US3576042A

US3576042A - Floatation garment

Info

Publication number: US3576042A
Application number: US817674A
Authority: US
Inventors: George H Brauer
Original assignee: EMPRESS CORP
Current assignee: EMPRESS CORP
Priority date: 1969-04-21
Filing date: 1969-04-21
Publication date: 1971-04-27
Anticipated expiration: 1988-04-27

Abstract

This invention relates to garments which incorporate insulation against wind and inclement weather and which are sufficiently buoyant to serve as a life jacket when worn in the water. The embodiment selected for illustration in the drawing includes a coat of insulation material including front and rear sections formed of overlying layers of polyvinyl chloride sheet material. The several layers extend from the upper margins of the front and back sections at the shoulder downwardly toward the waist of the garment. Some of the layers are shorter than others whereby the finished garment is more buoyant at the upper part of its front section than it is at the lower part of its front section and so that the upper part of the front section is more buoyant than the back section. The garment shown includes sleeves the lower portions of which are made of a nonbuoyant insulating material so that the arms of a wearer will be caused to float.

Description

United States Patent 72] Inventor George H. Brauer Downey, Calif. [21 Appl. No. 817,674 [22] Filed Apr. 21, 1969 [45] Patented Apr. 27, 1971 [73] Assignee The Empress Corporation Los Angeles, Calif.

[54] FLOATATION GARMENT 5 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 9/341 [51] Int. Cl B63c 9/10 [50] Field of Search 9/341, 342, 340, 329, 330, 311

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,042,327 11/1912 Costanzo 9/340(X) 1,518,509 12/1924 Han 9/341(X) 2,629,118 2/1953 Frieder et a1. 9/342(X) 3,199,128 8/1965 Nojd 9/341(X) 3,266,069 8/ 1966 O'Link ABSTRACT: This invention relates to garments which incorporate insulation against wind and inclement weather and which are sufficiently buoyant to serve as a life jacket when worn in the water. The embodiment selected for illustration in the drawing includes a coat of insulation material including front and rear sections formed of overlying layers of polyvinyl chloride sheet material. The several layers extend from the upper margins of the front and back sections at the shoulder downwardly toward the waist of the garment. Some of the layers are shorter than others whereby the finished garment is more buoyant at the upper part of its front section than it is at the lower part of its front section and so that the upper part of the front section is more buoyant than the back section. The garment shown includes sleeves the lower portions of which are made of a nonbuoyant insulating material so that the arms of a wearer will be caused to float.

PATENTEU mm 1971 3; 576 042 22 INVENTOR.

$50 946 HI Benz/2 ML Array/vans FLOATATION GARMENT This invention relates to improvements in flotation garments. It relates particularly to garments which include an insulating coat or jacket as an element of their structure and which coat or jacket is also buoyant in substantial degree whereby it may serve as a flotation garment.

An object of the invention is to provide a garment capable of protecting the wearer against the elements and which will serve as a flotation structure when its wearer is in the water. Thus, an object of the invention is to provide a garment which in addition to serving the function of a conventional outdoor protective garment such as a coat or a jacket or a coverall, will serve also as a life jacket. Another object of the invention is to provide a flotation garment or life jacket which tends to support the wearer in a safe position in the water by tending to cause him to float face upwardly with the upper part of his body higher in the water than the lower portion of his body.

In general, that a garment worn primarily for protection against the weather will float and will support its wearer in the water is a safety feature useful in an emergency which may never arise. More often the primary function of the garment is to protect the wearer against cold and inclement weather. Advantageously, the feature that the garment will serve as a flotation device will not diminish the garments usefulness for this more frequent purpose. Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a flotation garment which is as comfortable and serviceable and as attractive in appearance as any outdoor garment when out of water. A related object of the invention is to provide a garment which is comfortable to wear and will not restrict the wearers movements unduly so that wearing it is not objectionable and which, at the same time, provides the precautionary safety of a life jacket.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention are realized, at least in part, by the provision of a garment comprising back and front sections joined to form a coat; each of those sections being formed by a flexible, buoyant, insulating material; the material of the front section being more buoyant at the upper front region than at the lower front region and being more buoyant at the front section than at the back section.

