WO2023012771A1

WO2023012771A1 - Electric diving shoes capable of storing the diver's surrounding environment data

Info

Publication number: WO2023012771A1
Application number: PCT/IB2022/058545
Authority: WO
Inventors: Abbas ABEDI
Original assignee: Abedi Abbas
Priority date: 2022-09-11
Filing date: 2022-09-11
Publication date: 2023-02-09

Abstract

The claimed invention is like a rechargeable pair of shoes under which there is a motor. The device is an electric waterproof tool that can be used under water as it is a replacement for swim fins. In addition, its ergonomics enables one to use it for walking on land. It enables quicker motion while less calorie is burned and less muscular fatigue is experienced under water. The device can be controlled solely by diver's big toe and it uses different sensors to monitor and store marine information as well as the data of the diver's surroundings. It can also be used in underwater research activities.

Description

Electric diving shoes capable of storing the diver’s surrounding environment data

This invention is related to marine navigation and biology. It is capable of moving people in water reservoirs such as sea and pool as it analyzes and records the environment below the sea as well diver’s physical conditions.

There is a mechanism in submarines for diving deep into ocean. This mechanism first lets water enter the hull of the submarine so that it can dive. The same mechanism was used for this invention as the device body is hollow so that water can get into it and make it dive deeper and this it creates a feeling of relative weightlessness. In addition, as water exits from below of the device the water content inside of is emptied and the body’s weight reduces and this enables the diver to walk on land effortlessly.

A water displacement criterion is rotation of the propeller around its axis.

Taking the above-mentioned criterion into account, the device acts like a shoe that enables three-dimensional maneuver of the diver under the water and the diver can walk on the beach effortlessly.

After searching for underwater movement control inventions in international databases, we’d like to point to two inventions , namely US20110174209A1 and US6341993B1 patented by Matthew J. Thiessen and Willian J. Lali. Jr, respectively. In the case of the first invention, both feet should be connected to the motor’s body but it is only capable of kinetic movement and it reduces the diver's maneuverability. In addition, the invention is not a shoe and so it can’t be used to walk on land. The second invention consists of a pair of diving shoes with fins and an internal motor. This invention turns walking on the beach into a challenging task and it cannot record the surrounding underwater information.

Technical Problem

Divers use swim fins for quicker swimming but it increases their calories burned and muscular fatigue. Such diving shoes are intended to ease movement below the water surface. In addition, swim fins turn walking on beach into a highly challenging task but this device enables the diver to easily walk on land. Recording the underwater environment information and diver’s physical condition is among other tasks the device does.

Solution to Problem

This device is actually a pair of shoes ( ) which is built differently from normal shoes. Moving in typical shoes requires the movement of our feet muscles and the shoes touching the ground but such a movement is solely possible on land. However, The movement mechanism for the invented shoes are a little different though. Moving in these shoes requires using one's big toe and operation of the motor under the water. As a result, this invention enables divers to move in underwater settings. In addition, the invention’s cross-section has some curve and the ergonomics of typical shoes so that divers can use the invention for walking on land.

The device is a pair of shoes each of which are designed to perfectly fit divers' feet. Each shoe has 8 main components namely the body, leg splint, e-circuit shield, electric circuit, button, electric motor, propeller and sensors.

The diver's feet ( ; part 2), e-circuit protecting box ( ; part.3) were designed to fit inside of the device body ( ; part 1) and the 3 mode toggle switch ( ; part 1) that can be controlled by the big toe is placed inside of the moving joint.

In the first mode of the toggle switch (i.e. upper mode), if a diver moves his big toe upward, the propeller ( ; part 5) starts a clockwise rotation so as to drag the diver down. But In the second mode, a diver should move his big toe down. Next, the propeller will start a counterclockwise rotation and the diver can move upwards. In the third mode, a diver keeps his big toe in the middle, the device will show no reaction.

In order to prevent the motor from turning on during the diver’s walk on the ground, we used pH sensor so that if the module is not under water, a null value is transmitted by pH sensor of the module. As a result, the device finds out that the diver is walking on land and so the circuit orders the motor and other modules to shut down.

If you look down at one of the shoes, you will notice that the electric motor ( ; part 4) is connected to the bottom of the device body at the center of the circle. The propeller ( ; part 5) is also connected to the motor. For better protection of the propeller against surrounding barriers, a propeller protector ( ; part6) connected to the main body is used that covers the circumference of the propeller. On the other hand, for better protection of the bottom of propeller protector ( ; part 6) against wear and to prevent the shoe from sliding over wet and slippery surfaces during walking on land, another protector made up of TPU ( ; part 8) has been put into the design.

