Patent Application
20240359782
The present disclosure describes technology related to the field of devices for providing flotation in water, using inflated balloon-like structures, especially for use in situations where a high level of flexibility is required of the device.
Drowning is a major cause of death worldwide, claiming the lives of more than 300,000 people every year. Many of the drowning events occur in natural waters such as the sea and lakes in the absence of a supervising life guard, and many would have been preventable with use of a personal flotation device. In addition, there exist many types of devices whose function is to provide flotation to save people who find themselves in distress in bodies of water, not because of negligence or unpredicted circumstances during swimming or bathing, but rather as a result of a failure of another system. Some such examples are emergency landings in water of aircraft, or the sinking of watercraft in which the persons were travelling, or the need to pass through a water environment during professional, military or recreational activities. In such circumstances, devices such as safety vests, inflatable lifeboats, lifebelts or life buoys are used to provide emergency support in the water.
Many previous references describe bracelets, armbands, jackets, belts and other inflatable devices designed for emergency use. Most of these inflation devices use inflation of the flotation balloon by means of the user of the device, who blows into a mouthpiece, which is connected through a one-way valve to the flotation balloon. One common example of such devices are the life-vests or lifejackets used in aircraft, which are intended to be inflated in times of emergency, by the breath of the wearer. However such types of devices are dependent on the consciousness and the physical ability of the user to inflate the device, and in emergency situations, this may not always be the situation. Therefore, flotation devices which do not require the breath of the user or wearer, may be preferable in some instances.
Some such inflation gas devices use chemical reactions that, when actuated, produce gas to inflate the device. In International Published Patent Application WO/2019/106677, for “Emergency Flotation Device with Chemical Reaction Chamber”, having common inventors with the present application, there are described a number of novel devices using this principle, in addition to some earlier prior art devices.
There also exist inflation devices of a third type, based on a charge of pressurized gas which is released on activation, into an inflatable flotation chamber. Such devices are preferred for emergency use since they can reduce the need of the user for activating the device, or can even be automatically self-activated. A number of such devices include U.S. Pat. No. 547,808 to A. von der Ropp, for “Life Preserver”, U.S. Pat. No. 572,109 to T. Gordon, for “Life Preserver”, U.S. Pat. No. 1,117,639 to H. W. Cooey for “Portable Life Buoy”, U.S. Pat. No. 1,367,225 to W. H. Barker, for “Life Belt”, U.S. Pat. No. 2,028,651 to R. F. Dagnall et al, for “Release Mechanism for Pressure Fluid Containers, U.S. Pat. No. 2,518,750 to E. H. Burkhardt for “Lifesaving Device”, U.S. Pat. No. 2,627,998 to C. W. Musser et al, for “Inflator for Pneumatic Lifesaving Devices”, U.S. Pat. No. 2,684,784 to R. G. Fox, for “Inflator for Pneumatic Life Preserving Apparatus”, U.S. Pat. No. 2,904,217 to J. T. Gurney for “Automatic Life Preserver”, U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,202 to T Y. Ohtani, for Sea Rescue Ball Unit”, CH 569611 for “Automatic Rescue Apparatus”, WO83/04234 to J. Bissig for “Rescue Apparatus”, WO 2014/077728 to P. P. Mukhortov for “Life-saving wristband”, DE 202012007732 to G. Schmelzer for “Rescue bracelet or water airbag for bathers or swimmers, such as children, young people of all ages, adults, seniors”, WO 2004/048193 for “Novel Inflation System for Inflatable Life Jackets” to P & P Utveckling AB, WO 2021/186301 to Collar4life S. I. for “Automatic and Instantaneous Inflating Device”, U.S. Pat. No. 3,925,838 to P. H. Kennedy, for “Inflatable Life Preserver”, WO 85/04634 to Monique Mariotto, for Individual Salvage Device, U.S. Pat. No. 9,205,900 to D. F. Tatum, for “Harness Assembly having a Deployable Inflatable Life Raft attached thereto”, and WO 2020/208636 for “Emergency Flotation Device using Compressed Gas”, having common inventors with the present application.
