Wetsuit

Abstract

A wetsuit includes a wetsuit jacket having a hem, wetsuit pants having an upper sack body, a strap portion of waterproof material provided on an inside circumference of the hem of the wetsuit jacket, a fixed portion at which an upper end of the strap portion is watertightly fixed to the inside circumference of the hem of the wetsuit jacket and press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at portions of mutual contact in a state where the upper sack body is sandwiched between the hem and the strap portion for preventing deviation of the mutual contact portions.

Description

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-157576 filed on Jun. 3, 2003 and 2003-391347 filed on Dec. 20, 2003, the entire disclosure of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a wetsuit, and more particularly to a separate type wetsuit including a wetsuit jacket potion and a wetsuit pants portion.

2. Description of Related Art

Conventional wetsuits are generally formed in a one piece, and a zipper provided on the back thereof is utilized when putting on or taking off a wetsuit. Since the zipper has no flexibility unlike the wetsuit material, it is liable to break during the forward bending motion of the wearer and causes a low back pain (LBP). To solve these problems, Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3,007,334 discloses a two-piece wetsuit having a structure as shown in FIGS. 11(A)-(C). As shown in these figures, the hem of a wetsuit jacket 31 and the upper sack body of pants 33 are each provided with a folding allowance L (FIG. 11(A)). First, the folding allowances are overlapped (FIG. 11(B1)), and then folded back twice downward to be joined together in the so-called flat lock joint (FIG. 11(B2) and FIG. 11(B3)).

However, since the flat lock joint operation is cumbersome and requires a technical skill, the wearer has encountered a difficulty in performing the operation by oneself. Furthermore, since the portion of the flat lock joint comprises quintuple wetsuit materials, the wearer feels the portion rough and, during the wearer's activity, feels uncomfortable. Moreover, there is a possibility of the quintuple wetsuit material portion being unfolded during the wearer's activity.

The description herein of advantages and disadvantages of various features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed in other publications is in no way intended to limit the present invention. Indeed, certain features of the invention may be capable of overcoming certain disadvantages, while still retaining some or all of the features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed therein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been developed in view of the above-mentioned and/or other problems in the related art. The preferred embodiments of the present invention can significantly improve upon existing methods and/or apparatuses.

Among other potential advantages, some embodiments can provide a wetsuit capable of easily joining a wetsuit jacket and wetsuit pants without performing the flat lock joint operation making that portion quintuple and maintaining the highly watertight joint portion.

According to a first aspect of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a wetsuit includes a wetsuit jacket having a hem, wetsuit pants having an upper sack body, a strap portion of waterproof material provided on an inside circumference of the hem of the wetsuit jacket, a fixed portion at which an upper end of the strap portion is watertightly fixed to the inside circumference of the hem of the wetsuit jacket, and press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at portions of mutual contact in a state where the upper sack body is sandwiched between the hem and the strap portion for preventing deviation of the mutual contact portions.

According to a second aspect of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a wetsuit includes a wetsuit jacket having a hem, wetsuit pants having an upper sack body, a first strap portion of waterproof material provided on an inside circumference of the upper sack body of the wetsuit pants, a second strap portion of waterproof material provided on an inside circumference of the hem of the water suit jacket and press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at portions of mutual contact among the first strap portion, the second strap portion, the upper sack body of the wetsuit pants and the hem of the wetsuit jacket in a quadruple sandwich fashion for preventing deviation of the mutual contact portions.

In the first or second aspect, the press-on and split-off fastener tapes have a longitudinal length compensating for a variation of elongation of a wearer. It is noted that the longitudinal length of the press-on and split-off fastener tapes falls within the range of the longitudinal length of the separate portion.

In the first or second aspect, the wetsuit jacket is formed of polychloroprene or other flexible material exhibiting same levels of a waterproof property and a heat-retention property as the polychloroprene. The strap portion or the first and second strap portions of waterproof material is or are formed of a material identical with the material of the wetsuit jacket, and the wetsuit jacket and wetsuit pants each have a vertical dimension set so that the mutual contact portions are positioned at a lumbar section of a wearer.

