U.S. patent application number 11/809216 was filed with the patent office on 2008-05-08 for methods for creating large scale focused blade deflections.
Invention is credited to Peter T. McCarthy.
Application Number | 20080108258 11/809216 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 27491968 |
Filed Date | 2008-05-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080108258 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
McCarthy; Peter T. |
May 8, 2008 |
Methods for creating large scale focused blade deflections
Abstract
Methods are disclosed to design resilient hydrofoils (164) which
are capable of having substantially similar large scale blade
deflections under significantly varying loads. The methods permit
the hydrofoil (164) to experience significantly large-scale
deflections to a significantly reduced angle of attack under a
relatively light load while avoiding excessive degrees of
deflection under increased loading conditions. A predetermined
compression range on the lee portion of said hydrofoil (164)
permits the hydrofoil (164) to deflect to a predetermined reduced
angle of attack with significantly low bending resistance. This
predetermined compression range is significantly used up during the
deflection to the predetermined angle of attack in an amount
effective to create a sufficiently large leeward shift in the
neutral bending surface with the load bearing portions of the
hydrofoil (164) to permit the hydrofoil (164) to experience a
significantly large increase in bending resistance as increased
loads deflect the hydrofoil (164) beyond the predetermined reduced
angle of attack. The shift in the neutral bending surface causes a
significant increase in the elongation range required along an
attacking portion of the hydrofoil (164) after the predetermined
angle of attack is exceed. Methods are also disclosed for designing
the hydrofoil (164) so that it has a natural resonant frequency
that is sufficiently close the frequency of the reciprocating
strokes used to attain propulsion in an amount sufficient to create
harmonic wave addition that creates an amplified oscillation in the
free end of the reciprocating hydrofoil (164). Methods are also
disclosed for focusing energy storage and blade deflections along
focused regions of load bearing members and the hydrofoil (164).
Methods are also disclosed for reducing induced drag vortex
formation along the lee surface of the hydrofoil (164), reducing
drag and increasing the formation of lift forces.
Inventors: |
McCarthy; Peter T.; (Oxnard,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Peter T. McCarthy
2109 Spyglass Trail West
Oxnard
CA
93036
US
|
Family ID: |
27491968 |
Appl. No.: |
11/809216 |
Filed: |
June 1, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11363562 |
Feb 27, 2006 |
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11809216 |
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10877969 |
Jun 25, 2004 |
7018256 |
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11363562 |
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09852155 |
May 9, 2001 |
6843693 |
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10877969 |
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09630374 |
Aug 1, 2000 |
6413133 |
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09852155 |
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09311505 |
May 13, 1999 |
6095879 |
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09630374 |
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60202560 |
May 10, 2000 |
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60085463 |
May 14, 1998 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
441/64 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 2031/115 20130101;
A63B 31/11 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
441/64 |
International
Class: |
A63B 31/11 20060101
A63B031/11 |
Claims
1. A method for providing an improved hydrofoil comprising: (a)
providing a predetermined body that is arranged to experience
reciprocating motion; (b) connecting a blade member to said
predetermined body to form an extension of said predetermined body
wherein said blade member is subjected to said reciprocating
motion, said blade member having a blade root portion adjacent said
predetermined body and a blade free end portion remote from said
blade root portion and said predetermined body, said blade member
having opposing surfaces and outer side edges; (c) providing at
least one substantially flexible elongated load bearing rib member
molded to said blade member, said rib member having a rib root
portion adjacent said foot attachment portion and a rib free end
portion remote from said rib root portion and said foot attachment
portion, said rib having a predetermined length between said rib
root portion and said rib free end portion, said rib having a
longitudinal midpoint, said rib member having a first half portion
between said longitudinal midpoint and said rib root portion, said
rib member having a second half portion between said midpoint and
said rib free end portion; (d) providing said rib member with an
first elongated portion being made with a first thermoplastic
material during an early phase of an injection molding process and
a second elongated portion made with a second thermoplastic
material, both said first elongated portion and said second
elongated portion being at least half of said predetermined length,
at least one portion of said first elongated portion being
vertically thicker than at least one portion of said blade member,
said first elongated portion being connected to said second
elongated portion; and (d) providing said first half of said rib
member and said second half of said blade member with sufficient
flexibility to permit said rib member to form at least one
longitudinal sinusoidal wave having at least two opposing
directions of curvature along said predetermined length during at
least one phase of said reciprocating motion.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said first elongated portion is an
elongated core disposed within said rib member.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein said second elongated portion has
a Shore A hardness that is less than 70 durometer.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein said rib root portion has a region
of reduced cross section.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein said first elongated portion is
made during an earlier step of an injection molding process and
said second elongated portion is made during a later step of an
injection molding process, and said second elongated portion is
arranged to be more extensible than said first elongated
portion.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein said first elongated portion is
made during an earlier step of an injection molding process and
said second elongated portion is made during a later step of an
injection molding process, and said first elongated portion is
arranged to be relatively harder than said second elongated
portion.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein said first elongated portion
extends along a majority of said predetermined length of said rib
member.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein said first half portion of said
rib member is arranged to pivot to a lengthwise reduced angle of
attack sufficient to significantly reduce the resistance of said
blade member to surrounding fluid medium during said reciprocating
motion.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein sinusoidal wave is sufficient to
increase the propulsion of said hydrofoil.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein said first elongated portion has
lateral sides and said second elongated portion extends around a
significant portion of said lateral sides.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one portion of said rib
member has a Shore A hardness that is substantially between 80 and
98 durometer.
12. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one portion of said rib
member has a Shore D hardness that is substantially between 45 and
75 durometer.
13. The method of claim 1 wherein rib member is arranged to have a
Shore D hardness substantially between 45 and 75 durometer.
14. A method for providing a hydrofoil comprising: (a) providing a
blade member secured to a predetermined body, said blade member
having a blade root portion near said predetermined body and a
blade free end portion spaced from said blade root portion and said
predetermined body, said blade member having opposing surfaces and
outer side edges; (b) providing at least one substantially flexible
elongated rib member molded to said blade member, said at least one
substantially flexible elongated rib member having a rib root
portion adjacent said blade root portion and a rib free end portion
remote from said rib root portion and said predetermined body, said
at least one substantially flexible elongated rib member having a
predetermined length between said rib root portion and said rib
free end portion, said rib member having a flexible load bearing
portion that is arranged to provide a majority of the structural
support for said rib member, said flexible load bearing portion
having a Shore A hardness that is not greater than 98 durometer;
(c) providing said rib root portion with a substantially ovular
cross sectional shape having a predetermined vertical cross section
dimension and a predetermined horizontal cross section dimension,
said predetermined vertical cross section being greater than said
predetermined horizontal cross section, said predetermined
horizontal cross section dimension being sufficient to
significantly; and (d) providing said rib free end portion with a
substantially rounded cross sectional shape that is less ovular
than said rib root portion.
15. The method of claim 14 wherein said rib member is arranged to
pivot around a transverse axis near said rib root portion to a
significantly reduced lengthwise angle of attack during use.
16. The method of claim 14 wherein said rib member is arranged to
be sufficiently flexible to form a longitudinal sinusoidal wave
along said predetermined length during at least one phase of a
reciprocating stroke cycle, wherein said sinusoidal wave has at
least two opposing directions of curvature
17. The method of claim 14 wherein at least one portion of rib
member near said rib root portion has a region of reduced cross
sectional volume.
18. A method for providing a hydrofoil comprising: (a) providing a
blade member secured to a predetermined body, said blade member
having a blade root portion near said predetermined body and a
blade free end portion spaced from said blade root portion and said
predetermined body, said blade member having a predetermined length
between said blade root portion and said blade free end portion,
said blade member having opposing surfaces and outer side edges,
said blade member being made with a relatively hard thermoplastic
material; (b) providing at least one substantially flexible
elongated rib member made with an extensible thermoplastic material
molded to at least one of said opposing surfaces of said blade
member with a weld bond, said at least one substantially flexible
elongated rib member having a rib root portion adjacent said blade
root portion and a rib free end portion remote from said rib root
portion and said predetermined body; (c) providing said rib member
with sufficient flexibility near said rib root portion to permit
said blade member to experience the formation a longitudinal
sinusoidal wave along said predetermined length during at least one
phase of a predetermined reciprocating propulsion stroke cycle; and
(d) providing said rib member with a predetermined transverse
dimension that is arranged to be sufficiently large enough to
substantially prevent said rib member from twisting excessively
around a substantially lengthwise axis during said formation of
said sinusoidal wave.
19. The method of claim 18 wherein said rib member is made with at
least two different materials both of which extend a predetermined
distance from at least one of said opposing surfaces of said blade
member.
20. The method of claim 18 wherein said rib root portion has a
region of increased flexibility sufficient to cause said rib root
portion to pivot to a lengthwise reduced angle of attack around a
transverse axis near said predetermined body in an amount
sufficient to significantly reduce the energy required to generate
propulsion with said blade member.
Description
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/363,562, filed Feb. 27, 2007 titled METHODS
FOR CREATING LARGE SCALE FOCUSED BLADE DEFLECTIONS which is a
continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/877,969, filed
Jun. 25, 2004, titled METHODS FOR CREATING LARGE SCALE FOCUSED
BLADE DEFLECTIONS, which is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 09/852,155, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,843,693, filed
May 9, 2001, titled METHODS FOR CREATING LARGE SCALE FOCUSED BLADE
DEFLECTIONS, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent
Application No. 60/202,560, filed May 10, 2000, titled METHODS FOR
CREATING LARGE SCALE FOCUSED BLADE DEFLECTIONS, and which is a
continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
09/630,374, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,133, filed Aug. 1, 2000, titled
METHODS FOR CREATING CONSISTENT LARGE SCALE BLADE DEFLECTIONS,
which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
09/311,505, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,879, filed May 13, 1999, titled
METHODS FOR CREATING LARGE SCALE FOCUSED BLADE DEFLECTIONS, which
claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.
60/085,463, filed May 14, 1998, titled METHODS FOR CREATING LARGE
SCALE FOCUSED BLADE DEFLECTIONS. The entirety of each of the
above-mentioned prior patent applications and provisional patent
applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a
part of this specification.
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Field of Invention
[0003] This invention relates to hydrofoils, specifically to such
devices which are used to create directional movement relative to a
fluid medium, and this invention also relates to swimming aids,
specifically to such devices which attach to the feet of a swimmer
and create propulsion from a kicking motion.
[0004] 2. Description of Prior Art
[0005] None of the prior art fins provide methods for maximizing
the storage of energy during use or maximizing the release of such
stored energy in a manner that produces significant improvements in
efficiency, speed, and performance.
[0006] No prior fin designs employ adequate or effective methods
for reducing the blade's angle of attack around a transverse axis
sufficiently enough to reduce drag and create lift in a
significantly consistent manner on both relatively light and
relatively hard kicking strokes.
[0007] Prior art beliefs, convictions, and design principles teach
that highly flexible blades are not effective for producing high
swimming speeds. Such prior principles teach that high flexibility
wastes energy since it permits kicking energy to be wasted in
deforming the blade rather than pushing water backward to propel
the swimmer forward. A worldwide industry convention among fin
designers, manufactures, retailers and end users is that the more
flexible the blade, the less able it is to produce power and high
speed. The industry also believes that the stiffer the blade, the
less energy is wasted deforming on the blade and the more effective
the fin is at producing high speeds. The reason the entire industry
believes this to be true is that no effective methods have existed
for designing blades and load bearing ribs that exhibit large
levels of blade deflection around a transverse axis in a manner
that is capable of producing ultra-high swimming speeds. Prior fin
design principles also teach that the greater the degree of blade
deflection around a transverse axis on each opposing kicking
stroke, the greater the degree of lost motion that occurs at the
inversion point of each stroke where the blade pivots loosely from
the high angle of deflection on one stroke, through the blade's
neutral position, and finally to the high angle of deflection on
the opposite stroke. Prior principles teach that lost motion wastes
kicking energy throughout a significantly wide range of each stroke
because kicking energy is expended on reversing the angle of the
blade rather that pushing water backward. Also, prior principles
teach that the greater the degree of flexibility and range of blade
deflection, the greater the degree of lost motion and the larger
the portion of each kicking stroke that is wasted on deflecting the
blade and the smaller the portion of the stroke that is used for
creating propulsion. Furthermore, prior principles teach that such
highly deflectable blades are vulnerable to over deflection during
hard kicks when high swimming speeds are required. Although it is
commonly known that highly deflectable blades create lower strain
and are easier to use at slow speeds, such highly deflectable
blades are considered to be undesirable and unmarketable since
prior versions have proven to not work well when high swimming
speeds are required.
[0008] Because prior fins are made significantly stiff to reduce
lost motion between strokes as well as to reduce excessive blade
deflection during hard kicks, prior fins place the blade at
excessively high angles of attack during use. This prevents water
from flowing smoothly around the low-pressure surface or lee
surface of the blade and creates high levels of turbulence. This
turbulence creates stall conditions that prevent the blade from
generating lift and also create high levels of drag.
[0009] Since the blade remains at a high angle of attack that
places the blade at a significantly horizontal orientation while
the direction of kicking occurs in a vertical direction, most of
the swimmer's kicking energy is wasted pushing water upward and
downward rather that pushing water backward to create forward
propulsion. When prior fins are made flexible enough to bend
sufficiently around a transverse axis to reach an orientation
capable of pushing water in a significantly backward direction, the
lack of bending resistance that enables the blade to deflect this
amount also prevents the blade from exerting a significant backward
force upon the water and therefore propulsion is poor. This lack of
bending resistance also subjects the blade to high levels of lost
motion and enables the blade to deflect to an excessively low angle
of attack during a hard kick that is incapable of producing
significant lift. In addition, prior fin design methods that could
permit such high deflections to occur do not permit significant
energy to be stored in the fin during use and the fin does not snap
back with significant energy during use. Again, a major dilemma
occurs with prior fin designs: poor performance occurs when the fin
is too flexible and when it is too stiff.
[0010] One of the major disadvantages that plague prior fin designs
is excessive drag. This causes painful muscle fatigue and cramps
within the swimmer's feet, ankles, and legs. In the popular sports
of snorkeling and SCUBA diving, this problem severely reduces
stamina, potential swimming distances, and the ability to swim
against strong currents. Leg cramps often occur suddenly and can
become so painful that the swimmer is unable to kick, thereby
rendering the swimmer immobile in the water. Even when leg cramps
are not occurring, the energy used to combat high levels of drag
accelerates air consumption and reduces overall dive time for SCUBA
divers. In addition, higher levels of exertion have been shown to
increase the risk of attaining decompression sickness for SCUBA
divers. Excessive drag also increases the difficulty of kicking the
swim fins in a fast manner to quickly accelerate away from a
dangerous situation. Attempts to do so, place excessive levels of
strain upon the ankles and legs, while only a small increase in
speed is accomplished. This level of exertion is difficult to
maintain for more than a short distance. For these reasons scuba
divers use slow and long kicking stokes while using conventional
scuba fins. This slow kicking motion combines with low levels of
propulsion to create significantly slow forward progress.
[0011] Another problem with many prior fin designs is that they
exhibit severe performance problems when they are used for swimming
across the surface of the water. While kicking the fins at the
water's surface, they break through the surface on the up stroke,
and then on the down stroke they "catch" or "slap" on the surface
as they re-enter the water at a high angle of and downward movement
is abruptly stopped. This instantaneous deceleration creates high
levels of strain and discomfort for the user's ankles and lower leg
muscles. Because downward movement ceases upon impact with the
water, this energy is wasted and is not converted into forward
propulsion. Over large distances, this problem can create
substantial fatigue for snorkeling skin divers, body surfers, and
body board surfers who spend most of their tine kicking their fins
along the water's surface. It is also a problem for SCUBA divers
who swim along the surface to and from a dive site in an attempt to
conserve their supply of compressed air. Fatigue and muscle strain
to SCUBA divers during surface swims is particularly high because
prior SCUBA type fins have significantly long lengthwise dimensions
and high angles of attack. This causes increased levels of torque
to be applied to the diver's ankles and lower legs as the blade
slaps the surface of the water. Because such longer fins create
high levels of drag from a decreased aspect ratio, prior SCUBA type
fins are significantly slow to re-gaining downward movement after
catching on the water's surface. Even below the surface, such prior
fins offer poor propulsion and high levels of drag that severely
detract from overall diving pleasure.
[0012] Prior art fin designs do not employ efficient and methods
for enabling the blade to bend around a transverse axis to
sufficiently reduced angles of attack that are capable of
generating lift while also providing efficient and effective
methods for enabling such reduced angles of attack to occur
consistently on both light and hard kicking strokes.
[0013] Prior art fins often allow the blade to flex or bend around
a transverse axis so that the blade's angle of attack is reduced
under the exertion of water pressure. Although prior art blades are
somewhat flexible, they are usually made relatively stiff so that
the blade has sufficient bending resistance to enable the swimmer
to push against the water without excessively deflecting the blade.
If the blade bends too far, then the kicking energy is wasted on
deforming the blade since the force of water applied to the blade
is not transferred efficiently back to the swimmers foot to create
forward movement. This is a problem if the swimmer requires high
speed to escape a dangerous situation, swim against a strong
current, or to rescue another swimmer. If the blade bends too far
on a hard kick, the swimmer will have difficulty achieving high
speeds. For this reason, prior fins are made sufficiently stiff to
not bend to an excessively low angle of attack during hard and
strong kicking stokes.
[0014] Because prior fin blades are made stiff enough so that they
do not bend excessively under the force of water created during a
hard kick, they are too stiff to bend to a sufficiently reduced
angle of attack during a relatively light stroke used for relaxed
cruising speeds. If a swim fin blade is made flexible enough to
deflect to a sufficiently reduced angle of attack during a light
kick, it will over deflect under the significantly higher force of
water pressure during a hard kick. Prior fins have been plagued
with this dilemma. As a result, prior fins are either too stiff
during slower cruise speeds in order to permit effectiveness at
higher speeds, or fins they are flexible and easy to use at slow
speeds but lack the ability to hold up under the increased stress
of high speeds. This is a major problem since the goal of scuba
diving is mainly to swim slowly in order to relax, conserve energy,
reduce exertion, and conserve air usage. Because of this, prior
fins that are stiff enough to not over deflect during high speeds
will create muscle strain, high exertion, discomfort, and increased
air consumption during the majority of the time spent at slow
speeds.
[0015] Because prior art fins attempt to use significantly rigid
materials within load bearing ribs and blades to prevent over
deflection, the natural resonant frequency of these load bearing
members is significantly too high to substantially match the
kicking frequency of the swimmer. None of the prior art discloses
that such a relationship is desirable, that potential benefits are
known, or that a method exists for accomplishing this in an
efficient manner that significantly improves performance.
[0016] Some prior designs attempt to achieve consistent large scale
blade deflections by connecting a transversely pivoting blade to a
wire frame that extends in front of the foot pocket and using
either a yieldable or non-yieldable chord that connects the leading
edge of the blade to the foot pocket to limit the blade angle. This
approach requires the use of many parts that increase difficulty
and cost of manufacturing. The greater the number of moving parts,
the greater the chance for breakage and wear. Many of these designs
use metal parts that are vulnerable to corrosion and also add
undesirable weight. Variations of this approach are seen in U.S.
Pat. Nos. 3,665,535 (1972) and 4,934,971 (1988) to Picken, and U.S.
Pat. Nos. 4,657,515 (1978), and 4,869,696 (1989) to Ciccotelli.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,971 (1988) to Picken shows a fin which uses a
blade that pivots around a transverse axis in order to achieve a
decreased angle of attack on each stroke. Because the distance
between the pivoting axis and the trailing edge is significantly
large, the trailing edge sweeps up and down over a considerable
distance between strokes until it switches over to its new
position. During this movement, lost motion occurs since little of
the swimmer's kicking motion is permitted to assist with
propulsion. The greater the reduction in the angle of attack
occurring on each stroke, the greater this problem becomes. If the
blade is allowed to pivot to a low enough angle of attack to
prevent the blade from stalling, high levels of lost motion render
the blade highly inefficient. This design was briefly brought to
market and received poor response from the market as well as
ScubaLab, an independent dive equipment evaluation organization
that conducts evaluations for Rodale's Scuba Diving magazine.
Evaluators stated that the fin performed poorly on many kick styles
and was difficult to use while swimming on the surface. The divers
reported that they had to kick harder with these fins to get moving
in comparison to other fin designs. The fins created high levels of
leg strain and were disliked by evaluators. A major problem with
this design approach is that swimmers disliked the snap or click of
the blade reaching its limits at the end of each fin stroke.
[0017] This design approach produces poor performance for several
reasons. The large range of motion of the blade creates lost motion
at the inversion point of each stroke where the fins produces
little or no propulsion until it reverses its angle of attack and
reaches its limit of pivotal movement. The pivotal hinge approach
with abrupt limits in motion creates an unsteady and jerky movement
and large gaps in the kick cycle where propulsion is missing. The
sudden impact of water pressure created as the blade reaches its
limits creates a shock to the user's muscles and joints that
increases strain, fatigue, and tendency of cramping.
[0018] Because the blade hinges near its leading edge and the
restraining chord is connected to this leading edge, the moment arm
is very short between the hinging axis and the connecting point of
the restraining chord. The force of water exerted on the blade
between the hinging axis and the trailing edge of the blade is
multiplied many times as it is applied to the restraining chord due
to the much shorter leading edge moment arm. A heavy kick can
produce extremely high stress on the restraining chord. If the
chord is elastic, such a high strain can overextend the chord
beyond its yielding point so that the blade's angle of attack
increases beyond the desired level. The high level of force created
by the short moment arm can suddenly extend a relatively small
elastic chord (as shown in many of these design approaches) to its
inelastic limit to create an abrupt stop in motion that creates a
shock to the user's foot and leg. The chord's vulnerability for
over extending is increased because of the relatively small
cross-section of the restraining chords used in these examples.
Repeated use can cause the chord to stretch out over time so that
the blade's range of motion further increases over time to inhibit
performance.
If a larger size chord is used, the blade will not rotate enough
under a light kicking stroke. If the chord is small enough to
enable the blade to rotate enough during a light kicking stroke, it
will abruptly stop at the outer pivotal limit and transfer a sudden
shock to the user's leg during a hard kick.