Most of such previously described devices inflated by stored gas, have the disadvantage that a cartridge, cylinder or other vessel of the compressed gas is required, and such a cartridge, cylinder or vessel needs to be sturdy enough to withstand the pressure of the gas, and hence is expected to be of additional weight and volume, and generally protrudes from the flotation device, thereby conflicting with the intended characteristics of the device, which should be lightweight, of minimal size, and unobtrusive, in the sense that if the device is a garment, the garment can be worn without seriously impeding the movements of the person wearing it. Additionally, the device should be readily foldable and conveniently stackable, so that it requires minimal storage space requirements. All of these requirements must continue to maintain any regulatory requirements for Personal Flotation Devices (PFDs), or for other floatation devices.
The disclosures of each of the publications mentioned in this section and in other sections of the specification, are hereby incorporated by reference, each in its entirety.
The present disclosure attempts to provide novel systems and methods that overcome at least some of the disadvantages of prior art appliances and methods for providing emergency flotation support for a person or persons in water. Since many such flotation devices are intended for use in emergency only, they are often kept in folded up form, and stowed in storage locations until needed. Such devices include life-saving appliances such as lifeboats or life buoys, which are stored until required in an emergency when they are lowered or thrown into the water. Other such devices are intended to be worn like a jacket or an overall or suit, or another article of clothing, and thus must conform flexibly to the shape of the body of the user and to the movements of the bodies of the user when performing normal activities, including such activities likely to be undertaken in emergency situations, such as running, climbing, wading through water, swimming or diving. In any of these cases, it is important that the inflation device be foldable and flexible.
Prior art appliances, because of the often comparatively heavy pressurized gas containers, may not enable the achievement of the above-mentioned desired properties. Even if of acceptable weight, the pressurized gas containers may often have a protruding form, such as a cylinder of sufficient strength to contain the pressurized gas, which interferes with the free actions of the user. The present disclosure describes new exemplary devices, which overcome the limitations of prior art devices, by using a flexible, and hence bendable, pressurized gas storage container, in contrast to the gas storage containers of prior art inflatable devices, which, being compressed gas cylinders, are generally that part which prevents achievement of flexibility and foldability. Such a pressurized gas storage container may be in the form of a pneumatic tube, preferably of a plastic material. The feature of such plastic tubes that makes then suitable for this application is that they are generally strong enough to withstand the pressure of the stored gas without rupturing, and yet remain flexible enough, even when pressurized with a gas charge, to enable the folding of the device to the desired shape and size. Such a tube should also be flexible enough not to impede the conformal wearing of the flotation device, or the free movements of the wearer, if part of a wearable flotation device. For the volume of pressurized gas required, as will be discussed in the Detailed Description section hereinbelow, such a tube is generally sufficiently narrow that it can be incorporated into a garment around its edge, and can also serve as a hem strengthener, or it can be located in any other suitable location on the garment.
Another novel feature of other implementations of the presently described devices is that a pneumatic hose used for storage of the pressurized gas, may be used as a part of the structure of a lifeboat or a lifebuoy, such as by also functioning as a safety rope on the flotation device. According to mandatory regulations, such a safety rope must be supplied on such a life-saving appliance. The rope is intended to be grasped by a person in the water, to ensure easier holding on to the flotation device. One such implementation includes an inflatable lifeboat, in which the pneumatic tube gas container doubles as the regulatory required holding ropes around the hull of the boat. Similarly, another such an implementation could be a lifebuoy which would be thrown into the water near the person in distress, and which, being regulatory mandated, must have a cord attached to it such that the person in the water can readily hold on to the lifebuoy.
For PFDs, such a flexible cord may have different functions, such as to enable the PFD to be tied to a vessel or held by another person to keep contact with the PFD user, or as part of the measures for closing the PFD and attachment of the PFD to the user, especially with regard to keeping the head of the user above the water line, as is required according to some sections of ISO 12402-International Standard for Personal Flotation Devices (Lifejackets and Buoyancy Aids). In addition, the PFD must have a regulatory handle at its top side so that a rescuer can pull the person out of the water by the handle of the PFD.
By forming the handle using at least part of the flexible gas container hose, this essential part can be made as a flexible part, which does not then impede the foldability of the PFD.
