AU664573B2 - Bodysurfing and swimming aid - Google Patents

Description

i 664573 1 P/00/011 Regulation 3.2 COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT I I I 1 S4 rrr Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: ROBERT DAVIS ROBERT DAVIS

AHEARNS

Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, GPO Box 185, Brisbane, 4001 "BODYSURFING AND SWIMMING AID" .4 44 4 4 4 44 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: LUVro BODYSURFING AND SWIMMING AID BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention generally relates to the sports of bodysurfing and swimming and, more particularly, to a pair of hand fins worn by bodysurfers, swimmers and like users in water.

2. Description of Related Art In recent years, the sport of bodysurfing has increased in popularity. As distinguished from the sport of surfboarding, wherein a surfer typically stands on a 00 9 board which is propelled through the water by wave action, a bodysurfer adopts a generally prone position in the S* water, with both arms forwardly outstretched and allows his or her body to be propelled through the water by the action of the waves. Rather than standing on. a board, the bodysurfer places his or her hands on a buoyant support and pushes against the same to raise at least his or her head and upper torso out of the water.

The prior art has proposed various buoyant supports to increase buoyancy and otherwise assist the body- Ssurfer in traveling through the water. For example, -la _L I_ I U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,842 discloses a single symmetrical buoyant support having a compartment in which one hand of a bodysurfer is inserted, as well as a top wall on which the other hand is placed. In use, a prone bodysurfer raises his or her head and upper torso by pushing downwardly with both hands on the single buoyant support.

Hu-ever, the known bodysurfing supports have not proven to be altogether satisfactory. For example, the support described in the aforementioned patent is too easily pulled away from the bodysurfer's hands by wave action. The hand lying on the top.wall of the support often slides off during use since the top wall is smooth o 0 and slippery when wet. Also, water enters the comparto ment of the support and, despite the presence of recessed portions and ridges to help the bodysurfer obtain a beto 0 ter grip on the support, the water entering the compartment pulls the support away. The force of the entering 0° °o water and the wave action encountered during bodysurfing are often too great for all but the strongest individuals to withstand in order to prevent pulling away of the buoyant support. Once the support has pulled away, the 0oo bodysurfer has 'no means to support himself or herself for traveling through the water. Also, whenever the bodysurfer needs or wishes to swim, the support described in the aforementioned patent must be abandoned or somehow carried along, thereby hampering the swimming action.

-2- Even when the bodysurfer is successful in holding onto the known buoyant supports, said supports still have not proven to be altogether satisfactory in performance in terms of providing good stability in, and guidance through, the waves. More particularly, the support in the aforementioned patent does not provide adequate steering and/or tracking.

Also, the known supports do not assist the bodysurfer while he or she is swimming out from shore to catch a wave. During swimming, free flexing of the wrist, both up and down, is desirable, but is not readily permitted without mechanical interference with the buoyant support o° 0 in the known prior art supports.

As a result of the above factors and other cono0o siderations, the sport of bodysurfing has been hampered in its growth. Individuals do not like to have their fun ruined by having their sports equipment pulled away each time, or frequently, when they ride a wave. A loose buoy- 4000 ant support also poses a safety hazard, since it can strike and iniure the surfer or another. Moreover, the 0 0 lack of steering and tracking, and the lack of aiding the individual when swimming out to meet the wave, are very 4 0 undesirable and limit the fun associated with the sport.

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,ii Finally, it would be desirable to. increase the buoyancy of bodysurfing supports, as well as to increase the speed of a surfer through the wacer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION i. Objects of the Invention It is a general object of the present invention i to advance the sport of bodysurfing.

It is another object of this invention to securely attach a hand fin to each hand of a bodysurfer, and to affirmatively prevent pulling away of each hand fin during use.

Another object of this invention is to increase the stability of the hand fins during use.

A further object of this invention is to increase the surface area presented by the hand fins with respect t to the water, as compared to prior art supports.

Still another object of this invention is to improve the steerability of the hand fins during use.

Yet another object of this invention is to track straight and prevent slipping of the hand fins relative S. to the water.

A still further object of this invention is to enable a bodysurfer to ride higher on the waves, as compared to prior art supports.

'I I -t -;-11~1 Another object of this invention is to impI prove the lift and increase the speed of bodysurfing supports.

