Apparel – Guard or protector – Body cover
Patent
1997-12-09
1999-08-24
Calvert, John J.
Apparel
Guard or protector
Body cover
13751223, 137522, F16K 1514, A62B 1104
Patent
active
059408782
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a watertight suit.
Several types of watertight suits, for example, a dry suit used for diving, a life jacket, a fisherman's long rubber pants, etc., are well known.
The dry suit mentioned above generally includes an air inlet valve for introducing air into the inside of the dry suit from an air tank to permit adjustment of inner air pressure according to diving depth, etc., and an air outlet valve for discharging the air from the inside of the dry suit. In such dry suits, the air outlet valves can discharge the air when a diver is in a horizontal position or a standing position, in which his head is located above the horizontal plane, in the water. The air outlet valve is usually disposed an upper arm part of the dry suit to facilitate operation.
Since the air outlet valve is usually located in the upper part of the dry suit, the air in the dry suit concentrates in leg parts of the dry suit when the diver's legs are located above the horizontal line in the water. The air in the leg parts concentrically lifts the diver's legs upward, so that the diver cannot change his position in the water. When the diver's legs are lifted upward, outer water pressure around the legs is reduced, and a volume of the air in the leg parts of the watertight suit is expanded. As a consequence, the buoyant force applied to the leg parts is increased as the diver moves upward in the water. In the worst case, the diver rises to the water surface in a very short time, so that accidents may result, for example, development of a caisson disease.
Conventionally, divers wear weights in an attempt to prevent the accidents caused by the greater buoyant force, but such precautions do not entirely eliminate such accidents.
If a fisherman wearing long rubber pants accidentally falls into the water, his legs are lifted in the water because the air is trapped in the leg parts of the long rubber pants. As a result, he cannot lift his face above the surface of the water, and therefore is unable to breathe.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a watertight suit capable of properly discharging the air within the suit and keeping the diver's position in the water.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To solve the above described technical problems, the present invention has the following structures.
The watertight suit of the present invention comprises an air outlet valve disposed in an end section of a leg part, the air outlet valve being capable of discharging air contained in the inside of the end section. By virtue of this structure, the air outlet valve is capable of properly discharging the air in the leg part. Therefore, the diver's legs are prevented from lifting upward in the water. The diver can therefore properly maintain his position in the water.
In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the watertight suit, the air outlet valve may be an automatic valve, which is capable of automatically discharging air contained in the inside of the watertight suit when inner air pressure is higher than a prescribed pressure which is higher than the outer water pressure, and which is capable of preventing water from invading the inside of the watertight suit even when the outer water pressure is higher than the inner air pressure. The automatic valve automatically responds in the case of emergency, thereby improving the safety of the watertight suit.
In the watertight suit, the automatic valve may generally comprise a base section having an air outlet and a valve seat which is formed on an edge of the air outlet. The watertight suit further comprises a cover section having a vent hole being capable of communicating to the outside of the watertight suit, the cover section being detachably attached to and covering the base section. The watertight suit also includes an open-close body being normally biased toward the valve seat by a spring provided between the cover section and the open-close body so as to close the air outlet. The open-close body automatically open
REFERENCES:
patent: 2989752 (1961-06-01), Sloane
patent: 3740764 (1973-06-01), Elfstrom et al.
patent: 4103704 (1978-08-01), Richards
patent: 4229832 (1980-10-01), Dickson
patent: 4579147 (1986-04-01), Davies et al.
patent: 5697396 (1997-12-01), Kamitani
patent: 5771924 (1998-06-01), Huygen
Hattori Seiji
Yoshizawa Tetsuo
Apollo Sports Co., Ltd.
Calvert John J.
Patel Tejash D
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