Garment having a device and this device having a floating body which can be inflated with gas

Abstract

The invention relates to a garment (1) having a device (2a, 2b) and this device (2a, 2b) having a floating body (3) which can be inflated with gas. In order to be able to inflate the floating body in a stable and responsive manner when it comes into contact with water, the device (2a, 2b) is provided with an inflation apparatus (4) for inflating the floating body (3), which apparatus has a gas cartridge (5) and an opening apparatus (6) which can be activated to open the gas cartridge (5), the opening apparatus (6) having a housing (7) which is connected to the gas cartridge (5), in particular via a threaded connection (8), and the device is provided with a sensor apparatus (9) which has a sensor (10) and an evaluation circuit (11), which is connected to the sensor (10), for activating the opening apparatus (6).

Description

[0001] Garment with a device and this device with a gas-inflatable buoyancy aid

[0002] The invention relates to a garment with a device and this device with a gas-inflatable float.

[0003] State of the art

[0004] It is known (W02009 / 143537A1) for water rescue aids to provide a buoyancy aid that can inflate itself with gas. For this purpose, this water rescue aid has an inflation device containing a solid that generates gas on contact with water. The solid is provided in a chamber that has a chamber inlet for water flowing into the chamber and a chamber outlet for a gas generated by the solid to inflate the buoyancy aid. The gas generated by the solid on contact with water is introduced into the buoyancy aid of the inflation device via a check valve to keep this gas in the buoyancy aid. However, when such water rescue aids were used in accordance with the state of the art, depending on the position of the inflation device relative to the waterline, the inflation of the buoyancy aid was unexpectedly delayed - which impaired the function and safety of the water rescue aids and also reduced confidence in them.

[0005] Description of the invention

[0006] The invention therefore aims to modify the design of a device described above in such a way that it can inflate the floatation body stably and quickly upon contact with water. Furthermore, the device should be constructed simply and stably. The invention achieves this objective by the features of claim 1.

[0007] By providing the device with an inflation device for inflating the floating body, which inflation device comprises a gas cartridge and an opening device which can be activated for opening the gas cartridge, wherein the opening device comprises a housing connected to the gas cartridge, in particular via a threaded connection, the possibility can be opened up of quickly providing gas for inflating the floating body.

[0008] In contrast to the prior art, in which the gas is generated via a solid, only a sensor device is required, which comprises at least one sensor and an evaluation circuit connected to the sensor to activate the opening device. The device can therefore inflate the float upon contact with water in a stable and responsive manner – and is extremely stable under simple construction conditions.

[0009] Preferably, the evaluation circuit is designed to activate the opening device upon contact of the sensor with a liquid, in particular water, in order to open the gas cartridge. A capacitive sensor, for example, has proven to be an excellent sensor. However, a conductivity sensor is conceivable in addition or as an alternative. Other sensors are also conceivable.

[0010] Contact with liquid can be reliably detected if the sensor has at least one opening, which opening is connected to a chamber of the sensor, which chamber contains a sensor element of the sensor. This means that liquid present on the sensor element can be detected relatively quickly. In addition, the design of a chamber accessible via an opening makes it possible to reliably distinguish between different conditions. This chamber can protect the sensor from accidental contact of the sensor with water, for example with splash water or with drinks, and thus reduce the risk of false detection. However, when immersed in water, this chamber reliably fills, which reliably triggers the inflation of the float.

[0011] Preferably, this opening is in a sensor housing of the sensor or in the housing of the opening device. Preferably, the chamber is in the sensor housing and / or in the housing of the opening device.

[0012] For example, the chamber has two capacitor electrodes and / or conductance electrodes as a sensor element, in particular those that are electrically insulated from the chamber.

[0013] Preferably, the two capacitor electrodes are electrically insulated from the chamber so that no short circuit of the capacitor electrodes can occur via the liquid.

[0014] Inflation of the float can be further improved if the opening device has an opening means that is movable toward a closed outlet of the gas cartridge, thereby opening the gas cartridge. The opening means can be designed as a drill or a needle. This movement of the opening means is, for example, rotational-translational.

[0015] For example, the opening device comprises an electric motor movably mounted in the housing and encapsulated by the housing, with an output shaft connected to the opening means for rotating drive. This allows the gas cartridge to be reliably opened. This is all the more true if the housing encapsulates the electric motor in a gas-tight manner, thus reliably maintaining the pressure on the float, even if the device does not have a check valve. The movement of the electric motor can preferably be a linear movement. A correspondingly designed sliding bearing for the electric motor in the housing is conceivable.

