Combination lifejacket and protective body heat retaining pod

Details Combination lifejacket and protective body heat retaining pod Combination lifejacket and protective body heat retaining pod

2000-07-03

2001-12-11

Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)

Buoys, rafts, and aquatic devices

Water rescue or life protecting apparatus

Personal flotation device

C441S080000, C441S088000, C441S102000, C441S103000, C441S104000, C002S456000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06328618

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a protective pod that is carried in a folded condition within a pod containment envelope at the rear of a personal flotation device (i.e. lifejacket) so as to be accessible to and worn by a civilian and military airman or a seaman who finds himself in or about to enter a cold water environment while awaiting rescue from an emergency situation. The protective pod creates a sealed chamber within which a small volume of water is trapped and heated by the wearer's body heat to slow a drop in the wearer's body temperature to better enable him to survive his environment.
2. Background Art
As may occur in an emergency situation, a civilian (e.g. a boater, a cruise ship passenger, a pilot, etc.) or a member of the military may find it necessary to abandon his boat or plane. In cases where a boat is at sea or an airplane is above a body of water, the individual may have to enter the water while awaiting rescue. Where the individual must enter a cold water environment wearing nothing more than a conventional lifejacket, his body temperature will quickly drop to a level where survival becomes impossible if his rescue is delayed for any prolonged period of time.
Waterproof garments are known that offer some protection to a wearer against hypothermia and the effects of low temperature, such as that which would be encountered by civilians or military personnel who face an emergency situation while at sea. However, these garments are typically worn in lieu of a lifejacket or other conventional personal floatation device. Accordingly, the wearer will quickly tire and/or have trouble staying afloat while awaiting his rescue. Moreover, the ability of many garments to insulate the wearer's body against a significant drop in temperature may be negligible. That is, garments such as clothing do not fully surround and protect the wearer's body and/or function as a warming device, such that the wearer may find himself facing hypothermia after a relatively short time in the cold water environment. Consequently, the wearer's chances of survival will be relatively minimal, especially where the water temperature is low and the time to await rescue is more than a few minutes.
Moreover, heavily insulated and independently buoyant garments, known generically as immersion or survival suits, are typically expensive, high-end emergency garments that are used by commercial fishermen and oil rig workers, where the chances of unexpected immersion in a cold water environment are high and the high per person cost of the immersion suit is not deemed cost prohibitive. The immersion or survival suits would not usually be considered appropriate nor cost effective for most private non-commercial, recreational boaters, commercial cruise ship passengers and even highly mobile military personnel where the bulk and weight of hypothermia protective devices would be a serious consideration.
Therefore, what is needed is a reliable protective enclosure that is capable of slowing the effects of hypothermia and thereby prolonging the survivability of a user while fully immersed in a cold water environment, without being so cost prohibitive or so heavy and bulky that it would not be of practical use and commercial value.
Examples of protective garments, and the like, that can be used to increase the wearer's chances of surviving a cold water environment are available by referring to one or more of the following United States patents:
3,744,053
Parker et al
July 10, 1973
4,533,333
Andrew et al
August 6, 1985
4,533,335
Hoshino
August 6, 1985
4,739,522
Lassiter et al
April 26, 1988
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Disclosed below is a protective pod which is capable of significantly retarding the loss of a wearer's body heat. The pod can be worn by a civilian or military seaman or airman who must enter a cold water environment while awaiting rescue from an emergency situation. The protective pod is preferably manufactured from a readily foldable, highly water resistant ripstop nylon material with urethane backing. In this regard, and prior to its deployment, the protective pod is carried in a folded or rolled up condition within a pod containment envelope at the back of a personal floatation device (commonly known as a lifejacket). The protective pod is always and only worn in combination with the lifejacket, but not in substitution thereof. For non-military use, the personal floatation device would be a Type I, II or III personal floatation device (as defined by 46 Code of Federal Regulations Section 160 et. Seq.). The pod containment envelope of the lifejacket is formed by a series of flaps that are folded over one another to enclose the protective pod. A rip cord that is attached to the flaps inside the containment envelope is manually accessible so as to be grasped and pulled by the wearer to cause the containment envelope to open and the protective pod in its collapsed condition to fall out to permit deployment whether the wearer has already entered or is about to enter the water. The protective pod is connected to the lifejacket by means of a detachable tether so as to prevent the pod from sinking or otherwise drifting out of reach from the user. A hood to be worn over the head of the wearer is stored in a rolled up condition within a foldover collar that runs around the top of the lifejacket. The wearer simply lifts up on the collar to grab and remove the hood therefrom. After it is unrolled, the hood is pulled over the wearer's head and held snugly there against by pulling a drawstring and closing a chin flap.
The wearer dons the protective pod by inserting his legs and torso into a body portion thereof. Thereafter, the user inserts his arms and hands through watertight sleeves. The user pulls the protective pod up around the lifejacket and then zips up a heavy grade zipper extending vertically along the front of the protective pod. There is a cinching cord running through a channel around the top of the protective pod which the user pulls to close the pod snugly around the foldover collar of the lifejacket. A Type I, II or III personal floatation device is designed to be buoyant so that the water line is below the lifejacket collar. The user then pulls upwardly on a pair of vertically extending cinching cords that are attached to a seam along the bottom of the protective pod to draw his legs up into a fetal-type position to facilitate body heat retention. Pulling upwardly on the cinching cords causes the protective pod to be effectively shortened so as to also minimize the volume of water that will be trapped inside the protective pod. Minimizing the volume of water inside the protective pod directly enhances the warming of that water by the body heat of the wearer and thereby inhibits and slows the loss of the wearer's body heat, thus prolonging his survivability while immersed in the cold water environment awaiting rescue. As the final step in donning the protective pod, the wearer uses a hook and loop fastener closure to secure a wrap around collar located at the top of the protective pod in a snug position outside the hood and around the collar of the lifejacket so as to be crossed over and attached to the pod in front of his neck to minimize the opportunity for outside water to enter the interior of the pod.


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patent: 6203390 (2001-03-01), Elliott
patent: 6206744 (2001-03-01), Wigutow

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