The first or second aspect further comprises an auxiliary belt to be provided on the press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided on the mutual contact portions and that is furnished with other press-on and split-off fastener tapes to fasten the upper sack body in cooperation with the press-on and split-off fastener tapes.

The wetsuit further comprises press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at the hem of the jacket on a back of a wearer in the first aspect, or at the second strap portion or the hem of the jacket on a back of a wearer in the second aspect, and press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at opposite ends of the auxiliary belt for cooperating with the press-on and split-off fastener tapes to attain fixation.

According to a third aspect of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a wetsuit includes separate portions into which hand parts or foot parts of the wetsuit are separated, a strap portion of waterproof material having an upper end, provided on an inside circumference of one of the separate portions and a fixed portion at which the upper end of the strap portion is watertightly fixed to the inside circumference, the wetsuit manifesting a waterproof function in a state of the other of the separate portions sandwiched between the one separate portion and the strap portion.

According to a fourth aspect of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a wetsuit includes separate portions into which hand parts or foot parts of the wetsuit are separated, a first strap portion of waterproof material disposed on an inside circumference of one of the separate portions, a second strap portion of waterproof material disposed on an inside circumference of the other of the separate portions and press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at portions of mutual contact among the first strap portion, second strap portion, one separate portion and other separate portion superposed in that order from a side dose to a body of a wearer in a quadruple sandwich fashion for preventing deviation of the mutual contact portions.

According to the present invention, there can be provided a wetsuit capable of easily joining a wetsuit jacket and wetsuit pants without performing the conventional flat lock joint operation making that portion quintuple and maintaining the joint portion highly watertight

At the separate portion between the jacket and the pants, a variation in elongation of the wearer can be compensated for. In addition, the sandwiched portion is positioned at the lumbar section of the wearer to enhance the heat-retention effect at the lumbar section of the wearer. Furthermore, the effect of fastening the lumbar section of the wearer by the auxiliary belt can expect the prevention of an LBP. Moreover, the auxiliary belt for fastening the upper sack portion of the pants can enhance the watertightness in conjunction with the press-on and split-off fastener tapes and, at the same time, enhance the effect of preventing deviation between the jacket and the pants to prevent the auxiliary belt and the wetsuit from being deviated

The above and/or other aspects, features and/or advantages of various embodiments will be further appreciated in view of the following description in conjunction with the accompanying figures. Various embodiments can include and/or exclude different aspects, features and/or advantages where applicable. In addition, various embodiments can combine one or more aspect or feature of other embodiments where applicable. The descriptions of aspects, features and/or advantages of particular embodiments should not be construed as limiting other embodiments or the claims.

The above and other objects, characteristic features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the description to be give herein below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown by way of example, and not limitation, in the accompanying figures, in which:

FIG. 1(A) is an entire schematic view showing a wetsuit according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1(B) is an enlarged longitudinal cross-section showing a portion B in FIG. 1(A);

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view illustrating the former part of how to put on the wetsuit shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3(A) is an explanatory view illustrating the latter part of how to put on the wetsuit shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3(B) is a perspective view showing an auxiliary belt used in FIG. 3(A);

FIG. 4(A) is an entire schematic view showing a wetsuit according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4(B) is an enlarged longitudinal cross-section showing a portion B in FIG. 4(A);

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view illustrating the initial part of how to put on the wetsuit shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5(A) being a front view thereof and FIG. 5(B) being a longitudinally sectioned side view thereof;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view illustrating the intermediate part of how to put on the wetsuit shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 6(A) being a front view thereof and FIG. 6(B) being a longitudinally sectioned side view thereof;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view illustrating the final part of how to put on the wetsuit shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 7(A) being a front view thereof and FIG. 7(B) being a longitudinally sectioned side view thereof;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view illustrating how to take off a wetsuit jacket shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 4, FIG. 8(A) being a front view thereof and FIG. 8(B) being a longitudinally sectioned side view thereof;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing a wetsuit having separated wrist regions and separated ankle regions according to still another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10(A1), FIG. 10(A2) and FIG. 10(A3) are schematic views showing different examples of the wetsuit jacket according to the present invention, and FIG. 10(B1) and FIG. 10(B2) are schematic views showing different examples of the wetsuit pants according to the present invention; and