Still another object of this invention is to reduce the risk of injury due to loose hand fins striking individuals in the water.

A further object of this invention is to facilitate swimming from the shore. to the wave.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a floatation device.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a reliable two-handed, broad-based support to enable a bodysurfer to easily raise his or her head and a °upper torso out of the water.

o, oa a o a i ii 4 4 *4 CC C C a 1' 4 2. Broad Statement of the Invention With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention resides broadly in a hand fin for use in water by bodysurfers, swimmers and like users, comprising:a generally rigid, buoyant member extending rearwardly from a prow along a longitudinal direction to a stern, and having wall means bounding an internal compartment in which a hand of a user is confined during use, and also bounding a wrist cutout at the stern to permit free wrist flexing of the confined hand relative to the buoyant member during use, said internal compartment having an access opening which constitutes the sole source of access to the internal compartment; and attachable holder means on the buoyant member, for securely holding the buoyant member on the confined hand, the buoyant member having an outer rail portion and an inner rail portion, as considered with respect to the user, said rail portions of the buoyant member being spaced apart of each other along a transverse direction generally perpendicular to the longitudinal direction; and wherein the outer rail portion of the buoyant member is longer, as considered along the longitudinal direction, than the inner rail portion of the buoyant member.

Other features of the invention will be hereinafter apparent.

I BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a'front perspective view of a bodysurfer using a pair of hand fins according to this invention; FIG. 2 is a top and rear perspective view of the right hand fin of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a sectional view gaken on line III--III of FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is an enlarged top plan view of the right hand fin of FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is a partially broken-away, partially sectioned side view of the right hand fin of FIG. 1; FIG, 6 is a front and bottom perspective view of the right hand fin of FIG. 1; FIG. 7 is a right side view of the fin of a FIG. 1; FIG. 8 is a left side view of the fin of FIG. I; °FIG. 9 is a rear view of the fin of FIG. 1; FIG. 10 is a bottom plan view of the fin of FIG. 1 with water flow lines superimposed thereon; I FIG. 11 is a front view of the fin of FIG. 0 with water flow lines superimposed thereon; and FIG. 12 is a front and bottom perspective view of the fin of FIG. 10 with water flow lines superimposed thereon.

-6 i_ ni ;-n1: DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings, a pair of hand fins 20, 20' are depicted in FIG. 1 during use by a bodysurfer 22 riding a wave 24. The surfer 22 is lying horizontally or generally prone in the water, with both arms forwardly outstretched and spaced apart in a generally parallel or close-together relationship during forward travel along the wave. The head and upper torso of the surfer 22 are raised at least slightly above the water, and are supported in the illustrated positiin by the surfer's arms which push downwardly against the hand fins.

Hand fins 20, 20' are respectively worn on the surfer's right and left hands. They are mirror symmet- .rical relative to each other. For ease of description, only the right hand fin 20 is illustrated in the other figures.

As shown in FIG. 2, right hand fin 20 includes 4 0

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0 a leading end, also known as a prow or nose 26, and a trailing end or stern 28 spaced rearwardly along a longi- 0" tudinal direction from the nose 26. Outer and inner peri- S°pheral edge regions 30, 32 extend continuously from the SL" •nose to the stern at opposite sides of the fin 7 L As shown in FIG. 3, the fin 20 includes a bottom wall 34, preferably constituted of a rigid material, e.g. a molded plastic. A mass 36 of a synthetic plastic material, e.g. injection-molded foam, is integrally molded in situ on the bottom wall 34. The foam mass 36 is also molded around a glove 38 in order to bound an internal compartment in which the surfer's right hand is closely confined during use ina ccnfortable, non-cramped position.

The glove 38 may be a mitten having a common pocket for the surfer's fingers, or, according to a preferred embodiment of this invention, the glove 38 has individual finger portions 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, each f nger portion being adapted to receive an individual finger of the confined hand. The glove 38 also comprises a hand covering 49 which covers both the palm and the back the confined hand, as well as a glove extension or tujular holder 50 which extends rearwardly of the hand covero ing 49 and the finger portions. The glove may be constituted of any flexible material, with neoprene being preferred. A closure, e.g. a zipper 52 and a pull 54, is provided on the holder 50 in order to enable the surfer to open or close the holder 50 to enable the fin 20 to be either selectively worn on or removed from the surfer's hand.

