Water safety garment, related apparatus and methods

A water safety apparatus comprising:

• at least one inflatable chamber attachable to a body of a water garment;
• at least one inflation mechanism connected to the at least one inflatable chamber for inflation of the at least one inflatable chamber;
• at least one sensor element comprising a first sensor element,
• a housing attachable to the body of the water garment, the housing having a first chamber, the first sensor element positioned at least partially within the first chamber to detect a presence of liquid water within the first chamber, the housing having at least one hole in communication with the first chamber so that liquid water is passable into the first chamber when the housing is submerged under water and the liquid water is drainable from the first chamber when the housing is out of the water
• a control device connected to the at least one sensor element and the inflation mechanism, the control device configured to actuate the inflation mechanism to inflate the at least one inflatable chamber in response to determining that the first sensor element detected a presence of liquid water within the first chamber continuously for a pre-selected period of time;
• wherein the control device has a timer that is actuated when a resistance to electrical current or voltage obtained via the at least one sensor element is determined to have decreased to a first pre-selected threshold via liquid water passing into the first chamber, the timer configured to count to the pre-selected period of time in response to actuation of the timer;
• and
• wherein the control device is configured to reset the timer upon determining that the resistance increased to a value that is above the first pre-selected threshold due to draining of the liquid water and the liquid water being replaced with air within the first chamber.

A method of inflating a water garment, comprising:

• wearing a body of the water garment in the water, the water garment also comprising:
• at least one inflatable chamber attached to the body;
• at least one inflation mechanism connected to the at least one inflatable chamber for inflation of the at least one inflatable chamber;
• at least one sensor element, the at least one sensor element comprising a first sensor element;
• a housing attached to the body of the water garment, the housing having a first chamber, the first sensor element positioned at least partially within the first chamber to detect a presence of liquid water within the first chamber, the housing structured such that liquid water is passable into the first chamber when the housing is submerged under water and liquid water is drainable out of the first chamber when the housing is out of the water;
• a control device connected to the at least one sensor element and the inflation mechanism, the control device configured to detect submergence of at least a part of the head of the user wearing the body continuously for a pre-selected period of time in response to determining that the first sensor element detected a presence of liquid water within the first chamber continuously for the pre-selected period of time;
• the control device actuating a timer when a resistance to electrical current or voltage obtained via the at least one sensor element is determined to have decreased to a first pre-selected threshold via liquid water passing into the first chamber, the timer configured to count to a pre-selected period of time in response to actuation of the timer;
• and
• the control device resetting the timer upon determining that the resistance increased to a value that is above the first pre-selected threshold due to draining of the liquid water and the liquid water being replaced with air within the first chamber;
• the control device detecting submergence of the at least the part of the head of the user wearing the body continuously for a pre-selected period of time via the at least one sensor element detecting liquid water within the first chamber continuously for the pre-selected period of time while the first chamber is filled with water;
• and
• the control device actuating the inflation mechanism for inflation of the at least one inflatable chamber in response to the detecting of the submergence of the at least the part of the head of the user.