[0019] The large distance the chord must stretch during use in
order to restrain the blade further inhibits performance. Because
the leading edge rotates up and down relative to the foot pocket
during use, the chord must stretch vertically over large distances
if the blade is to rotate to significantly reduced angles of
attack. Because the chord is short at the neutral position, it must
stretch and elongate by several times its original length in order
to permit the blade to pivot to significantly reduced angles of
attack. For this to occur under the low levels of force created
during light kicking strokes, the chord must be extraordinarily
elastic and have a very low modulus of elasticity (ratio of stress
to strain, or load to deflection). The lower the modulus of
elasticity, the weaker the material and therefore the less reliable
the holding power of the material. Because stronger materials are
less elastic, a stronger material capable of holding well under
hard kicks will not permit sufficient deflection under light kicks.
No effective methods for solving this issue are disclosed.
[0020] Because the chord is significantly short at the neutral
position in an effort to reduce the occurrence of slack within the
chord, the total volume of the chord's material is relatively
small. This causes the high stresses in the chord to be distributed
over a very small volume of material. This increases vulnerability
to over extension and deformation of the material. The small
material volume severely limits energy storage within the material.
At the inversion point of the kick cycle, the chord provides poor
snap back because its energy storage is significantly low and its
moment arm is small.
[0021] Another problem is that significant levels of slack exist in
the chord as the blade pivots close to the neutral position. As the
leading edge pivots back toward the neutral position, the alignment
of the restraining chord becomes more horizontal and less vertical.
This substantially reduces the chord's ability to apply vertical
tension to restrain the blade or control its movement. This reduces
the ability for energy stored in the elastic chord to be
transferred to the blade for effective propulsion. The chord
becomes less able to apply propulsive force as it moves the blade
from the pivotal limit back to the neutral position. This is highly
undesirable and causes energy to be wasted. The lack of vertical
tension near the neutral position also permits the blade to move
without restraint or control. This increases the severity of the
sudden click created as the tension suddenly abruptly increases at
the limit of pivotal range. The lack of tension near the neutral
position also prevents energy from being stored in this region and
the kinetic energy of the blade is wasted. Because the chord has a
significant horizontal inclination throughout the entire range of
rotation, a significant portion of the tension within the chord is
directed in a horizontal direction that does not assist with the
vertical restraint or return movement of the blade. This wastes
stored energy and destroys efficiency.
[0022] If non-elastic chords are used then there is zero snap back
energy at the inversion point of each kick and the blade stops with
increased shock at the limits of pivoting. Lost motion is extremely
high in this situation and performance is exceptionally poor.
[0023] Prior fin designs using longitudinal load bearing ribs for
controlling blade deflections around a transverse axis do not
employ adequate methods for reducing the blade's angle of attack
sufficiently enough to reduce drag and create lift in a
significantly consistent manner on both relatively light and
relatively hard kicking strokes. Many prior art fins use
substantially longitudinal load bearing support ribs to control the
degree to which the blade is able to bend around a transverse axis.
These ribs typically connect the foot pocket to the blade portion
and extend along a significant length of the blade. The ribs
usually extend vertically above the upper surface of the blade
and/or below the lower surface of the blade and taper from the foot
pocket toward the trailing edge of the blade. Hooke's Law states
that strain, or deflection, is proportional to stress, or load
placed on the rib. Therefore the deflection of a flexible rib the
load varies in proportion to the load placed on it. A light kick
produces a minimal blade deflection, a moderate kick produces a
moderate blade deflection, and a hard kick produces a maximum blade
deflection. Because of this, prior art design methods for designing
load supporting ribs do produce significantly consistent
large-scale blade deflections from light to hard kicks.
[0024] Prior fin designs using longitudinal load bearing ribs for
controlling blade deflections around a transverse axis do not
employ adequate methods for reducing the blade's angle of attack
sufficiently enough to reduce drag and create lift in a
significantly consistent manner on both relatively light and
relatively hard kicking strokes.
[0025] These ribs are designed to control the blade's degree of
bending around a transverse axis during use. Because of the need
for the blade to not over deflect during hard kicking strokes, the
ribs used in prior fin designs are made relatively rigid. This
prevents the blade from deflecting sufficiently during a light
kick. This is because the rib acts like a spring that deflects in
proportion to the load on it. Higher loads produce larger
deflections while lower loads produce smaller deflections. Because
prior fins cannot achieve both of these performance criteria
simultaneously, prior designs provide stiff ribs to permit hard
kicks to be used. The ribs often use relatively rigid
thermoplastics such as EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) and fiber
reinforced thermoplastics that have short elongation ranges that
are typically less than 5% under high strain and compression ranges
that are much smaller. When rubber ribs are used, harder rubbers
having large cross sections are used to provide stiff blades that
under deflect during hard kicks so that they do not over deflect
during hard kicks.
[0026] Even if more flexible materials are substituted in the ribs
to enable the blade to deflect more under a hard kick, no prior art
method discloses how to efficiently prevent the blade from over
deflecting on a hard kick.
[0027] The vertical height of prior stiffening ribs often have
increased taper near the trailing edge of the blade to permit the
tip of the blade to deflect more during use. Flexibility is
achieved by reducing the vertical height of the rib since this
lowers the strain on the material and therefore reduces bending
resistance. Again, no method is used to provide consistent
deflections across widely varying loads. The approach of reducing
the vertical height of a rib to increase flexibility is not
efficient since it causes this portion of the rib to be more
susceptible to over deflection and also reduces performance by
minimizing energy storage within the rib. U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,537
(1990) to Ciccotelli reduces the height of a narrow portion on each
of two longitudinal support beams to focus flexing in this region.
This makes the ribs more susceptible to over deflection and
minimizes energy storage.
[0028] Another problem is that prior fin design methods teach that
in order to create a high powered snap-back effect the ribs must
attain efficient spring characteristics by using materials that
have good flexibility and memory but have relatively low ranges of
elongation. Elongation is considered to be a source of energy loss
while less extensible thermoplastics such as EVA and hi-tech
composites containing materials such as graphite and fiberglass are
considered to be state of the art for creating snap back qualities.
These materials do not provide proper performance because they
provide substantially linear spring deflection characteristics that
cause the blade to either under deflect on a light kick or over
deflect on a hard kick. Furthermore, these materials require that a
small vertical thickness be used in order for significant bending
to occur during use. This greatly reduces energy storage and
reduces the power of the desired snap back.
[0029] The highly vertical and narrow cross-sectional shape of
prior ribs makes them highly unstable and vulnerable to twisting
during use. When the vertical rib is deflected downward, tension is
created on the upper portion of the rib as well as compression on
the lower portion of the rib. Because the material on the
compression side must go somewhere, the lower portion of the rib
tends to bow outward and buckle. This phenomenon can be quickly
observed by holding a piece of paper on edge as a vertical beam and
applying a downward bending force to either end of the paper. Even
if the paper is used to carry a force over a small span, it will
buckle sideways and collapse. This is because the rib's resistance
to bending is greater than its resistance to sideways buckling. If
more resilient materials are used in prior art rails, then the
rails will buckle sideways and collapse. This causes the blade to
over deflect.
[0030] Some prior art ribs have cross-sectional shapes that are
less vulnerable to collapsing, however, none of these prior art
examples teach how to create similar large-scale blade deflections
on both light and hard kicking strokes.
[0031] U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,631 to McCarthy shows load bearing ribs
that have a rounded cross-section, no methods are disclosed that
permit such rails to store increased levels of energy or experience
substantially consistent blade deflections on both light and hard
kicking strokes.
Although it is stated that alternate embodiments may permit the
lengthwise rails to pivot around a lengthwise axis where the rails
join the foot pocket so that the rails can flex near the foot
pocket, no method is identified for creating consistent deflections
on light and hard kicks. It is mentioned that the blades can be
pivotally attached to the foot pocket to permit pivoting around a
transverse axis and that once the blades have pivoted to their
desired range limit, a suitable stopping device can be use to halt
all other movement either gradually or immediately, and that such a
stopping device may also provide some spring-like tension to snap
the blades back to a neutral orientation at the end of a stroke. No
specific and efficient type of stopping device, spring system, or
efficient method of pivotally attaching the blades to the foot
pocket is stated. It is mentioned that a small zone of decreased
thickness may be created near the foot pocket to permit the base of
the stiffening members, or side rails, to achieve some degree of
backward bending around a transverse axis near the foot pocket. No
mention is given as to which dimension such a reduction in
thickness occurs. Also, the rails are stated as being significantly
rigid and this prevents a reduction in the thickness of the rails
from permitting the blade to bend to a substantially large reduced
angle of attack around a transverse axis on a light kick while
preventing the blade from over deflecting or collapsing during a
hard kick. The preference for having spring tension to return the
blade to a neutral blade position does not include methods for
increasing energy storage and return during use.
[0032] U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,029 (1987) to Ciccotelli shows two
flexible longitudinal ribs extending from the foot pocket to a
blade spaced from the foot pocket. Although Ciccotelli states that
these ribs have elliptical cross-sections to prevent twisting, he
also states that these flexible ribs are made sufficiently rigid
enough to no over deflect on hard kicks. The patent states that the
"flexible beams are made of flexible plastic and graphite or glass
fibers may be added to increase the stiffness and strength. The
flexible beams have to be stiff enough to prevent excessive
deflection of the blade on a hard kick by the swimmer otherwise a
loss of thrust will result." This shows that he believes that
stiffer ribs are required to provide maximum speed. This also shows
that Ciccotelli believes that the use of softer and highly
extensible materials in the ribs will cause over deflection to
occur during hard kicks and therefore unsuitable for use when high
swimming speeds are needed. FIG. 2 shows that the range of
deflection (17) is quite small and does not produce a sufficiently
large enough reduction in the angle of attack to create proper lift
and to prevent stall conditions. This shows that Ciccotelli is not
aware of the value of larger blade deflections. This limited range
of deflection shows that the flexible beams he uses are only
slightly flexible and relatively rigid. In addition to providing
insufficient deflection, no method is given for creating such
deflections in a consistent manner on both light and hard kicks.
Ciccotelli also states that the elliptical cross-section of the
beams near the foot pocket is approximately 1.500 by 0.640, and
that a larger cross section would be required for stiffer models.
The cross-sectional measurements are at a height to width ratio of
approximately 3 to 1. If this ratio were used with soft and highly
extensible materials, the ribs would buckle sideways and collapse
during use. Also, the top view in FIG. 1 shows that the ribs bend
around a slight corner before connecting to the wire frame. This
corner creates high levels of instability within the rib and makes
the rib even more vulnerable to buckling, especially when more
extensible materials are used. No adequate methods or structure are
disclosed that describe how to avoid buckling on softer materials
or how to obtain consistent large-scale deflections on both light
and hard kicks. No methods are disclosed for storing large sums of
energy within the ribs and then releasing such energy during
use.
[0033] U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,885 (1988) to Ciccotelli is a
continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,029 (Ser. No. 842,282)
to Ciccotelli that is described above. U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,029
displays that Ciccotelli still does not disclose a method for
creating large scale blade deflections on light kicks while
simultaneously preventing over deflection on hard kicks. Although
U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,885 describes flexible beams that are made of a
rubber-like thermoplastic elastomer, the purpose of these flexible
beams are to enable to beams to flex sufficiently enough to enable
a diver to walk across land or through heavy surf. No method is
disclosed to for designing such beams to create consistent
large-scale blade deflections on varying loads. No mention is made
of any attempts to create large-scale blade deflections on light
kicks. The only benefit listed to having flexible beams is to
enable the diver to walk across land while carrying equipment. No
mention is made of methods for creating and controlling specific
blade deflections and no mention is made for optimizing the storage
of energy. This shows that Ciccotelli is not aware that such
benefits are possible and is not aware of any methods or processes
for creating and optimizing such benefits. Furthermore, Ciccotelli
states in column 3 lines 20 through 37 that "The beams 2 are
sufficiently flexible to bend enough so that the wearer, with his
foot in the pocket 1 can walk along a beach in a normal fashion,
with his heel raising as his foot rolls forward on its ball.
Nevertheless, beams 2 are sufficiently stiff that during swimming,
the flexible beams 2 flex only enough to provide good finning
action of the blade 4, in accordance with the principles described
in the above-referenced application Ser. No. 842,282." He states
that the beams must be stiff in accordance with the principles of
Ser. No. 842,282 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,029) which only shows a
substantially small range of blade deflection (17) in FIG. 2 of the
drawings. U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,885 shows no desired range of blade
deflection in the drawings and specifically states that during
swimming the beams act in accordance with what is now U.S. Pat. No.
4,689,029 which shows in FIG. 2 the small range of flexibility
Ciccotelli believes is ideal. This range is too small since it does
not permit the blade to reach a sufficiently reduced angle of
attack to efficiently create lift and reduce stall conditions.
Because he states that the beams should be stiff enough to not over
deflect during a hard kick and only shows a small range of
deflection (17) in FIG. 2, it is evident that Ciccotelli believes
that deflections in excess of range 17 in FIG. 2 is an "excessive
deflection" that will cause a "loss of thrust". He discloses no
other information to specify what he believes to be an excessive
angle of deflection. This shows that shows that Ciccotelli does not
intend his flexible beams to be used in a manner that enables the
blade to experience significantly high levels of deflection. This
also shows that Ciccotelli is unaware of any benefits of
large-scale blade deflections and is unaware of methods for
designing ribs in a manner that create new benefits or new
unexpected results from large-scale blade deflections.
[0034] Another problem with U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,885 is that the
cross sectional shape of the rail creates vulnerability to twisting
and buckling. Ciccotelli admits that the beams tend to buckle and
twist when the blade deflects while walking on land. If the beams
buckle and twist under the larger deflections occurring while
walking, the beams will also buckle and twist if the beams are made
with sufficiently flexible enough grades of elastomeric materials
to exhibit high levels of blade deflections during use. The reason
the rails are vulnerable to buckling is that the first stages of
twisting causes the rectangular cross-section to turn to a tilted
diamond shape relative to the direction of bending. The upper and
lower corners of this portion of the beam are off center from the
beam axis (the axis passing through the cross-sectional geometric
center of the beam) of the beam during bending. These corners also
extend higher above and below the beam axis relative to bending
than the upper and lower surfaces of the rectangular cross section
that existed before twisting. Because stresses are greatest at the
highest points above and below the beam's neutral surface (a
horizontal plane within the beam relative to vertical bending, in
which zero bending stress exists), these tilted corners have the
highest levels of strain in the form of tension and compression.
Because these corners and the high strain within them are oriented
off center from the beam axis, a twisting moment is formed which
cause the beams to buckle prematurely while bending. As the beam
twists along its length, bending resistance and twisting moments
vary along the length of the beam. This causes the beams to bend
unevenly and forces energy to be lost in twisting the beam rather
than creating propulsion. Although Ciccotelli provides extra width
at the lower end of the beam to reduce the bulking there under
compression, he states that this is done to reduce buckling if the
blade jams into the ground while walking. He does not state that he
this is done to create any benefits while swimming. He does not use
cross sectional thickness to create new and unobvious benefits
while swimming. Because desires small ranges of blade deflection,
he does not disclose a method for using cross-sectional shape in a
manner that enables high levels of deflection to occur on light
kicks while preventing excessive deflection on hard kicks. He also
does not disclose any methods for using cross-sectional shapes to
provide increased energy storage.
[0035] None of the prior art discloses methods for designing
longitudinal load bearing ribs that are able to permit the blade to
reach high levels of provide specific minimum and maximum reduced
angles of attack around a transverse axis that are desired at slow
swimming speeds and maximum reduced angles of attack that are
desired at high swimming speeds along with an efficient and
effective method for achieving these minimum and maximum angles
regardless of swimming speeds.
[0036] U.S. Pat. No. 2,950,487 to Woods (1954) uses a horizontal
blade mounted on the upper surface of the foot which rotates around
a transverse axis to achieve a reduced angle of attack on both the
upstroke and the down stroke. This design suffers from high levels
of lost motion and creates a shock to the users foot and leg as the
blade reaches its limits on each kick. No adequate method is used
to store energy during use.
[0037] U.S. Pat. No. 3,084,355 to Ciccotelli (1963) uses several
narrow hydrofoils that rotate along a transverse axis and are
mounted parallel to each other in a direction that is perpendicular
to the direction of swimming. The blades rotate loosely in a manner
that creates lost motion and no method is used to efficiently store
and release energy.
[0038] U.S. Pat. No. 3,411,165 to Murdoch (1966) displays a fin
which uses a narrow stiffening member that is located along each
side of the blade, and a third stiffening member that is located
along the central axis of the blade. Although oval shaped ribs are
shown, the use of metal rods within the core of these ribs prevents
bending from occurring. No method is disclosed for optimizing the
storage and recovery of energy. A major problem with scoop designs
is that the angle of attack is high and significant backpressure
develops within each pocket causing water to spill around the side
edges of the pocket like an overfilled cup. Induced drag is high,
propulsion is poor and only a small amount of water is discharged
afterward.
[0039] French patent 1,501,208 to Barnoin (1967) employs two side
by side blades that are oriented within a horizontal plane and
extend from the toe of the foot compartment. Each of the blades
have a triangular wedge shaped transverse cross-section with the
thicker portion existing along the outer edge and the thinner
portion on the inside edge. The cross-sectional or end view shown
displays that no load bearing ribs are used. No methods are
disclosed for creating consistent large-scale deflections under
varying loads or for creating increased energy storage.
[0040] German patent 259,353 to Braunkohlen (1987) suffers from
many of the same problems and structural inadequacies as Barnoin's
fin discussed above Each of the blades have a triangular wedge
shaped transverse cross-section with the thicker portion existing
along the outer edge and the thinner portion on the inside edge.
The cross-sectional or end view shown displays that no load bearing
ribs are used. No methods are disclosed for creating consistent
large-scale deflections under varying loads or for creating
increased energy storage.
[0041] U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,506 to Rasmussen (1977) uses a series of
rib-like stiffeners arranged in a lengthwise manner along the blade
of a swim fin. The ribs are intended to cause the blade to deform
around a transverse axis so that the trailing portions of the blade
curl concavely in the direction of the kicking stroke. The blade
employs no method for adequately decreasing induced drag. The
blade's high angle of attack stalls the blade and prevents smooth
flow from occurring along its low-pressure surface. No methods are
disclosed for creating consistent large-scale deflections under
varying loads or for creating increased energy storage.
[0042] U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,977 to Cronin (1977) shows a fin in
which the blade is aligned with the swimmers lower leg. This design
is highly inefficient on the upstroke and creates high levels of
lost motion. No methods are disclosed for creating for reducing
lost motion or for creating increased energy storage.
[0043] U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,810 to Wenzel (1985) employs load
supporting ribs that have a cross-section that is wide in its
transverse dimension and thin in its vertical dimension. The rib is
intended to twist during use. The thin vertical height of the rib
prevents efficient energy storage and no methods are disclosed for
creating consistent large-scale blade deflections with the
ribs.
[0044] U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,645 to Garofalo (1988) employs a single
blade that deforms under water pressure to form a concave channel
for directing water toward the trailing edge. The load bearing ribs
are made of rigid material that place the blade at excessively high
angles of attack. The rib's cross section has a thin horizontal
dimension and a tall vertical dimension that make the blade
vulnerable to twisting and buckling during use. No methods are
disclosed for creating consistent large-scale deflections under
varying loads or for creating increased energy storage.
[0045] U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,637 to Caires (1988) shows a single fin
designed to be used by both feet in a dolphin style kicking motion.
It uses a transversely aligned hydrofoil that extends from both
sides of a centrally located foot pocket and rotates around a
transverse stiffening rod. The central portion of the blade is
fixed to a metal plate to prevent variation in the angle of attack
there while the outer tip portions are described as being free to
rotate throughout an arc of approximately 90 degrees. This creates
a twist along the transverse length of the blade that creates
stress forces of tension and compression that can prevent the tips
from twisting to a substantially reduced angle of attack. In order
for the tips to twist, the blade material must succumb to these
stress forces of tension and compression that extend diagonally
across the transverse length of each half of the blade. Because
this forms a complex stress field over a large volume of material
within the large transverse dimension of the blade, the blade
material exhibits high levels of bending resistance and tends to
buckle to avoid succumbing to these forces. The portion of the
blade that tends to buckle exists between the trailing edge and an
imaginary line drawn from the trailing portion of the central
stiffening plate to the outer tips of the transverse stiffening
rod. Such buckling enables the tip regions of the blade to deflect
to an excessively low angle of attack during use that is incapable
of producing lift. If the blade material is rigid enough to avoid
buckling during use it will not deflect sufficiently enough at the
tips to efficiently create lift and the majority of the blade
stalls and creates drag. If the material is flexible enough to
avoid the transversely diagonal stress forces, the blade buckles
under strain and the buckled portion of the blade pivots loosely
and lost motion is created. If material is chosen that is flexible
enough to bend gradually during use to reach the desired 90-degree
pivot range stated during a hard kick, the blade will under deflect
during a light kick. If the blade is loose enough to deflect to the
desired 90 degree angle during a light kick, it will over deflect
during a hard kick. This design creates lost motion and no methods
are disclosed for creating consistent large-scale deflections under
varying loads or for creating increased energy storage.
[0046] U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,024 to Evans (1989) shows a fin that has
a relatively thin flexible blade and uses no load bearing ribs. The
center portion of the blade is made thicker to create increased
bending resistance along the center. The drawings show that during
use the stiffer central portion of the blade arches back around a
transverse axis to an excessively reduced angle of attack where the
blade then slashes back at the end of the stroke in a snapping
motion to propel the swimmer forward. The blade deflects to an
excessively low angle of attack to efficiently generate lift. The
thin blade offers poor energy storage and snap back energy is low.
Underwater tests conducted by ScubaLab, an independent dive
equipment evaluation organization, utilized men and women divers
wearing full scuba gear that swam numerous test runs over a
measured 300-foot open ocean course. These tests found that this
design consistently produced the lowest top end speeds of any
production fins tested. No methods are disclosed for creating
consistent large-scale deflections under varying loads or for
creating increased energy storage.
[0047] Although the specification and drawings mention the
formation of a snap back motion, no S-shaped substantially
longitudinal sinusoidal waves are displayed in the drawings or
described in the specification. Although the blade has a thicker
central portion, this thicker portion is significantly too thin to
permit the use of substantially soft materials that have
significantly high elongation and compression rates since such
flexibility would cause the blade to deflect excessively. As a
result, this design is forced to use stiffer materials having
significantly lower elongation and compression ranges under the
loads created during kicking strokes. These types of materials
support a natural resonant frequency that is significantly higher
than the kicking frequency of a swimmer's strokes. No mention is
made to suggest that such a condition is anticipated or desired.