-8 r The molding of the foam mass 36 around the glove 38 can occur in several ways. For example, a dummy hand can be inserted and stuffed into the glove and can support the glove in a desired position above the bottom wall 34 during the molding process. Alternatively, a stuffing material can be stuffed into the glove during such molding. In another approach, the glove could be inflated with a pressurized gas to hold its shape during molding. In a custom-made fin, the actual surfer's hand could be inserted into the glove during the molding process. No matter which molding technique is used, once the foam mass has set, the glove 38 is anchored in place. The individual finger portions and the hand covering, once the dummy hand, stuffing material, pressurized gas or actual hand are removed, bound hollow chambers which readily accept the surfer's fingers and hand. The finger portions and the hand covering have a single common access opening 56. The glove extension extends from this common access opening 56 to and past the surfer's wrist. The surfer's wrist overlies a cutout 58 at the stern to permit the surfer to flex his or her wrist, both up and down, relative to the fin.

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The fin 20 has. a longer outer rail 60 and a shorter inner rail 62. As previously defined, the terms "outer" and "inner" are defined relative to directions facing respectively away from and toward the surfer.

The lengths of the rails are considered along the longitudinal direction. The longer outer rail puts more rail surface into the wave 24, as considered in the direction that. the surfer wishes to go, for stability and guidance purposes. If the surfer is going to the right, then the longer outer rail of the right fin grabs the wave. The longer outer rail also acts as a brake or pivot surface when the surfer's wrist is tilted. The surfer brakes to either slow down to enter the better part of the wave, or stops to avoid getting hit, or hitting someone or something else. The shorter inner rail 62, which enters the water first, offers less resistance during swimming, as compared to the outer rail, and less chance of self- 0 o injury to the stomach or chest during swimming. The 0 outer and inner rails generally lie in a common plane on o D opposite sides of a central humped portion 64 which is 0 constituted of the foam mass that bounds the internal compartment in which the surfer's hand is confined.

Turning now to FIGs. 6-9, a keel 66 integral with the bottom wall 34 extends downwardly thereof in a central region of the fin. As shown in FIG. 9, the keel 66 has a generally triangular cross-section, and has hollowed-out curved side walls. The keel 66 extends *o oo* longitudinally from a point just rearwardly of the nose 26 to the stern. The depth of the keel progressively A ~and continuously increases along the longitudinal direcoo otion, and reaches its maximum depth dimension at the stern.

On either side of the keel 66, the bottom wall 34 is also formed with curved channel portions 68, which continuously merge into the curved side walls of the keel. Each channel portion 68, 70 is curved upwardly in a direction away from the water, and is also curved outwardly in a direction away from the keel. In addition, a peripheral lip 72 of rounded contour extends from the nose 26 along each peripheral edge 30, 32 to the stern. The lip 72 has a generally planar underside which faces the water.

Turning now to FIGs. 10-12, the forward direction of the fin 20 in the water is denoted by the arrow labeled A. Water flow lines are superimposed on the fin to show how the water is routed along the fin in use.

It will be observed that on-coming water first bears against the lip 72 which leads the water into the curved channel portions 68, 70. The lip 72 provides a measure of lift to the fin, even when steering. The undersurface of the lip 72 bears against the water, and is used during steering to enable the surfer to go right or left. The rounded contour of the lip 72 prevents a wave from grabbing the edge of the fin to capsize the same with the surfer.

-11- The water led into the curved channel portions 68, 70 flows along their upper curvature in order to create lift to enable'the fin to ride high on the water, as well as tJ raise the nose 26 above the water. The water is also forced downward as it leaves the hand fins.

This minimizes spray into the surfer's face. The keel 66 channels the water in the curved channel portions 68, on opposite sides of the keel toward the right and toward the left underneath the rails 60, 62. The keel helps the fin to track straight through the water, and prevents slippage of the fin relative to the wave. Stability and guidance are achieved primarily by the longer outer rail The bigger the wave, the higher the surfer can lift his or her body out of the water. A larger wave causes higher speeds and, in turn, greater stability and performance.