[0016] Preferably, the housing has an internal thread on which the opening means and / or the electric motor, in particular its output shaft, is movably mounted with an external thread. This allows the opening means to be moved linearly toward the outlet of the gas cartridge by rotating the opening means.

[0017] For example, the opening means has a tip at its free end that is asymmetrical with respect to the longitudinal axis of the opening means. This facilitates the outflow of gas from the gas cartridge opened by the opening means.

[0018] The design of the device can be further simplified if the opening device has a clamping piece and an outlet for the gas from the gas cartridge, particularly one formed by the housing. Furthermore, the float is connected to the outlet for inflating the float via the clamping piece, which clamps the inflation device to the float. This ensures, among other things, that the float is filled with gas from the gas cartridge.

[0019] The inflation device preferably includes a pressure relief valve. For example, this pressure relief valve is attached to the housing, which can lead to a compact design. The pressure relief valve can protect the float from increased pressure during inflation. These pressure conditions can occur even if the gas pressure exceeds a predetermined upper limit, for example, due to high ambient temperatures. The device can therefore perform its function robustly despite ambient temperatures.

[0020] The floating body preferably has a check valve. This allows the gas to be contained in the floating body. The construction in the region of the inflation device can be further simplified if the check valve is designed as a flutter valve. The flutter valve preferably has an elastic flat hose as the valve body. The safety of the device can be further increased if the floating body has an inflatable chest section and an inflatable collar section, wherein the chest section opens into the collar section via a cross-sectional taper and wherein the inflation device is directly connected to the chest section. This allows the chest section to be inflated before the collar section to enable the safe rescue of a person, in particular a child.

[0021] Preferably, the cross-sectional taper is formed by a seam, in particular a weld seam, between the breast section and the collar section in order to further simplify the construction of the device.

[0022] A comparatively robust evaluation circuit for activating the opening device can be created if, for example, the evaluation circuit is designed to generate a PWM signal, in particular with the aid of an operational amplifier, from a charging and discharging curve of the sensor excited by an oscillator and to compare the mean value of the PWM signal, in particular generated via a low-pass filter, with a threshold value using a comparator, upon exceeding which the evaluation circuit activates the opening device.

[0023] Preferably, the evaluation circuit connects the opening device to a power supply with a switching element in order to activate its electric motor.

[0024] For example, the sensor device has the evaluation circuit in that the evaluation circuit is encapsulated by the sensor housing of the sensor.

[0025] It is also conceivable that the evaluation circuit is encapsulated in the housing of the opening device.

[0026] To increase the device's responsiveness, the evaluation circuit can, for example, be provided with a short-circuit sensor for monitoring electrical contact between the opening means and the gas cartridge outlet. This allows the opening means to be positioned close to the gas cartridge outlet—for example, even with a small gap between them. Preferably, the opening means and the gas cartridge outlet are electrically conductive.

[0027] The functionality of the opening device can also be monitored if the evaluation circuit has a capacitive motion sensor to monitor the movement of the opening means.

[0028] The device according to the invention can be particularly suitable for an item of clothing.

[0029] Preferably, the inflation device and / or the sensor device is / are connected to the garment in a replaceable manner in order to be able to replace them in a user-friendly manner after the function of inflating the buoyancy body has been fulfilled - for example by replacing a used gas cartridge and / or a damaged sensor device.

[0030] The functional reliability of the garment as a swimming and / or rescue aid can be improved if the buoyancy aid is permanently attached to the garment.

[0031] Short description of the drawings

[0032] The figures show, for example, the subject matter of the invention in more detail using several embodiments.

[0033] Fig. 1 shows a device according to a first embodiment with a floating body, with a sensor device and with an inflation device in a partially sectioned side view,

[0034] Fig. 2 is an enlarged detailed view of the inflation device shown in Fig. 1,

[0035] Fig. 3 is a cross-section through the sensor device shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a garment with a device according to Fig. 1,

[0036] Fig. 5 the garment according to Fig. 4 with inflated buoyancy body,

[0037] Fig. 6 is a block diagram of an evaluation circuit,

[0038] Fig. 7 shows a device according to a second embodiment with a floating body, with a sensor device and with an inflation device in a partially sectioned side view,

[0039] Fig. 8 is a cross-section through the device shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 9 is a garment with the device according to Figures 7 and 8.

