An exhaust valve for inflatable diving equipment includes a valve body having an annular peripheral flange providing a sealing stable connection with a band of material along the edge of a passage opening in the delimiting wall of a hollow body, and a cylindrical collar surrounded by the annular flange and provided with coupling members to corresponding coupling members of a cover cap of the valve body. The cylindrical collar internally defines an annular valve seat that surrounds an opening communicating with the hollow body and that cooperates with a shutter provided on the side of the valve seat opposite to the internal space of the hollow body and stably stressed, in the closed position, against the valve seat, by an elastic element interposed between a wall of the cover cap and the facing side of the shutter. Optional displacement organs move the shutter from the stable closed position of the valve to an open position. The cover cap covers the valve seat and the shutter toward the outside and has a passage opening coupled with an interception and/or a deflection screen of particles or other suspended material, leaving free or openable a discharge passage.

Diving equipment includes a compressed air bottle connected to a breathing apparatus and an inflatable jacket via which buoyancy is balanced by the jacket being connected to the compressed air bottle to be inflated or to an outlet to be deflated. A monitoring device is activated via a control valve as a function of surrounding water pressure and has a time monitoring unit which, after the expiry of a defined time and in the absence of breathing activity in the breathing apparatus, changes to emergency operation and activates an emergency valve via a control line connecting the jacket to the compressed air bottle to force inflation of the jacket. Actuation of at least one regulating valve is influenced during a dive by the monitoring device and/or the control valve. In manual activation, the jacket is inflated via the inflation valve, and the compressed air is bled via the outlet valve.

A vent valve for a buoyancy control device (“BCD”) suitable for divers, where the valve may be opened by any combination of over-pressure, manual pressure relief or a powered means, where a force to a valve plug is applied by means of a spring that is constrained to prevent entirely lateral and angular movement but in which movement of the plug in the axis of the seat is unconstrained. An automatic buoyancy control device suitable for free-swimming divers, providing the functions that may include a controlled ascent rate, controlled descent rates, the imposition of a maximum depth limit, the facility to hold a set depth and to follow a dive profile or decompression profile. The device, control process and subsystems provide a high safe failure fraction.

A command and control assembly for inflating and deflating a hydrostatic balancing jacket includes a primary supply duct connected to an end of an air chamber of the jacket and provided, at the opposite end, with a hand piece having a mouthpiece device. A connection socket is provided on the hand piece, which is in fluid communication with a secondary supply duct connected to a compressed air tank, and a pneumatic actuation duct actuates a discharge valve of the jacket, which is in fluid communication with the secondary supply duct. Control systems of the delivery from the secondary duct, of the delivery to the pneumatic actuation duct, and of the delivery from the mouthpiece are arranged on the hand piece.

A buoyancy compensator bladder includes an air cell, a connector, a low-pressure inflator (LPI), and at least one over pressure valve. The LPI which inflates and deflates the air cell is positioned on an outer surface of the air cell. As a result, when the fully assembled buoyancy compensator is equipped by a diver, the LPI runs from behind the diver's torso and under their armpit. This results in the inflator head which is part of the LPI to be disposed on the front of the diver's chest during back mount or side mount diving. This structure allows the bladder to be easily used for either back mount or side mount diving. The bladder may further be equipped with auxiliary/non-essential devices such as wight pockets/pouches.

A buoyancy control jacket (1) for scuba diving that includes at least one air chamber (2) with a variable volume delimited by an outer wall (2a) and an inner wall (2b), an abdominal closing strap, and a removable association device between the inner wall (2b) and the abdominal strap, the removable association device including first and second connectors respectively attached to the inner wall (2b) and to the strap, a retainer that retains the second connector relative to the first connector along an axis that is substantially orthogonal to the strap, and a means of rotation about said axis of the second connector relative to the first connector.

A buoyancy control jacket (1) for scuba diving that includes at least one air chamber (2) with a variable volume delimited by an outer wall (2a) and an inner wall (2b), an abdominal closing strap, and a removable association device between the inner wall (2b) and the abdominal strap, the removable association device including first and second connectors respectively attached to the inner wall (2b) and to the strap, a retainer that retains the second connector relative to the first connector along an axis that is substantially orthogonal to the strap, and a means of rotation about said axis of the second connector relative to the first connector.

A buoyancy control device having a back panel and including at least one flotation bladder, which at least one flotation bladder is configured with the device for controllable inflation and deflation, and connected thereto a harness arrangement for securing the device to a body of a user, the device having a cylinder-mounting mechanism arranged to enable front or side mounting of at least one breathable gas cylinder is useful for snorkeling and diving or repeated diving from snorkeling. A particularly preferred configuration provides a lightweight device of less than 5 kg and an apparatus of no more than 10 kg whereby carriage to and from snorkeling and/or diving location is simplified.

The device (50) includes at least one electronic circuit (52) and a battery (53) provided for powering the circuit, wherein the circuit and the battery are included in a block of hydrophobic material, for example a block of resin (51). The battery is, for example, an inductively charged battery and the device can include optical sockets (56a, 56b, 56c) for fiber-optic cables, so as to avoid all contact of metal parts with water. Such a device is especially suitable for a buoyancy compensator vest, for use as a stabilizer during immersion and as a closed-circuit rebreather.

A command and control assembly for inflating and deflating a hydrostatic balancing jacket includes a primary supply duct connected to an end of an air chamber of the jacket and provided, at the opposite end, with a hand piece having a mouthpiece device. A connection socket is provided on the hand piece, which is in fluid communication with a secondary supply duct connected to a compressed air tank, and a pneumatic actuation duct actuates a discharge valve of the jacket, which is in fluid communication with the secondary supply duct. Control systems of the delivery from the secondary duct, of the delivery to the pneumatic actuation duct, and of the delivery from the mouthpiece are arranged on the hand piece.