Emergency Flotation Device Using Low-Pressure Liquid Gas
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing emergency flotation devices using compressed gas face issues with weight, volume, and reliability due to the need for sturdy containers to withstand high pressures, which interfere with swimming and pose safety risks, especially when exposed to varying temperatures.
Innovation Solution
The use of a gaseous material with thermodynamic properties that remain in a liquid phase at high temperatures, allowing for a lightweight and flexible compressed gas container that maintains low internal pressure, reducing the need for thick, heavy containers and simplifying the gas release mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a sturdy container is used to withstand high compressed gas pressure, then the device can reliably store and release gas, but the device weight and volume increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the pressure parameter from high pressure (80 atm) to low pressure (less than 10 bar) by using a different gas phase state. This parameter change allows the use of lightweight flexible containers instead of heavy steel cylinders, directly resolving the contradiction between reliability and weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the phase transition of the gaseous material between liquid and gas phases. By keeping the material in liquid phase at low pressure through controlled temperature and pressure parameters, the device achieves reliable gas storage without requiring heavy containment structures, thus resolving the weight-reliability contradiction.
2Strength
If a metallic cylinder is used to contain compressed gas at high pressure, then the container can withstand the pressure, but the device becomes bulky and interferes with swimming movements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the pressure parameter from high pressure to low pressure (less than 10 bar), which allows the replacement of rigid metallic cylinders with flexible lightweight containers. This dramatically reduces device volume and eliminates interference with swimming movements while maintaining adequate strength through the flexible container design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs flexible containers made of thin-film materials to replace rigid metallic cylinders. These flexible shells can withstand the required pressure at low pressure operation while occupying minimal space and not interfering with the swimmer's movements, directly addressing the strength-volume contradiction.
3Speed
If high pressure compressed gas is used for rapid inflation, then the flotation device can be deployed quickly, but the device poses safety risks and requires complex actuation mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the pressure parameter from high pressure to low pressure operation, which eliminates the safety hazards associated with high-pressure gas storage and release. The low pressure system removes blast hazards and simplifies the actuation mechanism while maintaining rapid inflation capability through the use of liquid-phase gaseous material that expands quickly when released.
4Weight of moving object
If the device is designed to be lightweight and minimal size, then it can be worn without impeding swimming, but it cannot store sufficient compressed gas to support an adult swimmer
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes phase transition of the gaseous material from liquid to gas phase to achieve high expansion ratio. The liquid-phase material occupies minimal space and weight, while upon release it expands to provide sufficient gas volume (at least 5 liters) to support an adult swimmer, directly resolving the weight-quantity contradiction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs pneumatic principles by using a flexible container filled with liquid-phase gaseous material under low pressure. When activated, the material expands to gas phase, providing the necessary buoyancy force. This approach allows lightweight minimal-size design while maintaining sufficient gas storage capacity for adult support.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables the creation of a lightweight, reliable, and safe emergency flotation device that does not interfere with swimming movements and can withstand high temperatures without significant volume or weight increase, ensuring efficient deployment and user safety.
Implementation Method 1
the gaseous material has thermodynamic properties such that when compressed into the container at a pressure of not more than 10 bar, it remains in a liquid phase
Implementation Method 2
allowing for a lightweight and flexible compressed gas container that maintains low internal pressure
Data Source
AI summary
A flotation device for providing emergency flotation for a person swimming or passing through a body of water, comprising a container filled with a charge of a gaseous material under a pressure such that it is in its liquid phase at normal environmental temperatures. The container is connected to a flexible flotation chamber through a passage which remains normally closed until actuated by the user. When the device is actuated by opening the passage, the charge expands into the flotation chamber, thereby inflating it, and providing support to the user in the water. The gaseous material has thermodynamic properties such that it remains in its liquid phase right up to the maximum temperatures to which the device is expected to be exposed to. Consequently, its volume, and hence the internal pressure within the gas container, does not increase significantly, thereby enabling the container to be of lightweight construction.