FIG. 11(A) is an entire schematic view showing a conventional two-piece wetsuit, FIG. 11(B1), FIG. 11(B2) and FIG. 11(B3) are explanatory views sequentially showing how to put on the wetsuit shown in FIG. 11(A), and FIG. 11(C) is an enlarged cross-section showing part of FIG. 11(B3).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following paragraphs, some preferred embodiments of the invention will be described by way of example and not limitation. It should be understood based on this disclosure that various other modifications can be made by those in the art based on these illustrated embodiments.

The first embodiment of the wetsuit according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3. In this embodiment, the portion to which the present invention is applied is, as shown in FIG. 1(A), a separate portion B between a wetsuit jacket 3 and wetsuit pants 5 constituting a two-piece wetsuit 1A of waterproof material.

As shown in FIG. 1(B), in the separate portion B, the hem of the wetsuit jacket 3 is provided on the inside circumference thereof with a strap portion 7 of waterproof material that has a vertical length in the range of about 20 to about 25 cm. The upper edge of the strap portion 7 is fixed by adhesion, fusion or other such means watertightly to the inside circumference of the wetsuit jacket 3 to form a fixed portion 9 over the entire upper edge circumference of the strap portion 7.

When putting on the wetsuit, the upper sack body 11 of the wetsuit pants 5 is sandwiched between the hem of the wetsuit jacket 3 and the strap portion 7 (FIG. 1(B)). Belcro® tapes 13a and 13b are provided respectively at portions of contact between the inside of the hem of the wetsuit jacket 3 and the outside of the upper sack body 11 of the wetsuit pants 5. Incidentally, the sizes of the hem of the wetsuit jacket 3 and upper sack body 11 of the pants 5 are preferably made narrower and tighter by about 5 to about 7 cm than those of a conventional wetsuit to attain the enhancement of waterproofness and the elimination of an LBP cause.

A Belcro® fastener 13 is one of the press-on and split-off type fasteners and comprises a piled cloth tape (female tape) and a rigid cloth tape (male tape) with projecting thread wire clasps. The two cloth tapes are pressed on by hand against each other to attain fixation and are called magic tapes. The waterproof material for the strap portion 7 is the same as the material for the wetsuit jacket 3 that is polychloroprene. The vertical dimensions of the wetsuit jacket 3 and pants 5 are set so that the portion sandwiched between the cloth tapes can be positioned at the lumbar section of the wearer.

The Belcro® fastener 13 is provided at five places or so in the circumferential direction and has a width of around 5 cm and a vertical length of around 12 cm. While these sizes are optionally determined, they are desirably sizes capable of compensating for a variation of the elongation of the wearer.

An auxiliary belt 15 for tightening the upper sack portion 11 of the pants 5 is disposed substantially at the center of the Belcro® fastener 13 in the vertical direction thereof. The auxiliary belt 15 is provided, on the outside thereof, with another Belcro® tape 13c to be in contact with the Belcro® tape 13a on the inside of the hem of the wetsuit jacket 3 to attain fixation and on the inside thereof with another Belcro® tape 13d to be in contact with the Belcro® tape 13b on the outside of the upper sack body 11 of the wetsuit pants 5. Thus, the Belcro® tapes 13c and 13d also function to fix the opposite sides of the auxiliary belt 15 per se. The auxiliary belt 15 has elasticity large enough not to afford uncomfortable feeling to the wearer during the wearer's activity.

