JPH0320821Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] This invention mainly relates to a capsule used for photographing the bottom of a ship, the seabed, or floating objects in the sea.

[Prior art]

Cameras for underwater photography have been developed (Jitsukaiaki
50-37530). Cameras with this structure have a casing with a pressure-resistant structure that can withstand high external pressure.
Furthermore, a pressure regulating valve is attached to the casing to exhaust the internal air when the internal pressure is higher than the external pressure, creating a waterproof structure, which makes the camera itself quite expensive and can only be used as a camera specifically designed for underwater photography. However, the optimal format for the application is not necessarily commercially available. In addition, cameras with this structure simply have a watertight casing, so they have many problems with waterproof and pressure-resistant structures, especially when photographing in deep waters.

Furthermore, when a camera has a pressure regulating valve in its casing, the pressure difference inside and outside the casing can be approximately equalized when it emerges from the water, but when diving with the camera, the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the casing cannot be equalized, and the camera An extremely strong pressure-resistant structure is required for the casing.

If you can use a land-based camera for underwater photography, you can choose from a wide variety of commercially available cameras and use the one that best suits your purpose.

For this purpose, bags for underwater photography are commercially available (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 11354/1983).

This bag was made of flexible synthetic resin and was shaped like a watertight bag. After storing the camera, the bag was used for underwater photography by sealing the opening watertightly. However, the deeper the camera is submerged in water, the more tightly the bag adheres to the camera due to water pressure, making it difficult to operate the camera. Both had the disadvantage that they could only be used at depths of several meters.

By the way, cameras for underwater photography are used in a unique manner underwater because they are used in a different location from normal cameras. In other words, those who work underwater:
To avoid contracting diving disease, if you work at a depth of 20 meters for 8 minutes, you must wait at a depth of 6 meters for approximately 40 minutes before surfacing. In other words, if you work at a depth of 20 meters, you cannot immediately surface. Therefore, after underwater photography, if you return to the surface with the camera to change the film, you will lose about 30 minutes. For this reason, it is necessary to float only the camera above the water surface, change the film on the water surface, and then submerge the camera.

Traditional underwater cameras and camera storage bags are
Since it cannot float or sink, attach a float to the camera,
Alternatively, it is necessary to attach weights to float and sink, which has the drawback of requiring time and effort to change the film.

〔the purpose〕

This device was developed to eliminate these drawbacks, and the important purpose of this device is that the air sent from the air cylinder is exhausted from the differential pressure valve, so that the pressure inside the casing is reduced to the depth of the water. Regardless of the pressure, the pressure is always adjusted to be slightly higher than the external pressure, so water does not enter the casing, and by expelling air, the buoyancy in the water can be adjusted and the casing can easily rise or sink to the surface. It is possible to provide capsules for underwater photography.

[Effect]

The casing and the air cylinder are integrated, air is supplied from the air cylinder into the casing, and when the pressure inside the casing becomes higher than the outside pressure, the differential pressure valve detects this, and the differential pressure valve exhausts the air inside the casing. Adjust the internal pressure to be approximately equal to or slightly higher than the external pressure.

In a casing where the internal and external pressures are adjusted almost equally, both pressures are balanced and a low pressure equivalent to the differential pressure acts on the casing, so the actual pressure acting on the casing is extremely small regardless of the size of the external pressure. Become. As the diver descends deeper, he opens the air valve to supply air from the air cylinder into the casing. When the amount of supplied air is large, a large amount of air is exhausted from the casing by the differential pressure valve, and the air can be adjusted and supplied to the optimum amount.

During underwater photography, once all the film on the camera has been photographed, the air valve can be opened and the camera can rise to the surface.
That is, when the air valve is opened to send air in the air cylinder to the casing, this air is exhausted from the casing into the water, and the amount of air in the air valve cylinder decreases, becoming lighter and floating above the water surface. After picking up the capsule at the surface of the water, opening the casing, replacing the film inside the camera, and putting it back into the casing, the casing, which is now filled with air and integrated into a heavier air cylinder, is submerged under its own weight. can be precipitated. That is, a worker underwater can rise to the surface simply by opening the air valve.

〔composition〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of this invention will be described based on the drawings.

The capsule for underwater photography shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 consists of a casing 1, gloves 2, and an air cylinder 3.
and a differential pressure valve 4.

The casing 1 is made up of a main body 1a formed into a cylindrical shape made of synthetic resin such as vinyl chloride or metal, and a transparent plate 1b made of glass or synthetic resin that seals both ends of the main body 1a watertight through gaskets. Become.

Flanges 5 are projected from both ends of the casing 1 at regular intervals, and each flange 5 is provided with a screw hole. A retaining ring 6 is applied to the periphery of the transparent plate 1b, and the retaining ring 6 is fixed to the casing 1 via a screw, so that the transparent plate 1b is tightly attached to the main body 1a by the retaining ring 6.

When replacing the camera film inside the casing 1, the screws are removed, the transparent plate 1b is removed, and the camera is taken out.

Two guide rails 7 extending back and forth are fixed to the inner surface of the main body 1a, and the guide rails 7 and both side edges of the camera stand 8 slide, so that the camera stand 8 moves back and forth. The camera stand 8 that moves forward and backward can be used conveniently by storing a camera that sends out pictures taken in front or behind, such as a Polaroid camera.

The glove 2 is made of a watertight and flexible material, such as rubber or synthetic resin, and the glove 2 is made of a material that is watertight and flexible.
Hand holes 9 opened on both sides of the casing are fixed in a watertight manner at the bottom so that the camera inside the casing can be easily operated.

