Patent Application
20230276866
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for safety swim wear. More specifically, the present invention is an apparatus for safety swim wear which will provide a means for safe flotation while not impeding or limiting the mobility and bodily function of the user.
There are numerous flotation devices that exist within the prior art currently which address the various safety concerns of users when in a body of water such as the possibility of drowning. Said flotation devices are referred to as personal flotation devices, or PFDs for short, and include devices worn by a user such as a life jacket, a life belt, a flotation collar, and other devices intended to keep users afloat. Typically, these PFDs are only designed to keep the user from drowning by keeping the user afloat with their head and mouth above water in a way that the user does not have to exert energy to stay afloat themselves by treading water. This is ideal for scenarios in which users must stay afloat for an extended period of time or in the event that the user loses consciousness.
The most common PFD device is the life jacket. Life jackets are wearable items that are worn around a user's torso that prevent the head of the user from going below the surface of the water. The substance that allows life jackets to stay afloat is a polyvinyl chloride foam that has a density significantly lower than that of water, making it an ideal flotation assistant. Although the polyvinyl chloride foam material comprises a low density, when implemented into a life jacket, to keep an average human afloat, the amount of this material required is enough to create a rigid, bulky, and obtrusive garment that limits the mobility of the users, and in some cases, causes users to have difficulties performing basic bodily functions, such as breathing. Because of the design and intended use of the existing PFDs, users are not easily able to maneuver through the water as easily as if the PFDs were not being worn. In many cases, the users that would benefit the most from PFDs are those that are learning how to swim; however the size, shape, and unnatural buoyancy distribution of the user makes wearing the PFDs while learning a new skill such as swimming, a difficult and challenging task.
An objective of the present invention is to provide users with a fashionable swim wear composed of a buoyant yet flexible material. By creating a swim wear from a hexagonal, flexible sheets of buoyant material, users will be able to feel comfortable in the water while without having to worry about the potential of drowning. An additional objective of the present invention is to provide a personal flotation device in the form of swimwear that does not impede or obstruct the motion of the user.
The present invention provides a swimwear composed of a buoyant material. The swimwear, covering the torso and portion of the legs or a user, allows for a uniform distribution of buoyancy not otherwise found in the prior art. Furthermore, the construction of the buoyant material, comprising hexagonal low density polyethylene sheets composed of spandex layers and low-density polyethylene, provides buoyancy without limiting the mobility of the user. Stretchable spacing between the hexagonal low density polyethylene sheets provides users with elasticity in a multitude of directions as lacking in the prior art.
All illustrations of the drawings are for the purpose of describing selected versions of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
As a preliminary matter, it will readily be understood by one having ordinary skill in the relevant art that the present disclosure has broad utility and application. As should be understood, any embodiment may incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed aspects of the disclosure and may further incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed features. Furthermore, any embodiment discussed and identified as being “preferred” is considered to be part of a best mode contemplated for carrying out the embodiments of the present disclosure. Other embodiments also may be discussed for additional illustrative purposes in providing a full and enabling disclosure. Moreover, many embodiments, such as adaptations, variations, modifications, and equivalent arrangements, will be implicitly disclosed by the embodiments described herein and fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
Accordingly, while embodiments are described herein in detail in relation to one or more embodiments, it is to be understood that this disclosure is illustrative and exemplary of the present disclosure, and are made merely for the purposes of providing a full and enabling disclosure. The detailed disclosure herein of one or more embodiments is not intended, nor is to be construed, to limit the scope of patent protection afforded in any claim of a patent issuing here from, which scope is to be defined by the claims and the equivalents thereof. It is not intended that the scope of patent protection be defined by reading into any claim a limitation found herein that does not explicitly appear in the claim itself.
Additionally, it is important to note that each term used herein refers to that which an ordinary artisan would understand such term to mean based on the contextual use of such term herein. To the extent that the meaning of a term used herein—as understood by the ordinary artisan based on the contextual use of such term—differs in any way from any particular dictionary definition of such term, it is intended that the meaning of the term as understood by the ordinary artisan should prevail.
