Ballast system for buoyancy compensator vest

The present invention relates to a ballast system for vests scuba diving.

It relates generally to the industrial field and Commercial manufacture and distribution of products for divers also amateur and professionals using compensation vests acting as balancing buoys.

compensation jackets are inflatable envelopes traditionally worn around the neck and used to balance the divers during their immersion ie to compensate for variation in their weight depending depth and the filling level of their gas supply.

These jackets are generally inflated by an oral inflator or through a gas source when the plunger needs to increase its buoyancy because it tend to go to the bottom and deflated by appropriate when his purges buoyancy becomes too great and the diver tends to rise.    The diver can if desired seek position constant balance regardless of variable weight.

However, as and when the plunger consumes the gas contents in the bottle weight decreases and the bottle, emptying, tends to make the rise to the surface.    This trend is accelerating all over the ascent, gas contained in the buoy expanding such that the plunger should the purge regular intervals for it leads not to the surface too quickly.

To partially compensate for this imbalance to rise when the bottle is empty, the diver must always use a weight belt which the weight is calculated so that the empty bottle does not attract the plunger to end surface or dive to the bottom too quickly at the beginning of this one.    The weight belt must however be dropped at any moment if safety requires it, especially if the diver runs out of air diving courses and is forced to join the surface.

In recent years the forms of diving buoys have evolved the horseshoe shape worn around the neck to wrap-around shapes such so that ballast belts, worn as the name suggests "the belt" does are not easily loosened when necessary.    To overcome the disadvantage born of this development was devised to integrate the weight system to the buoy itself and remove the belt, which further improves diver comfort. This allowed between other to rationalize all equipment and position ways ballast systems that they is readily accessible to be dropped if necessary, to a simply and quickly.

Existing systems generally consist of ducts textile in which are housed the ballast weights. These sheaths are generally introduced into the buoy compartments provided for this purpose and held in place in view of their weight, by superpositions of flaps which holding is assured of "Velcro". (See, for example, patent No. SEA QUEST US 5,641,247 June 24, 1997). Several variants more or less happy from this principle now exist on the market.

These systems have many disadvantages:

First, they are not practical in so far as the positioning the ballast bag in the compartment of the buoy for this purpose and its security by the combination of the flaps generate any complicated maneuvers particularly when they must be performed in water, in the front surface beginning of the dive. release of the maneuver is also can easily insofar or overlaying flaps and "Velcro" for the holding of Overall involves significant traction force to perform the drop. plus ballasting, the more it involves the strengthening of the closure system and more dropping becomes difficult.

The system according to the present invention aims to remedy these disadvantages.

It consists of a ballast sheath which at least one of the faces is reinforced by a sufficiently rigid portion and slightly longer than the sheath itself so that the restraint system has a leverage contributing to hold it in place in the pocket of the vest compensation for her accommodation.

In the accompanying drawings, given by way of non-limiting example of a embodiment according to the present application:<sl><li>Figure 1 shows in perspective, seen three quarters before, vest compensation equipped ballast system according to the invention,</li><li>FIG 2 is an enlargement of the detail D1 of Figure 1,</li><li>Figure 3 is a horizontal section of the ballast GUAINE sheath and its retainer</li><li>and Figures 4 to 7 are horizontal sections of the device ballasting inserted into the pocket of the compensation jacket, showing different positions restraint system of said weighting system.</li></sl>

The device, figures 1 to 7, consists of a ballast element content 1 in a sheath designed to fit into one or more pockets of a vest 2 compensating 3 (Figures 1 and 2).

The sheath 1, textile or thermoplastic material or equivalent, is of preferably rectangular in shape but may be in any form suitable for application. The ballast 4 will be maintained in the sheath by any means satisfactory, sewing, flap or closure of any kind.

1 this sheath is reinforced longitudinally at least on one side and optionally on both sides by a sufficiently rigid plate 5 so that the ballast sheath can be inserted into the bag 2 of the jacket 3 and provided for this purpose dimensioned such that the ballast sheath once in place, and regardless of loading or substantially the same volume and requires the same release effort.

The reinforcing plate 5 of the sheath 1 to ballast will be significantly longer than the sheath itself on the side of the webbing restraint such that once it is in place in the bag 2 provided for this purpose then locked, this wafer exerts leverage contributing to firmly hold the sheath 1 to ballast in the said poached.

The restraint webbing is composed of a flexible strip 6 fixed a side to the sheath 1 and, on the other hand, substantially in the middle of a rigid blade 7 and hose which one end is tapered to facilitate its insertion in the housing the specific maintenance loop 8 secured to the jacket 3.

The rigid plate 7 include at the end opposite the tapered part a handle 9 or a form allowing easy grip. The retaining loop 8 is equipped with an articulated lever 10 arranged to ensure in the closed position (Figure 5), the blocking the rigid blade 7 after notching 11 provided on the latter and open releasing the sleeve 1 when it exerts a lateral pulling force T on the handle 9 of so that divers can operate it with one hand by pressing the handle consisting of an external rotational movement then pulling forward, these two combined movements to prevent inadvertent release caused by a pulling on the handle by mistake (Figures 6 and 7).

The positioning of the various constituent elements provides the object of the invention a maximum of useful effects which were not, to date, been obtained by similar devices.