Claims
- 1. A child's safety swimwear comprising:(a) a swimsuit; (b) a child locator buoy for assisting the location of a child in distress in water where visibility is restricted, said buoy comprising: (i) a float defining an internal cavity and a passageway to the outer surface thereof, having a shape generally contoured to rest adjacent the small of a child's back and a maximum horizontal dimension at least as great as the maximum vertical dimension, and having an outer surface which sharply contrasts in color with the water, (ii) a spring biased retractor disposed in said internal cavity; and a flexible tether carried by said retractor and extending through said passageway to the outer surface of said float, the weight of said float being insufficient to overcome the bias of said retractor in air so that said float is retained adjacent the small of the child's back so as not to interfere with the play of the child when out of the water and the buoyancy of said float being insufficient to significantly buoy the child so as not to interfere with the normal play of the child in water but sufficient to maintain said float on the surface of the water against the bias of said retractor when the back of the child is submerged so that said float remains on the surface of the water when the child is submerged; and (c) a connector having male and female portions, one of said portions being permanently attached to said swimsuit and the other portion being attached to the distal end of said tether, the visibility of the float thereby aiding in the location of the child when the child is out of the water, swimming or at play on the surface of the water, or under the water.
- 2. The swimwear of claim 1 wherein said swimsuit includes a drawstring and wherein said connector is permanently attached to said drawstring.
- 3. The swimwear of claim 1 wherein said connector is permanently attached to said swimsuit by sewing.
- 4. The swimwear of claim 1 where the portion of said connector attached to said swimsuit is the female portion.
- 5. The swimwear of claim 1 wherein the bias to the tether provided by said retractor is constant.
- 6. The swimwear of claim 1 wherein the bias to the tether provided by said retractor is greater for the withdrawal of the initial portion of the tether than for the withdrawal of the remaining oportion of said tether.
- 7. The swimwear of claim 1 wherein said retractor is housed in a disk-shaped housing.
- 8. The swimwear of claim 1 wherein said pasageway is angled to reduce the binding of the tether in passing therethrough.
- 9. The swimwear of claim 1 wherein said connector requires two hands to operate.
- 10. A child's safety swimwear comprising(a) a child's swimsuit; (b) a child locator buoy for assisting the location of a child in distress in water where visibility is restricted, said buoy comprising: (i) a float defining an internal cavity and a passageway extending to the outer surface thereof at an angle which reduces the likelihood of the binding of a tether in passing therethrough, having a shape generally contoured to rest adjacent the small of a child's back and a maximum horizontal dimension at least as great as the maximum vertical dimension, and having an outer surface which sharply contrasts in color with the water; (ii) a spring biased retractor disposed in said internal cavity; and (iii) a flexible tether carried by said retractor and extending through said passageway to the outer surface of said float, the weight of said float being insufficient to overcome the bias of said retractor in air so that said float is retained adjacent the small of the child's back so as not to interfere with the play of the child when out of the water and the buoyancy of said float being insufficient to significantly buoy the child so as not to interfer with the normal play of the child in water but sufficient to maintain said float on the surface of the water against the bias of said retractor when the back of the child is submerged so that said float remains on the surface of the water when the child is submerged; and (c) a connector having male and female portions, said female portion being permanently attached to said swimsuit and said male portion being attached to the distal end of said tether, the visibility of the float thereby aiding in the location of the child when the child is out of the water, swimming or at play on the surface of the water, or under the water.
- 11. The swimwear of claim 10 wherein said swimsuit includes a drawstring and wherein said male connector is permanently attached to said drawstring; andwherein said retractor is housed in a disk shaped housing.
- 12. A child locator buoy for assisting the location of a child in distress in water where visibility is restricted comprising:a float defining an internal cavity and a passageway to the outer surface thereof, said float having a shape generally contoured to rest in the small of a child's back having the maximum horizontal dimension at least as great as the maximum vertical dimension and having an outer surface of a color which sharply contrasts with water, a spring biased retractor disposed in said internal cavity; and a flexible tether carried by said retractor and extending through said passageway to the outer surface of said float, said tether terminating at the distal end with a fastener adapted for removable attachment to an article of clothing worn by the child such that said float is positioned adjacent to the small of the child's back when the tether is fully retracted, the weight of said float being insufficient to overcome the bias of said retractor in air so that said float is retained adjacent the small of the child's back so as not to interfere with the play of the child when out of the water; the buoyancy of said float being insufficient to significantly buoy the child so as not to intefere with the normal play of the child in water but sufficient to maintain said float on the surface of the water against the bias of said retractor when the back of the child is submerged so that said float visibly remains on the surface of the water, when the child is submerged, and the visibility of the float thereby aiding in the location of the child when the child is out of the water, swimming or at play on the surface of the water, or under the water.
- 13. Appartus comprising in combination:an article of swimwear; a beach toy; a selectively releasble connector having a male portion and a female portion, one of said portions being permanently attached to said swimwear and the other portion thereof being attached to said beach toy.
- 14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the portion of said connector attached to said beach toy is a female portion.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/933,763 filed Aug. 22, 2001 entitled “CHILD LOCATOR BOUY,” now U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,605 dated Mar. 4, 2003.
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
5037341 |
Howard |
Aug 1991 |
A |
5638581 |
Burke |
Jun 1997 |
A |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/933763 |
Aug 2001 |
US |
Child |
10/356491 |
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US |