[0040] Ways to implement the invention

[0041] Figures 4, 5, and 7, for example, show a garment 1, namely a shirt, that has a water rescue function. For this purpose, the garment 1 is provided with a device 2a, 2b.

[0042] This device 2a according to a first embodiment, shown in more detail in Fig. 1, comprises a gas-inflatable float 3, an inflation device

[0043] 4 and a sensor device 9, whereby the floating body 3 can also be provided with several parallel inflation devices 4 - which is not shown.

[0044] The buoyancy body 3 is permanently connected to the garment 1, for example, by being sewn in. The inflation device 4 and the sensor device 9 are interchangeably connected to the garment 1 by being provided in a pocket 1a on the garment 1. This interchangeability can be achieved, for example, using a zipper, Velcro fastener, snap fasteners, pockets, etc. - which is not shown.

[0045] According to the invention, the inflation device 4 has a replaceable gas cartridge

[0046] 5 and an activatable opening device 6, which, when activated, opens the gas cartridge 5. A threaded connection 8 is provided between a housing 7 of the opening device 6 and the gas cartridge 5 to enable the gas cartridge 5 to be replaced. Activation can be achieved in a variety of ways, for example, via a data bus, via a radio connection, or via a switch that supplies the opening device 6 with electrical energy in order to open the gas cartridge 5 via a mechanical opening means 6 of the opening device 6.

[0047] According to the invention, the device 2a also comprises a sensor device 9 with a sensor 10 and an evaluation circuit 11, as can be seen in detail in Fig. 3. The evaluation circuit 11 is connected to the sensor 10 and evaluates the measurement data of the sensor 10 in order to activate the opening device 6 in the given case so that the floating body 3 is inflated with gas from the gas cartridge 5.

[0048] Such a case occurs when contact with water is detected by the sensor device 9. For this purpose, the evaluation circuit 11 is designed to activate the opening device 6 upon contact of the sensor 10 with water, which occurs, for example, via the electrical connection 26, as shown in Fig. 1. However, it is also conceivable that the sensor device 9 is provided on the opening device 6, as shown in Figures 7 and 8.

[0049] In this embodiment, the sensor 10 is designed as a capacitive sensor 10a. Contact of the device 2a with water generates stable measurement data, since the sensor 10 has a sensor housing 12 with at least several openings 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d, which are connected to a chamber 14 in the sensor housing 12 containing two capacitor electrodes 10aa, 10ab of the capacitive sensor 10a. The capacitor electrodes 10aa, 10ab are electrically insulated from the sensor housing 12 to prevent an electrical connection (electrical short circuit) between the capacitor electrodes 10aa, 10ab, for example, when the chamber fills with an electrically conductive liquid.

[0050] In particular, it can also be seen in Fig. 3 that the sensor housing 12 of the sensor device 9 encapsulates the evaluation circuit 11 in a liquid-tight manner - this allows the evaluation circuit 11 to perform its function stably. The opening device 6 also has an opening means 6a designed as a drill, as can be seen in detail in Fig. 2. This opening means 6a is movable towards a closed outlet 5a of the gas cartridge 5 in order to pierce and thus open it. For this purpose, the opening means 6a is positioned normal to the outlet 5a and has a tip S at the free end which is asymmetrical with respect to the longitudinal axis L of the opening means 6a. As can be seen in Fig. 2, the tip S has a facet tapering towards the end and a facet tapering towards the end parallel to the longitudinal axis of the opening means 6a.

[0051] To move the opening means 6a, the opening device 6 has an electric motor 15. The electric motor 15 is movably mounted in the housing 7 and is encapsulated gas-tight by this housing 7. The output shaft 15a of the electric motor 15 is connected to the opening means 6a for its rotating drive.

[0052] The electric motor 15 is suspended in the housing 7 via an external thread 16, which engages an internal thread 17 of the housing 7. When the output shaft 15a is rotated by the electric motor 15, the electric motor 15, together with the opening means 6a, is pulled in the direction R of the outlet 5a of the gas cartridge 5, and the increased moving mass alone ensures stable opening of the gas cartridge 5. The movement of the electric motor 15 in the direction R is thus a purely linear movement—that of the opening means 6a is a rotational-translational movement. For this linear movement, the opening device 6 has a linear bearing, for example a plain bearing, between the housing 7 and the electric motor 15.

