Pull-over life vest with half-zip

Abstract

A pull-over life vest with half-zip has a zipper disposed on the front panel with a closed-end and an open-end. Preferably, the zipper has a beginning closed-end located in the vertical and horizontal center of the front panel and a terminating open-end located at the vertical and horizontal lower edge of the front panel.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to life vest devices and more specifically, to life vest fabrication.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to life vests of the type generally known as personal floatation devices (PFD's). A life vest comprises a body portion that is typically either formed of a buoyant material or has a fabric shell filled with a buoyant material. A life vest also comprises a means for securing the body onto a wearer's torso, such as a zipper-free pull-over design, or a fully open-ended front panel front zipper entry where the zipper begins with an open-end at the vertical and horizontal upper edge and terminates with an open-end at the vertical and horizontal lower edge of the front panel. In this method, the fully open-ended front panel front zipper entry relies on a “box and pin” mechanism to lock the two sides of the zipper into place.

Personal floatation devices such as life vests are often worn during water sports such as tow-in surfing, wakeboarding, kiteboarding, waterskiing, and knee boarding. Such water sports involve a high rate of speed, demanding physical maneuvering, and high-impact wipeouts.

Many life vests are pull-over type vests without zippers which are often difficult to remove when the user and/or the vest are wet. Another popular life vest design includes a fully open-ended front panel front zipper entry to secure the life vest to a user's body. Such fully open-ended front panel front zipper entry life vests are prone to failure from repeated zipping and unzipping, being stepped on, and/or encountering the physical forces applied to it from a high-impact wipeout. When a fully open-ended front panel zipper front entry fails in use, the function of the life vests safety is compromised. For example, in the event that the fully open-ended front panel front zipper entry should fail during use, the user's life could be at risk due to the likelihood that the life vest could slip off or be torn off of the user.

A major advantage of the pull-over life vest with half-zip is that the front panel can be more fully padded with buoyant material than a fully open-ended front panel front zipper entry life vest to better maintain a wearer floating face-up in the water if the wearer is unconscious. The additional padding may also protect the wearer against the shock of high-impact wipeouts. Furthermore, the pull-over life vest with half-zip prevents the life vest from slipping off or being torn off of the user in the event of a zipper failure. In addition, a pull-over life vest with half-zip is more easily worn and removed than the more conventional zipper-free pull-over life vests.

These problems and deficiencies are clearly felt in the art and are solved by the present invention in the manner described below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprises a pull-over life vest with half-zip having a zipper disposed on the front panel with an open-end and a closed-end. Preferably, the zipper has a beginning closed-end located in the vertical and horizontal center of the front panel and a terminating open-end located at the vertical and horizontal lower edge of the front panel. The term “panel” is used for convenience, and a panel does not necessarily correspond to any specific construction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred and alternative embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the following drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a pull-over life vest incorporating the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a back view of a pull-over life vest incorporating the present invention of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top view cross-section of a buoyant segment of the present invention;

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As illustrated in FIGS. 1-2, a pull-over life vest with half-zip comprises a back panel 10 joined to a front panel 11. Back panel 10 is joined to front panel 11 at the top of the vest by two shoulder portions 12 and 13 that together define a top panel having an opening through which a wearers head (not shown) may extend. Back and front panels 10 and 11 are joined at both the left-hand side 14 and the right-hand side 15 of the vest. The vertical and horizontal center of the front panel 16 of the vest defines the beginning of the closed-end of the zipper and the vertical and horizontal lower edge of the front panel 17 defines the terminating open-end of the zipper through which a wearer may place their torso (not shown) to enter or exit the vest.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, 18 made of a suitable fabric material such as nylon enclosing a suitable buoyant material core 19 such as foamed flexible poly-vinyl chloride (FPVC).

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, as noted above, many changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not limited by the disclosure of the preferred embodiment.

Claims

1. A life vest, comprising:

A body portion having a front panel, a back panel, a top panel, and two side panels, said front and back panels each having an upper edge, a lower edge, and two side edges, both side edges of said front panel adjoin each side panel, and both side panels each adjoin side edges of said back panel, all lower edges of said front, back, and side panels define an opening for receiving a wearers torso, said top panel having a front edge, a back edge and an opening for receiving a wearers head, said front edge of said top panel adjoining said upper edge of said front panel, said back edge of said top panel adjoining said upper edge of said back panel.

2. The life vest claimed in claim 1, wherein a zipper is fixedly attached to said front panel.

3. The life vest claimed in claim 2, wherein said zipper preferably has a beginning closed-end located in the vertical and horizontal center of the front panel and a terminating open-end located at the vertical and horizontal lower edge of the front panel.