Although the tip regions are designed to flex relative to the
thicker blade portion along the fin's center axis, the drawings and
specification do not disclose a method for simultaneously creating
opposing oscillation phases in an S-shaped manner along the length
of the blade in general or along the length of the more flexible
side regions of the blade.
[0048] The open toe foot pocket that encloses only the upper
portion of the foot and permits the lower portion of the foot to
pivot freely and independently of the blade, prevents efficient
longitudinal wave generation along the blade because the forward
portion of the foot near the toes is unable to exert a pivotal
motion on the blade as opposing leverage is applied by the foot
between the upper portion of the foot near the heel and the lower
portion of the foot near the toes. This prevents the swimmer from
applying leverage from the forward portions of the foot to
effectively create a pivoting motion to the blade with rotations of
the ankle. Because Evans' foot pocket is described as permitting
free rotation of the lower portion of the foot relative to the
blade in an effort to reduce ankle strain, it is evident that Evans
is not aware of a method for effectively reducing ankle strain
while significantly minimizing or eliminating movement of the lower
portion of the foot relative to the blade.
[0049] U.S. Pat. No. 2,423,571 to Wilen (1944) shows a fin that has
a stiffening member along the central axis of the blade that has a
thin and highly flexible membrane extending to either side of the
central stiffening member. The thin and flexible membrane is shown
to undulate during use and have opposing oscillation phases along
the length of the blade's side edges, in which a sinusoidal wave
has adjacent peaks and troughs displayed by convex up and convex
down ripples. The central stiffening member, or load bearing member
does not have opposing oscillation phases and therefore Wilen does
not anticipate the need for this to occur or provide an effective
manner for permitting this to occur in a manner that prevents the
member from over deflecting during a hard kicking stroke. Although
it is mentioned that a more flexible material may be used at the
blade of the central stiffening member to provide limited movement
and pivoting near the foot pocket, no effective method is disclosed
for permitting this more flexible material to allow significantly
large scale blade deflections to occur during a light kick while
preventing over deflection during a hard kick.
[0050] The thin membrane used in this fin is far too thin to
effectively propagate a lengthwise wave having opposing phases of
oscillation since the dampening effect of the surrounding water
quickly dissipates the small amount of wave energy stored in this
thin material. Instead of creating propulsion, the thin blade will
flop loosely without having enough bending resistance to accelerate
water. Rather than moving water, the thin membrane will over
deflect and stay substantially motionless while the foot and
stiffening member move up and down. Even though it is mentioned
that stiffening members can be used to reinforce the side portions
of the blade no method is disclosed for effectively preventing
these portions from over deflecting during hard kicking strokes
while also permitting large scale blade deflections to occur during
light kicking strokes. No methods are disclosed that permit
significantly increased energy to be stored and then released in
the blade. Because such methods are not used or disclosed, this fin
does not produce significant propulsion and is not usable.
[0051] From both the top view and the side view of FIG. 15 and FIG.
16, it can be seen that Wilen's fin creating a longitudinal wave
that has many peaks and troughs across the length of the blade.
This means that the frequency of the propagated wave is
significantly higher than the frequency of kicking strokes. Wilen
does not disclose methods for correlating blade undulation
frequency, wavelength, amplitude, and period with the swimming
stroke that creates new levels of performance and unexpected
results.
[0052] A book reference found in the United States Patent and
Trademark Office in class 115/subclass 28 labeled "3302 of 1880"
shows a horizontally aligned reciprocating propulsion blade. The
blades flex backward around a transverse axis in response to water
pressure. No methods are disclosed for creating consistent
large-scale deflections under varying loads or for creating
increased energy storage.
[0053] U.S. Pat. No. 3,453,981 to Gause (1969) uses a series of
horizontally aligned propulsion blades that are intended to convert
wave energy into forward motion on a boat. No methods are disclosed
for creating consistent large-scale deflections under varying loads
or for creating increased energy storage.
OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES
[0054] The methods for designing load bearing ribs that control
blade deflections around a transverse axis that are provided by the
present invention enable such ribs to function differently than the
prior art while creating new and unexpected results. Not only are
the methods of the present invention not disclosed by the prior
art, the unexpected results achieved by these methods actually
contradict the teachings of the prior art.
[0055] Where the prior art teaches that highly flexible blades
perform poorly when a swimmer uses a strong kick while attempting
to reach high speeds, the methods of the present invention enables
a highly flexible blade to produce significantly higher speeds that
any prior art fin.
[0056] Where the prior art teaches that high levels of blade
deflection create high levels of lost motion and lost propulsion at
the inversion point between, the methods of the present invention
disclose how to create high levels of blade deflection in a manner
that significantly reduces or even eliminates lost motion.
[0057] Where the prior art teaches that the inversion point of the
kicking stroke is a source of energy loss that does not produce
propulsion, the methods of the present invention show how to create
levels of propulsion and speed that far exceed that of all prior
art during the inversion portion of the stroke.
[0058] Where the prior art teaches that propulsion is lost as the
blade reverses its deflection at the inversion point of each stroke
and propulsion is only created after the blade is fully deflected,
the methods of the present invention enable swimmers to create
ultra-high levels of propulsion and speed even if the swimmer only
uses the inversion portion of the stroke by continuously inverting
the stroke before the blade is fully deflected.
[0059] Where prior art teaches that a blade that experiences high
levels of deflection on a light kick will experience excessive
levels of deflection on a hard kick, the methods of the present
invention disclose how to design load bearing ribs that are capable
of creating high levels of blade deflection during light kicks
while preventing excessive deflection during hard kicks.
[0060] Where the prior art teaches that load bearing ribs made of
significantly rigid and strong materials that have low levels of
extensibility permit the blade to have an efficient snap back to
neutral position at the end of a kick, the methods of the present
invention show how load bearing ribs can be made with significantly
soft and deformable materials to produce significantly increased
levels of snap back over the prior art.
[0061] Where the prior art teaches that high levels of blade
flexibility cause energy to be wasted in deforming the blade rather
than creating a strong opposing force for pushing the water
backward to create propulsion, the methods of the present invention
show how energy used to deform the blade to a large-scale
deflection can be efficiently stored within the material of the rib
through high level elongation and compression, and then released at
the end of the kick for increased energy return.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of the present
invention are:
[0062] (a) to provide hydrofoil designs that significantly reduce
the occurrence of flow separation their low pressure surfaces (or
lee surfaces) during use;
[0063] (b) to provide swim fin designs that significantly reduce
the occurrence of ankle and leg fatigue;
[0064] (c) to provide swim fin designs which offer increased safety
and enjoyment by significantly reducing a swimmer's chances of
becoming inconvenienced or temporarily immobilized by leg, ankle,
or foot cramps during use;
[0065] (d) to provide swim fin designs that are as easy to use for
beginners as they are for advanced swimmers;
[0066] (e) to provide swim fin designs which do not require
significant strength or athletic ability to use;
[0067] (f) to provide swim fin designs which can be kicked across
the water's surface without catching or stopping abruptly on the
water's surface as they re-enter the water after having been raised
above the surface;
[0068] (g) to provide swim fin designs which provide high levels of
propulsion and low levels of drag when used at the surface as well
as below the surface;
[0069] (h) to provide swim fin designs which provide high levels of
propulsion and low levels of drag even when significantly short and
gentle kicking strokes are used;
[0070] i) to provide methods for substantially reducing the
formation of induced drag type vortices along the side edges of
hydrofoils; to provide methods for reducing the blade's angle of
attack around a transverse axis sufficiently enough to reduce drag
and create lift in a significantly consistent manner on both
relatively light and relatively hard kicking strokes;
[0071] (j) to provide methods for significantly increasing the
degree to which the material within a load bearing rib experiences
elongation and compression under the bending stresses created as
the rib deflects to a significantly reduced angle of attack during
a light kicking stroke;
[0072] (k) to provide methods for increasing elongation and
compression within the rib's material by providing the rib's
cross-section with sufficient vertical height above and below the
rib's neutral surface to force high levels of elongation and
compression to occur at the upper and lower portions of the rib as
the blade deflects to a significantly reduced angle of attack
during use, and by providing the rib with a sufficiently low
modulus of elasticity to experience significantly high elongation
and compression rates under significantly low tensile stress in an
amount effective to permit the blade to deflect to a significantly
low angle of attack under the force of water created on the blade
during a substantially light kicking stroke;
[0073] (l) to provide methods for designing load bearing ribs to
create consistent large-scale blade deflections on light kicks to a
predetermined minimum angle of attack by matching rib
cross-sectional geometry with the elongation and compression ranges
and load conditions of highly extensible rib materials so that the
rib's dimension require a specific elongation and compression rate
to the blade to experience a large-scale deflection to a
predetermined minimum angle of attack, and the rib's material is
sufficiently extensible to reach such specific elongation and
compression rates so that the blade is able to quickly reach this
minimum angle of attack during a significantly light kick;
[0074] Still further objects and objectives will become apparent
from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.
DRAWING FIGURES
[0075] FIGS. 1a, 1b, and 1c, show side views of prior art fins
having lengthwise tapering blades or load bearing ribs that focus
bending at the outer half of the blade and either under deflect on
a light kick or over deflect during a hard kick.
[0076] FIGS. 2a and 2b show side views of prior art fins having
blades that are able to experience bending between the foot pocket
and the first half of the blade and tend to either under deflect
during a light kick or over deflect during a hard kick.
[0077] FIGS. 2a and 2b show side view of prior art fins that have
blades that are able to bend close to the foot pocket and tend to
either under deflect during a light kick or over deflect during a
hard kick.
[0078] FIG. 3 shows a front perspective view of a prior art fin
that is being kicked forward and has tall and thin load bearing
ribs that are buckling and twisting during use.
[0079] FIG. 4 shows a side perspective view of the same prior art
fin shown in FIG. 3 that has rails that are twisting and
collapsing.
[0080] FIG. 5 shows a cross sectional view taken along the line 5-5
from FIG. 4.
[0081] FIG. 6 shows a cross sectional view taken along the line 6-6
from FIG. 4.
[0082] FIG. 7 shows a cross sectional view taken along the line 7-7
from FIG. 4.
[0083] FIG. 8 shows a side view of a swim fin using the methods of
the present invention to permit significantly consistent large
scale blade deflections to occur on light, medium, and hard kicking
strokes.
[0084] FIG. 9 shows an enlarged side view of the same swim fin
shown in FIG. 8.
[0085] FIGS. 10a, 10b, and 10c show three close up detailed side
views of the rib shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 in which the rib is
experiencing 3 different deflections created by water pressure
during use.
[0086] FIG. 11 shows seven sequential side views of the same fin
shown in FIGS. 8-10 displaying the inversion portion of a kick
cycle where the direction of kick changes. FIG. 11 displays the
methods of the present invention that permit the blade to support a
natural resonant frequency that has a significantly long wave
length, large amplitude, and low frequency that significantly
coincides with the frequency of the swimmer's kick cycle.
[0087] FIG. 12 shows a sequence of seven different side views a to
g of the kick cycle of a prior art swim fin having a load bearing
blade that is using highly flexible and soft material that permits
high levels of blade deflection to occur during light kicking
strokes but lacks the methods of the present invention and
therefore exhibits high levels of lost motion, wasted energy, and
poor propulsion.
[0088] FIG. 13 shows five sequential side view a to e of a fin
having a significantly flexible blade that employs the methods of
the present invention.
[0089] FIG. 14 shows a perspective view of a swim fin being kicked
upward and the blade is seen to have a significantly large vertical
thickness that is substantially consistent across the width of the
blade.
[0090] FIG. 15 shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line
15-15 in FIG. 14.
[0091] FIG. 16 shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line
16-16 in FIG. 14.
[0092] FIG. 17 shows a perspective view of a fin being kicked
upward and the blade is seen to have three longitudinal load
bearing ribs.
[0093] FIG. 18 shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line
18-18 in FIG. 17.
[0094] FIG. 19 shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line
19-19 in FIG. 17.
[0095] FIG. 20 shows an alternate embodiment of the cross sectional
view shown in FIG. 18, in which half round load bearing ribs are
used on the upper and lower surfaces of the blade.
[0096] FIG. 21 shows a perspective view of a swim fin being kicked
upward in which a significantly large longitudinal load bearing rib
is located along each side edge of the blade.
[0097] FIG. 22 shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line
22-22 in FIG. 21.
[0098] FIG. 23 shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line
23-23 in FIG. 21.
[0099] FIG. 24 shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line
24-24 in FIG. 21.
[0100] FIG. 25 shows an alternate embodiment of the cross-sectional
view shown in FIG. 22, which uses round load bearing ribs.
[0101] FIG. 26 shows an alternate embodiment of the cross-sectional
view shown in FIG. 23, which uses round load bearing members.
[0102] FIG. 27 shows an alternate embodiment of the cross-sectional
view shown in FIG. 24, which has round load bearing members that
are larger than those shown in FIG. 23.
[0103] FIG. 28 shows a top view of a swim fin having side rails
with reduced transverse dimension adjacent the root portion of the
swim fin.
[0104] FIG. 29 shows a side view of the same swim fin shown in FIG.
28 while flexing during a kicking stroke.
[0105] FIGS. 30 to 34 show cross sectional views of the fin shown
in FIG. 29 taken along the lines 30-30, 31-31, 32-32, 33-33, and
34-34, respectively.
[0106] FIGS. 35a and 35b show a side perspective view of the swim
fin shown in FIGS. 28 and 29 while it is forming an S-shaped sine
wave during reciprocating kicking strokes.
[0107] FIG. 36 shows a side view of a prior art swim fin.
[0108] FIG. 37 shows a top view of the same prior art swim fin
shown in FIG. 36.
[0109] FIG. 38 shows cross sectional view of the same prior art fin
shown in FIG. 37 taken along the line 38-38 in FIG. 37.
[0110] FIG. 39 shows a perspective side view of a swim fin.
[0111] FIG. 40 shows a top view of the swim fin shown in FIG.
39.
[0112] FIG. 41 shows cross sectional view taken along the line
41-41 in FIG. 40.
[0113] FIG. 42 shows a side view of an alternate embodiment swim
fin.
[0114] FIG. 43a shows a cross section taken along the line 43-43 in
FIG. 42.
[0115] FIG. 43b shows an alternate embodiment of the cross section
shown in FIG. 43a.
[0116] FIGS. 44 to 47 show various views of a prior art swim
fin.
[0117] FIGS. 48 and 49 show various views of a prior art swim
fin.
[0118] FIGS. 50 to 53 show various views of a prior art swim
fin.
[0119] FIG. 54 shows a side view of a swim fin.
[0120] FIGS. 55 to 56 show close up side views of the swim fin
shown in FIG. 54.
DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION
FIG. 1
[0121] For increased clarity and reduced repetition, the following
specification will primarily refer to three different types of
kicking stroke strengths that are used in attempting to reach three
different types of swimming speeds. A light kicking stroke, light
kick, and light stroke, will mean a kicking stroke in which the
swimmer uses relatively low levels of force to move the fin through
the water in an effort to produce slow cruising speeds. A medium
kicking stroke, medium kick, and medium stroke will mean a kicking
stroke in which the swimmer uses relatively moderate levels of
force to move the fin through the water in an effort to produce
medium or moderately higher cruising speeds. A hard kicking stroke,
hard kick, and hard stroke will mean a kicking stroke in which the
swimmer uses relatively high levels of force to move the fin
through the water in an effort to produce high swimming speeds. For
a scuba diver swimming underwater with the added drag created by
full scuba gear, slow cruising speed can be considered
approximately 0.75 mph or 1.2 km/h, medium or moderate cruise
speeds may be considered to be approximately 1 mph or 1.6 km/h, and
high swimming speeds can be considered to be speeds faster than
1.25 mph or 2.0 km/h. Swimmers that are not using full scuba gear
or that may be swimming along the surface may experience speeds
that vary from this general guideline of speed categories. It
should be understood that these definitions are used only to
provide a general reference and I do not wish to be bound by
them.
[0122] Also, in the following description a number of theories are
presented concerning the design and operation methods utilized by
the present invention. While I believe these theories to be true, I
do not wish to be bound by them.
[0123] FIG. 1 shows three different side views of prior art fins
having blades and, or load bearing ribs that taper in thickness
along their length. FIG. 1a shows a prior art fin having a blade
made from a relatively rigid material, FIG. 1b shows the same prior
art fin having a more flexible material used within the blade, and
FIG. 1c shows the same prior art fin having a highly flexible
material used within the blade. FIG. 1a shows a fin having a foot
pocket 100 connected to a blade 102 having a neutral position 104
while the fin is at rest. Broken lines show a light kick blade
deflection 106 created as the swimmer uses a light kicking stroke,
a medium kick blade deflection 108 created during a medium kicking
stroke, and a hard kick blade deflection 110 created during a hard
kicking stroke. Because blade 102 is made of a rigid material,
deflections 106, 108, and 110 are all under deflected to produce a
sufficiently reduced angle of attack to efficiently produce lift.
It can be seen that deflections 106, 108, and 110 occur at
significantly regular and evenly spaced intervals from neutral
position 104. This shows that the relation between the degree of
blade deflection to force or load on the blade is highly
proportional and occurs in a significantly linear manner. This
combines with the rigid blade material to prevent the blade from
having consistent large scale blade deflections during use.
[0124] FIG. 1b shows the same prior art fin shown in FIG. 1a except
that in FIG. 1b blade 102 uses a more resilient material than is
used in FIG. 1a. In FIG. 1b, broken lines show blade deflections
that occur as blade 102 bends away from neutral position 104 during
use. A light kick blade deflection 112 is created during a light
kicking stroke. A medium kick deflection 114 is created during a
medium kicking stroke. A hard kick blade deflection 116 is created
during a hard kicking stroke. Deflections 112, 114, and 116 are
evenly spaces and demonstrate a significantly linear relationship
of deflection to load. Deflections 112, 114, and 116 are under
deflected to produce good performance at slow, medium, and high
speeds, respectively.
[0125] FIG. 1c shows the same prior art fin shown in FIGS. 1a and
1b, except that in FIG. 1c blade 102 uses a highly resilient
material. In FIG. 1c, broken lines show a light kick blade
deflection 118 created during a light kick, a medium kick blade
deflection 120 created during a medium kick, and a hard kick blade
deflection created during a hard kick. Deflection 118 is under
deflected while deflection 122 is over deflected.
[0126] FIGS. 1a, 1b, and 1c demonstrate that prior art fins tend to
either under deflect on light kicks or over deflect on hard kicks.
Large scale blade deflections are not significantly consistent
between light and heavy strokes.
FIG. 2
[0127] FIGS. 2a and 2b show side view of prior art fins that have
blades that are able to bend closer to the foot pocket. FIG. 2a
shows a foot pocket 124 connected to a blade 126 that has a neutral
position 128 while at rest. A light kick blade deflection 130, a
medium kick blade deflection 132, and a hard kick blade deflection
134 are shown by broken lines are created by a light kick, a medium
kick, and a hard kick, respectively. If blade 126 is made resilient
enough to permit blade 126 to bend to deflection 130 on a light
kick, blade 126 will over deflect to deflection 132 and 134 during
a medium kick and hard kick, respectively. In this example, blade
126 is seen to be relatively thin to permit bending to occur over a
greater portion of the blade, however, no adequate method is used
to consistent large scale blade deflections between light and hard
kicks. If blade 126 is made rigid enough to not over deflect on a
hard kick, blade 126 will not deflect enough during a light
kick.
[0128] FIG. 2b shows a side view of a prior art fin having a foot
pocket 136, and a blade 138 having a neutral position 140. In this
prior art example, blade 138 has a flexing zone 142 that is
significantly close to foot pocket 136. Such bending at zone 142
has previously been achieved by using a stiffener within the outer
portion of blade 138 that originates from the free end of blade 138
and terminates at or near zone 142. Bending zone 142 has also been
achieved by reducing the thickness of blade 138 near or at bending
zone 142. All such prior methods for achieving bending zone 142 do
not include a method for achieving consistent large blade
deflections on both light and hard kicks. Broken lines show a light
kick blade deflection 144, a medium kick blade deflection 146, and
a heavy kick blade deflection 148. If blade 138 is made flexible
enough to bend from neutral position 140 to deflection 144 during a
light kick, blade 138 will over deflect to deflections 146 and 148
during a medium kick and hard kick, respectively.
FIGS. 3 to 7
[0129] FIG. 3 shows a front perspective view of a prior art swim
fin having a direction of kick 150 that is directed upward from
this view. A foot pocket 152 is connected to a blade 154 that has a
pair of longitudinal ribs 156 on both side edges of blade 154. As
water pressure pushes down on the blade, a buckling zone 158 is
seen to occur where the lower edge of ribs 156 bulges out under the
force of compression. This occurs because stress forces of
compression are exerted on the lower portions of ribs 156 from the
load created on blade 154 during the kick in direction 150. Because
the material in ribs 156 must go somewhere it bulges outward. This
causes ribs 156 to buckle and twist over at an angle. Because this
reduces the height of ribs 156 relative to the bending moment
created during the kick, ribs 156 experience a significant
reduction in bending resistance forward of buckling zone 158 and
blade 154 collapses under the water pressure.
[0130] Many prior art swim fins employ tall and thin vertical ribs
that require the use of significantly rigid materials to prevent
twisting and collapsing during use. Such rigid materials prevent
blade 154 from bending sufficiently during use to create good
performance. FIG. 3 shows that ribs 156 will collapse if softer
materials are used in an attempt to increase blade deflection.
[0131] FIG. 4 shows a side perspective view of the same prior art
fin shown in FIG. 3 with cross sections taken at the lines 5-5,
6-6, and 7-7. Broken lines show a neutral position 160 and an arrow
showing the direction of collapse occurring to blade 154 under
pressure.
[0132] FIG. 5, FIG. 6, and FIG. 7 show cross sectional views taken
along the lines 5-5, 6-6, and 7-7 in FIG. 4, respectively. In FIG.
5, ribs 156 are seen to be stabilized by foot pocket 152. In FIG.
6, ribs 156 are seen to buckle and twist. FIG. 7 shows ribs 156 as
twisting further still. Because of this tendency to buckle, prior
fin designs often use highly rigid materials such as EVA (ethylene
vinyl acetate) which has a low degree of extensibility that is less
than 5% and negligible contraction or compression range under the
relatively low loads created during light kicking strokes.