The battery is inside of the propeller protector. The propeller protector was designed to operate in an isolated manner so that it can effectively deal with likely risks to the battery. To recharge the battery, the propeller protector should be removed from the body of the shoes to be connected to a charger later. There are two female connectors, one on the main body of the device and the other on the charger. There is also a male connector on propeller protector which directly connects to the battery. The propeller protector can be detached from the body by rotating it to the left and the inverse rotation can reattach it back to the device body.

The device has an e-circuit protector designed in an isolated manner so that it can operate like an airplane black box. The protector can retain its information under challenging conditions like when it is under diver's feet or when the diver is physically damaged.

The sensors data will be stored in Microsoft Office Excel databases (10 sheets) which makes the databases easily accessible in most of operating systems.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

Burning less calorie and less muscular fatigue than common swim fins.

Possibility of moving backwards versus swim fins and similar inventions solely let you move forward.

Controlling the motion by one’s toe and keeping the hands free is another advantage of these shoes as the diver can focus more on recording and other manual underwater tasks.

Designed as a pair of shoes.

Recording water temperature, leg motions and location of the diver, his palpitation, blood oxygen, surrounding light condition and acidity and alkalinity of water along with water turbidity, amount of minerals and small particles, heaviness and hardness of water in real time and in separate memories.

Enabling the diver to walk on land

Using Excel database for easy user access to module data.

Fig.1

shows a perspective view of the invention components.

Part no.1: Main body with holes for water intake and outpour.
Part no.2: Place of feet.
Part no.3: Isolated e-circuit protective box (including control circuit and sensors).
Part no.4: Electric motor.
Part no.5: Propeller.
Part no.6: Propeller protector with curved cross-section.
Part no.7: Battery placed inside of propeller protector.
Part no.8: Robber sole of the shoe made up of TPU.

Fig.2

The figure shows the invention from different angles. In order to better understand the invented device, take the following into account.

View no.1: Invention as viewed from above.
View no.2: Invention as viewed from below.
View no.3: Invention as viewed from left.
View no.4: Invention as viewed from right.
View no.5: Invention as viewed from front.
View no.6: Invention as viewed from back.

Fig.3

shows the shape of the leg splint.

Part no.1 is the mobile joint between big toe and leg. There is also a 3 mode toggle switch in the joint.
Part no.2 covers the top of the leg and it contains pulse oximeter sensor so that it can operate more efficiently by recording the diver’s palpitation and blood oxygen level.

Fig.4

shows a perspective view of the invention and the diver.

The shoes replace for swim fins and the divers can use them to move without rowing.

In the first step, we wear the leg splints and put our legs in the shoes so that we can dive into the water. Now, we push the big toe down and then the switch installed on the cuff joint goes down and the motor starts a clockwise rotation. That way, we can move forward. By pushing the big toe up, the inverse motion is initiated. The device is rechargeable and when the batter is low, we can remove the propeller protector from the main body so that as the battery can be recharged directly. The battery is inside of the propeller protector.

The pulse oximeter sensor, attacked to the leg splint, sits on the legs so as to record palpitation and blood oxygen. In addition, gyroscope sensor is inside of the circuit protector right over the circuit so that it can analyze the diver’s motions. Meanwhile, LDR sensor sits on the shoes so as to monitor and record intensity of the surrounding light. The rest of sensors are inside of the device body and they are directly exposed to water.

In order to export the data of the surrounding setting and to conduct physiological analysis the diver should connect the device memory to a laptop or cellphone.

Usable in maritime industries, underwater swimming and marine biology and research. As an alternative to swim fins.

Claims

A vehicle made up of two independent parts for pairing to both legs just like a pair of shoe is claimed. Using the muscular force of the toes leads to moving the vehicle and its user under the water. The invention was designed in a way that it enables walking on land. The shoes are made of the following parts:
Main body or chassis.

Propeller.

Propeller protector.

Shoe sole.

Waterproof electric motor.

Leg splint.

Switch button

Black box and e-circuit protector.