In the drawings:

FIG. I is an isometric view of a coat or jacket embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the floating coat garment contained within the completely assembled garment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the floating coat portion of the completed garment taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing one-half of the front section, together with an upper arm section, of the floating coat, taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the rear of the coat garment taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 3 and showing the back section, the two upper arm sections, and the two lower arm sections of the floating coat;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the lower part of one of the sleeves of the garment of FIGS. 2 and 3, taken on lines 6-6 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 7 is a view in elevation of a fragment of the arm structure of the garment taken on line 77 of FIG. 2 and showing the juncture, at the inner side of the sleeve, between the upper and lower portion of the sleeve.

The invention is capable of embodiment in forms that have the appearance of conventional garments of a variety of kinds. It may be embodied in a jump suit or coveralls and it may be embodied in a coat or jacket. Moreover, it may be embodied in a pullover garment. The garment in FIG. I is a short coat or jacket of conventional external appearance which opens and closes at its front. It is provided with an inner lining which also looks conventional. Between the inner lining and the external covering this jacket is provided with an insulating material which serves effectively in protecting the wearer against the elements. When worn in the water, this coat also serves as a life jacket or flotation garment.

FIG. 2 illustrates the insulation and flotation portion of the garment which is itself a jacket or coat. The embodiment selected for illustration in FIG. 2 incorporates sleeves which advantageously are included but are not essential to successful practice of the invention in its broader concept. The garment of FIG. 2 could be provided with a pant portion as for example when it is incorporated in a jump suit. Whatever its complete form, the insulating garment or the insulating portion of the completed garment includes a vest section in that it has a rear section and a front section designed to encircle the upper body of the wearer. Further, at least the front section is made of a flotation material.

In preferred form, both the front and the back sections are formed of flotation material and in this embodiment they are. The back section is designated by the reference numeral 10; the front section is generally designated by the reference numeral 12. In this embodiment the front section is divided into two halves, the half at the wearers right in FIG. 2 is designated by the reference numeral 14 and the half at the wearers left is designated by the reference numeral 16. The front and rear sections are joined together at their respective side edges and at their upper edges. Portions of the back and front are cut away to form neck and arm openings. An upper arm sleeve, that is the shoulder portion of a sleeve, is secured to the front and back sections at the margins of the arm opening. The right sleeve is designated 18 and the left sleeve is designated 20. In the preferred embodiment the sleeves also include lower portions of a length to extend to the wrist of a wearer. This embodiment includes such lower sleeve portions, the left one of which is designated 22 and the right is designated 24.

The garment of FIG. 2 extends to the shoulders of the wearer at its upper end and at its lower end extends toward the waist of the wearer. It may extend beyond but that portion which is necessary to successful practice of the invention need cover only the upper portion of the wearer's body. That is, in the invention the insulating garment need comprise only a vest or jacket or coat whatever the form of the finished garment in which it is incorporated. The front section of the flotation garment must be more buoyant than the rear section so that one wearing the jacket in the water will tend to float face up. Further, the upper portion of the front section must be more buoyant than the lower portion of the front section. The rear section need not be buoyant. Advantageously, it is. Furthermore, in the preferred form of the invention the upper portion of the rear section is more buoyant than the lower portion of the rear section. The upper sleeve sections need not be included. If they are included they may be either buoyant or nonbuoyant although in preferred form they are buoyant. The lower sleeves need not be included. If they are included they are made nonbuoyant. A pant section need not be included but if it is, it is made nonbuoyant.

The flotation garment is made buoyant by forming it of a material which weighs less than water and which will not be permeated by water. Increased buoyancy is accomplished by forming the garment either with a more buoyant material in those places where it is to be more buoyant or by incorporating greater volume of the selected buoyant material at those areas of the garment which are to be more buoyant. This latter means of providing increased buoyancy is preferred and in the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, increased buoyancy is provided by increased thickness of buoyant material in those areas where greater buoyancy is required. In the selected embodiment, the flotation garment is formed of layers of a buoyant material. Increased buoyancy in selected areas is provided by multiplying the number of layers used to form the garment in those areas. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, three layers are incorporated in the front section of the garment and two layers are incorporated in the rear section of the garment. The several layers are attached one to the other in a way that insures that the garment will retain its shape and so that its several parts will tend to return to designed shape and relative position when the garment is not worn. Nonetheless, the several layers are free to move laterally relative to one another so that the wearer may enjoy maximum freedom of movement. it has been discovered that the use of overlying layers of insulating material results in a garment far more comfortable to the wearer than a gannent formed with a similar but single, thickness of material.