FIGS. 8 to 10
[0133] FIG. 8 shows a side view of a swim fin using the methods of
the present invention. FIG. 8 shows a foot pocket 162 connected to
a blade 164 that is being kicked in a direction of kick 166 that is
directed upward. Blade 164 is seen to be deflected to a hard kick
blade deflection 168 created by a hard kicking stroke. Broken lines
show a medium kick blade deflection 170, a light kick blade
deflection 172, and a neutral blade position 174 which are created
during a medium kick, a light kick, and while blade 164 is at rest,
respectively. Broken lines above neutral position 174 are positions
that occur if direction of kick 166 is reversed.
[0134] Deflection 172 is seen to be a significant distance from
neutral position 174 showing that high levels of blade deflection
occur during a light kicking stroke. The distance between
deflections 170 and 172 is relatively small when compared with the
distance between deflection 172 and neutral position 174. The
distance between deflections 168 and 170 is relatively small in
comparison to the distance between deflections 170 and 172 as well
as between deflection 172 and neutral position 174. This shows that
blade 164 is experiencing large scale deflections that have a
highly non-linear ratio of load (stress) to deflection (strain).
Deflections 172, 170, and 168 are in a significantly tight group
that is at a proportionally large distance from neutral position
174. Deflection 172 is at a sufficiently reduced angle of attack to
produce efficient propulsion during light kicking strokes.
Deflections 170 and 168 are also at sufficiently reduced angles of
attack to produce efficient propulsion and are not over deflected
to an excessively reduced angle of attack during medium and heavy
kicks, respectively.
[0135] The process that governs the non-linear behavior of blade
164 has never been disclosed or known to those skilled in the art
of fin design. This process is also unobvious to those skilled in
the art of fin design since many of the world's top fin designers,
who have been bound by confidentiality agreements and have seen my
prototypes using methods of the present invention, have not even
recognized that such a process existed within the prototypes. Such
fin designers actually thought the blade deflected excessively and
needed to be stiffer to avoid lost motion and to apply more
leverage to the water. Not only was the existence of consistent
large scale blade deflection unnoticed, the designers believed in
previously established principles of blade design that hold that
flexible blades lack speed, thrust, and power and are therefore
undesirable in comparison to rigid blades that experience much
smaller levels of blade deflection. Even when they looked at the
geometry of the blade and ribs of my prototypes and could
simultaneously feel the soft and flexible material used, they did
not notice the hidden secrets and unexpected new results that can
be obtained with the proper combination of material and geometry.
Instead, they were puzzled by high performance characteristics
created by the prototypes that were created by an unrecognized
process. This is highly significant since those skilled in the art
of fin making were not able to recognize and identify the methods
being employed by the present invention even after examining,
analyzing, testing, and swimming with a physical prototype. They
could see that the prototypes created new levels of performance and
ease of use, but they could not recognize the methods and processes
occurring within the load bearing ribs that were responsible for
many new and unexpected results. In addition, they theorized that
improved performance would occur with the use of more rigid
materials having less extensibility and smaller dimensions. This
shows that the processes and methods disclosed in the present
invention are unobvious to a skilled observer. This is because the
processes and methods of the present invention contradict
established teachings in the art of swim fin design. Many numerous
unexpected results and new methods of use are generated and become
possible by the proper recognition and exploitation of the methods
disclosed in the present invention. A complete understanding of the
methods, benefits, results, and new uses disclosed in below in the
present invention are essential to permit such methods to be fully
exploited and utilized. Without the methods and processes disclosed
below, fin designers skilled in the art remain convinced that load
bearing support members and ribs should be made with highly rigid
materials and that flexibility should be achieved by reducing the
thickness of such rigid materials. With the knowledge of the
unobvious methods employed by the present invention, fins can be
designed to create new precedents in high performance that will
antiquate the prior art.
FIGS. 9 to 10
[0136] It should be understood that the analysis disclosed below is
used primarily to create an understanding of the principles and
methods at work and are not intended to be the sole form of
analysis used while employing the methods of the present invention.
The analysis and methods disclosed below are intended to provide
sufficient understanding to permit a person skilled in the art of
fin design to used and understand the methods of the present
invention in any desired manner. The selection of reference lines
described below are intended to guide the user toward a clear
understanding of the principles at work and are intended to provide
one of many possible ways for analyzing, observing, and visualizing
the processes at work and I do not wish to be bound by the analysis
provided below. It is intended that the following disclosure permit
a person skilled in the art to use empirical design methods that do
not require high levels of structural analysis while also providing
enough structural analysis groundwork to permit a person skilled in
the art of fin design to employ more sophisticated structural
analysis principles for high level fine tuning of performance if
desired.
[0137] FIG. 9 shows an enlarged close up side view of the same fin
shown in FIG. 8 and also having the same deflections 168, 170, and
172 created as blade 164 is kicked in direction of kick 166. Blade
164 at deflections 168, 170, and 172 are seen to have an arc-like
bend. A neutral tangent line 176 is displayed by a horizontal
dotted line that is above and parallel to the broken line
displaying the upper surface of blade 164 while at neutral position
174. Line 176 is a reference line that shows the angle of attack of
the upper surface of blade 164 when it is at rest at neutral
position 174. A light kick tangent line 178 is displayed by a
dotted line that is tangent to the middle portion of the upper
surface of blade 164 while blade 164 is at deflection 172. A light
kick reduced angle of attack 180 is displayed by a curved arrow
extending between tangent lines 176 and 178. Angle 180 shows the
reduction in angle of attack occurring at the middle portion of
blade 164 taken at tangent line 178 as blade 164 deflects from
neutral position 174 to deflection 172. A light kick radius of
curvature 182 is displayed by a dotted line that is perpendicular
to tangent line 178. Radius 182 extends beneath blade 164 and
intersects a light kick root radius line 184 at a light kick
transverse axis of curvature 186. Radius line 184 extends between
axis 186 and a root portion 188 of blade 164. Radius 184 represents
the radius of curvature at root 188.
[0138] A medium kick tangent line 190 is displayed by a dotted line
that is tangent to the upper surface of the middle portion of blade
164 at deflection 170. A medium kick reduced angle of attack 192 is
displayed by an arrow extending between tangent lines 176 and 192.
Angle 192 shows the reduction in angle of attack existing at the
middle of blade 164 during a medium kick. A medium kick radius line
194 is displayed by a dotted line that is normal to tangent line
190 and extends below blade 164 and terminates at a medium kick
transverse axis of curvature 196. Radius line 194 intersects a
medium kick root radius line 198 at axis 196. Radius line 198
displays the radius of curvature of blade 164 at root 188 and
extends from root 166 to axis 196.
[0139] A hard kick tangent line 200 is displayed by a dotted line
that is tangent to the upper surface of the middle portion of blade
164 at deflection 168. A hard kick reduced angle of attack 202 is
displayed by an arrow extending between tangent lines 176 and 200.
Angle 202 shows the reduction in angle of attack existing at the
middle of blade 164 at deflection 168 during a hard kick. A hard
kick radius line 204 is displayed by a dotted line that is normal
to tangent line 200 and extends below blade 164 and terminates at a
hard kick transverse axis of curvature 206. Radius line 204
intersects a hard kick root radius line 208 at axis 206. Radius
line 208 displays the radius of curvature of blade 164 at root 188
during deflection 168 and extends from root 166 to axis 196.
[0140] It can be seen that the reduced angles of attack at the
middle portion of blade 164 displayed by angles 180, 192, and 202
as well as tangent lines 178, 190, and 200, respectively, are
significantly similar to each other. As the angle of attack
decreases, the radius of curvature of blade 164 changes. Blade 164
is seen to have a relatively tall vertical dimension in comparison
to the relatively short radii 182, 194, 204, 184, 198, and 208. The
relatively tall vertical dimensions of blade 164 combines with
relatively short radii of curvature and forces the upper surface of
blade 164 to elongate under tension stress and forces the lower
surface of blade 164 to contract under compression forces. Because
of the significant vertical height in comparison to the radii of
curvature, significantly high levels of elongation and, or
compression must occur before blade 164 will bend. As the radius of
curvature becomes smaller, the degree of elongation and compression
increase dramatically and therefore the elongation and compression
requirements change as well. If the loads required to enable a
given material to experience the needed levels of elongation and,
or compression to bend blade 164 to deflection 172 are higher than
the loads created on blade 164 during specific strength of kicking
stroke, then blade 164 will not deflect sufficiently during such
kicking stroke. Because of the relatively large vertical dimensions
of blade 164 relative to the radii of curvature, significantly soft
and highly extensible materials must be used to permit blade 164 to
elongate and compress sufficiently enough deflect to 172 under the
relatively light loads produced during a light kicking stroke.
Because such soft and highly extensible materials are very weak,
the methods of the present invention provide blade 164 with
sufficient cross-sectional height to regain strength through the
increased thickness of blade 164. By establishing large scale
deflections over a radius of curvature that is relatively small to
the vertical thickness of blade 164, the material within blade 164
is forced to elongate and compress over significantly high ranges.
By selecting a suitably extensible and compressible material to be
used within blade 164 that has elongation and compression ranges
that match the requirements set forth by the geometry and the loads
created during light, medium, and hard kicking strokes, consistent
large-scale deflections can be achieved throughout light, medium,
and heavy kicks. When this is done properly, the fin provides new
and unexpected results that dramatically improve propulsion.
[0141] FIGS. 10a, 10b, and 10c show a detailed close-up side view
of the same blade 164 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. In FIG. 10a, blade
164 is seen to have flexed from neutral position 174 to deflection
172. Tangent line 178 is seen to be perpendicular to radius line
182. Between line 178 and the upper surface of blade 164 at neutral
position 174 is an arrow that displays angle 180. Blade 164 is seen
to have a neutral bending axis 210 displayed by a dotted line
passing through the center region of blade 164 between an upper
surface 212 and a lower surface 214 of blade 164. Neutral surface
210 displays the portion of blade 164 that does not experience
elongation or compression. This is also called the neutral surface
since a horizontal plane exists along neutral surface 210 in which
no elongation or compression occurs. A radius comparison reference
line 216 is displayed by a dotted line and is seen to extend
between upper surface 212 and lower surface 214 and intersects both
radius 182 and neutral bending axis 210. Reference line 216 is
parallel with radius 184 to display the degree of elongation and
compression occurring within blade 164 at deflection 172. It can be
seen that reference line 216 intersects upper surface 212 in a
manner that causes the portion of upper surface 212 existing
between reference line 216 and radius line 184 to have the same
length as neutral surface 210. Similarly, it can be seen that
reference line 216 intersects lower surface 214 in a manner that
causes the portion of lower surface 214 existing between reference
line 216 and radius line 184 to have the same length as neutral
surface 210. As a result, reference line 216 permits the degree of
elongation and compression occurring within blade 164 between
radius 184 and 182 to be identified.
[0142] An elongation zone 218 exists in a substantially triangle
shaped region between neutral surface 210, radius 182, reference
line 216, and upper surface 212. Elongation zone 218 displays the
degree of elongation occurring within the material of blade 164 as
well as the volume of material that is forced to elongate over the
section of blade 164 existing between radius 184 and radius 182.
The triangle shaped region displayed by elongation zone 218 is seen
to increase in size from neutral surface 210 toward upper surface
212. This shows that elongation increases with the vertical
distance from the neutral surface and reaches a light kick maximum
elongation range 220 displayed by an arrow located above upper
surface 212 at elongation zone 218. Elongation range 220 shows the
maximum elongation occurring in blade 164 between radius 182 and
184 as blade 164 is bent to deflection 172. It is preferred that
the material used within blade 164 is sufficiently extensible to
elongate over range 220 under the relatively light tensile stress
applied by the bending moment created on blade 164 during a light
kicking stroke.
[0143] A compression zone 222 is displayed by a triangle shaped
region located between neutral surface 210, lower surface 214,
reference line 216, and radius line 182. Compression zone 222 is
seen to increase in size from neutral surface 210 to lower surface
214 to show that the degree of compression increases with the
vertical distance from the neutral surface and reaches a maximum
along lower surface 214. A light kick maximum compression range 224
is displayed by an arrow below compression zone 222 and lower
surface 214. In this example, maximum compression range 224
displays the maximum compression occurring within blade 164 between
radius 184 and radius 182 as blade 164 is bend from neutral
position 174 to deflection 172 during a light kicking stroke. It is
preferred that the material used within blade 164 is sufficiently
compressible enough to contract or over range 220 under the
relatively light compression load applied by the bending moment
created on blade 164 during a light kicking stroke.
[0144] It should be understood that elongation and contraction
within the material of blade 164 is not isolated within elongation
zone 218 and compression zone 222 and zones 218 and 222 are used to
display the degree of elongation and contraction that is
distributed across the entire length of blade 164 between radius
182 and radius 184.
[0145] In this example in FIG. 10a, neutral surface 210 is located
substantially in the center of blade 164. This shows that the
material used in this example has similar stress (load) to strain
(deflection of material) ratios in both elongation and compression.
This is shown in this example to illustrate the fundamental
principles and methods employed by the present invention. Because
most materials are significantly easier to elongate than to
compress, most materials will dissimilar stress to strain ratios in
respect to elongation and compression. This will cause neutral
surface to be located significantly farther away from the tension
surface and closer to the compression surface rather than being
located near the center of blade 164. In prior art fins,
significantly rigid materials are used which do not contract
significantly under the loads created during kicking strokes and
the neutral bending axis exists too close to the compression side
of the blade. When viewing FIG. 10a, such a non-contracting
material would cause neutral surface 210 to occur right along lower
surface 214 or an insignificant distance above it. This would cause
the lower portion of reference line 216 that intersects with lower
surface 214 to shift to the left so that it again intersects with
both neutral surface 210 (which would now exist along lower surface
214) and radius line 182. Because reference line 216 would remain
parallel to radius line 184 as reference line 216 shifts to the
left, elongation zone 218 would dramatically increase in size. This
would increase the length of maximum elongation range 220 as well
as the volume of material forced to elongate. This is undesirable
because the tensile forces applied by the bending moment created
during a light kick will not be sufficient to elongate the rigid
material over the newly increased range. Instead, a material may be
used which is highly resilient and is able to elongate over such an
increase range under the substantially low tensile applied to blade
164 by the bending moment created during a light kicking stroke.
Preferably, the material used in blade 164 has a sufficiently large
enough contraction range under the low loads created during a light
kick to permit the neutral surface to exist a significant large
distance above lower surface 214 since this will significantly
reduce the loads required to bend blade 164 to deflection 172 and
therefore permit deflection 172 to be efficiently reached during a
light kick.
[0146] FIG. 10b shows blade 164 bend from neutral position 174 to
deflection 170. Angle 192 exists between the upper surface of blade
164 at neutral position 174 and tangent line 190. Radius lines 194
and radius lines 198 are shorter that radius lines 182 and 184
shown in FIG. 10a. In FIG. 10b, neutral surface 210 is seen to have
shifted closer to lower surface 214 than is shown in FIG. 10a. This
occurs in FIG. 10b because the material in blade 164 is
experiencing increased resistance to compression. Preferably, the
stress to strain ratio during compression of the material in blade
164 becomes significantly less proportional as blade 164 approaches
and passes deflection 172 shown in FIG. 10a, and becomes even less
proportional as blade 164 approaches deflection 170 shown in FIG.
10b. In FIG. 10b, a medium kick maximum compression range 226 is
substantially the same length as compression range 224 shown in
FIG. 10a thereby displaying that the material within blade 164
shown in FIG. 10b is resisting further contraction under the
compression forces created during a medium kicking stroke. In FIG.
10b, such resistance to compression causes neutral bending axis 210
to shift down so that the distance between neutral bending axis 210
and lower surface 214 is significantly less than the distance
between neutral bending axis 220 and upper surface 212. In FIG.
10a, elongation zone 218 is larger than shown in FIG. 10a because
neutral bending axis 220 has shifted closer to lower surface 214.
Because the degree of strain or deformation of material in the form
of elongation or compression increases with the vertical distance
from the neutral surface, the downward shift of neutral bending
axis 210 increases the distance between neutral bending axis 210
and upper surface 212. An arrow above elongation zone 218 displays
a medium kick maximum elongation range 230 that shows the maximum
elongation occurring to the material of blade 164 as blade 164
bends to deflection 170 during a medium kick. Elongation range 230
is significantly larger than elongation range 220 shown in FIG.
10a. This significantly increases the bending resistance of blade
164 since a the material within blade 164 must experience a
significant increase in elongation along upper surface 212 in order
to bend blade 164 from deflection 172 shown in FIG. 10a to
deflection 170 in FIG. 10b. Angle 192 in FIG. 10b is only slightly
larger than angle 180 shown in FIG. 10a, however, the elongation
requirement displayed by elongation range 228 in FIG. 10b shows
that a significant increase in load must be placed on blade 164
before blade 164 will deflect from deflection 172 in FIG. 10a to
deflection 172 in FIG. 10b. Not only will significantly larger
loads be required to elongate the material over this significantly
increased distance, but the stress will be applied to the material
at a greater distance from neutral bending axis 210 to create
increased leverage on the blade because of an increase in the
moment arm between neutral bending axis 210 and upper surface 212.
Furthermore, the increased size of elongation zone 218 in FIG. 10b
compared to the significantly smaller elongation zone 218 shown in
FIG. 10a shows that in FIG. 10b, a significantly larger volume of
material is forced to elongate in comparison to that displayed in
FIG. 10a. Such an increase in the volume of material forced to
elongate further increases bending resistance as increased loads
are applied to blade 164. This method of controlling large scale
blade deflections permits a predetermined angle of attack to be
chosen during a light kicking stroke, and then select the
cross-sectional dimensions of blade 164 and a material having
sufficient elongation and compression properties that will meet or
approach maximum compression requirements at such predetermined
angle of attack and experience a sudden increase in bending
resistance as neutral surface 210 shifts significantly closer to
the compression side of blade 164 as the load to blade 164 is
increased. This enables blade 164 to bend to a significantly large
reduced angle of attack of attack under a light load and not over
deflect during a hard kick used to reach a high speed.
[0147] FIG. 10c shows a close up side view of blade 164 that is
bent to deflection 168 during a hard kicking stroke. Radius lines
204 and 208 are seen to be shorter that radius lines 194 and 198
shown in FIG. 10b. In FIG. 10c, an arrow below lower surface 214
near radius line 204 displays a hard kick maximum compression range
230. Compression range 230 is seen to be significantly similar in
size to compression range 226 shown in FIG. 10b. This is because
the material along lower surface 214 is experiencing significantly
large resistance to contracting any further under the compression
stress applied by the bending moment applied to blade 164 during a
hard kick. This causes neutral bending axis 210 to shift further
down toward lower surface 214 and farther away from upper surface
212. In FIG. 10c, neutral bending axis 210 is seen to be
significantly closer to lower surface 214 than is shown in FIG.
10b. This causes elongation zone 218 to be significantly larger in
FIG. 10c than shown in FIG. 10b. In FIG. 10c, an arrow above
elongation zone 218 displays a hard kick maximum elongation range
232 that is significantly larger than elongation range 228 shown in
FIG. 10b even though angle 202 in FIG. 10c is only slightly larger
than angle 192 shown in FIG. 10b. In FIG. 10c, the volume of
material displayed within elongation zone 218, the degree to which
it must elongate, and the moment arm between upper surface 212 and
neutral bending axis 210 are all increased dramatically in
comparison to that shown in FIGS. 10a and 10b. It can be seen that
the internal forces within blade 164 change in response to the load
applied. This creates a substantially large exponential increase in
bending resistance as blade 164 is subjected to increased loads for
producing higher swimming speeds. Because many factors combine to
increase bending resistance simultaneously, bending resistance can
be designed to increase dramatically once blade 164 reaches a
predetermined angle of attack that is capable of producing highly
efficient propulsion. When a material is selected for blade 164
that has elongation and compression ranges that create an
exponential increase in stress to strain ratio within as a swimmer
increases load by switching from a light kick to a medium or hard
kick, the increase in bending resistance can even be more
dramatic.
[0148] These methods allow an efficient angle to be achieved
quickly and efficiently during a light kicking stroke and
significantly maintained while using medium kicks or hard kicks to
reach higher speeds. This represents a giant step forward in the
art of fin design since swimmers can have significantly reduced leg
strain and increased comfort and efficiency during light kicking
stokes while having the ability to reach an sustain high speeds
without the blade over deflecting under the increased loads created
during hard kicks.
[0149] It should be understood that for different design
applications, any desired angle or angles of attack may be selected
then significantly maintained during use by employing the methods
of the present invention. Below are some examples of blade
deflection arrangements that can be designed and used. Angle 180
shown in FIG. 10a should be at least 10 degrees for a light kick
and excellent results can be achieved when angle 180 is between 15
and 20 degrees. If desired, angle 180 can be approximately 20
degrees while angle 192 shown in FIG. 10b can be between 20 and 30
degrees, and angle 202 shown in FIG. 10c can be between 30 and 40
degrees. Angle 180 in FIG. 10a can be approximately 20 to 30
degrees on a light kick while angle 202 shown in FIG. 10c can also
be made to be approximately 45 degrees on a hard kick. Preferably,
angle 180 shown in FIG. 10a should be at least 10 degrees on a
significantly light kick while angle 202 shown in FIG. 10c should
be less than 50 degrees during high speeds.
[0150] The design process can include choosing a specific degree of
blade deflection that is desired during a light kick and a specific
degree of maximum deflection that is desired during a hard kick,
and controlling these limits with a combination of blade geometry
and elastomeric material having a significantly high elongation
range and, or compression range over the specific bending stresses
created within the blade material during a light kicking stroke
used to achieve a significantly slow and relaxed cruising speed.
Under the bending stresses created during a light to medium kicking
stroke, it is preferred that elongation ranges are approximately
7-10% or greater, while compression ranges are at least 5% or
greater. Further improved performance is created with elongation
rates of approximately 15-20% and compression rates of
approximately 10% during light to medium kicks. These significantly
large elongation and compression ranges are then used in
combination with cross-sectional geometry of blade 164 to create
significantly low levels of bending resistance as blade 164 bends
from neutral position 174 to deflection 172 during a light kick,
and create a significantly large shift in neutral surface 210
toward the compression surface of blade 164 in an amount effective
to create a substantial increase in bending resistance within blade
164 as blade 164 approaches and, or passes deflection 172 toward
deflection 170 and 168 during medium and hard kicking strokes,
respectively.
[0151] This is significant because the more rigid materials used
for load bearing members in the prior art have limited elongation
ranges of approximately 5% during the highest loads applied and
have negligible compression or contraction ranges under the loads
created during swimming. This causes prior art load bearing members
to have a neutral surface that is located excessively close to the
compression surface of the load bearing member during a light kick.
