Patent Application
20240083559
The present invention relates generally to boat safety devices, and more particularly to a wearable flotation harness with a kinetic safety strap system.
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
When traveling by boat on open water, the speed of the boat plays a large impact on the forces encountered by the boat passengers. For example, a 30-foot boat traveling at 5-10 mph in sea swells of 1.5 ft to 2 ft results in a noticeable and somewhat gentle up and down movement of the boat and passengers. However, the same vessel traveling at 20-25 mph in the identical seas results in much more rapid up and down movements wherein the bow lifts out of the water and then violently crashes down with each swell. Of course, this movement is greatly exacerbated with smaller boats and/or increased wave size or speed.
To this end, many passengers will attempt to remain seated during rough seas. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for these individuals to experience short term or long-term injuries to their neck or back due to the rapid crashing motion of the boat. Conversely, when these individuals remain standing, they are at risk of falling which can cause additional injuries.
In order to ensure boater safety, the United States Coast Guard mandates that each vessel have at least one USCG-approved life vest for every passenger. Although this requirement helps to ensure that a passenger who falls overboard will remain on the surface of the water, it does not help to prevent the passenger from falling in the first place. Moreover, it does nothing to ease the discomfort to the passenger during rough rides.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide a boat flotation harness and kinetic safety system that can be utilized by passengers on many different types of vessels so as to overcome the drawbacks noted above.
The present invention is directed to a flotation harness and kinetic safety system. One embodiment of the present invention can include a vest-style harness body having a pair of front panels, a back panel, a head opening, a body opening and a pair of arm openings. The harness can include an internal buoyant material for functioning as a personal flotation device when a user wearing the harness is suspended in water. In the preferred embodiment, the harness will be constructed and certified by the United States Coast Guard as an approved personal flotation device.
An elongated kinetic recovery cord is connected to the back panel. The cord can include a length adjustment mechanism, an elastomeric construction, and can include a clip for engaging an overhead portion of a boat. At least one adjustment belt can be positioned along the harness body for securing the harness about the torso of a user, and a pelvic support panel can extend down from the back panel of the harness body and connect to the front panels. The pelvic support panel can work in conjunction with the kinetic recovery cord to selectively support the weight of a user as the boat encounters waves.
This summary is provided merely to introduce certain concepts and not to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter.
Presently preferred embodiments are shown in the drawings. It should be appreciated, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.
While the specification concludes with claims defining the features of the invention that are regarded as novel, it is believed that the invention will be better understood from a consideration of the description in conjunction with the drawings. As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention which can be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the inventive arrangements in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. Further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting but rather to provide an understandable description of the invention.
As described throughout this document, the term “about” “approximately” “substantially” and “generally” shall be used interchangeably to describe a feature, shape, or measurement of a component within a tolerance such as, for example, manufacturing tolerances, measurement tolerances or the like.
As described herein, the term “removably secured,” and derivatives thereof shall be used to describe a situation wherein two or more objects are joined together in a non-permanent manner so as to allow the same objects to be repeatedly joined and separated.
As described throughout this document, the term “complementary shape,” and “complementary dimension,” shall be used to describe a shape and size of a component that is identical to, or substantially identical to the shape and size of another identified component within a tolerance such as, for example, manufacturing tolerances, measurement tolerances or the like.
As described herein, the term “connector” includes any number of different elements that work alone or together to repeatedly join two items together in a nonpermanent manner. Several nonlimiting examples of connectors include, but are not limited to, flexible strips of interlocking projections with a slider (i.e., zipper), thread-to-connect, twist-to-connect, and push-to-connect type devices, opposing strips of hook and loop material (e.g., Velcro®), attractively oriented magnetic elements or magnetic and metallic elements, buckles such as side release buckles, clamps, sockets, clips, carabiners, and compression fittings such as T-handle rubber draw latches, hooks, snaps and buttons, for example. Each illustrated connector and complementary connector can be permanently secured to the illustrated portion of the device via a permanent sealer such as glue, adhesive tape, or stitching, for example.
As described herein, the term “resilient memory” is defined as the ability of a component to maintain a particular shape and to attempt to return to the particular shape after being bent, stretched, folded, twisted or otherwise manipulated.
