Patent Application
20240351672
The present disclosure relates to a body suit, and in particularly, to a body suit with a distributed air supply.
Current air supply systems for scuba equipment includes an oxygen tank, a first stage regulator coupled to the oxygen tank, and a second stage regulator held in the mouth of a diver. The oxygen tank is typically a large metal or composite tank and can weigh between 25 to 30 lbs. A diver is limited to where they can wear or carry the oxygen tank as most scuba gear is designed to have the diver carry the oxygen tank on their back. After a diver enters the water, the oxygen tank remains on the diver's back and cannot be easily removed during the dive. These oxygen tanks can complicate a diver's ability to cave dive, wreck dive, or perform other diving activities that require the diver to maneuver through small spaces and tight openings. The large oxygen tank mounted to a diver's back can become caught in narrow openings, thereby threatening the safety of the diver, or preventing the diver from accessing certain locations because of the added bulk to the diver's body.
Female bodies are on average shorter and lighter than male bodies, and among many other differences, have different muscle strengths, torso shape, center of gravity, and the outline of the hips and pelvis. Yet oxygen tanks for scuba and fire and rescue equipment typically come in a “one size fits all,” and therefore do not account for physiological differences between male and female bodies. Moreover, oxygen tanks are not always suitable for use by those with back pain or for people with disabilities.
The present disclosure is directed to a garment, such as a body suit, with an integrated and distributed air supply.
In a first example aspect, a suit assembly with an integrated air distribution network may include a body having a first body portion and a second body portion. An air supply may be coupleable to the body, and a coupling mechanism may be coupled to the body and arranged for releasably receiving the air supply. The coupling mechanism may be disposed on the first body portion and the second body portion of the suit.
In a second example aspect, a method of distributing an air supply in a suit may include coupling an air supply to a body suit using a coupling mechanism. The air supply may include one or more air tanks. The coupling mechanism may be integrated with the body suit and arranged to receive the one or more air tanks. The method may include capturing, by one or more sensors, a pressure measurement associated with the air supply. The one or more sensors may be coupled to the air supply. The method may further include analyzing, by one or more processors of a controller, the pressure measurement associated with the air supply. The controller may be coupled to the body suit. The method may include determining, by one or more processors of the controller, a total air capacity by evaluating an analysis of the pressure measurement.
In a third example aspect, a garment having an air distribution assembly may include a body, a first container of oxygen having an inlet and a valve movable relative to the inlet between an open position and a closed position, and a second container of oxygen having an inlet and a valve movable relative to the inlet between an open position and a closed position. A coupling mechanism may be attached to the body and arranged for removably coupling the first container and the second container to the body. A controller may be operatively coupled to the valve of the first container and the valve of the second container. A regulator may be operably coupled to the controller. The controller may be arranged to open the valve of the first container to fluidly couple the first container to the regulator.
In accordance with any one of the first, second, and third example aspects, a suit assembly with integrated air distribution, a garment with an air distribution assembly, and a method of distributing an air supply in a suit may include any one or more of the following forms.
In one form, the suit may include a manifold hub and a diver regulator.
In some forms, the manifold hub may be in fluid communication with the air supply and the diver regulator.
In some forms, the manifold hub may include a controller.
In another form, the air supply may include a plurality of air tanks.
In some forms, the coupling mechanism may include a plurality of fasteners integrated with the suit.
In some forms, the suit may include a plurality of conduits.
In another form, each conduit may be in fluid communication with an air tank of the plurality of air tanks and the manifold hub.
In yet another form, a pressure sensor may be coupled to the air supply.
In other forms, the pressure sensor may be communicatively coupled to the controller.
In yet other forms, the pressure sensor may be configured to read an internal pressure of the air supply.
In other forms, the suit may include a valve operatively coupled to the air supply.
In some forms, the valve may be movable between an open position and a closed position in response to a sensed pressure of the pressure sensor.
In one example, the valve may be an electronic pressure regulator (EPR) valve.
In some examples, the valve may be configured to open when a sensed pressure is greater than approximately 500 psi.
In another example, the coupling mechanism may include a collapsible pocket.
In other examples, the pocket may include an opening sized to receive the air supply.
In some examples, the method may include capturing, by a depth gauge, a depth measurement associated with the body suit.
In some examples, the depth gauge may be coupled to the controller.
In some examples, the method may include analyzing, by one or more processors of the controller, the depth measurement.