This forces the tension surface of the load bearing members to have
to elongate a significantly increased range of elongation in order
for the member to bend around a transverse axis to a significantly
reduced angle of attack. If a tall vertical cross-sectional
dimension is used for the load bearing member, a 5% elongation
range potential under extreme loads will not produce a large scale
deflection during a light kick. This is why prior art load bearing
members use small vertical cross sectional heights if increased
blade deflections are desired. Because the neutral surface of the
load bearing member is excessively close to the compression surface
of the member, the neutral surface will not create a significant
enough shift further toward the compression surface on harder kicks
to create rapid enough change in bending resistance to enable a
large scale deflection to occur on light kicks while preventing
over deflection on hard kicks. The use of low elongation range
materials within the members also creates a highly linear
relationship between the strength of kick (load) and the degree of
elongation (strain) occurring within the material. Prior art blades
are therefore required to have significantly low levels of blade
deflection during light kicks if over deflection is to be avoided
during hard kicks.
[0152] Hooke's Law states that stress (load) and strain (elongation
and, or compression) of a material are always proportional. Prior
art load bearing blades and support ribs have not realized and
developed an efficient method that enables the blade to avoid
experiencing a highly linear relationship between blade deflection
(angles of attack) and load on the blade (strength of kick) as the
load changes from a light kick, a medium, and a hard kick. Although
tapered blade height produces some non-linear behavior, this
non-linear behavior is only seen as a swimmer increases kick
strength beyond a hard kicking stroke and therefore significantly
outside the useful range of swimming, and during light kicking
strokes, insufficient blade deflection occurs. This is because the
vertical bending of prior art blades around a transverse axis under
varying loads created during light, medium, and hard strokes is
significantly dependent on a highly linear and significantly
unchanging relationship of lengthwise bending stress to lengthwise
bending strain within the blade material (lengthwise elongation
and, or compression).
[0153] The methods of the present invention permit the arrangement
of the bending stress forces that are created within the material
of the load bearing member during bending to experience a
significantly large shift in orientation as the blade reaches a
desired reduced angle of attack so that the new orientation of the
stress forces existing within the load bearing member creates a
significantly changed proportionality between the degree of strain
to the material (elongation and, or compression) and the degree of
bending experienced by the load bearing member under a given load.
As blade 164 in FIGS. 10a, 10b, and 10c bends from position 174 to
deflections 172, 170, and 168, a corresponding shift of neutral
surface 210 toward lower surface 214 (the compression surface)
results. The degree and rate to which neutral axis shifts toward
lower surface 214 is substantially dependent on the vertical height
of blade 164 and the stress to strain proportionality (often called
the modulus of elasticity) and behavior of the material within
blade 164 during compression and elongation created by the bending
moment formed during light, medium, and hard kicks. Therefore, a
combination of the vertical height of blade 164 and the elastic
properties of a given material combine to create a desired shift in
the position of neutral axis 210. The shift in the location of the
neutral surface 210 toward lower surface 214 (the compression
surface) creates a corresponding increase in the requirement for
upper surface 212 (the tension surface) to elongate a
proportionally further amount for a given increase in blade
deflection. By properly selecting a material and vertical dimension
of blade 164 that creates this process and also matches the new
increase in elongation requirements established along upper surface
212 as blade 164 bends from deflection 172 to deflection 107, and
from deflection 170 to deflection 168, blade 164 will experience a
substantial increase in bending resistance since the material
within blade 164 is substantially reaching or approaching its
elastic limits in elongation and compression for the loads applied
at these deflections. It the elastic limits of elongation and
compression are substantially reached at deflection 164, blade 164
will not bend significantly beyond deflection 164 even if the
strength of kick is increased well beyond that of a hard kick
required to reach high speeds.
[0154] Because this process and relationship not been recognized,
known, and utilized in the design of prior art fins, the use of
more extensible materials in load bearing members of prior art fins
results in the blade over deflecting during a medium and, or hard
kick. This is because the proportionality of the vertical
cross-sectional dimension of the load bearing member to the range
of compressibility is incorrectly combined for a given strength of
kick. Because prior art teachings have concluded that the use of
highly extensible or highly "soft" materials for load bearing
blades, members, and ribs results in the blade over deflecting
during a hard kick, prior art approaches do not recognize an
efficient method for solving this problem without substituting a
more rigid material. Prior art designs have not recognized that
highly soft materials can be used to provide load bearing support
if the vertical height is sufficiently large enough to create
elongation and compression requirements that significantly match
the elongation and compression ranges of the soft material in an
amount effective to create a change in bending resistance as the
blade reaches a desired angle of attack.
[0155] Another benefit to large-scale blade deflections and
significantly large elongation and compression rates is the ability
to store more energy in the material of blade 164. As the material
in blade 164 elongates and contracts while deflecting to
significantly large reductions in angle of attack, energy is stored
within the material of blade 164. The laws of physics states that
the work conducted on an object is equal to the force applied to
the object multiplied by the distance over which the object is
moved. If the force is applied to an object but the object is not
moved, then no work is done on the object. If the same force is
applied to an object and the object is only moved a short distance
then a small amount of work is done to the object. If the same
force is applied to an object and the object is moved a greater
distance, then increased work is done on the object. Because work
is equal to energy, the amount of work done to an object is equal
to the energy put into the object. Consequently, the work conducted
to move an object that has resistance to movement from a
spring-like quality equals the energy loaded into the spring in the
form of potential energy. The greater the distance over which the
force is applied, the greater the potential energy that is stored.
Since the methods of the present invention create significantly
increased movement of the load bearing material in blade 164 in the
form of elongation and compression under equivalent bending stress
forces created by equivalent kicking loads on prior art fins, the
methods of the present invention permit significantly higher
amounts of energy to be stored in the blade material during
deflection. Because more potential energy is stored within the
material of load bearing members employing the methods of the
present invention, the energy released by the material at the end
of the kicking stroke in the form of a snap is significantly higher
than that of the prior art. Because more energy is stored and then
released, propulsion is significantly more efficient. To maximize
energy return, high memory elastomeric materials may be used such
as thermoplastic rubber, synthetic rubber, natural rubber,
polyurethane, and any other elastomeric material that has good
memory and desirable elongation and compression ranges under the
bending stresses created while generating propulsion.
[0156] Because the methods of the present invention permit high
elongation and compression rates to occur while using a
significantly large vertical height to blade 164, the stress forces
stored in the elongated and compressed material of blade 164 are
oriented at a significantly increased distance from the neutral
surface over the prior art and therefore during the snapping action
of blade 164, a powerful moment arm is created that pushes water
back with increased efficiency due to increased leverage. Increased
energy storage and release combines with increased moment arm to
create a snapping force at the inversion point of each kick cycle
that creates significantly strong peak bursts of propulsive force
that far exceed that of any prior art fin.
[0157] Because load supporting members and ribs of prior art fins
experience significantly small levels of elongation and compression
under bending stresses, significantly small levels of work are done
to the blade material. Because work is equal to energy, work done
on an object is equal to the energy expended on the object. When
work is done on an object that provides spring-like resistance to
movement in the form of elongation and compression, the work done
on the blade's material is proportional to the energy stored within
the blade material. Because significantly low levels of work occurs
within the material of prior art load bearing ribs and blades
during light kicking strokes, significantly low levels of energy
are stored within the material of prior art blades and ribs when
such blades are deflected during a light kick. Since elongation and
compression ranges on prior art load bearing members are
significantly low on prior art fins during light, medium, and hard
kicks, energy storage during all kicking strokes is significantly
low. Because low levels of energy are stored within the material of
prior art load bearing ribs and members as they are deflected, the
energy returned to the water at the end of the stroke in the form
of a snap back to neutral position is significantly low. When prior
art blades snap back from their deflected position, the material
within the load bearing members that have experienced significantly
small amounts of movement in the form of elongation and compression
while the blade was being deflected, then move the same small
distance back to their original unstrained position. Because the
return force is applied over this small distance of movement, the
amount of work conducted on the water is significantly low as prior
art blades return to their neutral position. Since work is equal to
energy exerted on an object, the energy transferred from prior art
blades to the water in the form of a snap back is significantly
low.
[0158] In addition to increasing energy storage, the methods of the
present invention further increase the power and efficiency of the
snap back action at the end of the kick by significantly increasing
the moment arm at which the material within blade 164 releases its
stored energy to return blade 164 to neutral position 174 at the
end of a kicking stroke. In FIGS. 10a, 10b, and 10c, the
significantly large amount of elongated and contracted material
displayed by elongation zone 218 and compression zone 222 is seen
to be located a significantly large vertical distance from neutral
surface 210. The permits the tension and compression forces to
apply significantly increased leverage to blade 164 for more
efficient and powerful snap back that is significantly more
effective at accelerating water flow for increased propulsion.
[0159] The methods of the present invention that utilize
significantly soft and extensible load bearing members that have
sufficiently high vertical heights to prevent over deflection
during a hard kick permit a combination of increased moment arm and
increased energy storage to occur for unprecedented increases in
snap back efficiency that far outperform prior art load bearing
members. This is an unexpected result since soft materials are
considered to be far too weak and therefore incapable of resisting
over deflection. The increased snap back is also unexpected since
the used of highly soft materials for load bearing members that do
not employ the methods of the present invention are vulnerable to
over deflection and therefore do not generate a sufficiently strong
resistive bending moment to create a significantly strong snap
back. Without sufficient vertical height, such soft load bearing
members do not have sufficient moment arms and work being conducted
on the material in the form of elongation and compression to
establish proper energy build up or an efficient moment arm that is
capable of supplying sufficient leverage required to force the
blade to move large quantities of water. Because the prior art has
not recognized the methods of the present invention, prior art load
bearing members use significantly rigid materials with
significantly low vertical height and volume to permit the rigid
materials to bend under the loads created during swimming. This
reduces both the energy stored within the material and the moment
arm at which any stored any energy can be returned at the end of
the kick to create a snap back. Because water has significantly
high mass and therefore has a significantly high resistance to
changes in motion, the low energy storage and small moment arms of
prior art load bearing members is not efficient in accelerating
water backward during a snap back motion to create significant
levels of propulsion.
[0160] The methods of the present invention permit significantly
soft load bearing members to create superior acceleration of water.
Because compressibility is significantly related to material
hardness, it is preferred that the elastomeric material used to
apply the methods of the present invention has a Shore A hardness
that is less than 80. The lower the durometer, the greater the
compressibility and extensibility. The methods of the present
invention permit exceptional performance to be achieved with
significantly low durometers. Excellent results are achieved with a
Shore A hardness that is approximately 40 to 80 durometer. Smaller
vertical heights are required for blade 164 when higher durometer
materials are used and larger vertical heights can be used when the
durometer is lower. Because larger vertical heights apply increased
leverage during the snap back motion of the blade and also permit
more energy to be stored and released, it is preferred that lower
durometers and taller vertical heights are used for blade 164.
However, if materials that have ultra-high memory at high levels of
hardness are available, then exceptional performance may be
achieved by using such materials with a small vertical height and a
high level of hardness. Such ultra-high memory materials include
Pebax, polyurethanes, nylon composites, Monprene, Isoprene,
hydrated isoprene elastomers, high memory elastomers, high memory
thermoplastic rubbers, mixtures of elastomers and polypropylene,
mixtures of elastomers and polyethylene, and ultra high memory
thermoplastics. Some of these materials may offer significant
elastic memory, rebound, recovery and snap-back at hardnesses
ranging from a Shore A hardness of 85 to 98 durometer and ranging
from a Shore D hardness of 45 to 75 durometer. These materials may
be used to efficiently store energy within elongated material while
minimizing product weight.
FIG. 11
[0161] FIG. 11 shows seven sequential side views of the same fin
shown in FIGS. 8-10 displaying the inversion portion of a kick
cycle where the direction of kick changes. FIG. 11 displays the
methods of the present invention that permit the blade to support a
natural resonant frequency that has a significantly long wave
length, large amplitude, and low frequency that substantially
coincides with the frequency of a short kick cycle to create
unprecedented levels of propulsive force with minimal input of
energy.
[0162] FIG. 11a to FIG. 11g show that when the kicking stroke is
inverted, a significantly large low frequency undulating S-shaped
sine-wave is transmitted down the length of blade 164 from foot
pocket 162 to a free end 234. The S-shape displayed by the wave
shows that blade 164 is simultaneously supporting two opposing
phases of oscillation in which one part of blade 164 is moving
upward and another is moving downward. This is because blade 164 is
designed to resonate on a substantially low natural frequency that
is set into motion and amplified by the inversion of the direction
of kick by the swimmer's foot during a kicking cycle. This low
frequency wave transmission is made possible by the use of a
substantially soft and extensible material that is capable of
resonating on a significantly low frequency or low frequency
harmonic of the swimmer's kick cycle frequency, combined with a
vertical dimension that coincides with the elongation and
compression ranges in a manner that prevents over deflection and
creates significantly high levels of energy storage.
[0163] FIG. 11a shows the same fin shown in FIG. 8 to 10. The fin
is has an upward kick direction 236 that places blade 164 in a
deflected position below neutral position 174. Blade 164 is seen to
bend from near foot pocket 162 at a node or nodal point 238 that is
displayed by a round dot. Node 238 is a reference point on blade
164 that shows where a reversal of phase occurs in the oscillation
cycle of blade 164. Blade 164 has a free end 240 that is at the
opposite end of blade 164 as foot pocket 162. The portion of blade
164 near foot pocket 162 is seen to have an upward root movement
242 that is displayed by an arrow. The portion of blade 164 near
free end 240 is seen to have an upward free end movement 244 that
is displayed by an arrow. Movements 242 and 244 are seen to occur
in the same direction of kick direction 236. This is because blade
164 has reached its maximum level of deflection for a given kick
strength being used by the swimmer. Above upper surface 212 between
nodal point 248 and free end 240 are three sets of diverging arrows
that indicate that the material within blade 164 along upper
surface 212 has elongated from tension stress. The three sets of
converging arrows below lower surface 214 show that this portion of
blade 164 has contracted under compression stress. Both elongation
and compression occur with significantly even distribution across
the length of blade 164 and the arrows are intended to display a
trend of strain within the material of blade 164 across a given
area of blade 164.
[0164] Once blade 164 is significantly deflected from kick
direction 236 in FIG. 11a, the swimmer may reverse the kicking
stroke to a downward kick direction 246 shown in FIG. 11b. In FIG.
10b, node 238 is seen to have moved closer toward free end 240 that
shown in FIG. 11a. In FIG. 11b, this shows that a longitudinal wave
is being transmitted down the length of blade 164. In FIG. 11b, the
portion of blade 164 located between node 238 and foot pocket 162
has a downward root movement 248 displayed by an arrow located
below lower surface 214. The portion of blade 164 between node 238
and free end 240 has an upward free end movement 250. The opposing
directions of movements 248 and 250 show that blade 164 is
supporting to different phases of a low frequency wave down the its
length. Blade 164 between node 238 and foot pocket 162 is bending
convex down while the portion of blade 164 between node 238 and
free end 240 is convex up to show the formation of an S-shaped low
frequency sine-wave undulation. Diverging pairs of arrows show
movement of material within blade 164 in the direction of
elongation and converging pairs of arrows show movement of material
within blade 164 in the direction of compression.
[0165] As the kick direction 236 in FIG. 11a is reversed to kick
direction 246 in FIG. 10b, the significantly high flexibility of
blade 164 enables the inversion in phase of the kick cycle to
create an inversion in phase of the oscillating cycle of blade 164.
The significantly long elongation and compression ranges of blade
164 permit opposite phases in oscillation to exist along the length
of blade 164. Because the methods of the present invention permit
significantly large scale blade deflections to occur without over
deflecting, wave energy is efficiently transmitted along blade 164
from foot pocket 162 to free end 240. The converging arrows beneath
lower surface 214 between node 238 and free end 240 show that the
material within this portion of blade 164 along lower portion 214
is compressed while being concavely curved. It can be seen that the
degree of concave curvature of lower portion 214 between node 238
and free end 240 in FIG. 10b is significantly equal to or greater
than that shown in FIG. 11a. This is because in FIG. 11a, lower
surface 214 is substantially at a state of maximum deflection for a
given kicking strength and as the stroke is reversed from kick
direction 236 to kick direction 246 in FIG. 11b, the sudden change
in kick direction creates a sudden increase in compression stress
to lower surface 214 as the water above blade 164 near free end 240
exerts a downward resistive force opposing upward movement 250 of
blade 164 near free end 240. In FIG. 11b, this downward resistive
force applied by the water above blade 164 near free end 240
combines with the sudden downward movement 248 of blade 164 near
foot pocket 162 from kick direction 246 to create a significantly
increased bending moment across blade 164 between node 238 and free
end 240 in comparison to the bending moment created in FIG. 11a
between node 238 and free end 240 by kick direction 236. Because
lower surface 214 in FIG. 11a is compressed to the point where
significantly increased bending resistance is achieved, when the
downward bending moment is increased from FIG. 11a to FIG. 11b
between node 236 and free end 240, the increase in stress created
by the increased bending moment results in only a slight increase
in compression along lower surface 214 results. In FIG. 11b, this
prevents blade 164 from buckling or over bending under the
increased bending moment created as the kicking stroke is reversed
and therefore the longitudinal wave is efficiently transferred down
the length of blade 164 from foot pocket 162 to free end 240. This
is because a significant shift in the neutral surface has occurred
within blade 164 and blade 164 significantly resists further
deflection between node 238 and free end 240. As a result, downward
movement 248 of blade 164 between node 238 and foot pocket 162
created from kick direction 246, applies upward pivotal leverage
around node 238 that is similar to a see-saw upon the outer portion
of blade 164 between node 238 and free end 240. This pivotal
leverage causes this outer portion of blade 164 to snap in the
direction of upward movement 250 at a significantly increased rate.
This is because upward movement 250 results from a combination of
the release of stored energy from the deflection of blade 164
during kick direction 236 shown in FIG. 11a, as well as the
additional leveraged energy provided by kick direction 246 in FIG.
11b as blade 164 pivots around node 238.
[0166] In FIG. 11c, the fin continues to be kicked in kick
direction 246 and node 238 is seen to have moved closer to free end
240 than is seen in FIG. 11b. In FIG. 11c, blade 164 is seen to
have a clearly visible S-shaped configuration that displays both
opposing phases of a successfully propagated longitudinal wave
having a significantly long wavelength and significantly large
amplitude. In FIG. 11c, the portion of blade 164 between node 238
and foot pocket 162 is seen to have increased convex down curvature
from downward movement 248 compared to that seen in FIG. 11b. In
FIG. 11c, downward movement 248 continues to apply pivotal leverage
around node 238 to the outer portion of blade 164 between node 238
and free end 240. This continues to accelerate this outer portion
of blade 164 so that upward movement 250 of blade 164 gains
significantly high velocity like that achieved in the cracking of a
bull whip. The leverage force created around node 238 that
increases upward movement 250 also creates an opposing leverage
force upon the portion of blade 164 between node 238 and foot
pocket 162 that pushes this part of the blade in downward direction
248. This is created as the resistance applied by water against
upward movement 250 is leveraged across node 238 toward foot pocket
162. This is a benefit because it accelerates downward movement 248
of blade 164 and increases the ease of kicking the swim fin in kick
direction 246. This greatly increases efficiency since the release
of stored energy created within blade 164 during one stroke,
assists in increasing the ease of kicking during the opposite
stroke in which the stored energy is released. Because of the high
energy storage within the material of blade 164 along with the
resistance to over deflection created by the geometry of blade 164
and the high memory of the material, the dampening effect of water
upon the wave being propagated along blade 164 is significantly
resisted and the large amplitude high energy wave created along
blade 164 is efficiently converted into forward propulsion.
[0167] The S-shaped sine wave transmitted along the length of blade
164 is created by the input of energy by the swimmer's foot as the
direction of the kicking stroke is reversed. This sends an
oscillating pulse down the length of blade 164 from foot pocket 164
to free end 240. Because the methods of the present invention
permit blade 164 to resonate efficiently at a natural resonant
frequency that is significantly close to the frequency of kick
cycles (or at least the frequency of the energy pulse created
during the inversion point of the kick cycle), the frequency,
amplitude, and period of the oscillating pulse transmitted down
blade 164 is significantly determined by the frequency, amplitude,
and period of the kicking stroke oscillation of the swimmer's foot
through the water.
[0168] In FIG. 11d, node 238 is seen to be closer to free end 240
than shown in FIG. 11c. This shows that the undulating wave is
being effectively transmitted toward from foot pocket 162 toward
free end 240. In FIG. 11d, the portion of blade 164 between node
238 and foot pocket 162 has become significantly more deflected
from the water pressure applied to lower surface 214 from downward
kick direction 246. It should be understood that downward movement
248 displays the downward movement of this portion of blade 164
relative to the surrounding water due to kick direction 246. It can
be seen that this portion of blade 164 between foot pocket 162 and
node 238 is bending upward relative to foot pocket 162 under the
exertion of water pressure created along lower surface 214 by
downward movement 248.
[0169] The portion of blade 164 between node 238 and free end 240
is experiencing upward movement 250 with high levels of speed due
to the whipping motion created by the efficient propagation of the
longitudinal S-shaped sine wave along blade 164. Again, the speed
of upward movement is significantly increased by the combination of
stored energy within this outer portion of blade 164 and the
pivotal leverage around node 238 that is applied by downward
movement 248 near foot pocket 162. This permits the use of in phase
constructive interference between the an energy pulse created
during the inversion point of the stroke and the natural resonant
frequency of blade 164 to significantly increase the speed, power,
and efficiency of the snap back quality created by a high memory
blade at the end of a kicking stroke.
[0170] In FIG. 11e, free end 240 has snapped as the peak of the
wave within blade 164 passes though free end 240 and node 238 is
seen to form on blade 164 near foot pocket 162 because of the
pivotal movement occurring in blade 164 near foot pocket 162. It
should be understood that the use of node 238 and its relative
positions on blade 164 are to assist communicating the general
operation principles employed by the methods of the present
invention and are not intended to be absolute. Any number of nodes
or node positions may be used while employing the methods of the
present invention. Nodes may have ranges of movement or may be
significantly stationary depending on the application, particular
design, and use of varying interference patterns and harmonic
resonation.