As shown in the drawings, the system 10 can include, essentially, a flotation harness 11 having a kinetic recovery cord 20 that is removably coupled to an overhead area of a boat.
In the preferred embodiment, the flotation harness 11 can include the illustrated vest design having front panels 11a and 11b, a back panel 11c, arm openings 11d and 11e, a neck opening 11f and a body opening 11g. As described herein, the harness can be constructed in any number of different sizes so as to be worn by male or female users ranging from small children to adults with any body style.
In one embodiment, the harness 11 will be constructed from materials suitable for providing flotation to a wearer in a fresh or saltwater environment. For example, the vest may be constructed from an outer nylon or neoprene fabric that encloses buoyant closed cell foam, for example. To this end, the vest 11 will preferably be constructed in accordance with current United States Coast Guard standards, so as to comprise a type 1, type 2 or type 3 USCG approved personal flotation device.
In one embodiment, a plurality of adjustment belts 12 can be positioned along the main body. Each of the belts 12 can include connectors 12a and 12b, such as the illustrated male and female buckles, for example, which can function to allow a user to tighten the harness securely about their body. Although not specifically illustrated, any number of additional adjustment belts may be provided at different locations along the outside surface, and/or the inside surface of the harness to permit the user to adjust the fit of the harness to suit their body in any number of different ways.
In one embodiment, a pelvic support panel 13 can extend downward from the back panel 11b. The pelvic support panel can be removably secured to the front panels 11a and 11b via additional connectors 14a and 14b, such as twist lock fasteners, for example, however, any number of other connectors can be used.
The pelvic support panel is designed to be positioned between the legs of a user, and to support the weight of the user when the harness is secured to an overhead portion of a boat. To this end, the pelvic support panel will preferably be constructed from the same cushioned and buoyant material as the harness body 11, so as to provide a soft and malleable surface for contacting with the body of the wearer. Depending on the anticipated weight of the wearer, the pelvic support panel may include one or more inelastic straps 13a which can be positioned within the support material.
Although described above with regard to a particular shape, size or construction material, this is for illustrative purposes only, as many other shapes, sizes and construction materials are also contemplated. For example, the pelvic strap can be formed to include two leg openings for receiving the legs of a user. The leg openings may be adjustable or may include connectors for opening and securing the leg openings about the thighs/upper legs of the user.
As shown best at
As shown, the cord can include a first end 21a, having a releasable clip 22 or other such connector thereon. The releasable clip functions to secure the cord onto an overhead area of a boat during operation. Additionally, a length adjustment mechanism 23 can be provided along the middle portion 21b of the cord, to permit users to adjust the length of the cord to suit their height.
In the preferred embodiment, the second end 21c of the cord can be permanently connected to the back panel 11c of the harness via reinforced stitching or other such components, and a guide loop 24 can be positioned adjacent to the neck opening 11f to orient the cord upward during use.
As shown best at
Although described above with regard to a single cord 20 that is located centrally along the back panel of the harness, other embodiments are contemplated. To this end,
As described herein, each of the cords 51 and 52 can be substantially identical to the cord 20 described above. To this end, each of the cords can include releasable clips 53a and 53b that are substantially identical to the releasable clip 22 described above, length adjustment mechanisms 54a and 54b that are substantially identical to the length adjustment mechanism 23 described above, and storage pockets 55a and 55b that are substantially identical to the pocket 31 described above.
By providing a plurality of cords which extend from the harness, the system advantageously allow a user to remain comfortably suspended from an overhead portion of the boat with their feet off the ground indefinitely. Such a feature permits the system to act as a shock absorbing seat or swing for use on the boat regardless of the sea conditions.
As to a further description of the manner and use of the present invention, the same should be apparent from the above description. Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided.
Although the above embodiments have been described as including separate individual elements, the inventive concepts disclosed herein are not so limiting. To this end, one of skill in the art will recognize that one or more individually identified elements may be formed together as one or more continuous elements, either through manufacturing processes, such as welding, casting, or molding, or through the use of a singular piece of material milled or machined with the aforementioned components forming identifiable sections thereof.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. Likewise, the term “consisting” shall be used to describe only those components identified. In each instance where a device comprises certain elements, it will inherently consist of each of those identified elements as well.
The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Application Ser. No. 63/405,352 filed on Sep. 9, 2022, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63405352 | Sep 2022 | US |