In preferred form the layers are joined at their upper margins and at their side margins only. In particular, they are not joined at the lower margin of any layer and advantageously they are not joined at portions of the sheet away from their margins. This construction facilitates draining of any water that finds its way between the layers and it provides maximum freedom for successive layers to move relative to one another. Nonetheless, some bonding at other points is permitted when it aids the manufacturing process.

lt has been found preferable that the shorter ones of the several overlying layers of insulating material be arranged at the inside of the completed flotation garment. That this embodiment has that construction is best illustrated in FIG. 3 where the front section 14 is shown to comprise a long outer panel 26, a short inner panel 23, with the panel 3! of intermediate length between them. The back section comprises a long outer layer 32 and one short upper inner layer 34. The degree of buoyancy is variable by using materials of different density and by using different thickness of materials having the same density. in this embodiment all of the layers are made of the same material. All of the

layers

26, 28 and 30 of the front section have the same thickness. The upper inner rear layer 34 has like thickness but the outer rear layer 32 is made of a layer which is less thick than the others.

While various flotation materials are available and are satisfactory for use in practicing the invention, the best material currently available is polyvinyl chloride. Formed as a plastic foam, this material is cellular and the cells are closed with a gas entrapped within them. This quality makes the material buoyant, lightweight and a poor conductor of heat to the end that a garment incorporating it is lightweight, warm and buoyant. Moreover, polyvinyl chloride sheets are flexible and compressible having slight, but not excessive, resiliency. Because of these attributes garments formed of this material can be made very comfortable. A material having similar characteristics, except that its cells are not closed, is polyurethane. Polyurethane will become saturated with the water in which it is immersed and will not float. In other respects, its characteristics are similar to the polyvinyl chloride. Those portions of the flotation garment which are to be nonbuoyant are advantageously formed of sheets of polyurethane. These two materials complement one another in the sense that they are readily bonded to one another using contact adhesives. Several layers of these materials may be bonded to one another by a thin layer of neoprene contact adhesive confined to a narrow stripe adjacent their margins. Moreover, a neoprene contact adhesive can be used to butt bond layers of polyvinyl chloride and polyurethane in edge-toedge fashion so that thickened seams are avoided along the lines upon which the several sections of the garment are attached to one another.

H68. 4 and 5 are cross-sectional views taken through the bond line between the front and rear sections, 12 and 10, of the garment. FIG. 4 shows the wearer's right half of the front section. The three

layers

26, 28 and 30 all extend to the upper margin of the section which ends substantially at the midline I of the wearer's shoulder in this embodiment. The three layers are bonded one to the other at that point and along the line 50 where they are also butt bonded to the inner margin of the upper sleeve section 18. The lower sleeve section 22 is bonded to the upper sleeve section 18 along the butt bond line 52. At the side the several layers are bonded to one another to the extent that they are coextensive. These bond lines are designated by the reference numeral 54. In this embodiment the lower edges of the

layers

28 and 30 are parallel with the lower edge of the layer 26. This feature is advantageous although not essential. These several layers are joined to one another at their front edges along the centerline 56 to the extent that they are coextensive.

The rear half of the flotation garment is shown in FIG. 5. Whereas, the several layers of the front section all extend well below the level of the wearers armpit, it is advantageous that the buoyancy of the back section be relatively limited except at the region of the back above the armpits. Accordingly, while the back section 32 is as long as the outer front section 26, the inner rear section 34 extends only to the armpits. Also, the

upper sleeve sections

18 and 20 end approximately at the armpit because they are made of buoyant material in this embodiment. They are buoyant to assist in keeping the upper part of the wearers body high in the water. It is advantageous that his arm not float so the lower part of the sleeves, lower sleeve 22 and lower sleeve 24, are made of a nonfloating material. in this case they are made of polyurethane. The shape of the lower sleeves is shown in H6. 6 which is a cross section taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 2. FIG. 7 illustrates the underside of the bond line 70 between the upper sleeve 20 and the lower sleeve 24. The arrangement shown permits a reduction in sleeve diameter along the length of the upper sleeve section and serves to illustrate how the construction may be simplified by the combination of polyvinyl chloride and polyurethane in the two sleeve sections.

Returning to FIG. 5, the lower margin 72 of the layer 34 is parallel with the lower margin of the layer 32 which is advantageous but not essential. As in the case of the front sections, the lower margin 72 of sheet 34 is not bonded or cemented to the sheet 32. The two sheets are cemented together only along a narrow strip adjacent their common upper margins at the bond line 74 and along the

bond lines

76 and 78 where they are joined in a butt bond to the upper sleeve sections.