[0171] In FIG. 11e, free end 240 is seen to still have upward
movement 250 and has passed by a standard kick deflection 252 to a
wave induced deflection 254. Standard deflection 252 is the degree
of deflection created only from resistance of water pressure
against blade 164 during a given kick strength. Deflection 254 is
the added degree of deflection that is created by the combination
of the water pressure applied to blade 164 during a given kick
strength plus the added deflection provided by the undamped wave
energy transmitted down blade 164 as the wave creates a whipping
motion near free end 240. The momentum of the high-speed wave
energy carries blade 164 to deflection 252. This causes additional
compression to occur along upper surface 212, which is displayed by
pairs of converging arrows above upper surface 212. This also
causes additional elongation to occur along lower surface 214,
which is displayed by diverging pairs of arrows below lower surface
214. The additional elongation and compression creates additional
storage within blade 164 that is greater than that would occur
without the contributed energy of the longitudinal S-shaped wave
transmitted along blade 164 that is shown in FIGS. 11b to 11e.
Because the methods of the present invention significantly prevent
blade 164 from over deflecting under the loads created during
kicking strokes used while swimming, wave induced deflection 254 in
FIG. 11e is not excessively deflected and is significantly close to
standard deflection 252. However, the energy storage is
significantly increased because the continued shift of the neutral
surface within blade 164 toward upper surface 212 (the compression
surface in this example) enables significantly increased levels of
elongation to occur along lower surface 214 (the tension surface in
this example) without creating a an increase in blade deflection
that is linearly proportional to the increased elongation. Instead,
the shift in the neutral surface creates a highly non-linear
proportional relationship that controls and prevents excessive
blade deflection while maximizing energy stored in the form of
highly elongated and compressed material within blade 164. Because
excessive blade deflection is avoided, blade 164 remains at a
highly efficient angle of attack for creating efficient propulsion.
In addition, the increased levels of energy are stored within blade
164 to create a significantly stronger snap back than would have
occurred without the addition of the wave energy utilized by the
present invention. Because the oscillation created by the swimmer's
foot at the inversion point of the kicking stroke significantly
coincided with the natural resonant frequency range of blade 164,
the energy of the kicking oscillation combined with the resonant
frequency of blade 164 to create an in phase constructive addition
of wave amplitudes to create a significant increase in the overall
amplitude of the oscillation of blade 164. This increase in blade
amplitude occurs with minimal input of kicking energy because of
the resonant capabilities of blade 164. Because over deflection of
164 is controlled by the methods of the present invention, wave
energy is stored within blade 164 while maintaining orientations
that are capable of generating efficient propulsion.
[0172] The capability of the present invention to prevent over
deflection permits the wave amplitude to reach limits imposed by a
sudden increase in bending resistance by the shift of the neutral
surface so that the wave is able to "bounce" against this limit and
begin a reversal in phase to start a kick in the other direction.
This is shown in FIG. 11f where free end 240 has snapped in a
downward free end movement 256 from wave induced deflection 254 to
standard kick deflection 252 as the fin is continued to be kicked
in downward kick direction 246. Because of this forward snapping
motion created from the extra stored energy attained from wave
induced deflection 254, downward movement 256 of blade 164 near
free end 240 is significantly faster than downward movement 248 of
blade 164 near foot pocket 162. This significantly increases the
driving force of blade 164 used to create propulsion since the
energy of this snapping motion of blade 164 near free end 240
displayed by downward movement 256 is combined with the energy
generated by downward direction of kick 246. This creates a
powerful downward blade oscillation that requires minimal input
from the swimmer's foot while employing downward kick direction
246. The increased oscillation speed of blade 164 at downward
movement 256 enables the swimmer to apply less downward force from
the foot and leg in kick direction 246 than would be required if
the added energy from wave induced deflection 254 was not
generated.
[0173] In FIG. 11g, the kicking stroke is inverted to restore kick
direction 236 and upward root movement 242 shown in FIG. 11a. In
FIG. 11g, node 238 is seen to move closer toward free end 240 than
seen in FIGS. 11e and 11f. In FIG. 11g, the portion of blade 164
between node 238 and free end 240 is seen to continue moving with
downward movement 256 as the portion of blade 164 between node 238
and foot pocket 162 is moving in upward direction 242. An S-shaped
sine wave type longitudinal wave is seen to travel down blade 164
from foot pocket 162 to free end 240. Again, upward movement 242
creates a pivotal leverage around node 238 to increase the speed of
downward movement 256 of blade 164 near free end 240. This
leveraged increase in speed in movement 256 near free end 240
combines with the speed created by the acceleration of this portion
of blade 164 from the increased energy attained from wave induced
deflection shown in FIG. 11e.
[0174] This shows that once again the frequency of the energy pulse
created by the inversion in the kicking stroke from downward kick
direction 246 shown in FIG. 11f to upward kick direction 236 shown
in FIG. 11g, is applied in phase with frequency of the sine wave
generated along blade 164 that is shown to be formed in FIGS. 11a
to 11f. This causes constructive wave interference that enables the
input of kicking energy to be significantly synchronized with the
natural resonant capabilities of blade 164 so that energy can be
continuously added to a system at a high rate of efficiency and a
low rate of energy loss. Because the inversion of the kicking
stroke to kick direction 236 in FIG. 11f adds energy and speed to
downward movement 256 of blade 164 near free end 240, this portion
of blade 164 will have significantly high speed and momentum that
will carry it below the deflection shown by standard kick
deflection 214 shown in FIG. 11a. This causes blade 164 to store
more energy and "bounce" back with increased energy and speed from
the increased deflection limit reached as the kicking stroke is
inverted again. Because the energy of kicking is continually added
in phase with the natural resonant frequency capabilities of blade
164, high speeds can be achieved with significantly reduced levels
of energy. The efficiency of propulsion is so significant using the
methods of the present invention that swimmers are able to
significantly reduce kicking energy once they reach a certain speed
so that they are just adding enough energy to keep blade 164
oscillating. In order to maintain slow speed, swimmers find they
must reduce kicking energy as they increase speed so that they do
not continue to accelerate above their desired cruise speed by a
continued input of the same kicking energy. This is an unexpected
result has never been anticipated by the prior art. Without being
directly informed of this specific process that is occurring, fin
designers who are skilled in the art of fin design who have seen
prototypes using methods of the present invention while under
confidentiality agreements have not been able to identify the
processes that are responsible for this unusual performance
characteristic. Furthermore, such uniformed experts in the art of
fin design continue to suggest that the performance of the
prototypes shown to them can be improved further by using stiffer
materials in the load bearing members and eliminating the use of
significantly soft materials within such load bearing members. This
shows that the hidden processes and methods disclosed by the
present invention are unobvious and require the disclosure
presented in this specification so that those skilled in the art
may fully utilize and exploit these methods and processes so that
the performance of oscillating hydrofoils can be increased to
unprecedented levels.
[0175] The S-shaped sine wave transmitted down the length of blade
164 occurs at a sufficiently fast rate down the length of blade 164
that its presence is unnoticed by those who have not informed of
this process. Even though the pulse occurs at a significantly low
frequency, it is significantly high enough to avoid being noticed
to the naked eye during use. The pulse created by the inversion of
each kick transfers a fast whipping motion that does not draw
attention to a sinusoidal pattern and overtly appears as a standard
snap back. The gradual progression of flex positions of the
sinusoidal wave shown in FIGS. 11a to 11g happen at a sufficiently
fast rate of transition so that blade 164 seem to just be bending
up and down. This makes this process unnoticeable and unobvious to
a person skilled in the art of fin making who has not been
instructed to look for and observe this hidden behavior and new
unexpected result. Furthermore, because no prior art has
effectively propagated a substantially large low frequency pulse
within a substantially soft load bearing member that substantially
occurs in phase with the swimmer's kicking oscillation (or at least
the pulse created during the inversion of the kick cycle), the
concept of reinforced in phase oscillation amplification is
unknown, unexpected, unanticipated, and unobvious to those skilled
in the art of fin design. Because prior art designs employ
significantly rigid materials having significantly low elongation
and compression ranges over the loads created during kicking
strokes, prior art have not anticipated that softer materials
having significantly larger elongation and compression ranges under
the loads created during kicking combined with strategic vertical
height of the load bearing members, can create the numerous
unexpected results disclosed by the present invention. In addition
to not anticipating such unexpected benefits, no method existed in
the prior art for enabling significantly soft materials to be used
in a manner that permit load bearing members to have significantly
large scale blade deflections during light kicks and also prevent
such load bearing members from over deflecting during a hard
kick.
[0176] If stiff materials are used the resonant frequency is too
high to effectively transmit and support large amplitude low
frequency waves that have a sufficiently large enough wave length
to form opposing phases of oscillation existing simultaneously
along the length of blade 164. Just as loose piano wire resonates
on a relatively low frequency and a taught piano wire resonates on
a relatively high frequency, highly softer materials support lower
frequencies while more rigid materials support higher frequencies.
Because prior art fins attempt to use significantly rigid materials
within load bearing ribs and blades, the natural resonant frequency
of the blade is significantly too high to substantially match the
kicking frequency of the swimmer. When softer materials are used,
the intended purpose and benefits should be understood as well as
the proper methods for creating the desired results. If the
vertical dimensions of rail 164 are too small or too large and do
not sufficiently match the elongation and compression ranges of the
material used in blade 164, blade 164 will over deflect or under
deflect, respectively.
[0177] Because the methods of the present invention permit over
deflection to be avoided along blade 164 while also creating
significantly increased levels of energy storage using large moment
arms, blade 164 is able to efficiently transmit a significantly
large amplitude S-shaped longitudinal sine wave that efficiently
opposes the damping effect of the surrounding water. Since the
methods of the present invention provide sufficient low frequency
resonance, energy return, and leverage to be applied to the water
in an amount effective to significantly reduce the damping
resistance of water, the wave energy is effectively transferred to
the water to create high levels propulsion.
[0178] The methods of the present invention permit the kicking
frequency of the swimmer to be sufficiently close enough to the
resonant frequency of blade 164 so that a large amplitude standing
wave is created on blade 164. Because the resonant frequency of
blade 164 is significantly close to the kicking frequency, the
swimmer is easily able to deliver kicking strokes that occur in
phase and reinforce the resonant oscillation of blade 164. This
allows kicking energy to be added in phase with the resonant
frequency of blade 164 so that the amplitude of the resultant
standing wave is significantly increased. To maintain speed, the
swimmer only needs to add enough energy to the oscillating system
to overcome the damping effect of the surrounding water so that the
standing wave is maintained at desired amplitude. This enables
blade 164 to have significantly large oscillation range while the
swimmer employs minimum effort and minimum leg motion. Various
speeds can be achieved by varying the kicking amplitude and
frequency to create in phase reinforced standing waves at various
harmonics of the natural resonant frequency of blade 164. To
increase oscillating frequency of blade 164, the swimmer can reduce
the kick range and increase the frequency of the kicking strokes.
Because the methods of the present invention permit blade 164 to
resonate on a frequency that is significantly close to the range of
kicking frequencies used by a swimmer employing a relatively small
kick range, blade 164 will significantly adjust to harmonics of the
kicking frequency and amplitude to continue the phenomenon of in
phase constructive wave interference where blade 164 experiences
significantly increased levels of oscillatory motion for a given
amount of kick energy applied during swimming. This enables the
swimmer to not need to know how or why the blade is working in
order to achieve good results. All the swimmer needs to know is to
use a relatively small kick range and that an increase or decrease
in speed is achieved by kicking more frequently or less frequently
within the same small kicking range, respectively. This makes the
fin easy to use and no understanding of wave theory is required and
there is no need to make conscious efforts to synchronize the
kicking cycle to match the resonant behavior of the blade. Instead,
the resonant behavior of the blade significantly adjusts to the
kicking cycles of the swimmer that is using a significantly small
kick. Testing shows that swimmers do not visually see or physically
senses that any unusual resonant induced process is occurring and
only notice that the fins produce excellent speed and acceleration
with minimal effort and completely relaxed leg muscles. Since blade
resonance occurs at significantly low frequencies and amplitudes
that coincide with the range of kick frequencies and amplitudes of
a swimmer, the resonant behavior is so subtle and smooth that it is
completely unnoticed by the swimmer. Because no conscious effort is
required while swimming with fins using the methods of the present
invention, and because the active use of these methods occurs
without the swimmer knowing that these methods and processes are
occurring, the methods and processes of the present invention are
unnoticed and unobvious.
[0179] Swimmers can be instructed to maximize performance by merely
adjusting the size of their substantially small kick range and the
number of kicks as desired to experience a wide range of comfort,
speed, and efficiency that can be continually adjusted as desired.
Although the swimmers notice a wide variety of extraordinary
performance characteristics by employing such subtle variations in
their kick range and number of kicks used, they remain unaware that
these numerous favorable variations in performance are occurring
from achieving a wide variety of harmonic resonant patterns that
are made possible by the hidden methods of the present
invention.
FIG. 12
[0180] FIG. 12 shows a side view of sequence of seven different
stroke positions a, b, c, d, e, f, and g of the kick cycle of a
prior art swim fin having a highly flexible load bearing blade that
permits high levels of blade deflection to occur during light
kicking strokes, but lacks the methods of the present invention and
therefore exhibits high levels of lost motion, wasted energy, and
poor propulsion.
[0181] The kicking cycle shown in FIG. 12 shows both vertical
movements of the fin from kicking and forward movements created
from propulsion. The kicking cycle is seen to have a kick range 258
and a blade sweep range 260, both of which are displayed by
horizontal broken lines. Kick range 258 is seen to have a lower
kick limit 262 and an upper sweep limit 264. Sweep range 260 is
seen to have a lower blade sweep limit 266, and an upper blade
sweep limit 268.
[0182] In stroke position a, an arrow next to the foot shows that
the foot is moving downward. The arrow below the fin in position a
shows that the blade is fully bent under the load created during a
light kicking stroke and is moving downward with the swimmer's
foot. The fin has reached lower limit 262 of kick range 258 and is
ready to reverse its kicking direction. Because the blade has bent
to this large blade deflection during a light kick and does not use
the methods of the present invention, the blade has little bending
resistance and minimal energy storage. This causes the blade to
have significantly low driving power for propulsion during the down
kick and significantly poor snap back power during the inversion
part of the stroke.
[0183] In position b, the arrow next to the foot shows that the
swimmer has inverted the kick to an up stroke. The arrow below the
blade shows the blade is moving downward and is seen to have
reached a neutral or undeflected blade position. This is because
the relatively weak snap back of the blade creates a slow snap back
speed is substantially equal to the upward movement of the foot
during the upstroke.
[0184] In position c, the foot is moving upward and the blade is
moving downward and is finally reaching its fully deflected
position for a light kick. The free end of the blade in positions
a, b, and c, are seen to stay substantially near lower sweep range
266. This is because high levels of lost motion are occurring in
which propulsion is lost as the blade inverts its angle of
deflection. Propulsion is poor because energy is used up bending
the blade rather than pushing the diver forward. Because no methods
are used to store high levels of energy while the blade is bending,
the energy used to bend the blade is lost and therefore cannot be
efficiently recovered with a substantial snap back at the end of a
kick. Because methods have not been developed that store high
levels of energy in substantially weak and soft load bearing
members, the snap back energy of such fins is excessively low.
Without an efficient method to remedy this severe problem, prior
art fins use significantly rigid materials for generating snap back
from load bearing members. Because such materials have small
elongation and compression ranges, energy storage is significantly
limited and insufficient blade deflections occur during light
kicks.
[0185] During the occurrence of lost motion, the foot covers a
large vertical distance where the blade does not produce
significant propulsion and therefore energy is wasted. Because
highly flexible prior art blades suffer from such high levels of
lost motion and because prior art design methods and principles
lack a method for sufficiently reducing this undesirable side
effect, prior art fins avoid the use of high deflection flexible
blades and instead employ significantly rigid materials which
exhibit minimal deflection during a light kick.
[0186] In position d, the foot and blade are both moving upward
since the blade is fully deflected under the load of a light kick.
Propulsion is finally achieved between position c and position d
since the blade has stopped deflecting and is able to create
propulsion. This propulsion is significantly low because the blade
has no methods for providing sufficiently high bending resistance
for the swimmer to push water backward. Any increase in kicking
strength creates a significantly higher deflection in the blade
that creates energy loss and over deflection to an excessively low
angle of attack for creating propulsion. In position d, the prior
art fin has reached upper kick limit 264 and is ready to invert
stroke direction.
[0187] As the kicking stroke moves from position a to position d,
the energy expended during the kicking motion is only utilized
between position c and position d. Most of the stroke is wasted
inverting the deflection of the blade. Prior art fin design
principles teach that utilizing more rigid materials and minimizing
the amount of blade deflection created during each stroke can
reduce lost motion. This produces poor energy storage and high
levels of leg strain. Because prior art fins using stiff materials
still incur significantly high levels of lost motion between
strokes, scuba dive certification courses and dive instructors
teach student divers to use a significantly large kick range with
stiff straight legs in order to maximize vertical blade movement
after the blade is fully deflected. This creates large movements of
large hip and thigh muscles while pushing against a blade that is
creating large amounts of drag from being oriented at an
excessively high angle of attack. This is highly inefficient since
smaller blade deflections mean that less water is being pushed
backward and more water is being pushed upward and downward. The
lack of efficient propulsion in prior art fin designs exists
because the methods of the present invention have not been
previously known.
[0188] In position e, the foot is moving downward and the blade is
pivoting upward as the direction of the kicking stroke is inverted.
The horizontal orientation of the blade shows that the blade has
reached its neutral resting position and is producing no
propulsion.
[0189] In position f, the foot is moving downward and the blade is
moving upward and is finally reaching its fully deflected
orientation under the load of a light kick. The significantly low
movement of the free end of the blade between position e and f
shows that high levels of lost motion exist on the beginning of the
down stroke.
[0190] In position g, both the blade and the foot are moving
downward and have reached lower kick limit 262 and the stroke ready
to be inverted. Propulsion is substantially limited and occurs
between position f and g while energy is wasted during most of the
down stroke.
[0191] The large kick range 258 creates large vertical leg
movements and produces poor propulsion as seen by the limited
horizontal forward movement of the swimmer's foot. Blade sweep
range 260 is seen to be significantly smaller than kick range 258.
This shows that the total distance over which the blade deflects is
significantly smaller than the distance the swimmer has to move the
feet. Looking back at the prior art fins shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, it
at first falsely appears that the deflections of the blade created
by various degrees of flexibility is causing the blade to travel a
significantly larger distance than the distance traveled by the
foot during use. This is not so since the drawings in FIGS. 1 and 2
do not show the actual relative vertical movements of the
deflecting blade within the surrounding water while the swimmer is
suspended in the water. Because of the damping effect of water,
prior art blades which have been deflected from a neutral resting
position to a deflected position during use, will act like a highly
damped spring and therefore the blades will only spring back to a
neutral blade position and will not spring past this neutral
position. This prevents the maximum possible blade sweep range from
being larger than the range of sweep that can be achieved by the
free end of a non-flexed blade that is incurred for a given amount
of leg and ankle pivoting. Because prior art fins create high
levels of drag and have significantly low levels of energy storage
applied across significantly small moment arms, the speed of snap
back is significantly low under water. As a result, the greater the
degree of flexibility of prior art fins, the smaller the sweep
range of the blade and the greater the lost motion. Because no
prior method exists for overcoming this problem of flexible blades,
prior art fins use relatively rigid blades to minimize blade
deflection and maximize sweep distance for a given amount of leg
movement. Such stiff fins force the swimmer to use substantially
large kick ranges, experience a substantial loss of propulsion from
lost motion as the blade deflects between strokes, and incur high
levels of muscle strain while overcoming high levels of drag after
the blade is fully deflected. Although prior art flexible blades
can reduce muscle strain, excessive lost motion, poor energy
storage, poor snap back, low bending resistance, and over
deflection during hard kicks prevents such fins from performing
well. Because prior fin design principles lack efficient methods
for overcoming these major problems, prior art fins produce
significantly poor performance whether stiff or flexible materials
are used within the load bearing members of prior art fins.
FIG. 13
[0192] FIG. 13 shows five sequential side view a to e of a fin
having a significantly flexible blade that employs the methods of
the present invention. The kicking cycle shown in FIG. 12 shows
both vertical movements of the fin from kicking and forward
movements created from propulsion. The kicking cycle is seen to
have a kick range 270 and a blade sweep range 272, both of which
are displayed by horizontal broken lines. Kick range 270 is seen to
have a lower kick limit 274 and an upper sweep limit 276. Sweep
range 272 is seen to have a lower blade sweep limit 278, and an
upper blade sweep limit 280. The side views of kick positions a, b,
c, d, and e show that kicking range 270 is substantially small in
comparison to blade sweep range 272. This is made possible because
the methods of the present invention permit a load bearing blade or
load bearing member to support a resonant frequency or low
frequency harmonic that is sufficiently close to the amplitude and
frequency (or period) of the shock wave transmitted down the length
of the blade as the direction of kick is inverted. This causes low
frequency harmonic resonance to occur within the load bearing in
phase with the shock wave and in an amount effective to
significantly amplify the amplitude of the shock wave as it travels
down the length of the load bearing member toward the free end of
the fin. Because the amplitude of resonance increases as the
supported harmonic resonant frequency becomes lower, the methods of
the present invention utilize substantially soft and resilient
materials in a manner that permits them to support a significantly
low frequency harmonic so that the amplitude of the shock wave is
significantly increased.
[0193] In kick position a of FIG. 13, the large arrow below the
swimmer's foot shows that the foot is moving downward. The downward
directed arrows below the blade show that this portion of the blade
is moving downward. The fin has reached lower kick limit 274 is has
become deflected under the load of water pressure created during a
light kick. The downward directed arrow below the free end of the
blade show that is portion of the blade is starting to move
slightly forward. Because the methods of the present invention
permit the energy used to deflect the blade to a significantly
reduced angle of attack to be efficiently stored within
significantly large volumes of substantially elongated and
compressed high memory material, and because bending resistance
builds up at a high rate after reaching a desired large-scale
deflection, large amounts of potential energy are stored within the
blade shown in position a.
[0194] As stated before, swimmers only need to be told to use small
kicking strokes and do not need to be aware of what processes occur
in order for them to use fins employing the present methods. By
increasing the speed of kicking strokes used within a small kicking
range, dramatically high levels of acceleration and speed can be
achieved. Extraordinarily high bursts of speed can be achieved by
continuously inverting the direction of the kicking stroke as fast
as possible over the smallest kick range possible. The highest
speeds can be achieved inverting the kicking stroke as soon as the
blade has become sufficiently deflected for the swimmer to begin
feeling a slight amount of resistance or even invert the kick
before the blades are fully deflected. This is counterintuitive to
experienced divers and swimmers since prior principles teach that
resistance needs to be established to push off of before propulsion
can be achieved. Such prior principles also teach that the
inversion portion of a stroke creates lost motion in which no
propulsion is gained and energy is wasted. This shows that
unobvious, new and unexpected results occur while the underlying
processes that make such results possible are unobvious as
well.