Furthermore, it is important to note that, as used herein, “a” and “an” each generally denotes “at least one,” but does not exclude a plurality unless the contextual use dictates otherwise. When used herein to join a list of items, “or” denotes “at least one of the items,” but does not exclude a plurality of items of the list. Finally, when used herein to join a list of items, “and” denotes “all of the items of the list.”
The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or similar elements. While many embodiments of the disclosure may be described, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example, substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may be modified by substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosed methods. Accordingly, the following detailed description does not limit the disclosure. Instead, the proper scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims. The present disclosure contains headers. It should be understood that these headers are used as references and are not to be construed as limiting upon the subjected matter disclosed under the header.
Other technical advantages may become readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after review of the following figures and description. It should be understood at the outset that, although exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the figures and described below, the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or not. The present disclosure should in no way be limited to the exemplary implementations and techniques illustrated in the drawings and described below.
Unless otherwise indicated, the drawings are intended to be read together with the specification, and are to be considered a portion of the entire written description of this invention. As used in the following description, the terms “horizontal”, “vertical”, “left”, “right”, “up”, “down” and the like, as well as adjectival and adverbial derivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally”, “rightwardly”, “upwardly”, “radially”, etc.), simply refer to the orientation of the illustrated structure as the particular drawing figure faces the reader. Similarly, the terms “inwardly,” “outwardly” and “radially” generally refer to the orientation of a surface relative to its axis of elongation, or axis of rotation, as appropriate.
The present disclosure includes many aspects and features. Moreover, while many aspects and features relate to, and are described in the context of a floating swimwear apparatus, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to use only in this context.
The present invention comprises a floating swimwear 1 comprising a buoyant material 40. The floating swimwear 1 is composed of said buoyant material 40. Referring to the drawings,
Furthermore, in one embodiment of the present invention, the floating swimwear 1 further comprises a neckband 13, plurality of upper openings, and a plurality of bottom facing openings. The plurality of upper openings comprises a neck opening 141, a left upper opening 142, and a right upper opening 143. The plurality of bottom facing openings comprises a left bottom facing opening 331 and a right bottom facing opening 332. In the preferred embodiment of the present embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
The plurality of upper openings and the plurality of bottom facing openings further comprises a soft elastic lining 42 around each opening. The soft elastic lining 42 is a material that has elastic qualities, including by not limited to spandex. The soft elastic lining 42 forms a band around the extremities of the user wherein the bands compose a neckband 13, two armbands, and two leg bands. The two armbands are positioned circumferentially around the left upper opening 142 and the right upper opening 143. The two leg bands are positioned circumferentially around the left bottom facing opening 331 and the right bottom facing opening 332.
The present invention may further comprise at least one zipper assembly extending downwardly from the neckband 13, as shown in one embodiment as shown in
The first zipper assembly 130, as shown in
The rear zipper assembly 230, as shown in
For the exception of the soft elastic lining 42, the floating swimwear 1 is composed of the buoyant material 40 as shown in
In alternative embodiments of the present invention, as shown in
In the embodiment of the present invention as shown in
The buckle assembly 220 of the aforementioned embodiment comprises an at least one male buckle component 221, an at least one female buckle component 222, an at least one male buckle strap 223, and an at least one female buckle strap 224. The middle buckle assembly 220 may comprise a plurality of male buckle components 221, a plurality of female buckle components 222, a plurality of male buckle straps 223, and a plurality of female buckle straps 224. In the preferred embodiment of the embodiment of the present invention as shown in
In alternative embodiments as shown in
The present invention is not intended to be limited to any dimension and thus the present invention is able to be manufactured for adults and children as shown in
Because the floating swimwear 1 is composed substantially and uniformly of the buoyant material 40, when worn, the users will experience a buoyancy distribution that resembles natural buoyancy, as shown in
Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
The current application claims a priority to the U.S. Provisional Patent application Ser. No. 63/317,153 filed on Mar. 7, 2022.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63317153 | Mar 2022 | US |
