Buoyancy compensator belt

Abstract

A buoyancy compensator belt comprising a belt to which is mounted a tubular inflatable bladder positioned within a flexible housing and a small gas cylinder. In one embodiment, one or more weights are mounted onto the belt. A combination power inflation / bleed valve is operatively connected to the inflatable bladder and is fluidly connected to a first stage regulator of the gas cylinder by a hose. A dump valve is operatively connected to the bladder to prevent over-inflation and allow dumping of the air from the bladder. The buoyancy compensator belt is particularly suitable for use by free divers to allow the diver to rapidly descend to the desired depth due to the negative buoyancy produced by the weight of the belt, to allow the diver to partially inflate the inflator bladder to achieve neutral buoyancy at the desired depth, and then, when the diver wishes to ascend, to more fully inflate the inflator bladder to achieve positive buoyancy and rapidly ascend to the surface.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]This invention relates generally to buoyancy compensators. More particularly, this invention relates to buoyancy compensators having a buoyancy bladder and an inflation valve for inflating the bladder with air to achieve a positive buoyancy.[0003]2. Description of the Background Art[0004]Early scuba diving equipment typically comprised a scuba tank and a two-stage regulator allowing the diver to breathe air from the tank upon demand. To overcome positive buoyancy, particularly when a diver may don a wet suit for cold water protection, weight belts were developed that typically comprised a belt that would be fitted around the diver's waist. One or more weights, typically in the form of a rectangular blocks of lead with slots formed therein, would be threaded onto the belt to provide the desired weight sufficient to achieve negative buoyancy. The use of weight belts of this nature assured that the diver would remain negat...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0021]The buoyancy compensator belt of the invention comprises a belt to which is mounted an inflatable bladder positioned within a flexible housing and a small gas cylinder. One or more weights may optionally be mounted onto the belt. A combination power inflation / bleed valve is operatively connected to the inflatable bladder and is fluidly connected to a first stage regulator of the gas cylinder by a hose. A dump valve is operatively connected to the bladder to prevent over-inflation and allow dumping of the air from the bladder. Notably, the gas cylinder is small and compact and is intended to be used to inflate the bladder. The gas cylinder is not intended to be used by the diver for breathing.

[0023]As the diver approaches the desired depth, the diver may power inflate the bladder via the power inflator to slow his descent such that upon reaching the desired depth, the diver is substantially neutrally buoyant (represented by the =signs in FIG. 2). The diver may fine tune his neutral buoyancy via the bleed valve. While neutrally buoyant, the diver may swim around as desired (observing the reef, spear fishing, etc.) at a constant desired depth without having to constantly swim up to counteract the affects of negative buoyancy as would otherwise occur without the positive buoyancy created by the air in the bladder.

[0024]When the diver wishes to surface, the diver would normally kick up slightly while at least partially inflates the bladder via the power inflator to thereby begin to achieve positive buoyancy (represented by the +signs in FIG. 2). As the diver ascends, the volume of air in the bladder expands due to the decreasing water pressure, whereupon additional positive buoyancy is achieved to more rapidly cause the diver to ascend (represented by the increased dive profile and the increased number of +signs in FIG. 2). Once the bladder fully expands due to the increasing volume of air, the dump valve opens to dump (i.e., exhaust) air from the bladder and thereby prevent it from bursting. The diver is thus rapidly ascending to the surface (and continues to increase his rate of ascent until reaching the surface of the water due to the decreasing water pressure). Upon reaching the surface, the bladder is fully inflated such that the diver may relax at the surface until he is ready for his next free dive.

[0026]It should be appreciated that the weighted buoyancy compensator belt of the invention allows a free diver to (1) produce significant negative buoyancy to rapidly descend to the desired depth, (2) produce a neutral buoyancy to maintain a constant depth and then (3) produce a significant positive buoyancy to rapidly ascend to the surface of the water and relaxingly float on the surface for a period of rest until the next free dive.

[0027]The buoyancy compensator belt of the invention is suitable for use as a BC for conventional scuba diving and for snorkelers, as well as for free divers as described above, because it comfortably fits around the person's waist to achieve a streamlined assembly that does not interfere or otherwise create a hindrance. Specifically, the BC belt of the invention provides an upright stable floatation for the person on the surface and eliminates the face forward or backward floatation that would often occur if the person was using a vest-type buoyancy compensators with rear- or chest-mounted internal bladders. The belt of the BC belt of the invention is elastic to allow it to be tightly fitted around the person's waist to expand or contract during diving. Accordingly, use of the BC belt of the invention eliminates “riding-up” of the BC as often occurs with vest-type BCs.

[0028]The use of the weighted buoyancy compensator belt of the invention by a free diver allows the diver to safely descend to the desired depth and return to the surface with minimal effort, thereby reducing the possibility of the diver blacking-out upon ascent as sometimes occurs without the benefit of the weighted buoyancy compensator belt of the invention. Moreover, if the free diver were to black out upon ascent, the positive buoyancy of the weighted buoyancy compensator belt of the invention may provide sufficient buoyancy (assuming the diver did not black out on the bottom and was not over-weighted) to nevertheless cause the diver to ascend to and float onto the surface of the water to be rescued (instead of sinking to the bottom as would otherwise occur without the benefit of the weighted buoyancy compensator belt of the invention).

Problems solved by technology

However, BCs have not been used by “free divers” who choose not to utilize a scuba tank for breathing.

While the dive profile depicted in FIG. 1 is often employed by free divers, there is the unfortunate tendency for divers to “black out” during their ascents because of the vigorous exertion that is required to begin and maintain the ascent against the force of the negative buoyancy.

Worst, upon blacking-out during ascent when the diver is negatively buoyant (or by becoming negatively buoyant at the surface upon exhausting all his air), the diver simply sinks to the ocean depths, thereby precluding any rescue.

Images