An alternative flexible pressurized gas container may be in the form of a pouch-like container, which could be built into a wall region within the flexible wall of the flotation device, whether a lifesaving garment or another larger structural lifesaving device, such as a floor section of a lifeboat, or even as part of the inflatable hull of the lifeboat. The pouch could be either a double walled section of the device, or a pouch attached integrally onto the wall section. Such a flexible structural part does not prevent foldability or limit freedom of movement of the user. A characterizing feature of all the flotation devices shown in this disclosure is thus that the pressurized gas container, besides being flexible and foldable, is constructed to be an integral part of the flotation device itself, and particularly, an integral part that is required according to the regulatory requirements of most countries. The pressurized gas will generally be in the form of a liquefied gas, but the term pressurized gas is used throughout this disclosure, in order to contrast to the expanded gas used to inflate the flotation device.
In summary, a feature of the devices shown in the present disclosure is the elimination of a separate non-flexible cylinder for holding the pressurized gas, thus enabling the flexible pressurized gas container to be an integral part of the flexible and foldable structure of the flotation device itself. The use in this disclosure of the term “structure” or “structural element” or the like, is intended to include not only the basic construction of the lifesaving flotation device itself, but also any attached accessory which is a mandatory part of the lifesaving flotation device, even if only attached thereto and not built into the device itself.
In any of the above described devices, the pressurized gas inside the flexible gas storage container must be passed efficiently and speedily into the flotation chamber, so that the device inflates properly, such that it can support the person or persons in the water. This is achieved by means of a valve which, in order to release the pressurized gas, is actuated by means of a cord or a handle attached to the actuating element of the valve. The valve can be actuated automatically by means of a sensor which determines when the device is in water and then automatically opens the valve after a predetermined time, generally a few seconds or more. Alternatively, the automatic inflation may be activated by the unfolding of the uninflated, stored flotation device. Activation of the valve for such an automatic inflation could be achieved by mechanically associating the activation element of the valve with some element of the unfolding process, such as, for instance, by use of the folded state of the device to maintain the valve actuator element in its unopened position, or for example, by using a cord attached between one of the folds and the actuation lever of the valve. Such an automatic inflation procedure may be unsuitable for a body garment which is intended to be used in a distress situation, since inflation before putting the life-saving garment on, may generate problems to the wearer. This potential problem can be solved by using a sufficiently long delay period following the unfolding action, such that the user can still put on the lifesaving garment before it inflates automatically.
Two different types of gases can be used in such inflatable devices, the difference being in their thermodynamic properties. One type of gas, which includes those reported for use in most of the devices in the prior art, use conventional flotation gases such as air or carbon dioxide. Such gases have properties including the need to cool them when at atmospheric pressure, to temperatures substantially below normal ambient temperatures, to turn from gas to a liquid. Such gases then also require very high pressurization to keep them in their liquid phase at ambient temperatures, and even more so at higher temperatures to which they may be exposed in typical summer temperatures in hot climates-typically over 100 bar. Therefore, these gases require a pressurized gas container that withstands such high pressures, and for use in the presently described devices, would require a tube having a thicker wall with more limited flexibility, or for the pouch implementations, thicker walls of the pouch section.
A second type of gases, developed for refrigeration and air conditioning applications, such as R1234ze (E) or R1234yf or R1224yd (Z) gases, or other similar gases, have thermodynamic properties with the transition from liquid to gaseous phases occurring at higher temperatures. Consequently, the maximum pressure required to hold the pressurized gas even at temperatures of up to 70° C., is still only of the order of 20 bar. Besides the obvious advantage of requiring a flexible tube of lower wall thickness, and hence greater flexibility than that of the first type of gas, or, in the case of the pouch embodiments, thinned walls, there is another advantage of the gases of this second type, in that they have significantly larger molecules than the previously used conventional gases such as air or CO2. One dominant feature related to molecular size is the diffusability of the gas molecules through the wall of any vessel with which that are in contact. The larger the molecule size, the lower the level of diffusion through any boundary wall containing the gas. This feature has ramifications both with regard to the ability of the pressurized gas container to maintain its charge over long periods of time, thereby affecting the shelf life of the flotation device, and furthermore, with regard to the length of time the inflation balloon will maintain its gas fill and support the user, before diffusion out of the inflation balloon lowers the gas fill so much that the device can no longer provide the support that was originally expected.