Now, how to put on the two-piece wetsuit will be described. The wearer first puts on the pants 5 and then the jacket 3. Subsequently, the wearer rolls up the jacket 3 as shown in FIG. 2 to expose the strap portion 7, and then the strap portion 7 is deeply covered by the upper sack body 11 of the pants 5 (FIG. 3(A)). At this time, the opposite sides of the auxiliary belt 5 are fixed by means of the Belcro® tapes 13c and 13d, and the Belcro® tape 13d on the inside of the auxiliary belt 15 is in contact with the Belcro® tape 13b on the upper sack body 11 of the pants 5 to fix the auxiliary belt and the upper sack body 11 to each other.

In that state, the jacket 3 is rolled down. As a result, the Belcro® tape 13c on the outside of the auxiliary belt 15 and the upper and lower portions of the Belcro® tape 13b on the upper sack body 11 of the pants 5 not in contact with the Belcro® tape 13d are in contact with the Belcro® tape 13a on the inside of the hem of the jacket 3 to fix the jacket, auxiliary belt and pants altogether.

In this way, the jacket 3 and the pants 5 are easily joined together without performing the flat lock joint operation, thereby eliminating the formation of a material quintuple portion. In the quintuple portion of the material subjected to the flat lock joint operation (FIG. 11(C)), since the center doubled inside portion of the pants does not form any water invasion route, the route ultimately assumes the letter S describing 1.5 reciprocations of the vertical length of the flat lock joint. On the other hand, the water invasion route of the present invention assumes the letter V describing a reciprocation of the vertical length of the sandwiched portion, thereby trapping water in the water invasion route in the same manner as in the case of the S-shaped route to expect substantially the same watertightness as in the case of the S-shaped route.

In the present invention, further watertightness can be secured in the presence of the auxiliary belt 15. The auxiliary belt 15 can highly prevent, in cooperation with the Belcro® fastener 13, the jacket 3 and the pants 5 from being deviated to prevent deviation between the auxiliary belt 15 and the wetsuit 1A. With this, no deviation will arise even during the strenuous activity by the wearer. In addition, the vertical length of the Belcro® fastener 13 is set to be a sufficient length of 12 cm, for example, to compensate for the variation in elongation of the wearer. Furthermore, the sandwiched portion of polychloroprene is positioned at the lumbar section of the wearer to heighten the heat-retention effect and enables an LBP from which a wearer will suffer to be prevented.

While the number of the Belcro® fasteners 13 provided in the circumferential direction is four or five in the present embodiment, it can be three or less, or six or more. While in the present embodiment the Belcro® fasteners 13 provided on the sandwiched portion are specifically placed on the inside of the hem of the jacket 3 and on the outside of the upper sack body of the pants 5, these can be placed on the inside of the upper sack body 11 of the pants 5 and on the outside of the strap portion 7, or on the four sides.

While the jacket 3 in the present embodiment has the long sleeves, it can have short sleeves (FIG. 10(A2)) or no sleeve like a vest (FIG. 10(A3)) besides a jacket with long sleeves (FIG. 10(A1)). The pants 5 can be short-pants (FIG. 10(B2)) besides long pants (FIG. 10(B1)). Any combination of the jackets 3 and pants 5 shown in FIG. 10 can optionally be adopted.

While the auxiliary belt 15 is used in the present embodiment, it is not necessarily required.

The second embodiment of the wetsuit according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 4 to FIG. 8. In a separate portion B between a wetsuit jacket 3 and wetsuit pants 5 constituting a wetsuit 1B of the second embodiment, the lower edge of a first strap portion B1 and the upper edge of a second strap portion B2 each of waterproof material are fixed by adhesion, fusion or other such means watertightly, respectively, to the inside circumference of an upper sack body 11 of the pants 5 and to the insider circumference of a hem S11 of the jacket 3 to form fixed portions 9 over the entire circumferences of the first and second strap portions. Each of the first and second strap portions has a vertical length in the range of about 20 to about 25 cm. However, the strap portions may be formed integrally with the pants 5 or jacket 3.

