoyancy of only about fourteen pounds in combination with two wrist or forearm masses, each having a buoyancy of from about one-half to one pound and accomplish superior results over a standard jacket of the prior art having thirty-five pounds buoyancy. It will readily be understood that the greatly decreased buoyancy required for the jacket enables me to make a jacket which is much less bulky and cumbersome than are jackets of the prior art. Thus, my buoyant assembly affords the wearer more mobility than do jackets of the prior art. It also affords better stability in the water.

The masses `44 and 48 are worn generally in the wrist or forearm of the wearer. I have discovered that the outstanding results outlined hereinabove can be achieved by placing the buoyant mass on the arm from the wrist to about two-thirds of the way to the elbow.

The particular design of the masses 44 and 46 is not critical. By way of illustration in FIGS. and 6, I have shown two forms of wrist masses which are satisfactory. The mass shown in FIG. 6 and indicated gneerally by the reference character 54 includes a body 56 of any suitable buoyant material such, for example, as expanded unicellular polyvinyl chloride. The body 56 tapers from a relatively wide end 58 intermediate the wrist and the elbow of the wearers forearm 160 to a relatively narrower end -62 adjacent the wearers wrist. Respective interior bosses 64 and i66 adjacent the ends 58 and 62 engage the wearers arm and provide a space 68 therebetween into which ventilating air is admitted through holes 70 in the body. Bosses 64 and 66 prevent the mass 54 from riding too far up the wearers arm and from slipping out over the wearers hand.

In the form of mass indicated generally by the reference character 72 shown in FIG. 7, the body 74 is formed of any suitable material, such as unicellular expanded polyvinyl chloride. This body has an irregular longitudinal cross-sectional shape and isV generally tapered so as to prevent excessive movement upwardly on the wearers arm and to prevent slippage over the wearers hand while at the same time affording a degree of ventilation. In general, the requirement for the wrist masses is that its shape be such that movement thereof in one direction or in the other not be excessive while at the same time it should be as comfortable as is consistent with the functional requirements thereof.

Referring now to FIG. 8, it may be desirable to incorporate my life preserving buoyant system in a unitary garment, indicated generally by the reference character 76, comprising a fabric envelope 78 carrying front buoyant masses 80 and 82 and a rear buoyant mass (not shown), as well as straps 84 and 86 for securing the garment to the wearers body. In this form of my system the garment may include sleeves 88 and 90 which carry the buoyant masses 44 and 46. These masses may be attached to the sleeves 88 and 90 in any suitable manner. For example, they may actually be enclosed in and become a part of the sleeves.

In operation of my life preserving buoyancy system, a wearer falling into the water and rising face up will be supported in the water in that manner with his head out of the water. It will be noted that the rear buoyant mass 28 and its equivalent in other forms of jackets and vests assists in achieving the end of holding the head of the wearer out of the water.

Should the wearer fall into the water and surface with his face down in any of the standard test positions, my buoyant system will move him to the face up position illustrated in FIG. 5 in appreciably less time than will any of the jackets or vests of the prior art.

Should the wearer surface in the dead dog position illustrated in FIG. 3, the wrist masses 44 and 46 first produce a force tending to move'the wearers body to the generally vertical position illustrated in FIG. 4. Shortly following that action, the wearers body is rapidly turned to the face up position illustrated in FIG. 5.

It will be seen that I have accomplished the objects of my invention. I have provided a life saving buoyancy system which overcomes the difficulties involved in systems of the prior art. My system more rapidly turns a floating person from a face down to a face up position than do buoyant jackets of the prior art. My buoyancy system rapidly turns a wearer from the dead dog position to a face up head out of the water position. My life preserving buoyancy system permits of the construction of a system having less buoyancy than is required in systems of the prior art. My system is less cumbersome and bulky than are buoyant vests and jackets of the type known in the prior art.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of my claims. It is further obvious that various changes may be made in details within the scope of my claims without departing from the spirit of my invention. It is, therefore, to be understood that my invention is not to be limited to the specific details shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A life preserving buoyancy system for constraining the body of a wearer floating in a buoyant medium to a face up position including in combination, a first buoyant mass, means positioning said first buoyant mass in the region of the wearers chest, and a second ringlike buoyant mass supported on the wearers body at one of the forearm regions thereof, said second buoyant mass having an internal dimension which permits said mass to be slipped over the wearers hand and onto said forearm and normally to be retained thereon by a portion of said second mass.

2. A life preserving buoyancy system as in claim 1 including means connecting said second buoyant mass to said first buoyant mass.

3. A life preserving buoyancy system as in claim 1 in which'said first buoyant mass is eccentrically buoyant across the wearers chest.

4. A life preserving buoyancy system as in claim 1 in which said first buoyant mass is formed in two distinct parts, said parts being differentially buoyant.

5. A life preserving assembly as in claim 1 in which said second buoyant mass is carried by one of the wearers arms, said assembly including a third buoyant mass supported on the other arm of the wearer at the forearm region thereof.

6. A life preserving assembly as in claim 1 in which said second buoyant mass is a ring of unicellular expanded polyvinyl chloride.

7. A life preserving assembly as in claim 1 in which said second buoyant mass is tapered in a direction from the elbow toward the wrist.

8. A life preserving assembly as in claim 7 including internal annular bosses adjacent the open ends.

9. A life preserving assembly as in claim 7 including air vents in said body.

10. A life preserving assembly as in claim 7 in which said second buoyant mass has an undulating internal surface.

y11. A life preserving buoyancy system for constraining the body of a wearer floating in a buoyant medium to a face up position including in combination, a first buoyant mass, means positioning said first buoyant mass in the region of the wearers chest and a pair of ringlike axially tapered bodies of resilient buoyant material having open ends supported on the forearms of the wearers body, the internal dimensions of said bodies being such as to permit said bodies to be slipped over the wearers hands and normally to be retained on the forearms.

12. A life preserving buoyancy system as in claim 11 in which said first buoyant mass is eccentrically buoyant across the wearers chest.

13. A life preserving buoyancy system as in claim 11 including means connecting said tapered bodies to said first buoyant mass.

14. A life preserving buoyancy system as in claim 111 in which said first buoyant mass comprises part of a garment having sleeves, said sleeves connecting said tapered bodies to said first buoyant mass.

15. A life preserving buoyancy system as in claim 11 References Cited including internal annular bosses on each of said tapered UNITED STATES PATENTS bodies adjacent said open ends.

i16. A life preserving buoyancy system as in claim -15 1,611427 12/1926 Evans 9-344 including vent holes in said tapered bodies. 1888283 11/1932 Moore 9-338(X) 17. A life preserving buoyancy system as in claim 15 5 310761206 2/1963 Shfw et al- 9--341 (X) in which said tapered bodies have undulating inner sur- 3405'414 10/1968 Ffledef, Jf- 9-338 faces' MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner 18. A system as in claim 1 including a fourth buoyant mass and means positioning said fourth buoyant mass 1 I. E. PITTENGER, Assistant Examiner at the upper part of the back of the wearer. 0

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