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Bradley A Biesecker

Douglas A Biesecker

The present invention features a pocket-sized, portable, flotation device that folds into a storage or carrying case, which is the size of a cellular phone. It can be carried upon a person in a shirt pocket or clipped to a waistline belt. The flotation device includes a life vest with a collar having separate cells, each of which is substantially sealed from adjacent cells to prevent deflation of the adjacent cells through puncture to one of the cells. The collar of the life vest inflates, cell by cell, allowing the user to position the vest over his or her head during inflation. The carrying case has a body and a detachable, arch-shaped cover, constructed so that a tether can be inserted into the cover and the device automatically activated by pulling the cover from the body. Moreover, the case includes a belt loop through which the belt of the user can be inserted. The handle can be hollow, to form a loop into which the tether (attached to the life vest itself) can be threaded. The handle can be adapted to receive a separate belt worn by the user or to receive a belt integral with the case itself. The case includes a window through which a user can visually determine the status of the device without removing same from its case. Alternatively, the entire case can be transparent.

Pocket-sized, emergency flotation device with status indicator

The present invention features a pocket-sized, portable, flotation device that folds into a carrying case, which is the size of a cellular phone or camera. It can be carried upon a person in a shirt pocket or clipped to a waistline belt. The flotation device inflates into a diamond-shaped collar, which is useful in preventing deflation of the device; it uniquely separates the flotation balloon into four separate compartments or cells, each of which is substantially sealed from adjacent compartments to prevent or reduce deflation of the adjacent cells through puncture or other mishap to one of the cells. The carrying case has a body and a detachable, arch-shaped cover, constructed so that a tether can be inserted into the cover and the device automatically activated merely by pulling the cover from the body.

Deployment mechanism for pocket-sized, emergency flotation device

The present invention features a pocket-sized, portable, flotation device that folds into a carrying case, which is the size of a cellular phone or camera. It can be carried upon a person in a shirt pocket or clipped to a waistline belt. The flotation device inflates into a diamond-shaped collar. The diamond shape of the flotation collar is uniquely constructed, so as to provide sufficient buoyancy to keep the user's head afloat. The diamond shape is also useful in preventing deflation of the device; it uniquely separates the flotation balloon into four separate compartments or cells, each of which is substantially sealed from adjacent compartments to prevent or reduce deflation of the adjacent cells through puncture or other mishap to one of the cells. The unique sealing construction is operative by the simple means of an approximately sixty-degree construction angle at the apex seam between the lobes. The acute angle between the divided lobes of the balloon effectively seals from each other the individual compartments on each lobe of the collar. Thus, full deflation is prevented, should one of the compartments become punctured.

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Clarks Summit, PA, United States of America

Bradley A Biesecker