Buoyant Swim Garment
A swimsuit includes a vest provided with buoyant floatation members, a bottom portion in the form of swim trunks, and a coupling mechanism for selectively coupling the vest to the trunks. The vest may be uncoupled from the swim trunks to permit a user to remove the swim trunks while still wearing the vest, or to remove the vest while still wearing the swim trunks.
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This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/379,471 titled Buoyant Swim Garment, filed on Apr. 20, 2006 which claims priority to Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/711,805, filed Aug. 26, 2005, the contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to swimwear. More specifically, the present invention relates to swimwear that includes flotation members for providing enhanced buoyancy.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONPeople who are not strong swimmers, and especially children, have a need for using flotation devices in order to participate in swimming, or other water-related activities. One presently available flotation device is a life vest. A life vest is essentially a vest to be worn on the torso of the user that has flotation members, such as foam or inflatable bladders incorporated into its design to improve the buoyancy of the wearer. There are some drawbacks to existing designs for life vests. Namely, they can be cumbersome to attach, because they typically involve some sort of strap that runs betweens the user's legs. They are oftentimes not esthetically pleasing because they do not match the user's swimsuit. In the case of girls or women, they are typically worn over the top portion of a bathing suit or swimsuit, adding an unnecessary additional layer of clothing, and serving to retain moisture within the top portion of the swimsuit after the user has exited the water.
In response to some of these disadvantages, buoyant swimwear has been developed that includes flotation members incorporated into a one-piece swimsuit. However, these one-piece buoyant swimsuits present some disadvantages of their own. Notably, in order to use the restroom, or change a diaper, the entire suit must be removed from a user. When a person is out of the water and does not need the flotation device, a one-piece swimsuit does not allow for the removal of the flotation portion of the suit.
Thus, there exists a need for buoyant swimwear that has improved characteristics.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention, according to one embodiment, is a swim garment that includes a vest portion adapted to be worn on a user's torso. The vest portion includes at least one flotation element. A bottom portion is provided in the form of trunks including a waist band and a pair of leg openings. A coupling device selectively attaches and detaches the vest portion to the bottom portion. The vest may include front and back body portions comprising an elastic material enclosing the flotation element, and side panels of relatively inelastic material. The coupling device may attach to the vest portion at one or more of the side panels.
The drawings disclose embodiments of buoyant swimwear according to the present invention. Each of these embodiments include an upper portion and a lower portion that may be worn independently of each other or together as a single unit. When in use, the various embodiments of the buoyant swimwear according to the present invention maintain and/or assist in maintaining the wearer in a floating position in the water. When not in the water, a user may remove the buoyant top portion for comfort and freedom of movement. The bottom portion may be pulled down to use the restroom or change a diaper without the need to remove the upper portion.
A first embodiment of a swimsuit 10 according the present invention is disclosed in
The swimsuit 10 includes an upper portion in the form of a vest 12 and a lower portion in the form of trunks 14. It should be understood that while the trunks 14 shown in
The vest 12 is adapted to be worn generally over the torso of a user 5. As such, the vest 12 is provided with arm openings 18 and a neck opening 20. The vest 12 may be worn with (
The front portion of vest 12 that would cover a user's chest includes a pair of front flotation members 26 retained between an outer shell 28 and a liner 30. In the embodiment of
In the embodiment of
Side panels 36 are provided generally from the bottom of the arm openings 18 down to the torso opening 24 between the front and rear portions of the vest 12. The side panels 36 act as a connection and support to hold the front and rear portions of the vest 12 together. The side panels 36 are preferably formed from a highly durable fabric that is relatively inelastic. A fabric sold under the brand name SUPPLEX has been found to be especially well suited for use in forming the side panels 36. In one embodiment a 6.3 ounce poly-spandex may be used. The side panels 36 may be joined to the outer shell 28 and liner 30 by stitching, which is the preferred method, or by other suitable mechanisms such as rivets, welding, or adhesive.