In some examples, the method may include determining, by the one or more processors of the controller, based on an analysis of the depth measurement and the analysis of the pressure measurement of the air supply, a time until the air supply is depleted.
In yet another example, the method may include closing a valve coupled to a first air tank of the one or more tanks when a pressure measurement of the first air tank is less than approximately 500 psi.
In other examples, the method may include opening a valve coupled to a second air tank of the one or more air tanks when the pressure measurement of the first air tank is less than approximately 500 psi.
In one form, the method may include opening a valve coupled to a third air tank of the one or more air tanks when a pressure measurement of the second air tank is less than approximately 500 psi.
In another form, coupling may include fastening the first air tank to a first fastener of the coupling mechanism and fastening the second air tank to a second fastener of the coupling mechanism.
In some forms, the method may include determining an amount of air supply needed for a deployment.
In yet another form, the method may include selecting the air supply for attaching to the body suit by identifying a number air tanks required to supply the amount of air supply needed.
In other forms, when the valve of the first container is open, the valve of the second container may be closed.
In one example, the suit and/or garment may include a display screen coupled to the controller.
In some forms, the display screen may be configured to display an amount of oxygen available in the first air tank and the second air tank.
In another example, the controller may include one or more processors and a memory communicatively coupled to the one or more processors.
In some examples, the memory may store executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, may cause the one or more processors to receive data captured by a pressure sensor coupled to the first container of oxygen.
In some examples, the instructions may cause the one or more processors to receive data captured by a pressure sensor coupled to the first container of oxygen.
In some examples, the instructions may cause the one or more processors to analyze the data to identify an internal pressure associated with the first container of oxygen.
In some examples, the instructions may cause the one or more processors to send a signal to the valve of the first container of oxygen to close in response to the internal pressure; and
In some examples, the instructions may cause the one or more processors to send a signal to a valve of the second container of oxygen to open.
As used herein, the terms “top,” “bottom,” “upper,” “lower,” “above,” and “below” are used to provide a relative relationship between structures. The use of these terms does not indicate or require that a particular structure must be located at a particular location in the apparatus.
Some examples may be described using the expression “coupled” and “connected” along with their derivatives. For example, some arrangements may be described using the term “coupled” to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact. The term “coupled,” however, may also mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other, but yet still co-operate or interact with each other. The examples described herein are not limited in this context.
Systems and methods described in the present disclosure can include one or more of the following advantages.
The modular design of the present disclosure allows for a user to distribute weight of air supply around the user's body in a way that best suits the strengths and build of the user. For example, a diver may be more comfortable attaching the tanks around their waste to evenly distribute the weight of the tanks about their center of gravity. Further, if only a small amount of oxygen is required for a particular dive, the diver need only carry the amount of oxygen they will use. Unlike current scuba gear, a diver using the air supply system of the present disclosure can remove and reattach the air supply easily during the course of a dive.
Other activities that could benefit from wearing a more adjustable and comfortable oxygen supply are firefighting, hazmat applications, snorkeling, spelunking, hiking, or other activities at high altitudes or where oxygen is depleted. For example, firefighters wear a similarly back-mounted oxygen tank over their fire protection gear during certain rescue missions. The similar design to a scuba oxygen tank can hinder a firefighter's ability to carry a person out of danger and threaten their own safety when working in small spaces or blocked paths.
Additionally, the integrated coupling mechanisms of the body suit help reduce additional bulk to the user's body. In a firefighting application, the body suit of the present disclosure may include a plurality of pockets distributed throughout a firefighter's jacket and/or pants. By distributing the air about the firefighter's body rather than concentrating it in one large tank, the firefighter can move more easily.
Another application may be for a patient requiring additional oxygen. Typically, a patient must roll a large oxygen tank around with them. However, a vest or a belt, for example, according to the present disclosure could provide more flexibility to the patient to conduct simple day-to-day tasks.
In some examples, the body suit may be customized to the user's body and comfort by enabling a user to attach, remove, and reattach one or more oxygen tanks to the suit at various locations on their body. If one or more tanks are uncomfortable where initially secured, the user can simply disconnect and reattach the air tank to the body suit at a different location.
In some examples, the body suit may have a distributed air supply that can be customized based on the amount of oxygen required for a specific deployment. For example, for a short dive, a scuba diver may choose the amount of air supply needed for the trip and attach only the necessary amount of air tanks, rather than carry one large tank.