The first strap portion B1, the second strap portion B2, the upper sack body 11 of the pants 5 and the hem S11 of the jacket 3 are superposed in the order mentioned from the side close to the body of a wearer, like a quadruple sandwich. Velcro® tapes B15 are provided as press-on and split-off fastener tapes between the adjacent portions. To be specific, the Velcro® tapes are provided on the outside of the first strap portion B1, on the outside and inside of the upper sack body 11 of the pants 5, on the outside and inside of the second strap portion B2 and on the inside of the hem S11 of the jacket 3 for the purpose of preventing mutual deviation so that these are in contact with one another. Incidentally, the sizes of the hem of the wetsuit jacket 3 and upper sack body 11 of the pants 5 are preferably made narrower and tighter by about 5 to about 7 cm than those of a conventional wetsuit.

The waterproof material for the strap portions is the same as the material for the jacket 3 that is polychloroprene or other such flexible material exhibiting the same levels of a waterproof property and a heat-retention property as the polychloroprene. The vertical dimensions of the jacket 3 and pants 5 are set so that the sandwiched portion of polychloroprene or other such flexible material can be positioned at the lumbar section of the wearer.

The Belcro® tape B15 is provided at four places or so in the circumferential direction including the back side of the wearer and has a width of around 5 cm and a vertical length of around 12 cm. While these sizes are optionally determined, they are desirably sizes capable of compensating for a variation of the elongation of the wearer.

Auxiliary belts 19 for tightening the upper sack portion 11 of the pants 5 are disposed substantially at the center of the Belcro® tape B15 in the vertical direction thereof. Each of the auxiliary belts 19 is provided on the outside thereof with another Belcro® tape B15 to be in contact with the Belcro® tape B15 on the inside of the hem S11 of the wetsuit jacket 3 to attain fixation and on the inside thereof with another Belcro® tape B15 to be in contact with the Belcro® tape B15 on the outside of the upper sack body 11 of the wetsuit pants 5 to attain fixation. Thus, the Belcro® tapes B15 provided on the outside and inside of each auxiliary belt 19 also function to fix the opposite sides of each auxiliary belt 19 per se. The auxiliary belts 19 have elasticity large enough not to afford uncomfortable feeling to the wearer during the wearer's activity.

Each of the auxiliary belts 19 is also provided, at one end thereof, with a continuous Belcro® tape B15 that is in contact with and is fixed to the Belcro® tape B15 on the hem S11 of the jacket 3 or on the second strap portion B2 at the side of the back of the wearer. The wearer can easily take off the jacket 3 by oneself by grasping the respective other ends of the auxiliary belts 19 in hand and pulling the other ends upward over the wearer's shoulder.

It will be described how the two-piece wetsuit 1B is put on. The wearer first puts on the pants 5 and then the jacket 3. Subsequently, the wearer rolls down the upper sack body 11 of the pants 5 as shown in FIG. 5 to expose the outside of the first strap portion B1 provided on the inside of the upper sack body. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the wearer rolls up the hem S11 of the jacket 3 to expose the outside of the second strap portion B2 and, at the same time, covers the first strap portion B1 by the second strap portion B2. The second strap portion B2 is then deeply covered by the upper sack body 11 of the pants 5 (FIG. 7). At the upper and lower ends of the Belcro® tapes B15 in the vertical direction thereof the auxiliary belts 19 are fastened from above (FIG. 7). At this time, the opposite sides of the auxiliary belts 19 are fixed by means of the Belcro® tapes B15 on the inside and outside of the auxiliary belts 19. In addition, the Belcro® tapes B15 on the inside of the auxiliary belts 19 is in contact with the Belcro® tape B15 on the upper sack body 11 of the pants 5 to firmly fix the auxiliary belt and upper sack body to each other.

The hem S11 of the jacket 3 is rolled down, with the aforementioned state maintained (FIG. 4 and FIG. 7), with the result that the Belcro® tape B15 on the inside of the hem S11 of the jacket 3 is brought into contact and fixed to the Belcro® tapes B15 on the outside of the auxiliary belts 19 and to portions of the Belcro® tape B15 on the upper sack body 11 of the pants 5 not in contact with the Belcro® tapes B15 on the inside of the auxiliary belts 19. In this way, the jacket 3 and pants 5 are joined together like a quadruple sandwich.