[0195] In position b, the large arrow above the foot shows that the
direction of kick has been inverted from a down stroke in position
a, to an up stroke in position b. In position b, it can be seen
that the reversal in stroke direction creates an energy pulse or
shock wave down the length of the blade from the foot pocket to the
free end of the blade. Because the methods of the present invention
permit the blade to naturally resonate on a low frequency harmonic
of this longitudinal shock wave, the amplitude or wave height is
significantly amplified by the resonant qualities of the blade. The
arrows above the rail near the foot pocket show that this portion
of the blade is moving upward with the swimmer's foot. The downward
arrows below the free end of the blade show that this portion of
the blade is moving downward in the opposite direction of the
kicking stroke. This is because the high levels of energy stored
within the deflected blade shown in position a is being released to
create a snap back motion, which is being further propelled by the
large amplitude low frequency wave that is being transmitted down
the length of the blade.
[0196] Because of the significantly high extensibility,
compressibility, memory, and non-linear deflection characteristics
provided by the methods of the present invention, there is a
significant delay in time between applying a load and establishing
a corresponding resistive bending moment within the blade. This
delay results from the time that it takes to elongate and compress
the material within the blade in a direction that is normal to the
blade's cross section, and also results from the time it takes to
create a sufficiently large enough shift in the neutral axis of the
blade toward the compression surface of the blade to create a
significant increase in bending resistance. This delay in time
between loading and deflection increases toward the free end of the
blade. When the blade is kicked in first direction to create a
delayed first blade deflection, a reversal in kick direction to a
second kick direction creates an opposite blade deflection that
originates near the foot pocket and travels toward the free end at
a delayed rate. Because the first blade deflection occurs at a
significantly delayed rate, the second oppositely blade deflection
can be generated near the foot pocket while the first blade
deflection is still occurring near the free end of the blade. This
creates an S-shaped wave down the length of the blade that creates
a whip like snapping motion. It is preferred that this delay in
time is substantially similar to either the period of a single
kicking stroke (one half of a full kick cycle), or the period of
the inversion portion of each kicking stroke, or the period of the
shock wave generated as the direction of kick is inverted. It
should be understood that the period of the shock wave pulse
transmitted down the blade can be much shorter than that of a
single kicking stroke as long it occurs sufficiently in phase with
the snap back motion of the fin to significantly increase the
energy, speed, and amplitude of the snap back motion. It is
preferred, but not required, that the harmonic of the blade's
resonant frequency that is supported and amplified by the resonant
qualities of the blade, occur substantially in phase with the
inversion portion of the kick cycle so that the snap back near the
free end of the blade occurs with greater speed, amplitude, and a
shorter period than it would experience without the in-phase
harmonic resonance of the blade.
[0197] In position b of FIG. 13, the simultaneously opposing blade
deflections are seed to occur along the length of the blade.
Although the foot movement was inverted at lower kick limit 274 in
position a, in position b the free end of the blade is seen to be
moving passed limit 270 and continuing toward lower blade sweep
limit 278. This is because of the addition of in phase wave
addition. The snap back energy stored in position a is being
released in position b in a manner that is in phase with the
reversed direction of kick and the lengthwise wave along the blade
that is supported and amplified by a low frequency harmonic of the
blade's natural resonant frequency. This creates a synergistic
effect that greatly increases the amplitude, speed, and energy of
the sweeping motion of the blade created by a kicking motion.
[0198] In position c, the foot has reached upper kick range 276 and
the free end of the blade is approaching lower blade sweep limit
278. The foot is moving upward, the blade is highly deflected and
the direction of kick is ready to be reversed. The delay in time of
blade deflection is seen as the root portion of the blade near the
foot pocket is moving upward and the free end of the blade is still
moving downward.
[0199] In position d, the direction of kick has been reversed. The
free end of the blade shown in position d has moved a significantly
large distance from that shown in position c. This is significantly
large in proportion to the distance the foot has moved from
position c to position d. This shows that the free end of the blade
shown in position d is moving at a significantly high speed even
though the input of energy is minimal.
[0200] In positions e, the downward directed kick has reached lower
kick limit 274 and the free end of the blade is moving upward
toward upper blade sweep limit 280. It can be seen that the blade
is significantly more deflected than that shown in position a. This
is because the deflection seen in position a occurred before
harmonic resonance is achieved. Because harmonic resonance is
occurring in position b through e, the blade extends significantly
beyond kick range 270 to a larger blade sweep range 280. In
alternate embodiments, the accumulation of harmonic resonant wave
energy can be used to efficiently overcome the damping effect of
water and the drag coefficient of the blade so that the sweep range
is significantly increased over that experienced by prior art
blades.
[0201] In positions b through e, it can be seen that the methods of
the present invention permit the root portion of the blade to
oscillate in the opposite direction as the free end of the blade.
This shows that a standing wave is achieved with a nodal region
existing substantially between these two blade portions. The
standing wave is seen to occur in substantially in phase with the
kicking strokes being used. This allows the swimmer to continually
add energy to the blade oscillations in a manner that reinforces
and adds energy to the standing wave. It is well known that if a
standing wave is generated on a harmonic of an objects resonant
frequency, substantially small inputs of energy that are applied to
the object in phase with the oscillation of the standing wave can
create dramatically large increases in the amplitude of the
standing wave. This phenomenon has been known to be a problem that
can destroy bridges and other large structures, however, it has not
previously been known that this phenomenon can be used and
exploited to create increased efficiency and propulsion on swim fin
blades and oscillating propeller blades.
[0202] In addition to providing this process of harmonic resonance
of flexible blades, the deflection control methods of the present
invention provides exceptional control of this process. This is
because the methods of the present invention that enable
large-scale blade deflections to occur on a light stoke while
limiting excessive deflection on a hard stroke permit blade
deflection limits to be set. When the blade approaches the
predetermined deflection limits, a significant shift of the
positioning of the neutral surface occurs that creates a sudden
increase in bending resistance that stops further movement of the
blade. Because this process occurs exponentially in a smooth
manner, there is no "clicking" sound or sensation to irritate the
user. The exponential increase in bending resistance is smooth and
is similar to the exponential increase in resistance experience by
a person reaching the fully deflected of a trampoline while
jumping. Because the present invention provides efficient methods
for limiting blade deflection, the use of harmonic resonance is
controlled and prevents the blade from over deflecting from the
added wave energy. The increased wave amplitude capabilities of
harmonic resonance are substantially trapped and controlled by the
blade deflection limits. This allows the user to reverse kick
direction as desired. When the oscillating blade reaches the
desired blade limit, the wave "bounces" off the limit set by the
suddenly increased bending resistance of the blade so that the wave
is deflected back in the other direction. The user can control this
occurrence by purposefully changing the kick direction during use.
If the direction of kick is changed, the blade moves toward the
oncoming wave so that the wave collides with blade deflection limit
in less time. This also permits the user to add energy to the
"bounce back" effect of the wave by adding energy to the impact by
increasing the speed and strength of the kicking motion. This
causes an increase in wave energy as the wave reflects in the
opposite direction after impact. The user can choose once again to
quickly reverse the kick direction immediate after this impact and
reflection of wave energy so that the blade sweep limit on the
other stroke is moved toward the recently reflected oncoming wave
for another energy building impact. The shorter the time period
between kick inversions, the greater the number of blade
reflections and the greater the oscillating frequency of the blade
movement. This process results in standing wave induced snap back
motions that create dramatic increases in the speed of the blade
through the water. The longer the time between kick inversions, the
lower the frequency of blade oscillations and the slower the
swimming speed. Because blade deflection limits are efficiently
achieved by the methods of the present invention, the user can
easily and unknowingly control the complex resonant processes
occurring within the blade by merely varying the kick range and the
number of kicks to create any desired level of speed. The blade
limits permitted by the present invention permit the user to
consistently control the resonant processes over a wide variety of
swimming speeds. Because methods of the present invention are so
smooth and efficient, the swimmer remains completely unaware of any
such complex processes and is able to fully enjoy the benefits
without detailed education of the process. The main reasons for the
detailed disclosure provided in this specification is to inform the
designers of swim fins and oscillating hydrofoils to understand and
put to use these methods and processes so that the performance
these products can be significantly increased.
[0203] The methods of the present invention also permit more
effective acceleration of water to be achieved during the snap back
of the blade through the water. Increased elongation and
compression ranges are used to store energy within significantly
high volumes of high memory elastomeric material so that superior
energy return is applied by the blade against the water during the
snap back of a deflected blade. Because large rates of elongation
and compression occur as the blade deflects to significantly
large-scale deflections, large amounts of work are done to the
material and this work is efficiently stored as potential energy.
During the snap back, the elongated and compressed high memory
material attempts to regain its unstrained orientation. The
elongated material contracts and the compressed material expands.
If the blade is snapping back from a downward blade deflection, the
elongated material within the upper portion of the blade will apply
leverage to pull lengthwise on the blade to create a leveraged
bending moment that pulls upward on the deflected blade. At the
same time, the compressed material along the lower portion of the
blade pushes lengthwise along this portion of the blade to create a
leveraged upward bending moment on the blade. The combination of
pushing and pulling forces applied at increased heights above the
neutral surface of a high memory material creates significant
improvements in snap back efficiency. Because the recovering
elongated and compressed material apply pulling and pushing forces,
respectively over significantly long ranges of material movement
which power the movement of the blade over a significantly long
distance, the blade pushes against the water for a significantly
long distance with a significantly constant recovery force. Because
energy was efficiently stored over significantly long distances of
material elongation and compression under the force generated by a
light kick, the force applied during the snap back motion is
applied to the water over a significantly long distance. This
creates a significantly increased terminal velocity to the water at
the end of the snap back. The high amplitude oscillation of the
standing wave shown in FIG. 13 creates additional acceleration of
water since the increased amplitude extends the distance over which
the propulsion force is applied to the water.
FIGS. 14 to 26
[0204] FIG. 14 shows a perspective view of a swim fin being kicked
upward and the blade is seen to have a significantly large vertical
thickness that is substantially consistent across the width of the
blade. A blade 282 is attached to a foot pocket 284. Blade 282 is
being kicked upward in a direction of kick 286 and is deflected
under the exertion of water pressure.
[0205] FIG. 15 shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line
15-15 in FIG. 14. Blade 282 is seen to have a rectangular cross
section. In this embodiment, blade 282 is a single load bearing
member and can have any desirable cross sectional shape that has
sufficient vertical dimensions to achieve the methods of the
present invention. Alternate cross sectional shapes include oval,
diamond, ribbed, corrugated, scooped, channeled, angled, V-shaped,
U-shaped, multi-faceted, or any other suitable shape that can be
used in conjunction with the methods of the present invention. In
alternate embodiments, longitudinal channels, variations in
thickness, or ribs may be used in any desired configuration across
the cross section of blade 282. Such ribs, channels, or variations
in thickness or channels may be formed out the same material used
in blade 282, or may be formed out of multiple materials having
various levels of consistency.
[0206] Blade 282 is seen to have a consistently thick cross
section. This provides blade 282 with high distribution of bending
stresses that can provide highly efficient spring characteristics.
The substantially large volume of elastomeric material used in
blade 282 provides blade 282 with a substantially large amount of
mass that permits it to have high levels of momentum when
resonating on large amplitude low frequency harmonics of its
natural resonant frequency. This can create a high momentum to drag
ratio. Because harmonic resonance enables large amplitude standing
waves to be maintained with relatively small inputs of energy, high
levels of momentum can provide blade 282 with the ability to
overcome a significant amount of the damping effect created by the
drag coefficient of blade 282. The high mass and volume also offers
increased low frequency resonance. If the material has a specific
gravity that is significantly close to that of water, or salt
water, blade 282 will feel significantly weightless underwater
while providing high levels of efficiency from a high spring
constant, low internal damping, low frequency harmonic resonance,
and controlled blade deflections.
[0207] FIG. 16 shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line
16-16 in FIG. 14. The thickness of this portion of blade 282 is
less that the thickness shown in FIG. 15. In FIG. 16, the reduced
thickness of blade 282 occurs because the load on blade 282 is
greatest near foot pocket 286 and is lowest near the free end of
blade 282. This is because the moment arm of the water pressure on
blade 282 decreases toward the free end of blade 282. The degree of
taper used in blade 282 from foot pocket 286 to the free end of
blade 282 can occur in any desired manner. It is preferred that the
degree of taper does not cause the outer portion of blade 282 to
become excessively thin. Preferably, the outer portion of blade 282
remains sufficiently thick enough to not over deflect during a hard
kick. It is also desired that the bending resistance near the free
end of blade is sufficiently high to permit a significantly large
amount of bending stress to be distributed over a significantly
large portion of blade 282 so that a desired radius of bending
curvature can be achieved. This increases leverage upon blade 282
so that high levels of elongation and compression occur where
vertical thickness is substantially large. This maximizes energy
storage, the surface area of blade 282 that is oriented at a
desired angle of attack, the ability to control blade deflections,
and the ability to support large amplitude harmonic resonance.
[0208] The cross-sectional views permit the overall cross-sectional
dimensions, or section modulus of load bearing members to be
discussed in regards to the methods of the present invention. In
previous sections of this specification, for purposes of
simplification discussions have been initially limited to the
relationship of the vertical dimensions of a load-bearing blade to
the elongation and compression capabilities of the material used
within the blade. Overall cross sectional dimensions are important
because the creation of a bending moment on a beam creates bending
stresses of tension and compression that are applied in a direction
that is normal to the cross section of the beam. The greater the
cross sectional volume, the greater the number of individual
"fibers" (or infinitesimally small lengthwise elements of a given
material) that are stressed during bending. The greater the number
of "fibers" for a given load on the beam, the greater the
distribution of stress across the cross section and the lower the
stress per fiber. The smaller the cross section, the greater the
stress per fiber for a given load. As stated previously, the
greatest stresses occur at the greatest vertical distance above and
below the neutral surface of the beam. Because of this, vertical
height is significantly important to the methods of the present
invention.
[0209] As the cross sectional width is increased for a given cross
sectional height, bending resistance is increased because of the
increased number of lengthwise fibers. It was previously mentioned
that a given desired maximum angle of attack from an elastomeric
load bearing member by matching the elongation and compression
ranges required by the vertical dimension of the load bearing
member as it bends around a specific radius of curvature to the
desired angle of attack with a material that can meet those
requirements under the loads applied. The same process is used,
except that now the cross sectional width and shape are included
into the combination. The greater the cross sectional width, the
greater the distribution of the bending stresses over a given cross
section. This reduces the stress per fiber and therefore reduces
the strain (deformation) of each fiber in the form of elongation
and, or compression. In order for a load bearing member having a
larger widthwise cross sectional dimension to achieve the same
blade deflection under the same load (such as that created during a
light kicking stroke) while the vertical blade height remains
constant, the material used within the member must be more
extensible and, or compressible. This is to permit the fibers to
elongate and, or compress more under the newly reduced bending
stresses.
[0210] Another option is to reduce the vertical dimensions of blade
282 so that the increased bending resistance created by the
increased width is compensated by a reduction in vertical height.
If this is to occur, sufficient vertical height must be used in
combination with the elongation and compression ranges of the
material to permit the neutral axis to experience a sufficient
shift toward the compression surface to create a significant
increase in the bending resistance as blade 282 approaches or
passes the desired angle of attack during a particular kick
strength.
[0211] FIG. 17 shows a perspective view of a fin being kicked in an
upward kick direction 288. A blade 290 is seen to have a
longitudinal load bearing rib 292 located on each side of blade 290
as well as along the center axis of blade 290. Each load bearing
rib 292 extends from a foot pocket 294 toward a free end 296 of
blade 290. Blade 290 is deflected from being kicked in upward kick
direction 288. The embodiment shown in FIGS. 17 to 19 uses less
material across the widthwise dimension of blade 290 and therefore
can have a taller vertical height if desired. By placing more
material at a greater vertical height from the neutral surface of
each rib. Blade 290 is seen to have a membrane portion 298 that
extends between each load bearing rib 292. Membrane 298 can either
be made from a highly resilient material or a significantly rigid
material. If a significantly rigid material is used for membrane
298, it is preferred that membrane 298 is relatively flexible
significantly near foot pocket 294 so that a substantial amount of
deflection occurs to the beginning half of blade 290 during use so
that substantial levels of energy storage occur within each load
bearing rib 292 along the beginning half of blade 290 near foot
pocket 294. It is preferred that load bearing ribs 292 bear the
load created by the exertion of water pressure during kicking
strokes so that the methods of the present invention are
significantly able to be utilized.
[0212] FIG. 18 shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line
18-18 in FIG. 17. Load bearing ribs 292 are seen to have a
substantially oval cross sectional shape. The oval shape is
significantly wide in comparison to its height in order to provide
vertical stability and resistance to twisting or buckling under the
strain created during swimming. The oval shape is beneficial since
the rounded upper and lower surfaces can permit a certain degree of
twisting along the length of ribs 292 to occur during use without
creating a sudden decrease in vertical dimension. It is preferred
that if some twisting does occur during use, such twisting does not
cause a change in the vertical height of ribs 292 that is
significant enough to create a decrease in bending resistance along
the length of ribs 292 in a manner that can interfere with the
methods of the present invention. A reduction in the vertical
height of ribs 292 created by excessive twisting reduces the degree
to which the material within ribs 292 must elongate and, or
compress during use. It is preferred that suitable design steps are
taken to insure that the vertical height of each rib 292 relative
to the neutral surface remains sufficiently constant during use
that the bending methods of the present invention are able to be
maximized. By providing a significantly rounded cross sectional
shape and significantly large width to height ratios, ribs 292 can
offer significantly high levels of stability and high levels of
performance.
[0213] The cross sectional view shown in FIG. 18 displays that
membrane 298 passes through the middle section of ribs 292. If
membrane 298 is made from a substantially extensible material, then
this method of attaching membrane 298 to ribs 292 provides a
mechanical bond that can reinforce a chemical bond. Holes can exist
within membrane 298 at the connection points between ribs 292 and
membrane 298 so that during the molding process, the material
within ribs 292 can flow through the holes in membrane 298 in order
to form a stronger mechanical bond. Any desirable combinations of
mechanical and, or chemical bonds may be used.
[0214] If membrane 298 is made of a material that is relatively
rigid and has significantly low levels of extensibility, the
presence of membrane 298 in the middle portion of ribs 292 may
cause ribs 292 to have reduced elongation along the tension surface
of ribs 292. The compression surface will still compress and reach
a maximum compressed state that can be used to limit blade
deflection and store energy. However, after the neutral axis within
ribs 298 shifts toward the compression surface of ribs 298, the
height of membrane 298 above the neutral axis within ribs 292 will
determine the amount of elongation along membrane 298 required to
create further bending. The degree to which the material within
membrane 298 can elongate under the load applied to blade 290
during use will determine how much further ribs 292 can deflect
under an increased load. As a result, the extensibility of a given
material used for membrane 298 within ribs 292 can be used to
control and limit blade deflections. If the height of the tension
surface of ribs 292 above the neutral surface within ribs 292 is
sufficiently high, the tension surface of ribs 292 may become fully
elongated before significant stress is applied to membrane 298.
[0215] FIG. 19 shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line
19-19 in FIG. 17. Ribs 292 are seen to be smaller at this portion
of blade 290 and have achieved a more round cross sectional shape.
If membrane 298 is made from a relatively material, then the outer
portions of ribs 292 can be more oval and less round since the
rigidity of membrane 298 can provide sufficient support to these
outer portions of ribs 292 so that they do not twist significantly
during use. If membrane 298 is made from a highly resilient
material, ribs 292 are preferred to be significantly round near
this portion of ribs 292. This is because if significant twisting
occurs to ribs 292 at this outer portion of the blade, such a round
shape permits the vertical height above and below the neutral
surface to be significantly maintained. The rounded shape also
provides constant symmetry about the centroidal axis so that if any
twisting does occur, ribs 292 do not experience a significant
change in symmetry relative to the neutral surface and therefore do
not become unstable and are able to maintain significantly high
levels of structural integrity.
[0216] In alternate embodiments of the cross sectional views shown
in FIGS. 18 and 19, the upper portion of ribs 292 existing above
membrane 298, can be made out of a different material than the
lower portion of ribs 292 existing below membrane 298. The use of
two different materials, or the same material having different
levels of hardness, extensibility, or compressibility above and
below membrane 298 can permit blade 290 to exhibit different
deflection characteristics on opposing strokes. For instance, if
the material within lower portion of ribs 292 is more compressible
than the material within the upper portion of ribs 292, then blade
290 will deflect more when blade 290 is deflected in a downward
direction than when kicked in an upward direction.
[0217] FIG. 20 shows an alternate embodiment of the cross sectional
view shown in FIG. 18, in which blade 290 has a series of load
bearing ribs 293 that have a significantly half round
cross-sectional shape and extend above and below membrane 298.
Three load bearing ribs 293 are seen on the upper surface of blade
290 and two load bearing ribs 293 are seen on the lower surface of
blade 290. The size of ribs 293 located below membrane 298 are seen
to be larger than the size of ribs 293 located above membrane 298.
This arrangement is only one of many possible arrangements of ribs
293 that employ the methods of the present invention. Any desired
configuration, size, combinations of size, combinations of
materials, or cross sectional shape can be used for ribs 293 while
employing the methods of the present invention. The two larger size
ribs 293 located below membrane 298 can be designed to
significantly balance the volume of material located in the three
smaller ribs 293 located above membrane 298. The larger vertical
height within ribs 293 below membrane 298 permits increased stress
to be applied to the material within them. The increased width of
the larger ribs 293 below membrane 298 provides additional
stability so that the increased stress forces created by their
vertical height does not cause them to buckle or twist
significantly during use. It is preferred that load bearing ribs
293 provide the majority of load bearing support for blade 292 and
that membrane 298 is therefore significantly supported by load
bearing ribs 293.
[0218] The alternate embodiment shown in FIG. 20 can be used to
create different blade deflection limits on the up stroke or down
stroke if this is desired. This can be an advantage if the angle
between foot pocket 294 and blade 290 at rest is such that only a
relatively small deflection is desired on one stroke in order to
achieve a significantly reduced angle of attack relative to the
movement between the fin and the water during use, while the
resting angle of blade 290 requires that a substantially large
blade deflection is required on the opposite stroke. Variations in
elongation compression ranges can be created by providing different
load bearing rib geometry on either side of blade 290. If desired,
ribs 293 can exist only on the upper surface or only on the lower
surface. This can further enable blade 290 to have large variations
in deflection characteristics on opposing strokes.