[0053] Figures 1 and 2 show a pressure relief valve 19 on the inflation device 4. This pressure relief valve 19 is attached to the housing 7 of the opening device 6 via an adhesive or screw connection (not shown in detail) and prevents the floating body 3 from being subjected to excessive gas pressure. Such excess pressure can be caused, for example, by ambient temperature. The pressure relief valve 19 therefore makes the device 2a particularly robust and universally applicable.

[0054] Fig. 2 shows a check valve 18 designed as a flutter valve. This allows the gas to be reliably retained in the float 3. However, a check valve 18 is not absolutely necessary, since the device 2a is designed to be leak-proof.

[0055] The stable gas connection between the inflation device 4 and the float 3 is established by connecting the housing 7 of the opening device 6 directly to the float 3. For this purpose, the opening device 6 has a clamping piece 20a and an outlet 21 formed by the housing 7 for the gas from the gas cartridge 5. Furthermore, the float 3 is connected via the clamping piece 20a to the outlet 21 for inflating the float 3, which clamping piece 20a clamps the inflation device 4 to the float 3.

[0056] The buoyancy body 3 is also specially designed. It has an inflatable chest section 22 and an inflatable collar section 23. The chest section 22 joins the collar section 23 via a cross-sectional taper 24. This cross-sectional taper 24 is formed by a seam 24, namely weld seam 25, between the chest section 22 and the collar section 23, as can be seen in Fig. 5.

[0057] The inflation device 4 is directly connected to the chest section 22 via the inlet 3a of the floating body 3.

[0058] As can be seen in Fig. 2, the check valve 18 is provided in the area of ​​the inlet 3a of the floating body 3, but can also be located, for example, between the chest section 22 and the inflatable collar section 23. According to Fig. 6, the evaluation circuit 11, which is openably encapsulated in the sensor housing 12, is shown in a block diagram.

[0059] The evaluation circuit 11 has an oscillator 27 that electrically excites the sensor 10 to an electrical charging and discharging curve. For this purpose, the sensor 10 is charged and discharged via a defined resistor by the oscillator 27, which generates an asymmetric square-wave signal with a frequency of, for example, 32.768 kHz. The voltage drop across this resistor corresponds to the charging current through the capacitor and therefore follows a decaying exponential function.

[0060] When the chamber 14 fills, the capacitance of the capacitive sensor 10a changes due to the different permittivity of water and air.

[0061] The electrical charging and discharging curve is tapped as a voltage across the resistor. A PWM signal is generated from the electrical charging and discharging curve using an operational amplifier 28. For this purpose, a voltage drop across the resistor is amplified accordingly by the asymmetrically supplied operational amplifier (OPA) 28. Due to the asymmetrical supply of the OPA 28, only positive voltage drops across the resistor are amplified, thus suppressing the discharge process of the sensor capacitance at the output of the OPA 28. The output voltage of the OPA 28 therefore consists of pulses in the form of a decaying exponential function with, for example, a frequency of 32.768 kHz. If the sensor 10 is now immersed in water, the capacitance increases and thus the charging time constant of the capacitive sensor 10a increases, making the charging process longer. Thus, a type of pulse-width modulated (PWM) signal is generated at the output of the OPA.

[0062] A low-pass filter 29 generates an average value from the PWM signal. For this purpose, the op-amp is then smoothed using a first-order low-pass filter 29 (RC element). The average value is compared with a threshold value using a comparator 30, which is connected to the inverting input of the comparator. This makes contact with water available as a binary signal at the output of the comparator 30 for further control or regulation measures.

[0063] The opening device 6 is activated by the evaluation circuit 11 in that a switching element designed as an NPN bipolar transistor supplies the electric motor 15 with electrical energy from a battery 35 of the evaluation circuit 11 via the electrical line 26 - which puts the electric motor 15 into operation to open the gas cartridge 5.

[0064] Additionally, a second comparator activates a light-emitting diode (LED) 32 and a piezoelectric buzzer 33 to trigger an alarm. This comparator output is also connected to a digital I / O pin of a Bluetooth module 34, which can then transmit the information about the immersion of the sensor 10 to a mobile device (not shown), for example, for rescue purposes.