Electrical system containing a circuit, battery, rechargeable waterproof connector, charging adapter, sensors and waterproof wire.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 1, the device body is made up of compressed polypropylene plastic. The body is hollow and different parts of the vehicle are installed on it.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 2, the hollow body is intended to optimize the weight on land and use of underwater mechanism while the device goes deep into water and the empty spaces of the device body are filled with water.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 1, the propeller is made of compressed polypropylene.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 4, the lower cross-section of the propeller is curved so that it satisfies ergonomics requirements while the diver walks on land.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 1 , the shoe sole is made of TPU and it is in lower cross-section of the propeller protector so that the rubber is not worn out while diver walks on dry surfaces and the shoe does not slip on wet and slippery surfaces.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 1, the leg splint design should be similar to Hallux Valgus splint that the diver puts on both of his feet. This splint covers the big toe, sole and upper part of the leg as a mobile joint connects the part for the big toe, the sole part to the part covering the upper side of each leg. As a result, the big toe can move up and down easily. This leg splint can keep the switch button at the joint and the pulse oximeter module is fixed to the leg.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 7, the leg splintis connected to the shoe with a wire. The wire should transfer the data of pulse oximeter module and switch button to the circuit.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 1, an electric button is used to turn the muscular force of the big toe to propeller rotation. The button is part of a 3-mode toggle switch (i.e. with up, middle and down modes). The switch sits on the joint connecting the big toe to the leg splint. The electric system protector is installed at top of the leg, the electric motor is below the foot and the propeller is attached to the motor. The movement of big toe muscle is communicated by the switch and waterproof wires to the commanding circuit. Then, the battery turns the motor on so that it can start a clockwise or counterclockwise rotation.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 9, as the big toe goes up the switch shifts to the up mode and propeller starts a clockwise rotation. The rotation moves the surrounding water upward which itself results in downward movement of the diver.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 9, when the big toe goes down, the button shifts to down mode, the propeller starts a clockwise rotation and the surrounding liquid (i.e. water) is pushed downward . All in all, these steps result in upward displacement of the diver.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 9, as the big toe stays in the middle, the button shifts to middle mode and the surrounding liquid stays where it is. In this case, the diver stays in place as the electric motor is turned off.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 9, the button’s mechanism was designed in a way that propeller can start a clockwise and counterclockwise rotation. The rotation is facilitated by electric motor, a waterproof wire and command control circuit as well as the battery that is attached to the inside of the main body.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 13, the propeller wheel was designed in way that it can move liquid and so it contributes to upward or downward movement of the device.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 1, relevant parameters for the electric motor in each shoe are the following:
Rate Voltage: 12.6 V

Power: 300 W

Motor Grade: B continuous operation

Maximum RPM: 3400 RPM

Weight: 150 g
The Electric diving shoes of claim 1, the electric circuit protector is an isolated box for hosting the circuit.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 1, the battery is in the propeller box. The relevant parameters for each battery are:
Capacity: 11000 mAh

Rated Voltage: 11.1 V

Weight: 890 g (1.96 lb)

Power: 122.1 Wh

Maximum Charging Power: 100W
The Electric diving shoes of claim 17, the propeller protector is isolated to prevent the battery from getting damaged underwater over a long period of time. The battery is irreplaceable but the propeller protector which contains the batter can be replaced. In order to replace the battery, you just need to replace the propeller protector.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 17, the propeller protector can be detached from the main body by rotation. In that case, the connections between the battery and the circuit will be gone because the male connector of the propeller protector is detached from the female connector over the device body.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 17, recharging the battery requires reattaching the male connector of the propeller protector to the female connector on adapter.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 1, the charging adapter’s parameters are as detailed below:
Input Voltage: 100-240 V AC 50/60 Hz

Output Voltage: 12.6 V

Output Current: 6 A

Charging Indication: Charging (Red); Fully Charged (Green)
The Electric diving shoes of claim 1, the used sensors are thermometer module, water hardness and heaviness detection module, 9-axis gyroscope module, pulse oximeter module, LDR module, Water pH detection module and water turbidity detection module. The data collected from such modules can be recorded and stored easily.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 22, the thermometer module is used to story the real-time water temperature in a specific storage space. To do so, a definite sensor (i.e. DS18B20) can be used. The module is over the device and it is directly exposed to water. The wire used for transferring thermometer’s data goes inside of the protective box and it connects to the circuit. The parameters for DS18B20 module are the following :
Usable temperature range: -55 to 125°C (-67°F to +257°F)

9 to 12 bit selectable resolution

Uses 1-Wire interface- requires only one digital pin for communication

Unique 64 bit ID burned into chip

Multiple sensors can share one pin

±0.5°C Accuracy from -10°C to +85°C

Temperature-limit alarm system

Query time is less than 750ms

Usable with 3.0V to 5.5V power/data

Weight: 10g
The Electric diving shoes of claim 22, the sensor for detection of water heaviness and hardness enables real-time recording of the data of water suspended particles in a specific storage. To do so, the sensor SEN0244 can be used the parameters of which are:
Input Voltage: 3.3 ~ 5.5V

