Releasable Connecting Device for Scuba Ballast Envelopes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing reversible connection devices for scuba diving gear, such as those used for ballast envelopes, often fail to prevent accidental disengagement due to wear, limited tactile feedback, and difficulty in operation with diving gloves, leading to potential uncontrolled ascents and safety risks.
Innovation Solution
A reversible connection device with a slider mechanism that is independent of the handle, allowing for secure engagement and easy disengagement, featuring a housing seat for the slider within the handle and abutment surfaces to prevent inadvertent actuation, along with a design that provides clear feedback on the engagement state through visual indicators and reduced risk of accidental release.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a traditional buckle mechanism is used for connecting ballast envelopes, then the connection can be maintained securely, but the device becomes difficult to operate with diving gloves and provides limited tactile feedback
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into distinct functional segments: a handle for operation, a slider mechanism for engagement control, and locking members for secure connection. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function optimally - the handle provides large surface area for gloved hand operation, while the slider provides tactile feedback through distinct engagement positions
Solution Approach 2:
The slider acts as an intermediary element between the handle and the locking members. It translates the diver's manual input on the handle into controlled movement of the locking members, providing tactile feedback through its own engagement positions while preventing direct transmission of excessive force that could cause accidental disengagement
2Productivity
If the connection device allows easy release for emergency ascent, then quick ballast removal is achieved, but accidental disengagement may occur leading to uncontrolled ascent
Solution Approach 1:
The device employs dynamic locking members that can move between locked and unlocked states, controlled by the slider. The locking members are spring-loaded or elastomeric, providing automatic engagement when force is applied in the insertion direction, but requiring deliberate slider movement to disengage. This dynamic behavior enables quick intentional release while preventing accidental disengagement
Solution Approach 2:
The release mechanism is designed so that the normal operation (insertion) automatically engages the locking members, while release requires a specific counter-action (slider movement in the opposite direction). This inversion of the expected operation sequence - where engagement is the default and release requires deliberate action - prevents accidental release while maintaining quick intentional release capability
3Stability of the object's composition
If the locking members are designed for secure engagement, then connection stability is improved, but the device becomes more complex and harder to operate
Solution Approach 1:
The locking members are designed to automatically engage with the female element when the male element is inserted, without requiring manual intervention. The elastomeric or spring-loaded locking members self-actuate through the insertion motion itself, providing secure engagement while keeping the device simple in operation. The slider then serves only to reverse this automatic engagement process when release is desired
Data Source
AI summary
A device for reversibly connecting together a first element and a second element designed to be alternately connected and disconnected includes a male element inserted into a female element to move from a mutually disengaged state to a mutually engaged state and a slider for actuation/release of the engaged state, which is slidingly engaged by the male element into the female element. The relative movement of the actuation/release slider and the male element is transferred to first releasable locking members of the male element, which cooperate with corresponding second locking members of the female element to move from a stable locked state to a stable unlocked state of the male element by a movement of the slider in the direction of insertion. Furthermore, the male element includes a handle having the slider at least partially and slidingly housed therein.