Signals and indicators – Indicators – By location
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-04
2001-05-01
Hirshfeld, Andrew H. (Department: 2859)
Signals and indicators
Indicators
By location
C116S200000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06223682
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a locating device for avalanche victims comprising a collapsible, balloon-like envelope having a release and drive means to expand said envelope and a connecting element to connect said locating device with the user.
Furthermore, the invention relates to an ejector means for such locating device.
The invention also relates to a pouch to stow such folded locating device.
In order to save the lives of avalanche victims, it is essential to locate and rescue them quickly. Persons entirely buried in an avalanche have a 92% chance of survival if they are rescued within 15 minutes, which means that the help of their companions is the most important measure to save their lives. In order to find and rescue them, it is essential that they are immediately located. Therefore, various ways to locate avalanche victims have been proposed:
In practice, an electronic avalanche victim detector using sending and searching frequencies is often used to locate avalanche victims (see. e.g., FR-A 26 44 700). This detector, however, has proven successful only if its use is practiced repeatedly, which means that in reality the rescue operation using said electronic detector will not proceed smoothly and will often be too late.
PRIOR ART
DE-U 296 09 433 discloses a detector for avalanche victims having an inflatable buoy in luminous color and an integrated alarm device for easier visual location of the victim. The buoy is connected to a system mounting plate via a coupling cylinder, which plate is attached to a rucksack. When manipulating a release cord, the buoy is released by means of a pressure spring and rises after it has been filled with air. The position of the victim can be found by means of a rope connecting the buoy to the victim. The system of inflating the buoy, however, suffers from a number of disadvantages. Inflation by the skier in case of an imminent avalanche would take too long. Therefore, an additional valve with some kind of air pump would be necessary to inflate the buoy quickly enough.
DE-B 23 26 850 and DE-A 195 16 872 describe locating devices in the form of a balloon inflatable with compressed gas, which balloon will indicate the position of the person swept away in an avalanche on the surface of said avalanche. Such a locating device, however, requires that a compressed gas bottle be attached to the balloon, which increases the weight of the locating device and makes it uncomfortable to carry while skiing. Another disadvantage is that, once inflated, the balloon can usually not be re-used. Inflating it again would require an exchangeable compressed gas bottle, and some spare compressed gas bottles would have to be kept, which is quite costly and complicated. It would be particularly disastrous if the balloon were inflated accidentally due to a wrong signal during a skiing tour, as then said ballon could not be inflated any more in case of a real emergency because the compressed gas bottle would be empty.
DE-A 5 58 303 also describes a device having an inflatable element and a gas generator to generate the filling gas. This embodiment can be re-used several times, but its construction is complicated and costly; besides, said device is necessarily heavy and thus uncomfortable to carry.
DE-A 33 00 841 discloses a device for self-protection in case of an avalanche comprising a container holding a compressed element of foamed material or similar. This expandable element can be released from said container by means of a trigger and will expand to a spherical shape many times its original volume. This construction is complicated, too, and, as above, said device is for a single use only.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is the aim of the present invention to provide a locating device as described above allowing ready location of avalanche victims, which locating device should be easy to manufacture, function simply, have only minimal weight and be easily re-foldable after use and thus be re-usable.
The locating device according to the present invention as described above is characterized in that at least two essentially rigid opening parts, which are connected to the envelope, are movable relatively towards each other by spring power and are being held in their resting positions by means of a releasable locking means. In this embodiment, at least one spring can be easily inserted into the locating device without extensive technical effort, with the rigid opening parts being kept under tension by means of said spring in the resting position, i.e. folded, and being kept in this position by means of a releasable locking means. If necessary, the release means is activated and thus the locking means is released, whereupon said opening parts are moved relatively towards each other by spring power, resulting in the folded detection device expanding, i.e. opening, e.g. assuming the shape of a balloon. Said envelope is connected to said opening parts, and when expanded, it will define a relatively large volume filled with air. Being light-weight, the expanded locating device will be carried on the uppermost layer of an avalanche without being buried in the snow. Thus said locating device, the envelope of which is e.g. made of flashy-coloured material, will remain readily visible from afar after the avalanche has come down. A connecting element, preferably a line, a rope, or a cord, will lead from the locating device through the snow to the victim.
It is another advantage of the present invention that the expansion of said envelope to a balloon-shaped rescuing device is effected solely by spring power, which not only ensures ready and very fast, immediate expansion within fractions of a second, but also allows the device to be small and light-weight. Moreover, the locating device according to the present invention can be easily re-folded after expansion and is thus ready to be re-used within a very short time. Thus it can be used repeatedly practically any number of times without consuming material; and moreover, it is not necessary to carry any additional parts, such as a (spare) compressed gas bottle. Spring tension can be increased, if necessary, or relaxed in order to save the spring if the device is to be stored, optionally going as far as to utterly relax the spring.
Preferably two opening parts under the action of a spring are provided to define an expanded, balloon-like volume. In this case, the opening parts are relatively rigid and are moved relatively towards each other by spring power. The term “ballon-like” as used herein denotes spherical round as well as other, e.g. flatter or pumpkin-like shapes. When folded, the opening parts and the envelope together have a flat shape.
The volume filled with air within the envelope may be defined to be of various sizes. Is was found, however, that the optimum volume ranges between 30 and 60 l, preferably 45 l. Of course it is also conceivable to provide a locating device having e.g. a larger volume.
In an advantageous embodiment the opening parts are bows or plates of e.g. essentially semicircular, semi-oval or U-shape, respectively, pivoted rotatably around an axis. When the envelope is folded, the bows or plates are positioned side-by-side. By means of the release means, the bows or plates are set in a relatively rotating motion of a total of about 360° around said axis so that the flat, somewhat U-shaped construction takes on the shape of a balloon.
Of course the plates or bows can also be of polygonal shape. The optimum shape for the largest possible volume with a given axis is achieved by semicircular bows; when expanded, the locating device will be of about spherical shape.
For a compact design of the locating device-it is desirable that the axis be defined by at least one torsion spring holding the bows or plates under tension relatively to each other. Other types of springs may be contemplated as well, but optimum use of space is achieved by said at least one torsion spring positioned on the rotation axis of the locating device. The ends of the bows or plates are attac
Hirshfeld Andrew H.
Rothwell Figg Ernst & Manbeck
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