During use, water ingress into the internal compartments which confine the surfer's hands is reliably prevented by the tubular holders 50 which circumferentially enclose both wrists and seal both internal compartments from water which would otherwise tend to pull the hand fins away from the surfer.

Each hand fin has a streamlined shape, with a pointed prow and smooth contours to enable each fin to t smoothly move through and over the water. The synthetic plastic material composition of each fin, and particularly that introduced by the foam mass, enables each fin to be buoyant and to serve as a lightweight flotation device.

-12 When, or if, the hand fins are submerged during bodysurfing or swimming, the hand fins will, when held forwardly outstretched, tend to lift the bodysurfer/ swimmer toward the surface of the water. The underside and the lip of each fin is so shaped to have a greater lifting pressure at.the underside of the fin than the downward water pressure exerted at the top side of the fin. This safety feature enables the bodysurfer to avoid the violent churning water just below the water surface.

The churning water is caused by the passing of the wave after it has broken and formed "white water", as depicted at 108 in FIG. i.

The surfer's hands need not be strictly mutually parallel, but should be close together forwardly of the generally prone body. The surfer tries to keep his or her body in a horizontal plane. As shown in FIG. i, wherein a surfer is shown entering the wave 24, the horizontal surfer rides the ever-new forming section of the wave, ahead of the white-water section 108.

S, The stern cutout is advantageously used during swimming from shore to an on-coming wave by enabling the *44 44* surfer's wrist to flex freely in both the up and down directions. Quite apart from its use by bodysurfers, swim-

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4mers who wish to develop the musculature of their arms may swim using the hand fins of this invention. The broad lower surfaces of the hand fins offer greater water resistance than that encountered by one's hands alone.

-13- 1 1. M It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, also may find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a bodysurfing and swimming aid, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.

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Claims (4)

1. A hand fin for use in water by bodysurfers, swimmers and like users, comprising: a generally rigid, buoyant member extending rearwardly from a prow along a longitudinal direction to a stern, and having wall means bounding an internal compartment in which a hand of a user is confined during use, and also bounding a wrist cutout at the stern to permit free wrist flexing of the confined hand relative to the buoyant member during use, said internal compartment having an access opening which constitutes the sole source of access to the internal compartment; and attachable holder means on the buoyant member, for securely holding the buoyant member on the confined hand, the buoyant member having an outer rail portion and an inner rail portion, as considered with respect to the user, said rail portions of the buoyant member being spaced apart of each other along a transverse direction generally perpendicular to the longitudinal direction; and wherein the outer rail portion S of the buoyant member is longer, as considered along the S longitudinal direction, than the inner rail portion of the buoyant member. o4

2. The hand fin according to claim 1, wherein the S buoyant member has a bottom surface which faces the water S 4 during use, and has an integral keel extending away from the bottom surface into the water along a depth direction generally perpendicular to the longitudinal and transverse directions.

3. The hand fin according to claim 1 or claim 2, Swherein the attachable holder means on the buoyant member includes a tubular holder extending rearwardly from the access f opening and, when attached, circumferentially enclosing the wrist of the confined hand and sealing the internal jcompartment from water ingress during use.

4. The hand fin according to any one of the preceding claims, and further comprising another hand fin attachable on the other hand of the user, said hand fins being mirror symmetrical. A hand find for use in water by bodysurfers, swimmers and like users substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 12th day of September, 1995. ROBERT DAVIS By his Patent Attorneys AHEARNS o 41 I Ss a ao o a 6 0 4 0 4 4. a 4 4 4 ABSTRACT There is provided a hand fin (20) for use in water by body-surfers, swimmers and like users, comprising: a generally rigid, buoyant member (20) extending rearwardly from a prow (26) along a longitudinal direction I to a stern and having wall means (30, 32, 34) bounding an internal compartment (38) in which a hand of a user is confined during use, and also bounding a wrist cutout (58) at the stern to permit free wrist flexing of the confined hand relative to the buoyant member during use, said internal compartment having an access opening (56) which constitutes the sole source of access to the internal compartment; and attachable holder means (40-48) on the buoyant member, for securely holding the buoyant member on the confined hand, and including a tubular holder (50) extending rearwardly from the access opening (56) and, when attached, circumferentially enclosing the wrist of the confined hand and sealing the internal compartment from water ingress i: during use.