Generally, the wetsuit jacket 3 that has adhered to the back of the wearer due to the invasion of water is difficult to take off. Therefore, anyone will have to assist the wearer off with the wearer's jacket 3. However, the wearer can take off the jacket 3 of the wetsuit 1B with ease in the second embodiment This will be described herein below.

The Belcro® tapes B15 at respective one ends of the auxiliary belts 19 are fixed in contact with and as sandwiched between the Belcro® tapes B15 of the hem S11 of the jacket 3 and second strap portion B2 at the side of the back of the wearer. The wearer grasps the respective other ends of the auxiliary belts 19 in hand and pulls upward over the wearer's shoulder. As a result, the jacket 3 on the side of the back of the wearer can easily be rolled up. The jacket 3 on the side of the front of the wearer is rolled up with both hands by the wearer. Thus, the wearer can take off the jacket 3 by oneself.

In this way, the jacket 3 and the pants 5 are easily joined together without performing the flat lock joint operation, thereby eliminating the formation of a material quintuple portion.

In the quintuple portion of the material subjected to the flat lock joint operation (FIG. 11(C)) in Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3007334, since the center doubled inside portion of the pants does not form any water invasion route, the route ultimately assumes the letter S describing 1.5 reciprocations of the vertical length of the flat lock joint In the first embodiment, the water invasion route assumes the letter V describing a reciprocation of the vertical length of the sandwiched portion. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, the water invasion rout assumes the letter N describing a reciprocation of the vertical length of the sandwiched portion (FIG. 4(B)), thereby trapping water in the water invasion route in the same manner as in the first embodiment to expect a higher level of watertightness than in the first embodiment.

In the second embodiment, further watertightness can be secured in the presence of the auxiliary belts 19. The auxiliary belt 19 can highly prevent, in cooperation with, the Belcro® tapes B15 the jacket 3 and the pants 5 from being deviated to prevent deviation between the auxiliary belts 19 and the wetsuit 1B. With this, no deviation will arise even during the strenuous activity by the wearer.

In addition, the vertical length of the Belcro® tapes B15 is set to be a sufficient length of 12 cm, for example, to compensate for the variation in elongation of the wearer. Furthermore, the sandwiched portion of polychloroprene or other such flexible material exhibiting the same levels of a waterproof property and a heat-retention property as the polychloroprene is positioned at the lumbar section of the wearer to enhance the heat-retention effect and enables an LBP from which a wearer will suffer to be prevented by the effect of fastening the lumbar section with the auxiliary belts.

While the number of the Belcro® tapes B15 provided in the circumferential direction is four in the second embodiment, it can be three, or five or more.

While in the second embodiment the six Belcro® tapes B15 are provided on the sandwiched quadruple portion, specifically on outside of the first strap portion B1, on the inside and outside of the second strap portion B2, on the outside and inside of the upper sack body 11 of the pants 5 and on the inside of the hem S11 of the jacket 3, these can be placed on five places or less, e.g., on the outside of the first strap portion B1, on the inside of the second strap portion B2, on the outside of the upper sack body 11 of the pants 5 and on the inside of the hem S11 of the jacket 3.

While the jacket 3 in the second embodiment has the long sleeves, it can have short sleeves (FIG. 10(A2)) or no sleeve like a vest (FIG. 10(A3)) besides a jacket with long sleeves (FIG. 10(A1)). The pants 5 can be short-pants (FIG. 10(B2)) besides long pants (FIG. 10(B1)). Any combination of the jackets 3 and pants 5 shown in FIG. 10 can optionally be adopted.

While the auxiliary belts 19 are used in the second embodiment, it is not necessarily required.

