Rigid wraparound shell defining a sealed inner space

Details Rigid wraparound shell defining a sealed inner space Rigid wraparound shell defining a sealed inner space

1992-06-16

1993-08-31

Moy, Joseph Man-Fu

Receptacles

Receptacle having flexible, removable inner liner

Means for venting air trapped between the liner and its...

206522, 4285428, B65D 4500

Patent

active

052401359

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a device of the type comprising a rigid surrounding shell, delimiting an internal volume, and at least one fluid tight chamber occupying the internal volume.
Devices of this type are numerous and can come from various technical fields.
One can cite for example certain reservoirs, of which the internal fluid tight chamber is intended to receive a fluid which one desires to store in order to be able later to empty this fluid, or again certain floating or sliding devices such as floats particularly of boats, hulls of boats, sail boards, toboggans or skis of which the internal fluid tight chamber can contain a gas or a filling material having a relative density generally less than 1, such as for example a cellular material.
Traditionally, the rigid shell of such devices has been made in metal or thermoplastic or thermosetting material and possibly, particularly in the case of floating devices, in wood so that it has a high weight. Further, as a result of the rigidity of the shell, the device which is provided has a constant shape and volume, causing its handling and storing to be difficult when it is not in use.
To remedy these inconveniences, it has been proposed to replace the rigid shell of certain of these known devices, and in particular of floats and reservoirs, by a flexible membrane surrounding the internal fluid tight chamber of which only filling with fluid at relatively high over-pressure, that is to say at high over-pressure with respect to the pressure present outside this fluid tight chamber, gives the shell a defined shape and its maximum volume, by inflation.
This technique can certainly permit an alleviation, in the case of certain devices as for example the floats of boats, but the necessity of putting the internal fluid tight chamber under high over-pressure renders the putting into service of the device particularly long and laborious, unless one has at one's disposal a compressor itself heavy and voluminous and further requiring a source of energy.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to remedy these inconveniences, by proposing a new method of producing a device of the type discussed above. A further object of the present invention is to increase the possibilities of application of this type of device, particularly in providing embodiments specially adapted to the holding and/or support of the human body in a natural posture or in a predetermined held posture, for example of the anti-bed sore mattress or cushion or surgical mattress type, or again to the holding and/or support of an object in a space having an internal contour, such as a piece of baggage, a container or a luggage compartment of a car.
For this, the device according to the invention, of the type having a rigid surrounding shell, delimiting an internal volume, and at least one internal fluid tight chamber occupying the internal volume, is characterized in that the rigid surrounding shell is constituted by flexible, fluid tight walls delimiting between themselves a fluid tight enclosure held at a pressure below ambient pressure, and of a filling material completely filling the fluid tight enclosure held below ambient pressure, the filling material being of a type having a rigid state in the fluid tight enclosure held below ambient pressure and able to have a flexible state when it is at ambient pressure.
The filling material can be for example a granular material secured throughout an array permeable to gas or liquid but impermeable to this granular material, in order to ensure a predetermined distribution before the establishment of the pressure below ambient in the fluid tight enclosure, as taught by WO 87/06209 which cites by way of non-limitative examples of granular material rushed cork, sawdust, micro-balls of the type sold under the trade mark "Vermiculite" and balls of expanded polystyrene, and by way of example of production means of an array permeable to gas and liquid but impermeable to the granular material a partitioning

REFERENCES:
patent: 3138248 (1964-06-01), Abbott
patent: 3378864 (1968-04-01), Cornes
patent: 3667625 (1972-06-01), Lucas
patent: 3745998 (1973-07-01), Rose
patent: 4402355 (1983-09-01), Wymore et al.
patent: 4493877 (1985-01-01), Burnett
patent: 4591519 (1986-05-01), Liebel
patent: 4739884 (1988-04-01), Duplessy

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