Patent Publication Number: US-2005126565-A1

Title: Emergency breathing tube

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to an emergency breathing tube for fire victims, and more particularly to a breathing tube that people in a smoky fire scene can utilize to get fresh air from an outdoor location far away from the fire scene, thereby reducing injury and mortality due to inhaling highly poisonous gases, such as carbon monoxide, or due to lack of oxygen.  
      2. Description of Prior Art  
      In practice, most fire victims die from inhaling highly poisonous gases, such as carbon monoxide, or a lack of oxygen. Though conventional fire escape systems, for example, emergency elevators, escape ladders and the like may help people to get away from a fire scene and to escape from danger, these conventional fire escape systems often cannot help in a complex and constantly changing fire situation. Consequently, people caught in a fire often die from inhaling highly poisonous gases, or a lack of oxygen.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an emergency breathing tube that provides fresh air to people while they are waiting to be rescued from a fire, thereby reducing the mortality rate.  
      To attain the above object, the present invention provides an emergency breathing tube for fire victims, which breathing tube includes a first tube and a second tube. The first and second tubes couple together to form a retractile breathing tube with an adjustable length. When a fire occurs, a user can extend the breathing tube, hold one end of the breathing tube in the mouth, and then extend the other end thereof out from the smoky fire scene via an opening in the building to get fresh air. Thus, fir victims can survive a much longer time while waiting to be rescued, thereby reducing the mortality due to smoke inhalation. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of the first embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of a retractile state of the first embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 4  is a diagrammatic view showing a working state of the first embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the second embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of a retractile state of the second embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the third embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view of the third embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 9  schematically shows a working state of the fourth embodiment of the present; and  
       FIG. 9A  is a partial, enlarged view of  FIG. 9 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      The present invention provides an emergency breathing tube for fire victims.  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  show the first embodiment of the present invention, which is a retractile breathing tube comprising a first tube  10  and a second tube  20 . In order to withstand high temperatures in fire accident, the first tube  10  and the second tube  20  are made of a heat-resistant, easily molded material such as aluminum or the like, which is able to withstand a temperature of 300° C. The first tube  10  and the second tube  20  are hollow tubular bodies in a round shape or other suitable shapes and two opposite ends of each tube are open. An inner diameter of the second tube  20  is larger than an outer diameter of the first tube  10  so that the second tube  20  can contain the first tube  10 . Then, the first tube  10  and the second tube  20  can couple together to form a retractile breathing tube, a length of which is adjustable. It is preferable that the breathing tube has a length of 2 meters or more when it is extended. Moreover, experiments show that a 4-meter-length breathing tube can still work quite well. Referring to  FIG. 3 , when not in use, the first tube  10  is retracted into the second tube  20  so as to reduce its length and save space.  
      The first tube  10  defines a locating portion  11  with a larger outer diameter at a back end thereof, and the second tube  20  defines a contractive portion  21  with a smaller outer diameter at a front end thereof. An inner wall of the contractive portion  21  of the second tube  20  contacts the outer wall of the first tube  10  closely so that the two tubes  10 ,  20  can maintain a perfect, airtight joint therebetween. When the first tube  10  and the second tube  20  are extended, the locating portion  11  abuts against the contractive portion  21 . The first tube  10  and the second tube  20  are thereby located and prevented from being out of joint.  
      Selectively, the first tube  10  further includes a mouthpiece  12 , which is hollow and is set on a front end of the first tube  10 . A user can keep the mouthpiece  12  in his/her mouth during use. After use, the mouthpiece  12  is thrown away and is replaced with a new one for sanitation. If the mouthpiece  12  isn&#39;t provided, user can directly hold the front end of the first tube  10  in his or her mouth.  
      In addition, the present invention provides a holding portion  13  surrounding the outside of the first tube  10  for improving convenience of operation. An outer surface of the holding portion  13  is further defined as a studded surface  14 , which could be made of raised stripes or lumps. The holding portion  13  is made of a heat-resistant material with low heat-conductivity, such as heat-resistant plastic. By the components that are described above, an emergency breathing tube for fire victims according the present invention is formed.  