The third embodiment of the wetsuit according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 9. The wetsuit 21 comprises a main body part 22, foot parts 23 and hand parts 24. It has separate portions B3 between itself and the foot parts and separate portions B4 between itself and the hand parts. Each of the foot parts 23 is integral with a boot, and each of the hand parts 24 is integral with a glove. While the wetsuit 21 is a one-piece one, it may be formed in a two-piece in the same manner as in the first and second embodiments. Onto each of the inside circumferences of ankle cuffs 27 of the main body part 22 is watertightly fixed the upper edge of a strap portion 25, and the upper edge of a strap portion 28 is also watertightly fixed onto each of the inside circumferences of wrist cuffs 30 of the main body part 22. A Belcro® tape is provided on the outsides of the strap portions 25 and 28, on the outsides and insides of the ankle parts 26 of the foot parts 23, on the outsides and insides of the wrist parts 29 of the hand parts and on the insides of the ankle cuffs 27 and wrist cuffs 30 of the main body part 22 to fasten mutually overlapped surfaces therewith. Incidentally, the strap portions 25 and 28 may be fixed respectively onto the inside circumferences of the ankle parts 26 of the foot parts 23 and onto the inside circumferences of the wrist parts 29 of the hand parts 24.

The wearer puts on the main body part 22 and then the foot parts 23 and hand parts 24. Subsequently, the ankle cuffs 27 and wrist cuffs 30 of the main body part 22 of the wetsuit 21 are rolled up, and the ankle parts 26 of the foot parts 23 and wrist parts 29 of the hand parts 24 are deeply covered by the strap portions 25 and 28 rolled downs respectively. At this time, the Belcro® tapes disposed on the triply overlapped portions fasten therewith each surface of the triply overlapped portions, the foot parts 23 and hand parts 24 are joined to the main body part 22 to thereby enable diving gloves and boots to be attached to and detached from the main body part 22 with ease.

While the third embodiment is directed to the case where the foot parts 23 are integral with the boots at the parts lower than the ankle parts 26 and the hand parts 24 are integral with the gloves at the parts lower than the wrist parts 29, the hand parts can be integral with the gloves at the parts lower than the elbows or upper arms, and the foot parts can be integral with the boots at the parts lower than the knees or thighs. In addition, it will be all right that the hand and foot parts are not integrated with the gloves and boots, respectively. The strap portions can be provided not only on the main body part 23, but also on the ankle parts 26 of the foot parts and on the wrist parts 29 of the hand parts to thereby form quadruple overlapped joint portions. The surfaces on which Belcro® tapes are provided can be optionally adopted.

While the present invention may be embodied in many different forms, a number of illustrative embodiments are described herein with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as providing examples of the principles of the invention and such examples are not intended to limit the invention to preferred embodiments described herein and/or illustrated herein.

While illustrative embodiments of the invention have been described herein, the present invention is not limited to the various preferred embodiments described herein, but includes any and all embodiments having equivalent elements, modifications, omissions, combinations (e.g., of aspects across various embodiments), adaptations and/or alterations as would be appreciated by those in the art based on the present disclosure. The limitations in the claims are to be interpreted broadly based on the language employed in the claims and not limited to examples described in the present specification or during the prosecution of the application, which examples are to be construed as non-exclusive. For example, in the present disclosure, the term “preferably” is non-exclusive and means “preferably, but not limited to.” In this disclosure and during the prosecution of this application, means-plus-function or step-plus-function limitations will only be employed where for a specific claim limitation all of the following conditions are present in that limitation: a) “means for” or “step for” is expressly recited; b) a corresponding function is expressly recited; and c) structure, material or acts that support that structure are not recited. In this disclosure and during the prosecution of this application, the terminology “present invention” or “invention” may be used as a reference to one or more aspect within the present disclosure. The language present invention or invention should not be improperly interpreted as an identification of criticality, should not be improperly interpreted as applying across all aspects or embodiments (i.e., it should be understood that the present invention has a number of aspects and embodiments), and should not be improperly interpreted as limiting the scope of the application or claims. In this disclosure and during the prosecution of this application, the terminology “embodiment” can be used to describe any aspect, feature, process or step, any combination thereof, and/or any portion thereof, etc. In some examples, various embodiments may include overlapping features. In this disclosure and during the prosecution of this case, the following abbreviated terminology may be employed: “e.g.” which means “for example;” and “NB” which means “note well.”