In some examples, the body suit may be adjusted on-site (e.g., underwater, at a rescue site). For example, the small and handheld tanks can be easily attached, removed, and reattached to one's body of the tanks to the body suit. For example, a scuba diver may be able to fluidly connect an air tank to the integrated air flow assembly of the body suit, and secure the air tank to a coupling mechanism during a dive. This adjustability may be advantageous when one or more air tanks hinder the diver's movement or ability to access a small space. In this case, the diver can remove the air tank from the body suit, without disconnecting the air tank from the air flow assembly.
Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be apparent from the following detailed description, figures, and claims.
The present disclosure is directed to a garment, such as a body suit (e.g., jacket, overalls, vest, jumpsuit), with an integrated and distributed air supply. Rather than carrying one large oxygen tank on a user's back, the present disclosure enables a user to customize their oxygen supply for a deployment, such as a dive or a rescue mission, by connecting one or more smaller tanks to a wearable body suit. This customizable design allows a user to attach multiple, smaller tanks to various locations on the user's body according to the user's preference, comfort, and strength.
Turning to a first example in
The air distribution assembly 14 includes a first oxygen tank 38A coupled to a back upper left arm, a second oxygen tank 38B coupled to a back upper right arm, and a plurality of third air tanks 38C disposed around a waist portion of the body 18 of the suit 10. Each oxygen tank 38A-38C is coupled to a fastener of the coupling mechanism 34 and is in fluid communication with the network of conduits 26. For example, each of the oxygen tanks 38A, 38B that are coupled to the body 18 on the right and left arms, respectively, is secured using an adjustable strap with a hook-and-loop coupler. The third air tanks 38C are connected by a strap 40 and attached to the body 18 by fastening the strap 40 around the waist of the body 18 using a buckle or clasp 46. The strap 40 may be connected to the body 18 of the suit 10 before or after attaching the tanks 38C to the strap 40. The plurality of air tanks 38A-38C are connected through the network of conduits 26 that connect the air supply 22 to the manifold hub 20, which connects the air supply 22 to the regulator 30 disposed in or near a mouthpiece of the body suit 10.
The network of conduits 26 includes a plurality of conduits 48 coupling the air supply 22 and the manifold hub 20, and a conduit 50 coupling the manifold hub 20 and the regulator 30. At least a portion of the network of conduits 26 is embedded in the body 18 of the suit 10, for example, between two layers of fabric in the body 18. The plurality of conduits 48 extend from the manifold hub 20 to various locations of the suit 10. Each conduit 48 has a scalable inlet at each fastening site and an outlet coupled to the manifold hub 20. The inlets remain sealed until an air tank 38A, 38B, 38C is coupled to a conduit. For example, the conduits 48 connecting to each of the tanks 38A-38C are sealed from the network of conduits 26 until each tank 38A-38C is properly fluidly coupled to the conduit 48 at each attachment site. The conduit 50 connecting the manifold hub 20 and the regulator 30 is disposed externally relative to the suit 10.
The air tanks 38A-38C are easy to handle by one person, enabling a user to attach a new tank to a fastening site of the suit 10 during a deployment. The air tanks 38A-38C may be aluminum, but can also be manufactured from any other suitable material, and in some examples, may be manufactured from an extrudable material including, but not limited to, extrudable polymers and metals. In some examples, the air tanks 38A-38C may be formed by injection molding, thermoforming, or compression molding. In some examples, the air tanks 38A-38C may be a durable plastic, such as polyethylene, metal, fiberglass, or other similar materials, or any combination of these materials.
The conduits connecting the air supply 48 and the conduit connecting the regulator 50 may be the same or different material. The air supply conduits 48 are thin, flexible hoses made of extrudable polymer that integrate easily with the body 18 of the suit 10, and do not protrude significantly from the body 18. The regulator conduit 50 may be a thicker, more durable hose of rubber or other extrudable polymer.