      Referring to  FIG. 4 , when a fire occurs, a user can extend the breathing tube of the present invention, hold one end of the breathing tube in his or her mouth, and then extend the other end of the breathing tube out of the building via an opening  50  (for example, a window). In this way, the user can get fresh air from an outdoor location far away from the fire scene through the breathing tube (and exhale through the nose) so that the victim can survive a much longer time while waiting to be rescued, thereby reducing mortality due to smoke inhalation.  
       FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6  show another embodiment of the breathing tube of the present invention, which further comprises a first outer tube  30  and a second outer tube  40 , respectively disposed outside the first tube  10  and the second tube  20 . The first outer tube  30  and the second outer tube  40  are made of a low heat-conductive material so that the user can hold the breathing tube with a hand but not be scalded, even when some part of the tube is heated by fire. Both the first outer tube  30  and the second outer tube  40  are round hollow tubes, and their inner diameters are greater than the outer diameters of the first tube  10  and the second tube  20 . Furthermore, the inner diameter of the second outer tube  40  is greater than an outer diameter of the first outer tube  30  so that the first outer tube  30  can be contained in the second outer tube  40 . As a result, the first outer tube  30  and the second outer tube  40  also can couple together to form a retractile outer tube with an adjustable length so as to keep a synchronous retractile motion with respect to that of the first tube  10  and the second tube  20 . However, the first outer tube  30  and the second outer tube  40  also can be designed as hollow tubes with other shapes (not shown). The operation method and function of the present embodiment are similar to those of the first embodiment, and thus are not further described here.  
      Referring to  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8 , this embodiment is a breathing tube having a fixed length and only comprising a first tube  10 ′. The first tube  10 ′ is made of a material with perfect heat-resistant characteristics. The first tube  10 ′ is a hollow tubular body in a round shape or other shapes and two opposite ends thereof are open. The first tube  10 ′ also provides a replaceable mouthpiece  12 ′ selectively applied on a front end thereof. A holding portion  13 ′ is positioned outside the first tube  10 ′, which is made of a low heat-conductive material and has a studded surface  14 ′ consisting of raised stripes or lumps. Furthermore, the first tube  10 ′ also has an outer tube (not shown), which is disposed outside the first tube  10 ′ and is made of a low heat-conductive material. In addition, the breathing tube can be designed to have a fluorescent coating for help alert. The operation method and function of the present embodiment are similar to those of the first embodiment, and thus not further described here.  
      Referring to  FIG. 9  and  FIG. 9A , a breathing tube of this embodiment is an improvement of the first embodiment that further comprises a pair of safety belts  60 ,  61 , which have enough resistance to resist external pulling forces and are adjustable in length. One end of each safety belt  60 ,  61  is hooked over and fastened on a hooking ring  62  integrally formed on the first tube  10 , the other end of the safety belt  60  is fastened on the user&#39;s body (chest or wrist), and the other end to the safety belt  61  is placed around the user&#39;s leg (or fixed by the user&#39;s foot). Moreover, the safety belt  60  fastened on the user&#39;s body is designed as a rather wide band. In use, the user can put the breathing tube onto the bottom of the opening  50  of a building as a fulcrum for labor-saving according to the principle of leverage.  
      In other words, the tractable emergency breathing tube includes a first tube  10  and a second tube  20  assembled together to form a series of telescoping tubes. The telescoping tubes are nested one within the other when the emergency breathing tube in a retracted stowed position. The inner tubes are latched in the stowed position by a caging mechanism.  
      Furthermore, the emergency breathing tube can be extended until the final deployed position to reached out of the building on fire for fresh air. A user can inhale fresh air through the pursed mouth slowly by means of the instrument and exhale carbon dioxide through the nose rapidly, and repeat the above inhale/exhale procedures until being rescued.  
      It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.