Buoys – rafts – and aquatic devices – Water rescue or life protecting apparatus – Personal flotation device
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-13
2001-07-03
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Buoys, rafts, and aquatic devices
Water rescue or life protecting apparatus
Personal flotation device
C441S093000, C222S005000, C222S080000, C222S154000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06254447
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an inflation device for flotation life preservers, and in particular to a device of the type which is automatically activated upon impact by water.
Inflation devices of this type are normally used for inflatable marine life preservers, in particular for use in life vests or collars of such type that when an emergency arises, they are capable of automatic inflation upon immersion in water. This type of inflation device is particularly needed where the person who is wearing, for example, a life vest, is prevented or unable to manually activate the inflation step in order to inflate the vest.
From the prior art, an inflation device of the afore-mentioned type is, for example, known from German Patent DE 41 06 435 A1. The functional capacity and/or the state of readiness of this type of device can only be ascertained upon removal of the pressure gas cartridge and then visual inspection of the cartridge and/or the pyrotechnic charge, which are present in such devices. Needless to say, such an inspection, aside from being time consuming and costly, is virtually impossible to be carried out during an emergency when the urgent need arises to put the life saving device into action. Thus, there is the danger that without a prior checking of the state of readiness of the device, a non-functional life preserver is utilized, which can have catastrophic consequences.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an improved self-acting inflation device useful for life preservers, obviating the afore-stated drawbacks.
In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved self-acting inflation device for floating life preservers, which inflation device is activated upon impact by water and which permits easy detection of its functional readiness at any time.
These objects, and others which will become apparent hereinafter, are attained in accordance with the present invention, wherein a self-acting inflation device has a pyrotechnic charge, a trigger and ignition mechanism for firing the pyrotechnic charge, a pressure gas cartridge which has a sealing membrane across an opening, a striking pin provided with a tip proximate to the sealing membrane of the pressure gas cartridge, a plunger which moves the striking pin when the pyrotechnic charge is ignited thereby driving the striking pin against the force of a spring in the direction at the sealing membrane for puncturing it, and wherein the tip and the sealing membrane are from electrically conducting material, and wherein in a ready position, the tip of the striking pin bears against the sealing membrane to form an electrical connection and wherein the tip of the striking pin on the one hand and the sealing membrane on the other hand are electrically connected to an indicator unit such that a closed electrical circuit with the tip and the membrane is formed which is shown by the indicator unit and wherein the detection of an intact membrane indicates the presence of a pressure gas cartridge and the ready condition of the device.
If the sealing membrane is no longer detected because no pressure gas cartridge is present or the sealing membrane is punctured as in the case when the pressure gas cartridge is empty, the electrical circuit is interrupted, as the striking pin after puncturing the sealing membrane retracts the pin to its original position due to the spring action. When this occurs, the tip of the striking pin no longer touches the membrane and thus the indicator unit can no longer indicate the presence of a closed circuit whereby the lack of an intact pressure gas cartridge can be immediately detected.
Suitably, the indicator unit is configured such that monitoring of the presence of a pressure gas cartridge with an intact sealing membrane or the absence thereof occurs in a continuous manner or, alternatively, the indicator unit incorporates suitable switching means which detects, for example, the presence of a pressure gas cartridge upon manual activation of the switch.
An advantage of the former type of indicator unit is that the presence of the pressure gas cartridge can be monitored by a visual inspection when walking past the life preserver, although higher energy consumption is associated with this continuous monitoring. With the latter type of indicator, energy consumption is markedly reduced. In both cases, however, inspection of the inflation device to check the life preserver's readiness can be carried out quickly and if necessary can be even done shortly before the life preserver needs to be used.
In another embodiment of the device according to the invention, the tip of the striking pin is flattened such that a larger surface for electrical contact between the sealing membrane and the tip is realized, thus increasing, among other things, a good contact and thus reliability of an indicator reading. An added advantage of the flatter tip is furthermore that it is less likely that the tip, which in the ready position bears against the sealing membrane, works its way into the membrane such that the membrane may be inadvertently and prematurely punctured. In a further variation, the tip is configured in the shape of a truncated cone or truncated pyramid having an angle of preferably approximately 45°. Such configuration ensures that following puncturing of the membrane, the retracted tip does not come into contact with sections of the sealing membrane, which may have remained around the edge of the opening.
Furthermore, the tip of the striking pin may be spring mounted when biased against the membrane. With the spring element, by which the tip of the striking pin is biased against the membrane, a steady electrical contact between the tip and the intact membrane is realized, thereby further increasing the reliability of the indicator reading.
In a further embodiment of the invention the indicator unit is integrated into the trigger and ignition mechanism for the pyrotechnic charge. Such integration facilitates a more compact configuration of the device. The trigger and ignition mechanism may be provided with an electrical switch, which can be activated by water. Advantageously, the electrical switch is provided with two contact points, which are located at some distance from each other and between which an electrical contact can be made by water. A protecting wall disposed between the two contacts is designed to prevent leaking currents. This arrangement prevents the inflation device from being prematurely set off, for example by splashing water, condensed humidity or condensation water.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the trigger and ignition mechanism is provided with a test switching circuit and with an indicator unit whereby the pyrotechnic charge can be supplied with a testing current or a testing voltage, which is designed not to lead to ignition but to detect the presence or absence of an intact pyrotechnic charge.
Furthermore, the test switching circuit and the electric circuitry for detecting the integrity of the sealing membrane can be designed to operate together with the same indicator unit so as to reduce the space needed for separate test switches. The indicator unit can be designed as a simple indicator light, for example an LED, which is lit up when the device is ready to operate. The test switching circuit and the electric circuitry for monitoring the sealing membrane can also be connected serially, because the life preserver is useless when there is no intact sealing membrane present; on the other hand, the device cannot be self-acting when the pyrotechnic charge is either defective or absent. However, separate indicator units can also be used for checking each function. This has the added advantage that, for example, a life preserver, in which only the pyrotechnic charge of the inflation device is defective, can still be used when manually activated.
It is however useful that testing of the pressure gas cartridge and testing of the pyrotechnic charge is carried out by opera
Morano S. Joseph
Robert W. Becker & Associates
Vasudeva Ajay
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