The body 18 in the example of
In
The controller 42 operates or controls the air flow of the air distribution assembly 14 by communicating with a valve 72 and a sensor 76 of each oxygen tank 38A-38n via the one or more signal cables 63, and opens or closes the valve 72 based on a sensed tank pressure. Specifically, the valve 72 is an electronic pressure regulator (EPR) and is movable relative to an inlet of the tank between an open position and a closed position. The sensor 76 is a pressure sensor configured to measure an internal pressure of the air tank 38A. The controller 42 is programmed to automatically open the valve 72 when a sensed pressure of the tank 38A is greater than approximately 500 psi, and to automatically close the valve 72 when a sensed pressure is less than approximately 500 psi. When the valve 72 is open, air flows through the conduit 48 to the manifold hub 20, the outlet port 68, and conduit 50 to supply air to the regulator 30. In the illustrated example, the regulator 30 only draws air from one air tank at a time (i.e., only one valve 72 is open at a time and the other valves 72 remain closed). The battery 54 is configured for supplying power to each of the EPR valves 72.
The controller 42 continuously monitors a total air capacity of the entire air supply 22, and displays the total air capacity on the display 62 screen of the manifold hub 20. The controller 42 is communicatively coupled to the depth gauge 58, one or more air pressure sensors 76, and one or more valves 72, and is configured to calculate how much time a user has at a sensed depth and with the remaining air supply before the user will run out of oxygen.
The display screen 62 of the manifold hub 20 may be an interactive touch screen enabling a user to access information about the air distribution assembly 14. For example, the display screen 62 may display the amount of air contained in each tank 38A-38n, the depth of the user (if used in a scuba application), and the time remaining for the deployment based on the air supply and depth. The display screen 62 may be configured for alerting the user when problems arise, such as, when a tank is leaking, is empty, and/or is incorrectly coupled to the manifold hub 20.
When using the suit 10 during a deployment, the method 100 includes a step 108 of capturing, using a depth gauge 58, a depth measurement associated with the body suit 10. The depth gauge 58 is coupled to a controller 42. The controller 42 includes one or more processors and a memory that is communicatively coupled to the one or more processors. The memory stores executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform a step 112 of analyzing the depth measurement, and a step 116 of determining a time until the air supply is depleted, which is based on an analysis of the depth measurement and the analysis of the pressure measurement of the air supply.
For example,
As previously mentioned, the controller 44 continuously monitors the total air supply throughout the deployment. The controller 42 is programmed to calculate a total air capacity based on the air supply 22 of the ‘n’ number of air tanks of the air supply 22, which is calculated by continuously reading and analyzing the internal pressure of each tank 38A-n, and a depth of the user, which is calculated by continuously reading and analyzing a measured depth using the depth gauge 58 (148). The total air capacity and time left in the deployment before the air supply is depleted can be displayed on the display screen 62 on the manifold hub 20 (152).
Before coupling the air supply 22 to the suit 10, the method 100 may include a step of first determining an amount of air supply needed for a deployment (e.g., a dive in a scuba application). The method 100 may then include selecting the air supply 22 for attaching to the body suit 10 by identifying the number of air tanks required to supply the amount of air supply needed. For example, for a short dive, a user can calculate that only two air tanks 38A, 38B of a particular size are needed for the deployment. The user may then attach a first air tank 38A to a first location on the suit 10 and a second air tank 38B to a second location on the suit 10 via the coupling mechanism 34.
Turning to
In the example of
A network of conduits 226 include a plurality of air supply conduits 248 and regulator conduit 250 are externally disposed relative to the suit 210. The air supply conduits 248 are disposed on an outer layer of fabric of the suit 210, but are secured, by stitching or other suitable methods, and remain close to the body 218. In this example, the network of conduits 226 may be coupled to a manifold hub, such as the manifold hub 20 described above with respect to
In the illustrated example, the coupling mechanism 234 includes a plurality of collapsible pockets disposed at various locations on the body 218. Each pocket 234 has a main pouch 240A that is flexible and sized to hold and secure an air tank 238C against a user's body. The pocket 234 in
The suit 210 of
In the examples of
In the suit 10 of
In the example of
In the example of
The air tanks 238 of the air supply 222 of the second example body suit 210 are cylindrical with a rigid wall. However, in other examples, the tanks may be spherical, elliptical, or another shape, and the walls of the air tank may be semi-rigid or flexible, such as a flexible pouch. The air tanks 238 may be any container, vessel, or bladder that holds air.
While this specification contains many specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any disclosure or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular examples of particular disclosures. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate examples can also be implemented in combination in a single example. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single example can also be implemented in multiple examples separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be described herein as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.
Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system modules and components in the examples described herein should not be understood as requiring such separation in all examples, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single product or packaged into multiple products.
Particular examples of the subject matter have been described. Other examples are within the scope of the following claims. For example, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results. As one example, the processes depicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. In certain implementations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.
