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well i thought it would scan up better then this but oh well. let me explain. you will notice an outer sleve and an inner sleve. both are pvc
the solid black lines are flat neoporene rings that are secured to the inner sleve and sandwiched for much of there surface area between two washers. this creates four separate chambers. the inner sleeve with rings slide up and down inside the outer sleve.
note: the valve is shown in the closed position (all the way up)
note: the valve must be upwright to function
note: this is 1 and 1/4 X 3 and 3/4 inches
top chamber; allows water to flow in wich releives the lock that would be present otherwise
the next chamber down provides closing force for the valve via tiny holes at the base of the chamber and maintains positive pressure up. keeping the valve closed(the holes are inside the bag)
the next chamber down is the air release chamber. the inner sleeve in this chamber has holes drilled in it wich vents it to the olny open end, the top side (water side)
as the inner sleeve is pulled down, air is introduced from the next chamber down. the available air chamber. this chamber is vented to the air at the top of the lift bag. so as the neoporeene slides past the holes drilled in the outer sleeve, air rushes into the chamber, through the proforated inner sleeve and out of the bag. when released the valve returns to the closed position.
what is not in this diagram is a lot of things; like a mechanical stop at the top, a spring set to aid in closing (may not be needed), a way to connect to the bag, or a gaurantee. when i set out to design this i thought the end result would be a lot different. this could be turned in to something usefull but is a prototype at best. i have exact specs for almost every dimension of this thing so if you want em lemme know and i will pm them to you. also if anybody has any idea how the neoporene would behave @ depth lemme know. well its been fun. i hope you enjoyed figuring out the operation of this thing as much as i did. take care
JW