Patent Application
20230312065
An always present risk when individuals perform activities in or on water (e.g., a pool, lake, ocean, etc.) is the risk of drowning. This risk is greater in children, individuals with disabilities, and individuals who do not know how to swim. To help reduce the risk of drowning, or prevent it altogether, individuals can use various typical devices. For example, some typical devices (e.g., a life jacket or vest) can be worn by an individual and provide buoyancy such that the individual cannot sink below the water’s surface when wearing the device. An individual cannot wear such devices when learning to swim or dive, however, because the buoyancy interferes with the individual’s ability to do so by keeping the individual on the water’s surface. Other typical devices may also be worn by an individual, but do not provide buoyancy until activated. These other typical devices, however, often require manual activation, which does not afford as great of protection against drowning as a device that activates automatically upon being needed.
Accordingly, a need exists for a wearable flotation device that enables individuals to swim and dive while wearing the wearable flotation device, but that helps prevent individuals from drowning when needed.
The present disclosure provides a new and innovative wearable personal flotation device that helps prevent individuals from drowning by automatically deploying a buoyant member (e.g., a balloon filled with a gas) upon the device reaching a certain depth (e.g., pressure) below a water’s surface. The provided wearable device also does not interfere with individuals performing activities in the water (e.g., swimming and diving) because the wearable device does not provide buoyancy before being activated, which does not occur until the individual is a certain depth (e.g., pressure) below the water’s surface.
In an example, a personal flotation device includes a housing, a canister disposed within the housing and storing a compressed gas, an inflatable member coupled to the housing, a channel within the housing, and a compressible member positioned within the channel. The channel extends from an exit point of the canister to the inflatable member such that the canister can be in fluid communication with the inflatable member. The compressible member is configured such that (i) when the personal flotation device is located less than a predetermined depth below a surface of water, the compressible member prevents the compressed gas from the canister from reaching the inflatable member, and (ii) when the personal flotation device is located greater than or equal to the predetermined depth below the surface of water, the compressible member compresses and thereby allows the compressed gas from the canister to inflate the inflatable member.
In another example, a personal flotation device includes a personal flotation device includes a housing, a canister disposed within the housing and storing a compressed gas, an inflatable member coupled to the housing, a channel within the housing, and a compressible member positioned within the channel. The channel extends from an exit point of the canister to the inflatable member such that the canister can be in fluid communication with the inflatable member. The compressible member is configured such that (i) when the personal flotation device is subjected to less than a predetermined water pressure, the compressible member prevents the compressed gas from the canister from reaching the inflatable member, and (ii) when the personal flotation device is subjected to greater than or equal to the predetermined water pressure, the compressible member compresses and thereby allows compressed gas from the canister to inflate the inflatable member.
Additional features and advantages of the disclosed method and apparatus are described in, and will be apparent from, the following Detailed Description and the Figures. The features and advantages described herein are not all-inclusive and, in particular, many additional features and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the figures and description. Moreover, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and not to limit the scope of the inventive subject matter.
The present disclosure provides a new and innovative wearable personal flotation device that automatically deploys a buoyant member (e.g., a balloon filled with a gas) from a housing upon the device reaching a certain depth (e.g., pressure) below a surface of a body of water. The provided personal flotation device includes a compressible member that, prior to activation, blocks a compressed gas stored in a canister from reaching and inflating an inflatable member. Upon the personal flotation device being submerged to the certain depth below the water’s surface, the water pressure at that depth partially compresses the compressible member thereby enabling the compressed gas to reach and inflate the inflatable member. In this way, the inflatable member automatically inflates when the personal flotation device reaches the certain depth below the water’s surface without any manual activation by a user. As such, the provided personal flotation device can better protect individuals against drowning as compared to typical personal flotation devices that require manual activation. Additionally, by only providing buoyancy upon the personal flotation device reaching a certain depth, the provided personal flotation device enables individuals to perform activities in the water above that certain depth without interference from the provided personal flotation device, unlike some typical personal flotation devices.
Upon the personal flotation device 100 being submerged in water to a depth below the surface that subjects the personal flotation device 100 to a predetermined water pressure, the water pressure exerts a force (designated by the arrows 800 in
In some aspects, the predetermined depth or water pressure at which the compressible member 708 partially compresses may be adjustable. For example, a user may adjust (e.g., turn) the adjustment knob 108 to select a predetermined depth or water pressure at which the compressible member 708 will partially compress. In some aspects, the predetermined depth or water pressure is adjustable to two or more discrete values. For example, the user may turn the adjustment knob 108 to select a predetermined depth of 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, or 5 meters. In another example, the user may turn the adjustment knob 108 to select a predetermined depth of 0.5, 1, 1.5, or 2 meters. In other aspects, the predetermined depth or water pressure is adjustable to any value within a range of values. For example, the user may turn the adjustment knob 108 to select a predetermined depth within a range of 0.5 to 5 meters, inclusive of the ends of the range. In another example, this range may be 0.5 to 2 meters.
In order to adjust the water pressure at which the compressible member 708 will partially compress, the personal flotation device 100 may include an adjustable member (not illustrated) within the compressible member 708. The adjustable member applies a force to the interior of the compressible member 708. The adjustable member may be a ball or have another suitable shape that corresponds to the compressible member 708 such that it can apply an evenly distributed force to the interior of the compressible member 708. In at least some examples, the adjustable member may be plastic. The adjustment knob 108 is connected to the adjustable member such that the adjustment knob 108 may change a size of the adjustable member. In one example, the adjustment knob 108 may increase or decrease a diameter of the adjustable member. As such, the larger the size (e.g., diameter) of the adjustable member, the more support the adjustable member provides to the compressible member 708. When the adjustable member supplies a greater amount of support to the compressible member 708, it takes a greater water pressure to partially compress the compressible member 708. In this way, the predetermined water pressure at which the compressible member 708 will partially compress may be adjusted.
As shown in
Without further elaboration, it is believed that one skilled in the art can use the preceding description to utilize the claimed inventions to their fullest extent. The examples and aspects disclosed herein are to be construed as merely illustrative and not a limitation of the scope of the present disclosure in any way. It will be apparent to those having skill in the art that changes may be made to the details of the above-described examples without departing from the underlying principles discussed. In other words, various modifications and improvements of the examples specifically disclosed in the description above are within the scope of the appended claims. For instance, any suitable combination of features of the various examples described is contemplated.
