US20050148249A1

US20050148249A1 - Maillot de bain securite pour enfant

Info

Publication number: US20050148249A1
Application number: US10/497,179
Authority: US
Inventors: Pascal Vigneron
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-11-13
Filing date: 2003-11-13
Publication date: 2005-07-07
Also published as: AU2003290192A1; FR2846854A1; WO2004045324A1

Abstract

A safety swimsuit for children of the single piece type, extends from at least the crotch to the shoulders and includes integrated buoyancy elements adapted to hold the infant out of the water above the shoulders, these buoyancy elements being constituted by two floats of polymeric foam surrounding respectively the articulation of each shoulder. The polymer foam is constituted by a closed cell polymer foam.

Description

The present invention relates to a safety swimsuit for children of the single piece type, extending from at least the crotch to the shoulders and comprising integrated buoyancy elements adapted to maintain the infant out of the water above the shoulders, these buoyancy elements being constituted by two floats surrounding respectively each shoulder joint.
Such a swimsuit is disclosed in the patent FR-B-2 695 010. The floats are preferably constituted by a body of foam present in the form of a straight rectangular parallepiped. The foam used is constituted of polyethylene with reticulated cells having the following characteristics: density 30 kg/m³, resistance to traction 0.26 N/mm²and elongation at rupture of 130%.
However, it has been noted that this foam has numerous drawbacks in connection with a safety swimsuit for children. Thus, the use of this type of foam has led to the result that after use in a swimming pool, the foam loses part of its properties. It might thus be supposed that the products used in swimming pools to maintain the water clean have played a role in the loss of effectiveness of this foam.
To overcome this drawback, the present invention has for its object to provide a swimsuit as described above in which the foam used to constitute the floats has very good properties despite the use in a swimming pool.
Thus, the invention has for its object a safety swimsuit for an infant of the single piece type, extending from at least the crotch to the shoulders and comprising integrated buoyancy elements adapted to maintain the infant out of the water above the shoulders, these buoyancy elements being constituted by two floats of polymeric foam surrounding respectively each shoulder joint, characterized in that the polymeric foam is constituted by a polymeric foam with closed cells.
In a very much preferred way, the polymeric foam with closed cells used in a swimsuit according to the invention permits improving the technical characteristics of safety of said swimsuit even during use in a swimming pool, said foam being perfectly sealed.
Preferably, the foam according to the invention is a foam of polyethylene, low density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, or of any other suitable polymer, with closed cells.
A foam according to the invention, perfectly sealed, fulfills in particular the criteria according to the European standards which will come into force, which is to say with a volume loss after thermal treatment that is satisfactory and an inherent compressibility of the flotation material that will also be satisfactory.
Such a foam also has for example:
a density of the order of 26 Kg/m³;
resistance to compression of the order of 25 KPa at 25%; 50 KPa at 40%; 76 KPa at 50%; 120 KPa at 60%;
a tensile strength of 220 Kpa;
an elongation at rupture of 365%;
a temperature of utilization comprised between −70° C. and +80° C.
According to a preferred embodiment, the polymeric foam with closed cells is a cross-linked copolymer foam with closed cells such as for example an ethylene/vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer foam.
This foam preferably has the following characteristics: a density of 25 kg/m³, a resistance to compression of the order of 30 KPa at 25%; 60 KPa at 40%; 90 KPa at 50%; 135 KPa at 60%;
a tensile strength of 350 Kpa;
an elongation at rupture of 185%;
a utilization temperature comprised between −70° C. and +65° C., a permeability of 0.60 ng/Pa/s/m for a specimen thickness of 25 mm, and a water absorption in %volume at 1 day <0.1, at 7 days <0.3, at 11 days <0.4 and at 28 days <0.5. Such a foam thus offers very advantageous properties.
Preferably, not only the cross-linked polymeric foam with closed cells has characteristics of floatability according to the requirements of security, but also this foam shows in a surprising manner a prolonged resistance to use in a swimming pool, contrary to the foams previously used.

Claims

1. Safety swimsuit for children of the one piece type, extending from at least the crotch to the shoulders and comprising integrated floatability elements adapted to hold the child out of the water above the shoulders, these buoyancy elements being constituted by two floats of polymeric foam surrounding respectively the joint of each shoulder,

characterized in that the polymeric foam is constituted by a closed cell polymeric foam.

2. Swimsuit according to claim 1,

characterized in that the closed cell polymeric foam is a foam of polyethylene, low density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, or any other suitable polymer with closed cells.

3. Swimsuit according to claim 1,

characterized in that the polymeric foam with closed cells is a cross-linked co-polymeric foam with closed cells.

4. Swimsuit according to claim 3,

characterized in that the cross-linked copolymer foam with closed cells is ethylene/vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer foam.