Low pressure surface supplied air system and method
AssigneeSetaysha Technical Solutions LLC
InventorJohn Craig Colborn
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods and systems to provide breathing air to underwater divers in response to the divers' respiration at pressures less than 25 psi above atmospheric pressure during inspiration while delivering no or minimal air during exhalation, by controlling the actions of a pump during the time course of breathing. Methods and systems that sense a diver's need for breathing air, determine inhalation demand or exhalation state, and control the operation of a pump which delivers breathing gas to the diver via a tube. An integrated system for the same which incorporates at least an energy source (26), pump (28), air tube (30), breathing aperture (10), sensor (20), and logic processor (24) is disclosed.
Claims20
A system to provide breathable air to a submerged diver, including:
- a floating pump assembly comprising:
- a buoyant element,
- a pump coupled to said buoyant element, said pump having a pump inlet fluidly coupled to the atmosphere, and a pump outlet, said pump operating to provide pressurized breathable air at the pump outlet at a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure by no more than 25 psi;
- a breathable air regulator assembly including
- a regulator chamber having a regulator inlet and a regulator outlet,
- a mouthpiece fluidly coupled to the regulator chamber and having a breathing aperture, and
- a pressure sensor to sense pressure changes within the regulator chamber associated with diver inhalation and exhalation and to provide a regulator pressure signal indicative of the pressure changes;
- tubing coupling the pump outlet to the regulator inlet;
- a breathable air determination unit to determine when breathable air is needed by the diver based on the regulator pressure signal, and to provide a breathable air signal indicative of whether breathable air is needed by the diver;
- and
- a pump controller to control the operation of the pump in providing breathable air to the diver, based on the breathable air signal.
A system to provide breathable air to a submerged diver, comprising:
- a pump having a pump inlet fluidly coupled to the atmosphere and a pump outlet, said pump operating to provide pressurized breathable air to a submerged diver at a second pressure greater than atmospheric pressure by no more than 25 psi;
- a breathable air regulator assembly including a regulator chamber having a regulator inlet and a regulator outlet, a mouthpiece fluidly coupled to the regulator chamber and having a breathing aperture, and a pressure sensor to sense pressure changes within the regulator chamber associated with diver breathing and to provide a regulator pressure signal indicative of the pressure changes;
- tubing coupling the pump outlet to the regulator inlet;
- a breathable air determination unit to determine, based on the regulator pressure signal, at least one breathing state of the diver selected from inhalation, exhalation, and non-breathing, and to provide a breathing state signal indicative of the at least one breathing state;
- and
- a pump controller to cause the pump to
- operate to pump breathable air to the diver during a breathing state signal indicative of either 1) inhalation or 2) neither exhalation nor non-breathing, and
- not operate during a breathing state signal indicative of either 1) non-inhalation and 2) Either exhalation or non-breathing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.