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Post by SeaRat on Mar 7, 2014 18:06:02 GMT -8
I'm doing some research from the Rubicon Research Repository on decompression meters. I found this article by Carl Edwards on Automatic Decompression Meters from about 38 years ago. I'm continuing to look, but be sure to see the cartoon at the end of this article. In further research I found this patent which explains the theories behind one of the first decompression meters (but I don't know which one yet). It seems to use air, but has provisions for duplicating a He/ox breathing mixture not with the gases, but with a different diffusion gradient (look for yourself, as I don't completely understand what was described yet). www.google.com/patents/US3886801Be sure to go to the bottom of the page and click on the links to other decompression meters too. John PS--One of these looks like it may be the basis for the SOS Decompression Meter: www.google.com/patents/US3463015www.google.com/patents/US3892131
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Post by SeaRat on Mar 9, 2014 22:19:41 GMT -8
Well, I've looked in my ScubaPro catalog for 1976, and they have an "Automatic Decompression Meter" which looks identical to the SOS meter. On its label is the patents which cover it, and it is " U.S.A. N' 3,121,333." I looked up this number (see the link in the previous sentence), and it states: My conclusion is that it is air inside that flexible membrane, from what this patent says. Also, the other patents above are interesting, but I believe this is the patent that covers the SOS Decompression Meter. John
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Post by FrankP on Mar 10, 2014 12:36:48 GMT -8
John, you are correct. The patent does not mention N2 as the gas to fill the bag. Thanks for the info.
Frank
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Post by nikeajax on Mar 12, 2014 17:11:53 GMT -8
PUH-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW! I got the lens off of mine and it smells like old fashioned burn ointment: sorry, that's the only thing I know that smells like that! It took some torque to get off too, p'rolly 25-30 lbs!
Jaybird
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Post by FrankP on Mar 13, 2014 14:39:37 GMT -8
Yes, the interior of my meter smelled pretty foul when I opened it up. I wonder if the smell is from the "bag" or the mysterious gas used to fill it. ;-) Did your hands itch after handling the internal part of your meter?
Frank
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Post by nikeajax on Mar 13, 2014 14:50:11 GMT -8
Frank, I'm not sure, but I'm going to say, yes: I had a rash on my left hand last night, I'm right handed though. I put a steroid-ointment on it and that helped, it was gone this morning...
Jaybird
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Post by FrankP on Mar 13, 2014 19:46:02 GMT -8
Jaybird, Have you ever had your "Decom Meter" in the water? I have purchased a second "Decom Meter" that appears to be functional. I would not use it to manage a dive. But it would be interesting to see what it would indicate.
I'm using the name "Decom Meter" because that was how it was nicknamed in a 1970 Skin Diver article "Getting to Know Your Decom Meter". The writer was very upbeat about the device. He even commented that "further evidence of its national acceptance and adoption is the Americanization of the name - it is called the Decom Meter."
The other choices, "Automatic Decompression Meter" is so formal, "SOS Meter" definitely doesn't instill a sense of confidences and "Bend-O-Matic" is a name that is not well deserved, in my opinion. From what I understand from my reading, I wonder if many of the incidences of the "Bends" were more due to the misuse of the meter than the inherent design of the device. There are accounts of the meter's use during hundreds of dives without incidences of the "Bends".
I wonder why it wasn't nicknamed the "Deco Meter" in place of "Decom Meter"?
Frank
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Post by tomcatpc on Mar 19, 2017 18:42:36 GMT -8
For some reason I'd like to find a Healthways version of the SOS Decom Meter. It seems that a lot of Diver hate these things, sort of like the deathtrap Heathways double hose mouthpiece? Mark
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