[0065] In contrast to the device 2a shown in Fig. 1, in the device 2b shown in Figs. 7 and 8, according to a second exemplary embodiment, the inflation device 4 and the sensor device 9 are combined into a common assembly 50. It is conceivable that the sensor housing 12 of the sensor 10b of the sensor device 9 and the housing 7 of the opening device 6 of the inflation device 4 are a single housing 7 of the assembly 50.

[0066] Since essentially all features common to device 2a also apply to device 2b according to the second embodiment, the differences will be discussed below.

[0067] The assembly 50 is replaceably connected to the garment 1 via the gas connection between the inflation device 4 and the buoyancy body 3. For this purpose, the device 2b has a clamping piece 20b, and the assembly 50 has an outlet 21 formed by the housing 7 for the gas from the gas cartridge 5. The buoyancy body 3 is permanently connected to the clamping piece 20b, which buoyancy body 3 is permanently connected to the garment 1.

[0068] The clamping piece 20b can be detached from the housing 7 and thus from the assembly 50. This is advantageous, for example, when the garment 1 is to be washed. The mechanism for the detachable connection between the clamping piece 20b and the housing 7 is formed by an insert 20ba, designed, for example, as a metal plate, which, when inserted into the base body 20bb of the clamping piece 20b, clamps the clamping piece 20b to the housing 7.

[0069] In addition, the device 2b according to the second embodiment comprises a sensor 10 configured as a conductance sensor 10b. The conductance sensor 10b comprises two conductance electrodes 10ba, 10bc as sensor elements, which are also provided in a chamber 14 of the sensor housing 12. The chamber 14 is also bounded by the housing 7 of the opening device 6. These conductance electrodes 10ba, 10bc evaluate the conductance (via a voltage measurement). Their measurement signal is forwarded to the evaluation circuit 11.

[0070] In addition, a pressure sensor 10c is assigned to sensor 10. This pressure sensor 10c supplements the conductivity sensor 10b and / or the capacitive sensor 10a for safety purposes. Based on its pressure measurement, the evaluation circuit 11 can also detect contact of sensor 10 with water, for example, when a threshold pressure is reached, and / or check the plausibility of contact with water detected by another sensor 10a, 10b of sensor 10. The evaluation circuit 11 can thus activate the opening device 6 more reliably.

[0071] It is also conceivable that an acceleration sensor could be provided as sensor 10, although this has not been shown in detail. This could, for example, be used to determine an emergency situation based on the wearer's movement. Preferably, the evaluation circuit 11 monitors and calibrates the opening device 6, which is connected to several sensors 52, 53.

[0072] For example, the evaluation circuit 11 causes the opening means 6a to contact the gas cartridge 5. For this purpose, the opening means 6a and the gas cartridge 5 are monitored for electrical conductivity using a short-circuit sensor 51. During the contact, the opening means 6a slowly approaches the gas cartridge 5 until electrical contact is made with the sealed outlet 5a of the gas cartridge 5. The opening means 6a is then retracted slightly to prevent accidental damage to the gas cartridge 5 during use. This ensures a short response time of the opening device 6.

[0073] In addition, contact between the opening means 6a and the gas cartridge 5 can be used to determine whether the opening device 6 has been triggered in the event of triggering.

[0074] As can be seen in Fig. 7, the housing 7 has two electrically conductive electrodes 51a and 51b for the short-circuit sensor 51. These electrodes 51a, 51b detect the electrical short circuit via the opening means 6a and the gas cartridge 5.

[0075] In addition, an electrode 51 of the housing 7 has the internal thread 17, into which the external thread 16 on the opening means 6a engages, which leads to the movement of the electric motor 15 already described.

[0076] In addition, the movement of the opening means 6a is also monitored by a capacitive motion sensor 52. Due to the asymmetrical tip of the opening means 6a, the capacitance value at the motion sensor 52 changes during rotation, which value can be used to detect its movement.

[0077] This significantly increases the functional reliability of device 2b. Furthermore, device 2b has a switch 53 with which the evaluation circuit can be operated.

[0078] In general, it is noted that "in particular" can be translated into English as "more particularly." A feature preceded by "in particular" is to be considered an optional feature that can be omitted and thus does not constitute a limitation, for example, of the claims. The same applies to "vorzugsweise," translated into English as "preferably."