It is to be understood that the terms flexible and foldable are intended to mean that all, or almost all, of the relevant parts of the flotation device are flexible and can be folded flat, in order to distinguish from a flotation device which includes, for instance, a pressurized gas container in the form of a cylinder or another three dimensional solid vessel. Such a flotation device could also be called “flexible” or “foldable” in that the device could be bent or folded, except for the protrusion of the pressurized gas container. The terms flexible and foldable, as used in the present disclosure, are intended to describe a device where both the pressurized gas container, and the inflation element are flexible and can be folded essentially flat, where the term essentially is to be understood to mean that no solid protrusions which would limit the flatness of the folded device, or the ease of storage of the folded device, for instance when stacked or in a pile. This feature should also be evident from the advantage of the described devices, that they do not have bulky or protruding pressurized gas containers, that may also impede movements. The inflation valve, though not necessarily foldable, may be sufficiently narrow that it does not impede the flexibility of the device.
There is thus provided in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the devices described in this disclosure, a lifeboat comprising:
In such a lifeboat, the flexible pneumatic hose may be mounted on the lifeboat in a position that, when the lifeboat is inflated, enables at least a part of it to be used as a mandatory gripping rope of the lifeboat. The flexibility of the hose should be adapted to contain the pressurized flotation gas such that when the lifeboat is uninflated, it is foldable to an essentially flat form. Furthermore, the inflation gas may have thermodynamic properties such that when compressed to a pressure of not more than 10 bar, it remains in a liquid phase over a range of temperatures of up to 50° C. Alternatively, the inflation gas may have thermodynamic properties such that when compressed to a pressure of not more than 14 bar, it remains in a liquid phase over a range of temperatures of up to 70° C. Even further alternatively, the inflation gas may have thermodynamic properties such that when compressed to a pressure of not more than 22 bar, it remains in a liquid phase over a range of temperatures of up to 70° C.
According to yet further implementations, the valve may be activated either manually, or, when immersed in water, automatically. In yet another implementation of such lifeboats, the valve may be activated automatically when the inflatable lifeboat is unfolded to a predetermined state from a stored condition.
There is further provided according to another exemplary implementation of the devices described in this disclosure, a personal lifesaving attire, comprising:
The garment may be any one of a life vest, a pilot's suit, or a swim suit.
According to further implementations of such a personal lifesaving attire, the inflation gas may have thermodynamic properties such that when compressed to a pressure of not more than 10 bar, it remains in a liquid phase over a range of temperatures of up to 50° C. Alternatively, the inflation gas may have thermodynamic properties such that when compressed to a pressure of not more than 14 bar, it remains in a liquid phase over a range of temperatures of up to 70° C. Even further alternatively, the inflation gas may have thermodynamic properties such that when compressed to a pressure of not more than 22 bar, it remains in a liquid phase over a range of temperatures of up to 70° C.
According to yet further implementations of this personal lifesaving attire the valve is activated either manually, or, when immersed in water, automatically. In yet another implementation of such a personal lifesaving attire, the flexible compressed gas container may form a holding handle conforming with regulatory requirements, adapted to be positioned behind the head of a person wearing the garment.
There is even further provided according to another exemplary implementation of the devices described in this disclosure, an inflatable lifebuoy, comprising:
In such an inflatable lifebuoy, the flexibility of the length of flexible tubing when containing the pressurized flotation gas should be such that before inflation, the inflatable lifebuoy has a predetermined flexibility. Furthermore, the inflation gas may have thermodynamic properties such that when compressed to a pressure of not more than 10 bar, it remains in a liquid phase over a range of temperatures of up to 50° C. Alternatively, the inflation gas may have thermodynamic properties such that when compressed to a pressure of not more than 14 bar, it remains in a liquid phase over a range of temperatures of up to 70° C. Even further alternatively, the inflation gas may have thermodynamic properties such that when compressed to a pressure of not more than 22 bar, it remains in a liquid phase over a range of temperatures of up to 70° C.
Additionally, the valve of the inflatable lifebuoy may be activated either manually, or, when immersed in water, automatically.
The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:
Reference is first made to
In all of
The common feature of all of the three different implementations shown in
Reference is now made to
A filling opening (not shown in the drawings) is also required in such a flexible pipe gas charge container, or the flexible pipe may be pre-charged and sealed during manufacture of the device.
