Patent Publication Number: US-6666210-B2

Title: Diving mask with compensation means

Description:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a diving mask provided with compensation means. 
     As is known, diving masks are usually provided with an outer frame suitably shaped, an inner shapeable face and a housing for the diver&#39;s nose, both connected to said frame. In order to carry out the compensation operation the diver introduces his/her fingers into said housing so as to compress his/her nostrils and to put compressed air into his/her aural cavities. Said known masks show several problems: first of all, as far as the mask design is concerned, the stereoscopic vision needs a maximum level of visibility in the area comprising the nose housing (for instance in order to be able to see the various fittings and the buckles placed on the chest), whereas, on the other hand, that same area should be as large as possible in order to allow said compensation operation. For the reasons mentioned above and because of aesthetic requirements the tendency is very often that of limiting the access of the fingers to the nose in the above mentioned area. Such problem becomes even more crucial because of the use of gloves which are often part of the diver&#39;s apparel, especially if the latter are very thick, and because of the simultaneous presence of the distributor in the mouth, which closes the possible access to the lower nose portion. 
     The present invention, therefore, aims at overcoming the problems found out in known masks as far as the compensation operation is concerned, by carrying out a diving mask with compensation in which the nose compression is moved outside the mask glass, in an area where the diver can have an easier access. 
     Said aim is achieved by the present invention by means of a diving mask with compensation, consisting of an outer frame suitably shaped and of an inner face connected to said outer frame; said frame consists of a body shaped so as to house the diver&#39;s nose and provided, on the side of at least one of the nose nostrils, with compression means for said nostril, and on the side of the other nostril with at least one abutment for said nostril, said compression means being fixed to the body and being operated by the diver from the outside of the mask. 
     According to a further aspect of the present invention the compression means consist of at least one substantially bow-shaped lever, comprising a hammer-shaped end and an end with a handle, said lever being introduced into a housing obtained in the body and connected to said body by means allowing its rotation at least towards the outside of the mask, and said hammer-shaped end being shaped so as to compress the adjacent nostril by rotating said lever. 
     Therefore, the mask according to the present invention advantageously allows to achieve at the same time the twofold result of enlarging the field of view, by narrowing the nose area, and of being able to easily press the nose (even with thick gloves), since said operation is moved outwards thanks to the lever handle and can be done with only one finger or with any other portion of the hand or forearm. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Further aims and advantages of the present invention will be better understood during the following description, regarded as a mere non-limiting example and referred to the enclosed drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 shows a front view of a form of embodiment of a diving mask according to the present invention, provided with a compensation lever hinged to a front body: 
     FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the compensation lever in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 shows an execution variant of the compensation lever in FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 shows a view from below of an execution variant of the compensation lever in rest conditions, hinged to the lower portion of the body; 
     FIG. 5 shows a view from below of the compensation lever in FIG. 4 in working conditions to compress a diver&#39;s nose nostril, the other nostril being in touch with an abutment provided on the lower portion of the body; 
     FIG. 6 shows a view from below of a section of the lower portion of the body in which two compensation levers are provided, each acting onto a diver&#39;s nose nostril; 
     FIG. 7 shows an execution variant of the abutment for a diver&#39;s nostril; and 
     FIG. 8 shows another execution variant of the abutment in FIG.  7 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference to FIG. 1, the latter shows a front view of a mask consisting of an outer frame  1  to which a glass  2  and a face  3  made of elastomeric material and adaptable to the diver&#39;s face are connected. The lower middle portion of the frame  1  is shaped so as to connect to it a body  4  made of stiff material, which is fixed to said frame by means of a fitting element  5  and two lower lateral screws  6 . The body  4  has such a shape as to be able to contain the nose  7 , which is not in direct touch with the inner surface of said body  4 , but it is contained within a housing  8  (whose section can be seen in FIG. 4) obtained as one piece from the face  3  made of elastomeric deformable material. In the present form of embodiment of the mask the body  4  is fixed to the frame  1  by means of the aforesaid screws  6  and the fitting element  5 , but it could also be definitively fixed to said frame during the manufacturing of the mask. On the front portion of the body  4 , near the base of the nostrils  71  and  72  of the nose  7 , a housing  41  has been obtained, the latter housing a compensation lever  9  hidden within said housing  41 . Said lever  9 , as can be seen from FIG. 2, consists of a bow-shaped arm  91  whose concavity is towards the inside of the mask, said arm showing a first hammer-shaped end  92 , having a larger section, near which a first hole  93  is obtained, and a second end  94  in which a second hole  95  is obtained. Said second hole  95  allows the passage of a pin  11  connecting the end  94  of the arm  91  to an element  96  for the grasping and the rotation of the lever  9 . Thanks to said pin  11  the element  96  can be rotated in its turn with respect to the lever. The hammer-shaped end  92  of the lever  9 , on the other hand, is connected to the body  4  by means of a corresponding pin  12  fixed within the body  4 , and it is introduced into the hole  93  of said end  92 . The lever  9  can thus rotate with respect to the body  4  and to the housing  41 , whereas the corresponding grasping element  96  can rotate with respect to the arm  91  of said lever until the corner of the upper surface touches the surface of the arm  91 . In order to avoid that said grasping element  96  goes too deep into the body  4 , thus being it impossible for the diver to grasp it, and so that it always shows a certain outer projection with respect to it, an abutment pin  13  has been provided, said pin being fixed onto both sides of the housing  41  of said body  4 . It will be against said pin, therefore, that the inner surface of said grasping element  96  will lean when the lever  9  is in its rest position. 