A short cylinder 10 having an outer shape approximately equal to or slightly larger than the hem of the glove is fixed in the hand hole 9 of the main body 1a, as shown by the chain line in FIG.
The short cylinder 10 is covered with the hem of the glove 2.
Tighten the outer surface with a band 11. When in use, the glove 2 is pushed into the casing.

The air cylinder 3 is fixed below the casing 1 and connected to the main body 1a through an air valve, and by opening the air valve 12, pressurized air stored inside is continuously sent into the casing 1.

The differential pressure valve 4 is fixed at the top and bottom of the main body 1a, and the pressure in the casing is always adjusted to be higher than the pressure outside the casing.

The structure of the differential pressure valve 4 is shown in FIG. This differential pressure valve 4 has a valve body 13 pressed against a valve seat 15 from the outside via a weak push spring, and opens only when the internal pressure becomes higher than the external pressure and the push spring 14 is pushed up. be done.

The pressure spring of the valve body 13 is pressed against the cap 16, and the more the cap 16 is screwed in, the more strongly it presses against the valve body 13. Therefore, the deeper the cap 16 is screwed in, the higher the pressure inside the casing when the valve body 13 opens.

Differential pressure valve 4 fixed above and below inside casing 1
are adjusted so that the differential pressure inside and outside the casing is different when the valve is opened. Normally, the upper differential pressure valve 4 is opened when the internal pressure of the casing is low, and the lower differential pressure valve is adjusted so that it opens only when the pressure inside the casing suddenly increases for some reason. Therefore, under normal usage conditions, the upper differential pressure valve 4 discharges a small amount of air.

By the way, the overall weight is adjusted so that the apparent specific gravity is approximately equal to the specific gravity of seawater so that it can be easily used in the sea.

The method for using the capsule constructed as described above is as follows:
After a camera 17 is housed in the casing 1 and sealed, air is fed into the casing 1 with an air valve 12 opened, and a differential pressure valve 4 is adjusted to make the pressure inside the casing 1 somewhat higher than the external pressure. If you dive deeper into the sea in this state, the water depth will increase and the pressure outside the casing 1 will increase.
The valve is closed until the pressure inside the casing 1 becomes higher than the outside pressure, and when the internal pressure becomes higher than the outside pressure due to the air being sent in, the air is discharged little by little to keep the pressure inside the casing 1 higher than the outside pressure. do.

In the capsule for underwater photography shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the glove 2 is fixed to the casing 1 in a watertight manner, so that when the camera is brought to the surface, the differential pressure valve 4
By screwing in the cap 16 of the glove to open the air valve 12 and increasing the internal pressure of the casing 1, the glove 2 expands outward and increases its buoyancy, thereby allowing the glove to float more quickly.

〔effect〕

In the capsule for underwater photography of the present invention, air is supplied from the air cylinder into the casing as described above, and the pressure of the casing is always adjusted to a constant level higher by discharging the air fed in by the differential pressure valve. , the pressure inside the casing is equal to the external pressure,
Alternatively, when the pressure is lower than this, the differential pressure valve opens and stores air inside the casing to increase the pressure, and when the pressure inside the casing rises above the set pressure compared to the outside pressure, it is exhausted to maintain the pressure within a certain range. Due to its structure, water does not enter the casing even when used in deep water, let alone shallow water, and the differential pressure valve automatically adjusts the pressure inside the casing in response to external pressure. Therefore, there is no need to manually adjust the pressure inside the casing according to the depth, making it easy to use.

Furthermore, in the capsule for underwater photography according to this invention, an air cylinder is connected to the casing via an air valve, and pressurized air can be supplied from the air cylinder to the casing. As it dives deeper, pressurized air is supplied from the air valve into the casing, and when it surfaces, the differential pressure valve exhausts the air, allowing it to gradually dive and surface, or repeat diving and surface again underwater. Also, the internal pressure of the casing can be adjusted to be almost equal to the external pressure at all times, and it is not restricted by usage conditions and can be moved to any depth underwater, making it extremely convenient to use.

Furthermore, a notable feature of this device is that it can be easily floated up by opening the air valve to exhaust the air, and it can also be lowered down using a heavy air cylinder filled with air, making it ideal for underwater photography. The objective is to be able to easily and reliably change the film without the diver surfacing midway through the process, and to significantly improve work efficiency underwater.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are front and side views of a capsule for underwater photography showing an embodiment of this invention, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an example of a differential pressure valve. 1... Casing, 2... Gloves, 3... Air cylinder, 4... Differential pressure valve, 5... Flange, 6... Stop ring, 7... Guide rail, 8... Camera stand,
9...Hand hole, 10...Short cylinder, 11...Band, 12...Air valve, 13...Valve body, 14...Press spring, 15...Valve seat, 16...Cap, 17...
…camera.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) A watertight casing that can be opened, has a size that can accommodate a camera, and is translucent at least in front of the lens of the camera to be accommodated, and an air valve provided in the casing. The air cylinder is connected to the air cylinder and attached to the casing, and the air cylinder is fixed to the casing and opens and closes by detecting the pressure difference inside and outside the casing. Air is supplied from the air cylinder into the casing, and excess air is discharged to the outside of the casing via the differential pressure valve. A capsule for underwater photography that is constructed so that the internal pressure is always adjusted to be slightly higher than the external pressure. (2) The capsule for underwater photography according to claim 1, wherein the casing has a cylindrical overall shape, and both ends are watertightly sealed with transparent plates. (3) The capsule for underwater photography according to claim 1, wherein the casing has a hand hole that is watertightly closed by a glove. (4) Two differential pressure valves are attached to the casing, and the two differential pressure valves have different differential pressures inside and outside the casing when the valves are opened. . (5) The capsule for underwater photography according to claim 1 of the utility model registration claim, wherein the casing has a moving platform for a camera inside.