AU3709801A - A garment for body surfers - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Invention Title: Details of Associated Provisional Applications: SEAN FITZGERALD KENNY SEAN FITZGERALD KENNY HODGKINSON OLD McINNES Patent Trade Mark Attorneys Level 3, 20 Alfred Street MILSONS POINT NSW 2061 A GARMENT FOR BODY SURFERS PQ6955 filed 18 April 2000 PR0623 filed 9 October 2000 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: The present invention relates to surfing and, in particular, to body surfing.

Body surfing is only one of various types of surfing activities, the others including surfboard riding, body-board riding, riding wind-surfers over the waves, etc. In recent years these surfing activities have considerably expanded in terms of the range of manoeuvres or tricks able to be performed by the surfer. However, the equipment of the body surfer has, to date, consisted essentially of a pair of swimming trunks and possibly one or more flippers. As a consequence, the range of surfing manoeuvres able to be successfully S• undertaken is generally limited.

S The aim of the present invention is to provide a garment for body surfers which enables an enhanced ability whilst body surfing, thereby providing an increased level of enjoyment for S body surfers.

In accordance with the first aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a garment for body surfers, said garment extending over at least the torso and thighs of the wearer and being formed from a pliant material, said garment having at least one panel providing a *•.buoyant force when immersed in water, and at least part of said garment having a low friction exterior with respect to water.

In accordance with the second aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a method of body surfing, said method comprising the step of surfing wearing the abovementioned garment.

Several embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings in which: Fig 1 is a front perspective view of the body surfing garment of a first embodiment, Fig 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of Fig 1, I Fig 3 is a front perspective view of a body surfing garment in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention, Fig 4 is a front perspective view of a body surfing garment in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention, Fig 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line V-V of Fig 4, Fig 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line of VI-VI in Fig 4, and Fig 7 is a perspective view of a body surfing webbed glove for use in conjunction with any one of the garments of Figs 1, 3 or 4.

As seen in Fig 1, the body surfing garment 1 of the first embodiment is generally similar to a wetsuit in that it covers at least the torso and thighs of the wearer. Although the garment 1 is illustrated as having short sleeves 2, the garment 1 could also be provided with long sleeves (not illustrated) or no sleeves being cut away at the armpits). Similarly, as indicated by broken lines 3 in Fig 1 the garment can be provided with long legs which extend substantially to the ankles of the wearer, this being particularly advantageous when surfing in cold water.

The garment 1 of Fig 1 is provided with seven panels 5 each of which may be S .approximately identified with a group of muscles of the human body. As indicated in Fig 2 each of the panels 5 is formed by sandwiching a layer of buoyant material 6 between the fabric 7 from which the garment is fabricated and an outer layer 8 such as vinyl coated o 0eo fabric which has a slippery outer surface which exhibits a low friction co-efficient as it moves through the water.

Fig 3 illustrates a similar garment 10 of a second embodiment which has a multiciplicity of panels 15 each of which is formed in substantially the same way as the panels 5 of the garment of Fig 1. Like parts of the garment 10 are numbered in a similar fashion to the corresponding parts of the garment 1. An advantage of the garment 10 is that the small size of the panels 15 mean that the front of the garment is more supple than is the case for the garment 1 of Fig 1 and thus swimming action is enhanced.

The panels 5 are so shaped and arranged that the front facing surface of the garment constitutes a buoyant "float" on which the surfer is effectively lying whilst surfing. This makes the body surfer wearing such a garment much more buoyant than a conventional body surfer. It is thought there is sufficient buoyancy for tricks to be performed whilst the garment wearing body surfer is sliding down the unbroken face of a wave. In addition, the panels 5 are so shaped that the stiffness of the panels 5 does not unduly impede normal swimming and walking actions.

A third embodiment is illustrated in Fig 4 in which a garment 20 is provided with a distributed buoyancy layer. As indicated in Figs 5 and 6, the front facing surfaces of the garment 20 of Fig 4 are formed from an inner fabric layer 27, a slippery outer layer 28 and i' o an interior buoyant layer 26. As indicated in Figs 5 and 6 the buoyant layer 26 is thicker over the torso area than it is over the thighs thereby resulting in an overall buoyant force which tends to keep the surfer's head and upper body higher than the surfer's legs.

Turning now to Fig 7, a surfing glove 30 is illustrated with webbing 31 extending between the fingers 32 and a panel 35 substantially similar to the panel 5 of Figs 1 and 2 being formed on the palm area. The glove 32 enables body surfers to take better advantage of a wave breaking to the direction of the hand wearing the glove.

*o0The foregoing describes only some embodiments of the present invention and modifications, obvious to those skilled in the art, can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, polystyrene rather than foamed polyurethane can be used as the buoyant material 6, 26.

The term "comprising" as used herein is used in the inclusive sense of "including" or "having" and not in the exclusive sense of "consisting only of".

Claims (12)

1. A garment for body surfers, said garment extending over at least the torso and thighs of the wearer and being formed from a pliant material, said garment having at least one panel providing a buoyant force when immersed in water, and at least part of said garment having a low friction exterior with respect to water.

2. The garment in accordance with claim 1 and having a plurality of said panels each segmented and separated from the others by a pliant portion of said garment.

3. The garment in accordance with claim 2 wherein each of said panels has a substantial surface area. oo' 4. The garment in accordance with claim 2 wherein each of said panels has a small surface area.

5. The garment in accordance with claim 1 and having a single panel distributed over S"the front facing surfaces of said garment.

6. The garment in accordance with any one of claims 1-5 wherein said buoyant force is provided by a low density material sandwiched between inner and outer layers of material.

7. The garment in accordance with claim 6 wherein said inner layer of material is said pliant material and said outer layer of material comprises said low water friction exterior. *o 8. The garment in accordance with claim 7 wherein said outer layer of material extends only over the area of said at least one panel. The garment according to any one of claims 1-8 wherein said low density material ooaproviding said buoyant force is of a substantially greater thickness over the torso area in comparison to the thickness of said low density material over the thigh area. The garment in accordance with any one of claims 1-9 and extending only to the knees of the wearer.

11. The garment in accordance with any one of claims 1-9 and extending substantially to the ankles of the wearer.

12. The garment in accordance with any one of claims 1-11 and having sleeves that extend at least to the elbow of the wearer.

13. The garment in accordance with any one of claims 1-11 and having sleeves that extend substantially to the wrists of the wearer.

14. A garment for body surfers, said garment being substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 or 3 or 4-6 of the drawings. A method of body surfing comprising the step of wearing the garment in accordance with any one of claims 1-14.

16. A glove for body surfers being formed of a pliant material wherein said glove is webbed in the regions separating each finger and the thumb and further wherein the glove comprises one or more panels formed on the palm area which are substantially similar to the panel(s) described in any one of claims 1-5 and 8.

17. A glove for body surfers, said glove being substantially as herein described with reference to Fig. 7 of the drawings. Dated this 18 th day of April 2001. SEAN FITZGERALD KENNY BY: o HODGKINSON OLD McINNES Patent Attorneys for the Applicant