Data processing: measuring – calibrating – or testing – Measurement system – Pressure
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-27
2002-03-19
Wachsman, Hal (Department: 2857)
Data processing: measuring, calibrating, or testing
Measurement system
Pressure
C702S131000, C128S201270
Reexamination Certificate
active
06360182
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
This application contains a computer program listing appendix submitted on compact discs and incorporated herein by reference. Said computer program listing appendix is contained in a single file having the name “programming code appendix,” created Apr. 25, 2001, and having a size of 18,000 bytes. Said computer program listing is submitted in duplicate (two discs).
1. The Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to apparatus used in connection with underwater diving equipment. More particularly, the present invention relates to equipment used to apprise an underwater diver of important information needed to efficiently use diving time and to maintain safe diving conditions.
2. The Background Art
The introduction of underwater diving using Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) in the 1940's by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emil Gagnan opened up new possibilities in underwater exploration. Today, scuba diving is a very popular sport as well as an indispensable professional activity. It is estimated that more than 3,000,000 divers are currently “open water” certified and that another 600,000 new divers are certified worldwide each year. Thus, diving is expected to become more widespread both as a recreational activity and as a professional endeavor.
Regardless of the expansion of diving, it is considered by many to be an inherently dangerous activity. Thus, safe diving practice as well as the science and physiology of diving are taught as part of the open water certification process. Safety procedures and practices are continually being emphasized by manufacturers, educators, and participants in the industry.
In order to allow the recreational diver to participate in the sport both safely and enjoyably, it is imperative that the diver be apprised of environmental conditions during the dive as well as the status of the diving equipment. Such environmental conditions and equipment status include the elapsed time of the dive and the maximum depth of the dive and the time spent at the maximum depth. It is also important to keep an accurate log of each dive made in the recent past so that repetitive dives over a period of time can be safely performed.
While underwater diving has many hazards, one of the hazards which can be managed is decompression sickness (DCS), commonly known as the “bends.” DCS comes about because inert gases (principally nitrogen, which is the major constituent of air compressed into the air tanks of most divers), are absorbed into the blood and tissues of a diver during a dive. The greater the depth of the dive (i.e., the greater the ambient pressure on the diver) and the length of the dive, the greater the amount of nitrogen which is absorbed into the diver's blood and tissues. If the diver rapidly returns to a shallower depth, or to the surface, the decrease in ambient pressure causes the nitrogen to be deabsorbed and harmful bubbles form in the tissue and blood.
The process of absorption and deabsorption of nitrogen into the blood and tissues is governed by Boyles Law and the fact that the partial pressures of inert gases (principally nitrogen), increases as the diver proceeds deeper into the dive. This causes a disequilibrium between the inert gases in the blood, fluids, and tissues of the diver's body and the air mixture being inhaled. This disequilibrium causes more of the inert gases to be absorbed by the body of the diver. Upon assent to the surface the ambient pressure is reduced and the disequilibrium is again created. This time however, excess gases are deabsorbed by the body fluids and tissues into the air mixture being exhaled. If the dissolved gases are released too quickly they form bubbles in the blood, fluids, joints, and other tissues of the diver's body which can cause problems ranging from minor discomfort to death.
DCS can be controlled by monitoring dive conditions, limiting dive depth and the length of the dive, and controlling the assent rate to the surface. Nevertheless, due to human nature and other realities of diving, divers occasionally encounter DCS because of miscalculations or misjudgments.
Potential problems with DCS exist in every dive and are dealt with by educating the diver about safe dive depths, dive times, and assent rates. Such variables can be very roughly manually calculated using dive tables, for example those provided by the U.S. Navy and other organizations, to determine the safe rate of assent from a maximum depth in conjunction with the time spent at that maximum depth. Importantly, both professional and recreational divers require accurate information about the parameters of their dives so that diving time and the depths can be maximized.
In order to give the diver the information needed to plan and control a safe dive, a diver is now often equipped with underwater stop watches, conventional magnetic compasses, analog scuba tank pressure gauges, and depth gauges, as well as, on occasion, a thermometer. Recently, carry-along dive computers, which monitor various environmental and equipment sensors and perform dive table type calculations, have been available to provide important information to a diver during the course of the dive.
Provided in
FIG. 1
is a representation of a diver, generally indicated at
10
, using one of several previously available carry-along dive computers. In the arrangement illustrated in
FIG. 1
, the dive computer console
18
, which includes gauges or indicators
19
, is connected to a scuba air tank
12
by way of a high pressure hose
20
which communicates the pressure within the scuba air tank
12
to the dive computer console
18
. The diver
10
receives air from the tank
12
via a conventional mouth piece
14
connected to the tank by a low pressure hose (not represented).
In the arrangement represented in
FIG. 1
, the dive computer console
18
hangs down behind the diver
10
, traditionally on the left side of the diver. In some instances, the dive computer console is held in the diver's hand or is attached to the diver's arm.
One readily recognized problem with the arrangement for a dive computer shown in
FIG. 1
is that the diver must reach for, and grasp, the dive computer console
18
and bring it into his field of view each time the gauges or indicators
19
are to be checked. Because the diver
10
must make a conscious effort to reach for the dive computer console
18
and bring it into his field of view, it is less likely that the diver
10
will check the gauges or indicators
19
as often as is desirable due to environmental distractions or due to a task at hand. Also, because it is not easy to find and grasp the dive computer console
18
, in a panic moment or critical situation the diver may be unable to quickly grasp it and/or bring it into his field of view.
Moreover, the arrangement using a dive computer console
18
attached to the tank
12
via a high pressure hose
20
poses the safety risk of the high pressure hose
20
or dive computer console
18
snagging or catching on underwater objects such as coral. The dangers posed by rupturing the high pressure hose
20
are readily evident.
Additionally, in murky or turbid water it may be impossible to observe the gauges or indicators
19
unless they are placed against the viewing window of the diving mask
16
. This requires the diver
10
to divert his attention from the task at hand on a regular basis or from a dive buddy (companion) which the diver
10
should be continuously observing in order to ensure the dive buddy's safety. Moreover, when divers are exploring coral reefs constant attention should be paid to avoiding contact with the reef; both unintentional and intentional contact by divers is rapidly causing the destruction of many coral reefs in the world.
Because of these and other drawbacks and problems encountered in the present state of the art, it would be a great advance in the art to provide a dive computer which overcomes these disadvantages by providing safer and more efficient underwater diving.
BRIEF SUMMARY AND OBJE
Clayton Howarth & Cannon, P.C.
Wachsman Hal
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