In preferred form the flotation garment or jacket is provided with an outer covering material not only to enhance its appearance but to add to the function of the insulation and flotation portion of the completed garment. The .outer covering advantageously is lightweight and water repellent. Moreover, a completed garment advantageously includes a lining of lightweight and water repellent material. In the preferred embodiment these coverings and lining materials comprise a nylon treated with a water repellent material. Also, the finished garment is advantageously provided with means, such as a collar or hood which can be made close fitting around the wearer to minimize movement of water through the neck portion of the garment in the water. In preferred form that means is formed of a nonbuoyant material. Thus, in the embodiment illustrated in HO. 1, the collar section 80 is nonbuoyant. In the garment there illustrated the outer covering material 82 is made of nylon cloth formed with an Oxford weave coated with a water repellent material. The inner liner 84 is formed of a similar material.

Although i have shown and described certain specific embodimetits of my invention, 1 am fully aware that many modifications thereof are possible. My invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except insofar as is necessitated by the prior art and by the spirit of the appended claims.

lclaim:

l. A floating garment comprising back and front sections joined to form a coat, each of said sections being formed of a flexible and buoyant material;

the material of said front section being more buoyant at upper front than at lower front and said from section being more buoyant at upper front than said back section, the back section being more buoyant at upper back than at lower back;

a pair of sleeves, at least the lower portions of which comprise nonbuoyant material and the upper portions of which comprise nonbuoyant material and the upper portions of which are buoyant in a degree no greater than said lower back; and

said front and back sections are formed of polyvinyl chloride plastic and said sleeves are formed of polyurethane material.

2. A floating garment comprising back and front sections joined to form a coat, each of said sections being formed of flexible and buoyant material;

the material of said front section being more buoyant at upper front than at lower front and said front section being more buoyant at upper front than said back section;

the material of said back section being more buoyant at upper back than at lower back;

said front section comprising three overlying layers of buoyant sheet material, each layer extending downward from the upper margin of said front section; and

one layer ending above, and another layer ending below, the

waist region of the garment.

3. The invention defined in claim 2, in which said back section comprises overlying layers of buoyant sheet material each layer extending to the region of the upper margin of the back section and one layer extending to a point substantially below the lower margin of another.

4. The invention defined in claim 3 in which the inner layer of the front section is shorter than the intermediate layer and in which the outer layer of the front section is longer than the intermediate layer.

5. A floating garment comprising back and front sections joined to form a coat, each of said sections being fonned of flexible and buoyant material;

the material of said front section being more buoyant at upper front than at lower front and saidfront section being more buoyant at upper front than said back section;

said front section comprising overlying layers of buoyant sheet material, each layer extending downwardly from the upper margin of said front section and one layer extending to a level substantially below the level of another; and

means for joining the layers of the front section to one another in overlying relation and the layer of the back section to one another in overlying relation while permitting drainage of fluid from between the overlying layers in a direction towards their lower margins.

Claims

1. A floating garment comprising back and front sections joined to form a coat, each of said sections being formed of a flexible and buoyant material; the material of said front section being more buoyant at upper front than at lower front and said front section being more buoyant at upper front than said back section, the back section being more buoyant at upper back than at lower back; a pair of sleeves, at least the lower portions of which comprise nonbuoyant material and the upper portions of which comprise nonbuoyant material and the upper portions of which are buoyant in a degree no greater than said lower back; and said front and back sections are formed of polyvinyl chloride plastic and said sleeves are formed of polyurethane material.

2. A floating garment comprising back and front sections joined to form a coat, each of said sections being formed of flexible and buoyant material; the material of said front section being more buoyant at upper front than at lower front and said front section being more buoyant at upper front than said back section; the material of said back section being more buoyant at upper back than at lower back; said front section comprising three overlying layers of buoyant sheet material, each layer extending downward from the upper margin of said front section; and one layer ending above, and another layer ending below, the waist region of the garment.

5. A floating garment comprising back and front sections joined to form a coat, each of said sections being formed of flexible and buoyant material; the material of said front section being more buoyant at upper front than at lower front and said front section being more buoyant at upper front than said back section; the material of said bacK section being more buoyant at upper back than at lower back; said front section comprising overlying layers of buoyant sheet material, each layer extending downwardly from the upper margin of said front section and one layer extending to a level substantially below the level of another; and means for joining the layers of the front section to one another in overlying relation and the layer of the back section to one another in overlying relation while permitting drainage of fluid from between the overlying layers in a direction towards their lower margins.