Claims

Patent claims:

1. Device with a gas-inflatable float (3), with an inflation device (4) provided for inflating the float (3), which has a gas cartridge (5) and an opening device (6) which can be activated to open the gas cartridge (5), wherein the opening device (6) has a gas cartridge (5), in particular via a threaded connection (8), connected housing (7), and with a sensor device (9) which has at least one sensor (10) and an evaluation circuit (11) connected to the sensor (10) for activating the opening device (6).

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the evaluation circuit (11) is designed to activate the opening device (6) upon contact of the sensor (10), in particular capacitive sensor (10a) or conductivity sensor (10b), with a liquid, in particular with water, in order to open the gas cartridge (5).

3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the sensor (10) has at least one opening (13a, 13b, 13c, 13d), in particular in a sensor housing (12) of the sensor (7) and / or in the housing (7) of the opening device (6), which opening (13a, 13b, 13c, 13d) is connected to a chamber (14), in particular in the sensor housing (12) and / or in the housing (7) of the opening device (6), of the sensor (10), which chamber (14) has a sensor element of the sensor (10).

4. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the chamber (14) has two capacitor electrodes (10aa, 10ab) and / or conductance electrodes (10ba, 10bb) as a sensor element, in particular electrically insulated from the chamber (14).

5. Device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the opening device (6) has an opening means (6a), in particular designed as a drill or as a needle, which leads to a closed outlet (5a) of the Gas cartridge (5) is movable, in particular rotationally-translationally, in order to open the gas cartridge (5).

6. Device according to claim 5, characterized in that the opening device (6) has an electric motor (15) which is mounted in the housing (7), in particular linearly, movably and is encapsulated by the latter, in particular gas-tight, and has an output shaft (15a) which is connected to the opening means (6a) for rotating drive thereof.

7. Device according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the housing (7) has an internal thread (17) on which the opening means (6a) and / or the electric motor (15), in particular its output shaft (15a), is movably mounted with an external thread (16).

8. Device according to claim 5, 6 or 7, characterized in that the opening means (6a) has at its free end a tip (S) which is asymmetrical with respect to the longitudinal axis (L) of the opening means (6a).

9. Device according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the opening device (6) has a clamping piece (20a, 20b) and an outlet (21), in particular formed by the housing (7), for the gas of the gas cartridge (5), wherein the floating body (3) is connected via the clamping piece (20a, 20b) to the outlet (21) for inflating the floating body (3), which clamping piece (20a, 20b) clamps the inflation device (4) to the floating body (3).

10. Device according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the inflation device (4) has a pressure relief valve (19), in particular fastened to the housing (7) and / or the floating body (3) has a check valve (18), in particular a flutter valve.

11. Device according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the floating body (3) has an inflatable chest section (22) and a inflatable collar section (23), wherein the chest section (22) opens into the collar section (23) via a cross-sectional taper (24) and wherein the inflation device (4) is directly connected to the chest section.

12. Device according to claim 11, characterized in that the cross-sectional taper (24) is formed by a seam (25), in particular a weld seam, between the breast section (22) and the collar section (23).

13. Device according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the evaluation circuit (11) is designed to generate a PWM signal, in particular with the aid of an operational amplifier (28), from a charging and discharging curve of the sensor (10) excited by an oscillator (27), and to compare the mean value of the PWM signal, generated in particular via a low-pass filter (29), with a threshold value with the aid of a comparator (30), when the threshold value is exceeded the evaluation circuit (11) activates the opening device (6).

14. Device according to one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the evaluation circuit (11) connects the opening device (6) to a power supply with a switching element (31) in order to activate its electric motor (15).

15. Device according to one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the evaluation circuit (11) is encapsulated by the sensor housing (12) of the sensor (10) and / or by the housing (7) of the opening device (6).

16. Device according to one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that the evaluation circuit (11) has a short-circuit sensor (51) for monitoring an electrical contact between the opening means (6a) and the outlet (5a) of the gas cartridge (5) and / or a capacitive motion sensor (52) for monitoring the activation of the opening means (6a).

17. A garment comprising a device (2a, 2b) according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

18. Garment according to claim 17, characterized in that the inflation device (4) and / or the sensor device (9) is / are replaceably connected to the garment (1).

19. Clothing item according to claim 17 or 18, characterized in that the floating body (3) is permanently connected to the clothing item (1).

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