Claims

1. A wetsuit, comprising:

a wetsuit jacket having a hem;

wetsuit pants having an upper sack body;

a strap portion of waterproof material provided on an inside circumference of the hem of the wetsuit jacket;

a fixed portion at which an upper end of the strap portion is watertightly fixed to the inside circumference of the hem of the wetsuit jacket; and

press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at portions of mutual contact in a state where the upper sack body is sandwiched between the hem and the strap portion for preventing deviation of the mutual contact portions.

2. A wetsuit, comprising:

a wetsuit jacket having a hem;

wetsuit pants having an upper sack body;

a first strap portion of waterproof material provided on an inside circumference of the upper sack body of the wetsuit pants;

a second strap portion of waterproof material provided on an inside circumference of the hem of the water suite jacket; and

press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at portions of mutual contact among the first strap portion, the second strap portion, the upper sack body of the wetsuit pants and the hem of the wetsuit jacket in a quadruple sandwich fashion for preventing deviation of the mutual contact portions.

3. The wetsuit according to claim 1, wherein the press-on and split-off fastener tapes have a longitudinal length compensating for a variation of elongation of a wearer.

4. The wetsuit according to claim 2, wherein the press-on and split-off fastener tapes have a longitudinal length compensating for a variation of elongation of a wearer.

5. The wetsuit according to claim 1, wherein the wetsuit jacket is formed of material that is polychloroprene or other flexible material exhibiting same levels of a waterproof property and a heat-retention property as the polychloroprene, the strap portion of waterproof material is formed of material identical with the material of which the wetsuit jacket is formed, and the wetsuit jacket and wetsuit pants each have a vertical dimension set so that the mutual contact portions are positioned at a lumbar section of a wearer.

6. The wetsuit according to claim 2, wherein the wetsuit jacket is formed of material that is polychloroprene or other flexible material exhibiting same levels of a waterproof property and a heat-retention property as the polychloroprene, the first and second strap portions of waterproof material are formed of material identical with the material of which the wetsuit jacket is formed, and the wetsuit jacket and wetsuit pants each have a vertical dimension set so that the mutual contact portions are positioned at a lumbar section of a wearer.

7. The wetsuit according to claim 1, further comprising an auxiliary belt that is provided on the press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided on the mutual contact portions and that is furnished with other press-on and split-off fastener tapes to fasten the upper sack body in cooperation with the press-on and split-off fastener tapes.

8. The wetsuit according to claim 2, further comprising an auxiliary belt that is provided on the press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided on the mutual contact portions and that is furnished with other press-on and split-off fastener tapes to fasten the upper sack body in cooperation with the press-on and split-off fastener tapes.

9. The wetsuit according to claim 8, further comprising press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at the hem of the jacket on a back of a wearer and press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at opposite ends of the auxiliary belt for cooperating with the press-on and split-off fastener tapes to attain fixation.

10. The wetsuit according to claim 8, further comprising press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at the second strap portion or the hem of the jacket on a back of a wearer and press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at opposite ends of the auxiliary belt for cooperating with the press-on and split-off fastener tapes to attain fixation.

11. A wetsuit, comprising:

separate portions into which hand parts or foot parts of the wetsuit are separated;

a strap portion of waterproof material having an upper end, provided on an inside circumference of one of the separate portions; and

a fixed portion at which the upper end of the strap portion is watertightly fixed to the inside circumference,

whereby said wetsuit manifests a waterproof function in a state of the other of the separate portions sandwiched between the one separate portion and the strap portion.

12. A wetsuit, comprising:

separate portions into which hand parts or foot parts of the wetsuit are separated;

a first strap portion of waterproof material disposed on an inside circumference of one of the separate portions;

a second strap portion of waterproof material disposed on an inside circumference of the other of the separate portions; and

press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at portions of mutual contact among the first strap portion, second strap portion, one separate portion and other separate portion superposed in that order from a side close to a body of a wearer in a quadruple sandwich fashion for preventing deviation of the mutual contact portions.