Output Voltage: 0 ~ 2.3V

Working Current: 3 ~ 6mA

TDS Measurement Range: 0 ~ 1000ppm

Weight: 10g
The Electric diving shoes of claim 22, the gyroscope module is used for measuring and recording of rotational motion and angular velocity (rotation per second). The module is made of the chip MPU9250 (3-axi accelerometer and 3-axis gyroscope) and AK8963 (3-axis compass). It also contains a DMP (motion processor) that can process the data of the 9-axis sensor. The module is placed on an electric circuit which itself is inside of the circuit protector. The parameters for MPU9250 module are :
Power supply
3.0 – 5.0 volts (module)

For the actual IC it is 2.4 – 3.6 volts
Gyroscope
Ranges: +/-250, +/-500, +/-1000, +/-2000 °/s

Data rate: 3.91 – 32000 Hz

Resolution: 16 bits

Power consumption: 3.2 mA (normal mode) / 8 µA (sleep mode)
Accelerometer:
Ranges: +/- 2, +/-4, +/-8, +/-16 g

Data rate: 0.24 Hz (in cycle mode) to 4000 Hz

Resolution: 16 bits

Power consumption: 450 µA (normal mode) / 8.4 µA in low-power mode (0.98 Hz cycle) / 19.8 µA in low-power mode (31.25 Hz cycle)
Magnetometer:
Measuring range: +/- 4800 µT

Data rate: 8 Hz or 100 Hz

Resolution: 14 or 16 bits (I only implemented 16 bit resolution)

Power consumption: 280 A at 8 Hz data rate
The Electric diving shoes of claim 22, the pulse oximeter module enables recording and storing palpitation and blood oxygen data through MAX30100 sensor. The module is placed inside of the joined leg splint so that by putting it on, the module goes over the legs and then it receives and sends intended signals from that spot. The parameters for MAX30100 module are as detailed below:
Input Voltage: 3.3 ~ 5.5V

Supply Current: 600 ~ 1200 μA

Supply Current in Shutdown: 0.7 ~ 10 μA

Weight: 10g
The Electric diving shoes of claim 22, the LDR module is used for real-time storage of surrounding light intensity in a secondary storage. The module is also installed on the device.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 22, the pH module stores real-time water pH in a secondary storage and to do so, the sensor A27-PH is used. The module is inside of the device and it is directly exposed to water. The parameters of A27-PH module are as detailed below:
Heating voltage: 5 ± 0.2V (AC · DC)

Working current: 5-10mA

Detection concentration range: PH0-14

Detection temperature range: 0-80 ℃

Response time: ≤5S

Stabilization time: ≤60S

Element power: ≤0.5W

Working temperature: -10 ~ 50 ℃ (nominal temperature 20 ℃)

Weight: 25g
The Electric diving shoes of claim 22, the water turbidity detection module stores the data on real-time turbidity of water in a secondary storage by receiving necessary data from SENO189 sensor. The module is inside of the device and it is directly exposed to water. Relevant parameters for SENO189 module are as detailed below:
Operating Voltage: 5V DC

Operating Current: 40mA (MAX)

Response Time: <500ms

Operating Temperature: 5℃~90 ℃

Weight: 30g
The Electric diving shoes of claim 22, the output data of all modules are stored in a real-time and direct manner in a Microsoft Office Excel database on a memory inside of the device. The database is made of 10 sheets.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 30, the thermometer module data will be loaded and stored in a sheet called “thermometer”.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 30, the data of water heaviness and hardness detection module will be loaded and stored in a sheet called “TDS”.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 30, the data for gyroscope module will be loaded and stored in a sheet called “gyroscope”.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 30, the data of blood oxygen level will be loaded and stored in a sheet called “Pulse Oximeter”.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 30, the data of palpitation will be loaded and stored in a sheet called “Palpitation”.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 30, the data of water pH detection module will be loaded and stored in a sheet called “PH”.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 30, the data of water turbidity detection module will be loaded and stored in a sheet called “Turbidimeter”.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 30, the data of light detection module will be loaded and stored in a sheet called “LDR”.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 30, the data on mean values of the modules will be loaded and stored in a sheet called “Average”.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 30, the diagrams of every data over time will be loaded and stored in a sheet called “Charts”.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 9, pH sensor is used to inhibit from activation of the motor. In this setup, as long as the module is not dipped in water, a null value will be received from the module and the device finds out that the user is on land. As a result, the circuit commands the motor and other modules to shut down. As the device goes underwater and pH sensor starts water pH analysis, the device will be turned on.
The Electric diving shoes of claim 1, the weight of each shoe during walk on land is highly significant. The weights of each part of the shoe including the body and chassis (210g), battery (890g), and motor and propeller (210g) and sensors, circuits and electric system (190g) caused the weight of each shoe to add up to 1500±100g.