WO2003061413A1

WO2003061413A1 - Improved wetsuit

Info

Publication number: WO2003061413A1
Application number: PCT/AU2003/000081
Authority: WO
Inventors: David James Griffiths
Original assignee: Rip Curl International
Priority date: 2002-01-25
Filing date: 2003-01-24
Publication date: 2003-07-31
Also published as: AUPS024002A0

Abstract

An improved wetsuit (10) providing resistance to water and wind penetration at specific regions (11a, 13a, 15a) of the body of a wearer, wherein instead of providing separate panels in the wetsuit construction at the specific regions (11a, 13a, 15a), a coating of ink or paint which resists water and wind penetration is applied over said regions irrespective of what panels are used in the wetsuit construction. The ink or paint may be of a plasticised nature to provide flexibility (stretchability) of the wetsuit.

Description

IMPROVED WETSUIT Technical Field

This invention relates to improvements in wetsuits, and more particularly an improved wetsuit designed to provide an enhanced resistance to water penetration, whereby to provide warmth, and also to act as a barrier to wind to also provide warmth, that is, protect against wind chill, and at predetermined regions of the body of the wearer, for example, the chest and upper arm and shoulder regions of the wearers body.

Background Art

It is known, but not necessarily commonly known, to provide wetsuits with panels formed from materials specifically chosen to provide resistance to water and wind penetration and designed to keep the chest and upper arm regions of the wearer as warm as possible, that is, by reducing water and wind penetration. Such panels may be formed from a neoprene material different from the material used for other panels of the wetsuits and referred to as single lined rubber or "smoothy" material, which involves treating the neoprene to provide the necessary wind and water resistance. These specific panels may be of different colours to also provide a graphic or decorative appearance which adds to the aesthetics of the wetsuit. Such wetsuit constructions have a number of disadvantages, namely, the specially treated neoprene for the particular panels is more costly, whilst the wetsuit has to be formed from an increased number of separate panels which require the wetsuit to have an increased number of seams that have to be formed (sewn) which adds to the manufacturing time and thus manufacturing costs for the wetsuit. Seams can also be points at which water and wind can also penetrate through to the interior of the wetsuit which to some extent defeats the purpose of the panels providing warmth for the specific body regions of the wearer. The specially treated neoprene panels are also more susceptible to wear and damage by abrasive and corrosive materials, such as sand and salt which can be present in many water environments where wetsuits are used.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a wetsuit with as few panels as possible whilst still achieving the requirements for resistance to water and wind penetration for specific regions of the body of the wearer. The fewer panels also allows for the wetsuit to have greater flexibility which is another primary objective of wetsuit design and construction.

Disclosure of the Invention

The present invention therefore envisages an improved wetsuit providing resistance to water and wind penetration at specific regions of the body of the wearer, wherein instead of providing separate panels in the wetsuit construction at the specific regions, a coating of ink or paint which resists water and wind penetration is applied over said region irrespective of what panels are used in the wetsuit construction. Preferably the ink or paint is of a plasticised nature whereby to provide flexibility (stretchability) of the wetsuit which is an important factor in wetsuit design and construction, particularly with new trends in wetsuit design involving wetsuits without zips or zippers, and known as zipperless wetsuits, where access to and from the wetsuit is via a highly stretchable neck opening for the wetsuit.

Preferably the application of the ink or paint is such as to provide a decorative or aesthetic appearance from a graphics and/or colour perspective.

Preferably the ink or paint can also be applied to simulate seams between non-existent panels.

Brief Description of the Drawing

One preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, which is a schematic (artistic) front view of portions of the wetsuit manufactured in accordance with the concept of the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention The wetsuit, generally indicated as 10, consists of a shoulder and upper torso section 11 having arms 12; a main torso section 13 with upper leg sections 14; and a pair of lower leg sections 15.

In accordance with the concept of the present invention, and with this preferred embodiment of the invention, portions 11a, 13a and 15a of the upper chest and shoulder section 11, the main torso section 13, and the lower leg sections 15, have applied thereto a coating of ink or paint which resists water and wind penetration at those portions, whilst for decorative and aesthetic purposes the ink or paint for parts of the portions, such as lib, 13b and 15b may be applied in such a manner as to provide a graphic or artistic appearance and may also be different colours from the rest of the portions 11a, 13a and 15a. In addition, portions may be left uncoated, or coated with a different coloured ink or paint, to simulate seams 16 between non-existent panels of the wetsuits, and also to provide the makers identification trade marks and logos such as at 17.

As discussed above, the ink or paint may be of a plasticised nature to allow for flexibility (stretchability) of the material to which the inks or paints are applied. In this respect, the coating may be what is known as a wet-on-wet plasticised screen printing ink formulated to cure at low temperatures and for printing onto flexible material such as neoprene. Such inks are available under the trade name WILFLEX MCV-FF, and as a fast fusing low temperature plastisol the technical details of which are available on the WILFLEX website.

Claims

CLAIMS :

1. An improved wetsuit providing resistance to water and wind penetration at specific regions of the body of a wearer, wherein instead of providing separate panels in the wetsuit construction at the specific regions, a coating of ink or paint which resists water and wind penetration is applied over said regions irrespective of what panels are used in the wetsuit construction.

2. An improved wetsuit as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the ink or paint is of a plasticised nature whereby to provide flexibility (stretchability) of the wetsuit.

3. An improved wetsuit as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the application of the ink or paint is such as to provide a decorative or aesthetic appearance from a graphics and/or colour perspective.

4. An improved wetsuit as claimed in Claims 1 to 3, wherein the ink or paint is also applied to simulate seams between non-existent panels.

5. An improved wetsuit, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings .

Dated this 24th day of January 2003 RIP CURL INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD By their Patent Attorneys

GRIFFITH HACK

Fellows Institute of Patent and

Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia