WO2006013605A1

WO2006013605A1 - Quickly wearable floatation device

Info

Publication number: WO2006013605A1
Application number: PCT/IT2005/000444
Authority: WO
Inventors: Giovanni Mainenti
Original assignee: Giovanni Mainenti
Priority date: 2004-08-05
Filing date: 2005-07-25
Publication date: 2006-02-09
Also published as: ITVR20040127A1

Abstract

Quickly wearable buoyant potentially lifesaving floatation device (10) identified by a curved 'U-shape' conformation defined by a front prow appendix (11) and two poop extremities (12) placed side by side in a mirror and symmetrical way along a common midline. This floatation device is equipped with an opening, in correspondence of its centre part (13) enclosed by an inner circular edge (14), communicating with the external part of the potentially lifesaving device through a central passage (15), in correspondence of which two symmetrically shaped protuberances (16), which face each other at the hump along the common midline.

Description

"QUICKLY WEARABLE FLOATATION DEVICE"

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention concerns a potentially lifesaving, quickly wearable floatation device.

More particularly, this invention consists in a potentially lifesaving buoyant board conceived mainly in order to allow the head and the vital functions associated to it to be supported out of the water, essentially when a human body, even in a state of unconsciousness, is immersed in water.

Such an objective has been achieved by designing a floating board which can gently and closely almost totally wrap the neck and sustain the head in correspondence of the jaw, and determines a slight backward tilt at the back of head, therefore sustaining the face upwards.

This floating board according to this invention can typically be used as a safety measure, towed by swimmers who swim certain distances, also for long distances, or as a safety feature for people who are not expert swimmers or even beginners; for this purpose the board has a conformation that allows it to be towed in the water by means of a thin though resistant line which can be attached to the body.

This invention finds its application in the field of the production of accessories for nautical or leisure water activities, and more particularly in the production of potentially lifesaving aquatic floatation devices.

BACKGROUND ART Safety or emergency accessories for the person who finds him or herself in presence of water are numerous, renowned and of the most varied kind, starting from the classic round plastic lifesaver to the potentially lifesaving inflatable last generation jackets employed for all kinds of different aquatic sports or as a standard safety feature on boats and water vehicles in general.

Traditional lifesavers can be made in materials with elevated buoyancy characteristics, such as expanded polystyrene or polyester, or can be of the inflatable kind or self-inflating, according to its uses and the use destinations.

Normally, however, all known lifesavers are not particularly appropriate in cases in which one would want to have a swift emergency safety device, e.g. when swimming long distances, or in cases in which people who are not confident with buoyancy in water would want to practice in water having at their disposal and in the immediate proximity an emergency safety device. The only accessories known today for their direct use in water are floating boards or other elements of varied conformation generally employed in swimming pools, held on to by the hands in order to execute leg movements and exercises. As is intuitively understandable, these boards cannot be considered for emergency or safety, because they are not of a shape exclusively created for this purpose, in order to maintain the head and especially the face raised out of water in danger situations for the swimmer. Another disadvantage is represented by the fact that all lifesaving devices currently known and produced, both in ring and even more so in jacket shapes, have straps and blocking systems which ensure the device to be tied to the body; it is widely known that such blocking systems or straps can be of further hindrance in already difficult situations: actually, not always the swimmer in difficulty or those who assist him or her have the ability to tie all the straps in their right buckles or positions.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

This invention is made with the purpose of eliminating or at least reducing the above mentioned disadvantages. This invention's aim is, moreover, to supply a potentially lifesaving floatation device which is shaped in such a way to have a prow and a poop, therefore made with a conformation which is proper for travelling distances in water while floating and navigating at the same time. The device according to this invention is realized in highly buoyant material and with such a conformation to be worn with maximum facility and speed, by simply passing it through the neck from behind the head, prow behind and poop forward, just like a sort of elastic "open" collar which will reposition itself gently wrapping around the neck. That is obtained by means of quickly wearable potentially lifesaving floatation device the characteristics of which are claimed in the main claim.

The claims derived for this flotation device provide favourable development possibilities for the invention herein described.

The main advantages of this solution, in addition to all those derived from the simplicity of the make, mainly regard the fact that the floatation device can be used as an emergency safety feature during swimming sessions, especially if they are carried out at long distance, as the same floatation device can simply be towed attaching it to the body by means of an elastic waist strap connected with a small line to the device itself.

The floatation device according to the invention described herein follows the swimmer at the line's distance, and, having an "aquatic" conformation, can be towed practically without any effort, given the minimal water friction coefficient.

The floating device according to the invention described herein, given its shape and consistency, can moreover be worn with maximum simplicity and swiftness, is perfectly appropriate for greater emergency situations as well as those of immediate danger for the swimmer.

The floatation device according to the invention as is described herein consists of one single piece, obtained from a single mould, and shows a slender shape consisting of a rather pointed and compact prow, and a wider poop, which is made in a larger volume and with advanced buoyancy.

The board has been conceived mainly in order to allow the support of the head and its associated vital functions above and outside of water, typically when a body, even in a state of unconsciousness, finds itself immerged in water. Such an objective has been achieved by creating a floating board that can wrap nearly totally around the neck of a person, supporting the face mainly in correspondence of the jaw in order to determine a slight backward tilt of the head to help maintain mouth and nose slightly up towards the air.

The buoyant board is created as a single piece, has a flexible opening and a central hole which communicates with the outer side of the board itself through a passage between the hole and the external edge of the board _^in correspondence of the poop.

The width of the buoyant board is characterized by a certain elasticity which allows the device to slightly spread open the passage towards the central hole, allowing to introduce the neck; and thereafter the buoyant board gently closes and repositions itself around the neck between the shoulders and the head, without any need to use straps, stirrups or other binding element.

The elastic characteristics this buoyant board is obtained by means of a material with such elastic properties as to allow a slight deformation from its original shape, in order to allow the neck to be slid in its seat, without any distortion or damage.

The board is made in such way to thin out in proximity of the prow and to increase its volume towards the poop, in correspondence of which the jaw is positioned when worn, thus maintaining the nose and the mouth raised and away from the water.

This particular conformation of the floatation device, which is worn around the neck, helps the body of the person to assume a substantially vertical position in water, with the feet in the water downwards, and prevents the body from positioning itself with the back upwards; the disposition of the body toward the front is anyway allowed by the board's conformation and not at all in contrast with the aims of the device itself.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention herein described will be evident when reading the following description for a type of development for this invention, which supplied as an example but not limited by it, with the aid of the drawings illustrated in the attached tables, in which:

- figure 1 represents a disposition and prospect view of the board according to the invention seen from a three- quarter view towards the front;

- figure 2 represents the schematized view of the board seen from its back or poop side, in correspondence of the opening for the introduction of the neck; - figure 3 represents the schematic plan view of the board;

- figure 4 illustrates the schematic plan view of the board, with an accessory for picking it up, holding or carrying it, consisting of a handle positioned along the edge; - figure 5 shows the schematized view of the floatation device according to the invention as described herein during a phase of use in water;

- figure 6 represents the schematized view of the board while being towed by a swimmer to whom it is connected with a line.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

With reference to the attached figures, the floatation device indicated in its complex with 10 is created according to a first solution in a single part made with highly buoyant materials, such as polyethylene and /or expanded rubbers. The floatation device is characterized by a ϋ-shaped curve conformation from a prow appendix 11 to two separate poop extremities 12 placed in a mirror-like side by side position in a symmetrical way along the common midline.

The floatation device shows to be thinner in correspondence of the prow 11 and broader in proximity of the two symmetrical extremities of the poop 12, as is clearly- visible in figure 5.

In correspondence of its central part, the floatation device is supplied with an opening 13 defined by an inner circular edge 14.

The central opening 13 is in communication with the outer poop side of the floatation device with a passage 15, which is at the centre of the two extremities 12. In correspondence of this passage 15 there are two symmetrically shaped protrusions shaped as humps 16, which appear back-to-back along the common midline, and provide the means by which the floatation device is wrapped around the neck of the swimmer who wears it. The herein described floatation device can be worn with maximum ease by slightly flexing it and introducing it around the neck, in such a way that the shoulders remain below it while the head above it and slightly tilted, prow behind the head, and the two poop symmetrical extremities at each side of the cheeks sustaining the jaw. For this reason the floatation device is planned to be created in highly buoyant and sufficiently elastic and yielding material in order to allow a slight separation of the two poop extremities 12, so that the symmetrically shaped protrusions can be distanced 16 enough to allow the neck to slide into the hole, and then gently return in place closing again around the neck now placed in its seat at the centre 13 of the board.

As an alternative the device can also be projected so that the two symmetrical protuberances 16 can be made in an elastic and yielding material and can be applied to the body of the floatation device made with a rigid material. This conformation of the potentially lifesaving floatation device 10, which is worn around the neck, allows the body of a person to assume in water a substantially vertical position, with the feet in the water disposed downwards, preventing the body from disposing itself back upwards, while the position of the body face down is not normally allowed, though is not in contrast with the objectives that the board can achieve.

In any case, the floating board, wrapping the neck nearly entirely, creates a condition in which the jaw is supported by the two protuberances 16, easing the slight backward tilting of the head, the back of which leans on the rounded inner edge of the hole towards the prow side 14. In this condition the mouth and the nose are maintained at the greater possible distance from the water surface. In order to use the floatation device it is therefore sufficient to smoothly slide it around the neck by exercising a slight force to spread the two shaped extremities 16 in the case of an elastic body, (or to compress them slightly in the case of the flexible protuberances on a rigid body) , so that the neck is wrapped and enclosed in its seat at the inner side of the opening 13.

The floatation device according to this invention should be pulled and slid through around the back of the neck. For this purpose, the floatation device can be worn by the swimmer on his or her own, also in a self-help modality, by being held at the two poop extremities 12 and being pulled and slid around the neck from behind the head. In case the floatation device is applied to the swimmer by another swimmer, it should be pushed by its prow leaning the two protuberances 16 gently on the back of the neck, gently pushing until the neck itself is completely introduced in the opening 13. Given its conformation, the floatation device can very easily be towed by a swimmer with a connection line 17, an extremity of which is applied in the appropriate prow insert 11 of the floatation device, while the other extremity can be tied to the swimmer's suit or at the waist with an elastic strap.

In this modality, which we define self-help, the swimmer can swim for long distances, always having an optimal and safe element for emergencies which can be quickly worn in order to support the head and face outside of the water.

In a very appropriate solution, the floatation device according to this invention is equipped with hubs or fittings for the introduction of distance visualization elements, such as, for example, small flags or lighting devices which possess own or reflected brightness.

The floatation device in its design also equipped with whichever other accessory that may ease its quick grabbing. As an example, a model for professional use is planned so that, as is visible in figure 4, a handle 18 is placed all along the outer edge of the floatation device.

The described potentially lifesaving floatation device, or some of its parts, can be developed or produced in totally inflatable material, or can be inflatable in one or more of its parts and attached to a rigid or elastic base, or it can be inflatable in part on a polyethylene or expanded rubber base.

In the same way, the device can be designed so that only the two protuberances 16 are made in inflatable material. The invention has been previously described with reference to a preferred shape in its creation. However, it is clear that the invention is susceptible of numerous variations which possess their own characteristics, in the general frame of technical equivalences.

Claims

1) Potentially lifesaving, quickly wearable flotation device identified by a curved "U-shape" conformation defined by a front prow appendix (11) and two poop extremities (12) placed side by side in a .mirror and symmetrical way along a common midline. This floatation device is equipped with an opening, in correspondence of its centre part (13) enclosed by an inner circular edge

(14), communicating with the external part of the potentially lifesaving device through a central passage

(15), in correspondence of which two symmetrically shaped protuberances (16), which face each other at the hump along the common midline.

2) Potentially lifesaving, buoyant floatation device (10) as claimed in the previous claim identified by the fact of showing a thinner shape towards its prow (11) and a thicker make at the two symmetrical poop extremities.

3) Buoyant potentially lifesaving floatation device (10) as claimed in any of the previous claims, distinguished by the fact that it is made in a buoyant and sufficiently elastic and yielding material, so that the two extremities (12) can be slightly bent apart so that the two shaped protuberances(16) can be separated enough to allow the neck to slide gently into and be safely held in its seat (13); the neck is thus wrapped by the floatation device in its central-posterior part, while at the front the partial wrapping comes in correspondence of the poop extremities allowing the inferior part of the jaw to lean comfortably on the board. 4) Buoyant potentially lifesaving floatation device (10) as claimed in any of the previous claims, identified by the fact that the protuberances (16) are produced in an elastic and yielding material applied on a rigid, highly buoyant material which makes the body of the floatation device.

5) Buoyant potentially lifesaving floatation device (10) as claimed in any of the previous claims, identified by the fact that it is equipped with a connection line (17) which allows the device to be easily towed by a swimmer.

6) Buoyant potentially lifesaving floatation device (10) as claimed in any of the previous claims, identified by the fact that it can be equipped with appropriate fittings for the introduction of visualization elements, such as small flags or lighting elements with own or reflected brightness, or other similar features.

7) Buoyant potentially lifesaving floatation device (10) as claimed in any of the previous claims, identified by the fact that at least some of its parts can be realized in totally inflatable material, or can be inflatable in one of its parts attached to a rigid or elastic base, or also can be inflatable in one part attached on a polyethylene or expanded rubber base. 8) Buoyant potentially lifesaving floatation device (10) as claimed in any of the previous claims, identified by the fact that the two extremities can be made in inflatable material (16) .