A top portion of the coupling mechanism 16 in the form of an upper strap 38 is attached to each side panel 36, preferably near the torso opening 24. The upper strap 38 should preferably be a highly durable flexible material, such as a knit elastic belt. The upper strap 38 may be attached to the side panel 36 through the use of a single needle box-x lock stitch. Other manners of attaching the upper strap 38 to the side panels 36 would also be acceptable. In the embodiment shown, a male buckle portion 40 is attached to the free end of the upper strap 38, for example by a loop 42 formed at the end of the upper strap 38 (see
The trunks 14 may generally be of any desired form, including shorts, bikini type, or wetsuit with knee-length or full-length pant legs. The trunks 14 have a waistband portion 44 for encircling and engaging a user's waist. Leg openings 46 are provided at the end of the pant legs. The material used to form the trunks 14 may be any suitable material that is used to form swim trunks. Most preferably, the material used for the trunks 14 will match the material used in forming the vest 12 in color and design. A pair of attachment panels 48 made of a relatively durable inelastic material, such as that sold under the brand name SUPPLEX, are provided on the trunks 14. Preferably, this attachment panel 48 will be located near the waistband 44 and will be in alignment with the side panels 36 of the vest 12 when the vest 12 and trunks 14 are being worn by a user 5. A lower portion of each coupling mechanism 16 is fastened to the trunks 14 in the form of a lower strap 50 (see
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Similarly, as seen in
Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings disclose a swimsuit wherein the upper and lower halves may be worn independently of each other or may be coupled together as a single unit. The lower or trunks portion may be easily removed for using the restroom or for changing a diaper. The upper, or flotation vest portion may be easily removed for situations where a wearer would be more comfortable wearing the trunks only.
Although various representative embodiments of this invention have been described above with a certain degree of particularity, those skilled in the art could make numerous alterations to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventive subject matter set forth in the specification and claims. All directional references (e.g., upper, lower, upward, downward, left, right, leftward, rightward, top, bottom, above, below, vertical, horizontal, clockwise, and counterclockwise) are only used for identification purposes to aid the reader's understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, and do not create limitations, particularly as to the position, orientation, or use of the invention unless specifically set forth in the claims. Joinder references (e.g., attached, coupled, connected, and the like) are to be construed broadly and may include intermediate members between a connection of elements and relative movement between elements. As such, joinder references do not necessarily infer that two elements are directly connected and in fixed relation to each other.
In some instances, components are described with reference to “ends” having a particular characteristic and/or being connected with another part. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention is not limited to components which terminate immediately beyond their points of connection with other parts. Thus, the term “end” should be interpreted broadly, in a manner that includes areas adjacent, rearward, forward of, or otherwise near the terminus of a particular element, link, component, part, member or the like. In methodologies directly or indirectly set forth herein, various steps and operations are described in one possible order of operation, but those skilled in the art will recognize that steps and operations may be rearranged, replaced, or eliminated without necessarily departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not limiting. Changes in detail or structure may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
Claims
1. A swim garment comprising:
- a vest adapted to be worn on a user's torso, the vest including, a first front floatation element, a second front floatation element, a first rear floatation element and a second rear floatation element, the first and second front floatation elements having greater buoyancy than the first and second rear floatation elements, which floatation elements are arranged laterally and comprise an ergonomic shape to correspond with a portion of the user's torso on which each floatation element is aligned when in use;
- a bottom portion adapted to be worn by a user as trunks; and
- a coupling mechanism for selectively attaching and detaching the vest portion to the bottom portion.
2. The swim garment of claim 1 wherein the at least one floatation element comprises a front floatation element and a rear floatation element and wherein the vest comprises:
- a front portion including stretchable material covering the front floatation element;
- a rear portion including stretchable material covering the rear floatation element; and
- a pair of side panels including relatively inelastic material, and wherein the coupling mechanism is attached to one or more of the side panels.
3. The swim garment of claim 1 wherein the at least one floatation element comprises ergonomically shaped foam.
4. The swim garment of claim 1, wherein the at least one floatation element comprises an inflatable bladder.
5. The swim garment of claim 1, wherein the coupling mechanism comprises a male buckle portion and a female buckle portion.
6. The swim garment of claim 1, wherein the coupling mechanism comprises a first strap provided with a hook-and-loop fastener and a second strap provided with an eyelet that can be engaged by and securely retained by the first strap.
7. The swim garment of claim 1, wherein the coupling mechanism comprises a first flap provided with a male snap portion and a second flap provided with a corresponding female snap portion for mating interference fit engagement with the corresponding male snap portion.
8. The swim garment of claim 1, wherein the coupling mechanism comprises a first flap provided with a button and a second flap provided with a button hole for engaging and retaining the button.
9. The swim garment of claim 1 wherein:
- a plurality of loops are provided below a lower extremity of the vest;
- the bottom portion includes a belt retained on the bottom portion, the belt and the plurality of loops forming the coupling mechanism; and
- said belt may engage said plurality of loops to selectively couple the vest to the bottom portion.
10. The swim garment of claim 1, wherein the vest includes a zipper to expand an opening in the vest to facilitate the putting on and taking off the vest.
11. The swim garment of claim 10, wherein the zipper is located on a back surface of the vest, such that the zipper is not accessible to a person wearing the vest.
12. The swim garment of claim 1, wherein the bottom portion may be worn without the vest, and further wherein the coupling mechanism is adjustable to an uncoupled configuration to permit the bottom portion to be removed from a person wearing the vest without removing the vest.
13. The swim garment of claim 1, wherein the bottom portion comprises a one-piece girl's swimsuit.
14. The swim garment of claim 1, wherein the bottom portion comprises a bikini bottom, and wherein the swim garment further comprises a bikini top.
15. A swimsuit comprising a buoyant vest having at least one front floatation element and at least one rear floatation element, the front floatation element having greater buoyancy than the rear floatation element, which floatation elements are arranged laterally and comprise an ergonomic shape to correspond with a portion of the user's torso on which each floatation element is aligned when in use, a swim trunks, and a coupling mechanism to selectively couple the buoyant vest to the swim trunks such that the swim trunks retain the buoyant vest on a user when the buoyant vest is coupled to the swim trunks and further such that the vest may be uncoupled from the swim trunks to permit a user to remove the swim trunks while still wearing the vest, and to remove the vest while still wearing the swim trunks.
16. A swim garment comprising:
- a vest adapted to be worn on a user's torso, the vest including at least one floatation element;
- a bottom portion adapted to be worn by a user as trunks; and
- a coupling mechanism for selectively attaching and detaching the vest portion to the bottom portion, the coupling mechanism comprising a first flap having a first portion secured to a portion of the vest and a second portion carrying a plurality of first coupling devices, a second flap having a first portion secured to the bottom portion of the swim garment and a second portion carrying a plurality of second coupling devices for mating with the plurality of first coupling devices.
17. The swim garment of claim 16, wherein the first coupling devices comprise male snaps that extend through the first flap and the second coupling devices comprise snap bases that extend through the bottom flap and are engagable with the male snaps.
18. The swim garment of claim 16, wherein the first flap comprises a plurality of apertures and the second flap comprises a plurality of buttons engageable with the apertures.
19. A swim garment comprising:
- a vest adapted to be worn on a user's torso, the vest including at least one floatation element, wherein the at least one floatation element comprises a front floatation element and a rear floatation element and wherein the vest comprises a front portion including stretchable material covering the front floatation element, a rear portion including stretchable material covering the rear floatation element, and a pair of side panels including relatively inelastic material;
- a bottom portion adapted to be worn by a user as trunks; and
- a coupling mechanism for selectively attaching and detaching the vest portion to the bottom portion, wherein the coupling mechanism is attached to one or more of the side panels.
20. A swim garment comprising:
- a vest adapted to be worn on a user's torso, the vest including at least one floatation element;
- a bottom portion adapted to be worn by a user as trunks; and
- a coupling mechanism comprising a male buckle portion and a female buckle portion for selectively attaching and detaching the vest portion to the bottom portion.
21. A swim garment comprising:
- a vest adapted to be worn on a user's torso, the vest including at least one floatation element, wherein the vest includes a zipper to expand an opening in the vest to facilitate the putting on and taking off the vest, and wherein the zipper is located on a back surface of the vest, such that the zipper is not accessible to a person wearing the vest;
- a bottom portion adapted to be worn by a user as trunks; and
- a coupling mechanism for selectively attaching and detaching the vest portion to the bottom portion.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 21, 2008
Publication Date: Jan 1, 2009
Applicant: Nuvative, Inc. (Wichita, KS)
Inventors: Brian J. Staver (Maize, KS), Nicholas Vaughn (Derby, KS)
Application Number: 12/176,517