     FIG. 3 shows an execution variant of the compensation lever  9 , and in particular of the end  94  of the arm  91  carrying the grasping element  96 , which, as can be observed, is obtained on said end and fixed to it so as to show a certain front projection with respect to the arch drawn by said arm  91  and therefore with respect to the front surface of the body  4 . 
     The section view from below of FIG. 4 shows, as mentioned before, the housing  8  for the diver&#39;s nose  7 , said housing being located within the body  4 . Said body  4  shows, near a nostril  71  of the nose  7 , a support  42  into which a pin  12  for the rotation of the lever  9  is introduced, and, near the other nostril  72 , an elastic abutment  43  whose functions will be described later. The compensation lever  9  here shown shows some execution variants with respect to the levers described in FIGS. 2 and 3. First of all, the pin  12  is housed within the second of four holes  93  obtained in the hammer-shaped end  92 , thus with the possibility of varying the introduction of said pin  12  into one of said holes  93 , according to the diver&#39;s nose shape  7 , and therefore of varying the position of the lever  9  with respect to the body  4 . The grasping element  96 , moreover, is obtained as one piece together with said lever  9  and has a front projection which is slightly lower than the shape shown in FIG. 3, and it is provided with a side portion  97  carried out as to simplify its grasping, for instance by means of notches or protuberances obtained on said side portion  97 . The inner portion of the grasping element  96  is partially housed within a hollow  14  obtained near the end of the elastic abutment  43 . Said hollow  14  has the twofold function of providing a housing for said element  96 , when the lever  9  is in its rest position, and of making said abutment elastically deformable, when the lever  9  is at work for the compensation. 
     Let&#39;s now see the working of the lever  9 . When the diver wants to compress his/her nose  7  in order to introduce air into the aural cavities during a diving session, it is sufficient that, using a finger (or his/her forearm or part of it), he/she grasps the element  96  of the lever  9  and pushes it towards the outside of the mask, so that said lever  9  rotates around the pin  12  till it reaches such a position (see FIG. 5) that the hammer-shaped end  92  pushes onto the housing  8  and closes and compresses the nostril  71  beside it, while the other nostril  72  will lean against the elastic abutment  43  and will also be compressed. Once the compensation has been carried out, the diver only has to switch the lever  9  back to the position shown in FIG.  4 . 
     The compensation lever  9  thus allows an easy and rapid carrying-out of the compensation, and moreover all the operations made by the diver are carried out from the outside of the mask, without touching the nose  7  with his/her fingers, which advantageously allows to carry out an outer frame  1  which, in the area where the nose is housed, is extremely narrower than the normal profile  15  (shown with dashes in FIG. 1) of known masks, thus allowing the attainment of a field of view extensively wider for the scuba diver. 
     FIG. 6 shows an execution variant of the present invention in which, on the lower portion of the body  4 , two compensation levers  9  are provided on both sides of the nose  7 , and the diver can thus decide to carry out the compensation operation on both nostrils  71  and  72  by rotating said levers  9  in opposite direction towards the outside of the mask; if, on the other hand, he decides for instance to rotate only the lever  9  adjoining the nostril  71 , the other nostril  72  will lean against the hammer-shaped end of the lever at rest, said end taking over the function of abutment. 
     As far as the abutments against which the diver&#39;s nose nostril lean are concerned, FIGS. 7 and 8 show two execution variants: in FIG. 7 it is possible to observe an adjustable abutment  45 , substantially L-shaped and consisting of a stem  451  and of a base  452  on which a threaded hole  453  is obtained, said hole cooperating with a threaded pin  16  partially screwed into said hole  453 . Said pin  16  comprises on one end a head  17  for the leaning of the diver&#39;s nose nostril and on the other end a notch  18  for the adjustment of its screwing within the hole  453 . In this case, therefore, the diver can adjust, for instance by means of a screw-driver introduced into the notch  18 , the screwing of the pin  16 , and thus the distance between the head  17  and the adjacent nostril. 
     FIG. 8 shows a variant of the abutment  45  in FIG. 7, according to which said abutment  45  is made elastically deformable and also adjustable by means of the threaded pin  16 . In this case the head  17  of said pin  16  does not lean directly onto the diver&#39;s nose nostril, and the stem  451  is extended beyond the base  452  and a second base  454  is provided for the leaning of said nostril; between said bases  454  and  452  a housing  455  is obtained, said housing having such dimensions as to allow a certain stroke of the head  17  for the adjustment of the pin  16 . When the pin  16  is screwed, the head  17  will elastically deform the base  454  for the leaning of the nostril, whereas, if said head  17  is left at a certain distance from the base  454  with the abutment  45  in its rest position, by means of the loosening of said pin  16 , when the diver carries out the compensation operation, said base  454  will get near the head  17  till it leans onto it, then going back to the original position shown in the figure.