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
The calculations of the total tube length are similar to those shown in
Reference is now made to
Because of the larger volume of inflation gas required in the lifeboat implementation of the present invention, a larger diameter flexible pneumatic hose is more suitable than that of the above described inflatable garments. A flexible hose having an outside diameter of up to 2 cm may be required for large lifeboats, such a sized hose still having sufficient flexibility that the lifeboat can be folded and stored in its predetermined location on the mother vessel. To illustrate the dimensions and length of the flexible hose required, an example of the volume of expanded gas required for inflating a small lifeboat capable of carrying a small number of persons, is of the order of up to 500 liters, such that using an expansion ratio from the liquid phase to the gaseous phase of 250, the volume of liquefied gas required is of the order of 2 liters. For a 2 cm ID hose, in order to hold a liquid pressurized gas charge generating 500 liters of gaseous phase gas, a length of hose of the order of 6 m. would be required, which is a suitable length for use as a gripping rope around the body of a lifeboat of that size.
As an alternative to the length of flexible tubing 42 described above, the pressurized gas container may alternatively be implemented by any other suitable part of the lifeboat, on condition that it does not limit the flexibility or foldability of the complete lifeboat. One such suitable structure could be one or more double walled sections of the lifeboat floor 45, in the form of a pouch, which could withstand the pressure of the pressurized gas load. Though not shown in
Reference is now made to
All of the above described flotation devices can use any of the conventional gases described in the prior art, whether carbon dioxide or air, as were used in the earliest flotation devices, or refrigeration gases such as a mixture of 89% Freon 12 with 11% Propane, as used more recently, and such as is described in WO 83/04234, or the even more modern inflation gas fills such as the R1234ze (E) or R1234yf or R1224yd (Z) gases as described in the above-mentioned WO 2020/208636 publication. However, as is explained fully in WO 2020/208636, the early used gases like CO2 or air, had to be compressed to a very high pressure of the order of 80 Bar at normal ambient temperatures to get them into their liquid phases, which rises to a pressure of 150 Bar at a temperature of 45° C. In the prior art flotation devices, these high pressures mandated the use of a sturdy gas container with all of its concomitant disadvantages. When used on the flotation devices of the present application, that requirement would be translated into the need for a flexible hose or a pouch section having a thicker wall, to withstand the high pressures of such pressurized gases, and hence being less flexible. On the other hand, the pressure of a compressed charge of the above mentioned newer gases, does typically not exceed 10 bar at a temperature of 50° C., or about 16 bar at a temperature of 70° C. The wall thickness of flexible hose used to store the pressurized inflation gas would need to be significantly larger using the earlier conventional gases, than the tube wall thickness for those same embodiments using the more recent above mentioned inflation gases, operating at significantly lower pressures. The flexibility and foldability obtained using the low pressure gases would be less than that using the more modern gases mentioned above. The thinner the walls of the pneumatic hosing, the more flexible is the hose, and hence, the more useful for the various flexible and foldable flotation devices, as described hereinabove.
An additional advantage of the use of the more modern, “low operating pressure” gases, such as the above mentioned R1234ze (E) or R1234yf or R1224yd (Z) gases, or other gases having similar thermodynamic properties, is that those gases have larger molecules than the originally used air or CO2 gases. One dominant feature related to molecular size is the diffusability of the gas molecules through the wall of any vessel with which that are in contact. The larger the molecule size, the lower the level of diffusion through any boundary wall containing the gas. This feature has ramifications in two respects. Firstly, with regard to the ability of the pressurized gas container to maintain its charge over long periods of time, thereby affecting the shelf life of the flotation device. Secondly, with regard to the length of time the inflation balloon will maintain its gas fill and support the user, before diffusion out of the inflation balloon lowers the gas fill so much that the device can no longer provide the support that was originally provided. It would thus appear that the use of “low pressure gases”, namely those that maintain their liquid phase out to temperatures such as 50° C. or 70° C., substantially higher than ambient temperatures, would enable the flotation device to have significantly improved performance, both in lifetime and in performance, over the use of simpler, and higher pressure gases.
Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. Furthermore, it is appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited by what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. Rather the scope of the present invention includes both combinations and subcombinations of various features described hereinabove as well as variations and modifications thereto which would occur to a person of skill in the art upon reading the above description and which are not in the prior art.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 302525 | Apr 2023 | IL | national |