[0219] FIG. 21 shows a perspective view of an another alternate
embodiment of a swim fin having a blade 310 kicked in an upward
kick direction 312 while employing the methods of the present
invention. Blade 310 has a significantly large longitudinal load
bearing rib 314 is located along each side edge of a membrane 315.
Ribs 314 extend from a foot pocket 316 to a free end 318 of blade
310.
[0220] FIG. 22 shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line
22-22 in FIG. 21. In this embodiment, membrane 315 and ribs 314 are
made from the same highly extensible material. This is a strong
advantage because foot pocket 316, ribs 314, and membrane 315 can
be molded in one step from one material. This is because it is
preferred that ribs 314 are made from a substantially soft,
compressible, and extensible material in order to employ the
methods of the present invention. These same material qualities
offer excellent comfort when used to make foot pocket 216.
[0221] Because the vertical dimension of membrane 315 is seen to be
substantially small, the vertical dimensions of ribs 314 can be
increased to provide increased requirements for elongation and
compression along the upper and lower portions of ribs 314. The
lower the number of ribs 314 and the thinner or more flexible the
material of membrane 315 used for a given material, the greater the
vertical height that can be achieved within each rib 314. Ribs 314
are seen to have a vertically oriented oval cross sectional shape.
This places more material at a greater vertical distance from the
neutral surface within ribs 314 and therefore increases amount of
elongation and compression that must occur to the material within
ribs 314 for a given large-scale blade deflection. Because ribs 314
in this view are significantly close to foot pocket 316, the
vertical structure of foot pocket 316 provides vertical stability
to the portions of ribs 314 that are significantly close to foot
pocket 316. This vertical stability provided by the structure of
foot pocket 316 permits ribs 314 to have a smaller horizontal cross
sectional dimension for a given vertical dimension for a given
material being used. This vertical stability becomes significantly
reduced as ribs 314 extend away from foot pocket 316 toward free
end 318. Because of this, it is preferred that the cross sectional
shape of ribs 314 becomes less vertically oval and more round as
ribs 314 extend from foot pocket 316 to free end 318.
[0222] FIG. 23 shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line
23-23 in FIG. 21. The cross sectional shape of ribs 314 in FIG. 23
is seen to have a less oval shape than shown in FIG. 22. This is to
provide ribs 314 with a larger width to height ratio so that
twisting is significantly reduced and buckling is avoided. The
rounded upper and lower surfaces of ribs 314 prevent the vertical
height above and below the neutral surface, or the height of the
major axis relative to bending, from becoming significantly reduced
if a small amount of twisting occurs along the length of rib 314.
It can be seen that the width of ribs 314 remains significantly
constant between FIG. 23 and FIG. 24 while a reduction in height
occurs at the same time. This permits ribs 314 to gain increased
vertical stability as they extend from foot pocket 316 to free end
318 while also experiencing a decrease in bending resistance that
corresponds to the reduced leverage that is exerted upon ribs 314
as ribs 314 extend from foot pocket 316 to free end 318. This same
manner of tapering occurs between FIGS. 23 and 24. FIG. 24 shows a
cross-sectional view taken along the line 24-24 in FIG. 21. Ribs
314 are seen to be significantly round and have a high degree of
stability. Because the ratio of width to height of ribs 314 is
significantly increased from foot pocket 316 to free end 318,
bending resistance is gradually reduced toward free end 318 so that
ribs 314 do not over deflect during a hard kick. This is because
the volume of material within ribs 314 remains significantly large
toward free end 318 and therefore bending resistance also remains
significantly large enough to prevent over deflection during a hard
kick. The high level of vertical stability along ribs 314 permit
significantly high ranges of elongation and compression to occur
within the material of ribs 314 so that the methods of the present
invention can be utilized and exploited.
[0223] FIG. 25 shows an alternate embodiment of the cross-sectional
view shown in FIG. 22, which uses a round load bearing rib 320 on
either side of membrane 315. FIG. 26 shows an alternate embodiment
of the cross-sectional view shown in FIG. 23, which uses round load
bearing ribs 320. FIG. 27 shows an alternate embodiment of the
cross-sectional view shown in FIG. 24, which has round load bearing
members that are larger than ribs 314 shown in FIG. 23. In this
embodiment, ribs 320 taper in both width and height from foot
pocket 316 to free end 318. The substantially round shape of ribs
320 provide excellent vertical stability and the significantly
large cross sectional volume provides the ability to efficiently
store large quantities of energy with a low damping effect due to
the distribution of bending stresses to a greater quantity of
lengthwise fibers. In this example, the tapering in vertical cross
sectional height in ribs 320 is significantly less than that shown
by ribs 314 in FIGS. 22 to 24. In FIG. 27, ribs 320 are larger near
free end 318 so that the volume of material in ribs 320 is
significantly high so that increased bending resistance occurs near
free end 318 in comparison to that achieved in FIG. 24. In FIGS. 25
to 27, ribs 320 experience a reduction in volume from foot pocket
316 to free end 318 in an amount effective to permit a
substantially even distribution of bending stress across the
lengths of ribs 320 from foot pocket 316 to free end 318 in
comparison to the loads applied.
FIGS. 28 to 35
[0224] FIG. 28 shows a top view of a swim fin. In FIG. 28, a shoe
member 400 is secured to a blade member 402 in any suitable manner.
Blade member 402 has a blade free end portion 404 and a blade root
portion 406 adjacent shoe member 400. A load-bearing rib member 408
is seen to be secured to blade member 402 adjacent each outer side
edge of blade member 402; however, rib member 408 may be secured in
any manner to any portion of blade member 402. Each rib member 408
having a rib root portion 410 and a rib free end portion 412. Rib
members 408 having a bending zone 414 adjacent root portion 410. A
first quarter portion 416 of blade member 402 is seen between a
first quarter imaginary line 418 and shoe member 400. A first half
portion 420 of blade member 402 is seen between a first half
imaginary line 422 and shoe member 400.
[0225] The embodiment shown in FIG. 28 uses the same design and
operation principles described in the previous embodiments of the
present invention described in the above description; however, a
significant portion of the flexing is arranged to occur
significantly close to shoe member 400. Ribs 408 are seen to have a
reduced transverse dimension near root 410. Such reduced transverse
dimension reduces the bending resistance of ribs 408 by reducing
the sectional modulus of ribs 408 to create bending zone 414 due to
an increase in flexibility. Such a reduction in bending resistance
is preferably arranged adjacent root portion 410 so that most of
the flexing of blade 402 and ribs 408 occurs along first half 420
of blade member 402. The reduction in transverse dimension of ribs
408 may also be arranged to permit the majority of flex zone 414 to
occur along first quarter 416 of blade member 402. Flex zone 414 is
seen to exist along first quarter 416 of blade member 402; however,
flex zone 414 may be of any size, may exist along any desired
portion of ribs 408, may occur along any length of ribs 408, and
may occur in any degree increased flexibility.
[0226] FIG. 29 shows a side view of the same swim fin shown in FIG.
28 while flexing during a kicking stroke. In FIG. 29, the swim fin
is being kicked in a direction of kick 424. Flex zone 414 is seen
to identify a zone of increased flexibility in ribs 408 located
adjacent foot pocket 400 and root 410 of ribs 408. Ribs 408 have a
rib attacking surface 426 and a rib lee surface 428. Blade 402 and
ribs 408 are seen to be deflected under water pressure created by
kick direction 424 to a light kick deflected position 430 from a
neutral position 432 shown by broken lines. Light kick deflected
position 430 is created when kick direction 424 is kicked with a
substantially light kicking force such as used to achieve a slower
cruising speed while swimming. A neutral tangent line 424 is shown
by a dotted line above neutral position 432. A light kick
deflection line 434 is shown by a dotted line above light kick
deflected position 430. A curved arrow extending from neutral
tangent line 424 to light kick tangent line 436 identifies a
predetermined light kick deflection angle 438.
[0227] A hard kick deflected position 440 of rib 408 is shown by
broken lines below light kick deflected position 430. Hard kick
deflected position 430 is created when kick direction 424 occurs
with a substantially hard kicking force to achieve a significantly
faster swimming speed. A hard kick tangent line 442 is shown by a
dotted line above hard kick deflected position 440. An arrow
extending between neutral tangent line 434 and hard kick tangent
line 442 identifies a predetermined hard kick deflection angle
444.
[0228] An imaginary root radius line 446 is displayed by a dotted
line extending vertically through the swim fin toward a light kick
transverse axis of curvature 448. An imaginary light kick forward
position radius line 450 is displayed by a dotted line extending
through the swim fin toward light kick axis 448. An imaginary
neutral position reference line 452 is shown by a dotted line
intersecting forward radius line 450. A light kick neutral surface
position 454 is displayed by a dotted line through the middle of
rib 408 that extends to the intersection of reference line 452 and
forward radius line 450. Light kick neutral surface position 454
displays the position of the neutral surface within rib 408 in
which zero elongation and zero compression exists while
bending.
[0229] A light kick attacking surface elongation zone 456 exists in
the region between reference line 452, forward radius line 450, and
light kick neutral surface position 454. The size of elongation
zone 456 displays that a significantly large amount of material has
experienced significant elongation as the swim fin flexes to light
kick position 430. A light kick compression zone 458 is exists in
the region between reference line 452, forward radius line 450, and
light kick neutral surface position 454. The size of compression
zone 458 shows that a significant amount of material has become
compressed while the swim fin flexes to light kick position 430. A
light kick attacking rib surface elongation range 460 is displayed
by an arrow that shows the amount of elongation occurring along the
attacking surface of rib 408 within flex zone 414 existing between
radius lines 446 and 450. A light kick lee surface compression
range 462 is displayed by an arrow that shows the amount of
elongation occurring along the lee surface of rib 408 within flex
zone 414 existing between radius lines 446 and 450.
[0230] It is preferred that the material used to make ribs 408 have
a Shore a hardness between 40 and 95 durometer. Materials having a
Shore A hardness between 75 and 95 durometer would preferably have
a very high modulus of elasticity so that the material can
experience significant levels of elongation and compression under
the relatively light load conditions created during a relatively
light kicking stroke used to reach cruising speeds while swimming.
Preferably, relatively high memory materials should be used such as
Hytrel, Pebax, rubber, polyurethanes, Monprene, thermoplastic
rubber, thermoplastic elastomers, or any other suitable high memory
material.
[0231] An initial neutral surface position 464 existing as rib 408
just begins to bend is shown by a dotted line above position 454.
Light kick neutral surface position 464 is seen to be significantly
below initial position 454, thereby showing that position of the
neutral surface has shifted toward the lee surface of rib 408. As
discussed in the preceding descriptions above, this is achieved by
setting light kick compression range 462 of the material to
experience a sudden increase in resistance to further compression
as the swim fin is deflected significantly close to the
predetermined light kick deflection angle 438 identified by tangent
line 436. A hard kick neutral surface position 466 is shown by a
dotted line below position 454. This shows the further shift in the
position of the neutral surface within rib 408 as the swim fin is
deflected to hard kick deflected position 440 with a predetermined
hard kick deflection angle 444. Neutral surface positions 454, 464
and 468 are superimposed upon rib 408 while it is in light kick
deflected position 430 for illustrative and simplification purposes
so that the relative shift in position can be seen. The shift in
the neutral surface from position 464 to 452 creates a sudden
increase in bending resistance within rib 408 as it reaches
deflected position 430. The further shift in the neutral surface
from position 452 to 466 creates a further increase in bending
resistance within rib 408 as it reaches hard kick deflected
position 440.
[0232] The significantly large shift in the neutral bending surface
within rib 408 permits a significantly large deflection to occur
during a light kicking stoke with only a proportionally small
increase in the deflection to occur during a hard kicking stroke.
The flex limiting methods of the present invention permit light
kick deflection angle 438 to be significantly large while hard kick
deflection angle 444 represents a proportionally small increase in
deflection in comparison to deflection angle 438. The user is able
to maintain highly consistent blade deflections whether the force
of the kicking stroke is significantly light or significantly
hard.
[0233] From the drawings, it can be seen that the focused bending
zone 414 existing between radius lines 446 and 450 experiences a
majority of the bending occurring in the swim fin. Bending zone 414
has a predetermined length, which can be any desirable length.
Deflection angle 438 combines with the length of bending zone 414
to determine the length of radius lines 446 and 450 as well as the
location of axis 448. The vertical height of rib 408 determines the
size of elongation range 460 and compression range 462 for a given
deflection angle. The deflection angles used and the elongation and
compression ranges used can be selected from any of the variations
described in the above description.
[0234] FIGS. 30 to 34 show cross sectional views of the fin shown
in FIG. 29 taken along the lines 30-30, 31-31, 32-32, 33-33, and
34-34, respectively. FIG. 30 shows that ribs 408 are significantly
narrower in FIG. 30 than in FIG. 31. FIG. 32 shows that ribs 408
are significantly wider along the line 31-31 in FIG. 29 than along
the line 30-30 in FIG. 29. Ribs 408 in FIG. 30 are seen to have a
reduced transverse dimension compared to that shown in FIG. 31. In
FIG. 30, the reduced transverse dimension decreases bending
resistance by reducing the sectional modulus of ribs 408. This
increases the flexibility of ribs 408 to cause focused bending to
occur adjacent root 410. Because vertical height of ribs 408
remains significantly large in FIG. 30 compared to FIG. 31,
elongation range 460 in FIG. 29 is significantly large. This
maximizes the energy stored in elongation and compression for a
significant increase in "snap back" at the end of the kicking
stroke for a significant increase in performance.
[0235] Review of FIGS. 32 to 34 shows that the transverse dimension
of ribs 408 remains relatively constant between FIGS. 32 to 34.
This permits bending zone 414 to be focused near foot pocket
400.
[0236] FIGS. 35a and 35b show a side perspective view of the swim
fin shown in FIGS. 28 and 29 during the inversion portion of a kick
cycle. In FIG. 35 a, the swim fin is in a downstroke position 477
that has a direction of kick 468 showing the fin is in the
downstroke phase of the kicking cycle. The swim fin at downstroke
position 477 has been moved downward from a kick stroke inversion
position 470 displayed by broken lines in which the swim fin is at
the inversion portion of a kick cycle where the swim fin changes
kick direction from an upstroke to a downstroke. Inversion position
470 displays that the swim fin forms an S-shaped wave 472 at the
inversion portion of the kicking stroke cycle. As the kick
direction in position 470 is inverted to kick direction 468, the
swim fin is seen to form an inverted S-shaped wave 474. While the
swim fin forms inverted S-shaped wave 474, arrows show that a free
end portion movement 476 is occurring in an upward direction and a
root portion movement 478 is occurring in a downward direction.
[0237] By showing both inversion portion 470 and downstroke
position 477, the viewer is able to see that S-shaped wave 472 and
inverted S-shaped wave 474 together form a standing wave. A nodal
point 480 in the standing wave occurs at the position along the
swim fin in which position 470 and position 477 intersect. The
focused hinging at bending zone 414 increases the area of the swim
fin that can participate in the forming a standing wave and can
increase the efficiency of the standing wave.
[0238] FIG. 35b shows the same swim fin in FIG. 35a in which ribs
408 and blade 402 are made with increased flexibility in order to
make the standing wave be more pronounced.
[0239] FIG. 36 shows a side view of a prior art swim fin. A blade
member 482 is secured to a shoe member 484. Rib members 486 are
secured to the side edges of blade member 482. Blade member 482 as
an attacking surface 488, a lee surface 490, and a free end portion
492. Blade member 482 is flexible and forms a scoop-like shape
along attacking surface 488. This type of prior swim fin attempts
to use the scoop-like shape of attacking surface 482 to channel
water toward free end 492. The swim fin is being kicked in a
downward kick direction 194 and turbulence 496 is seen forming
adjacent lee surface 490. Much of the water is seen to spill in an
outward sideways around ribs 486 toward the induced drag vortices
of turbulence 496 and very little water is actually channeled
toward free end 492. Turbulence 496 creates stall conditions which
significantly reduce the ability for the swim fin to generate lift.
As a result, propulsion is poor and drag is high.
[0240] FIG. 37 shows the same prior art swim fin shown in FIG. 36
with the swim fin being kicked toward the viewer. In FIG. 37, the
swim fin is being kicked toward the viewer so that attacking
surface 488 can be observed. Outward sideways flow conditions 498
are displayed by arrows adjacent attacking surface 488. Outward
sideways flow conditions 498 show that much of the water flowing
along attacking surface 488 flows in an outward sideways manner
rather than toward free end 492. Free end 492 is curved since the
flexibility of blade member 482 permits a scoop-like shape to form
between ribs 486 during use. The broken line in front of free end
492 is the position of free end 492 when the swim fin is at
rest.
[0241] FIG. 38 shows cross sectional view taken along the line
38-38 of the prior art fin shown in FIG. 37. In FIG. 38, blade
member 482 is arched to form a scoop-like or channel-like contour
along attacking surface 488. Outward sideways flow conditions 498
show that water is spilling in an outward manner around ribs 486.
Turbulence 496 is above lee surface 490 creates high levels of drag
and stall conditions which reduce performance.
[0242] FIG. 39 shows a perspective side view of a swim fin of the
present invention. In FIG. 39, a shoe member 500 is secured to a
blade member 502. Blade member 502 has rib members 504 secured to
blade member 502 adjacent the outer side edges of blade member 502.
Blade member 502 having an attacking surface 506, a lee surface
508, and a free end portion 510. The swim fin is being kicked in a
downward kick direction 512. Blade member 502 is sufficiently
flexible to form a scoop-like or channel-like contour along
attacking surface 506. An attacking surface flow 514 is displayed
by an arrow flowing beneath attacking surface 506. A lee surface
flow 516 is displayed by an arrow flowing over lee surface 508. A
lee surface flow separation 518 is displayed by curled arrows shows
the formation of an eddy-like vortex formation along lee surface
508 during this kicking stroke.
[0243] In FIG. 39, ribs 504 are seen to experience a significant
amount of bending around a transverse axis near shoe member 500 so
that blade member 502 and ribs 504 are oriented at a significantly
reduced angle of attack around a transverse axis. The angle of
deflection exhibited by blade member 502 and ribs 504 is seen to be
significantly large relative to a neutral blade position 524
displayed by broken lines beneath blade member 502 and ribs 504.
The methods for achieving this bend and various desirable
deflection angles and ranges may be chosen as desired from the
above description. Because the angle of attack is significantly
reduced, lee surface flow separation is seen to be significantly
smaller in size compared to turbulence 496 shown in FIG. 36 for a
prior art fin. This permits the swim fin in FIG. 39 to create
significantly reduced levels of drag. In FIG. 39, blade member 502
and ribs 504 are seen to be at a significantly reduced angle of
attack around a transverse axis in an amount effective to permit
lee surface flow separation to be sufficiently small enough to
permit lee surface flow 516 to flow in a substantially smooth
manner above separation 518 and lee surface 508. In FIG. 39, lee
surface flow 516 is seen to curl around rib 504 then over
separation 518 and then become reattached to lee surface 508
adjacent free end portion 510. Preferably, this occurs in a
sufficiently smooth manner to create a lifting force 520 displayed
by an arrow above lee surface 508. Lifting force 520 has a forward
component of lift 522, which extends in a horizontal direction and
assists in propelling the swimmer forward. Attacking surface flow
514 is seen to flow in a substantially lengthwise manner along
attacking surface 506. Because outward sideways flow is reduced,
more water flows toward free end 510 for increased propulsion.
Preferably, attacking surface flow 514 will have a slight inward
directed movement as it flows toward free end 510; however,
straight flow toward free end 510 or even a significant reduction
in any outward sideways directed flow along attacking surface 506
may be created as well for significant improvements in performance
over the prior art.
[0244] FIG. 40 shows the same swim fin shown in FIG. 39 as viewed
from underneath with the swim fin being kicked toward the viewer.
Ribs 504 and blade member 502 are seen to have deflected away from
neutral position 524 shown by broken lines in front of free end
510. A flex zone 526 is seen along ribs 504 near foot pocket 500.
Ribs 504 are seen to have reduced transverse dimension adjacent
flex zone 526 and employs bend controlling methods of the present
invention.
[0245] FIG. 41 shows cross sectional view taken along the line
41-41 in FIG. 40 while being kicked in kick direction 512 as shown
in FIG. 39. In FIG. 41, blade member 502 has flexed to form a
longitudinally directed scoop-like or channel-like contour between
ribs 504 and along attacking surface 506. Lee surface 508 is seen
to have a substantially convex contour, which is preferably curved
but may also be faceted. The channel-like contour of attacking
surface 506 encourages attacking surface flow 516 to flow toward
the center axis of blade 502. The convex shape lee surface 508
permits blade 502 to be oriented at a reduced angle of attack along
a lengthwise axis. This reduced angle of attack along a lengthwise
axis of lee surface 508 combines with the large scale deflection of
ribs 504 and blade 502 to a lengthwise reduced angle of attack
around a transverse axis as shown in FIG. 39 to create
substantially smooth and attached flow conditions above lee surface
508.
[0246] In FIG. 41, attacking surface flow 514 and lee surface flow
516 are shown to move in an inward manner from ribs 504 and are
also moving toward the viewer and originate behind line 41-41 in
FIG. 40. In FIG. 41, attacking surface flow 514 and lee surface
flow 516 are shown as starting behind line 41-41 in FIG. 40 so that
their lengthwise and inward directed paths can be observed from the
cross sectional view shown in FIG. 41. In FIG. 41, lee surface flow
514 is seen to flow around ribs 514, over lee surface flow
separation 518 and become re-attached to lee surface 508 adjacent
the center axis of blade member 502. Lee surface flow 516 is seen
to flow in a substantially smooth and attached manner above lee
surface 508. Adjacent ribs 518, lift vectors 528 are shown by an
angled arrow directed in an upward and outward angle. Lift vectors
528 are substantially perpendicular to the direction of lee surface
flow 516 at the location shown. Lift vectors 528 have a horizontal
component of lift 529 and a vertical component of lift 530.
Horizontal component 529 applies an Outward transverse force to
blade 502 and ribs 504 relative to this view and vertical component
530 applies an upward vertical force to blade 502 and ribs 504
relative to this view. Closer to the central axis of blade 502,
lift vectors 531 are displayed by arrows that extend in an upward
and outward direction that is substantially perpendicular to lee
surface flow 516 at this position above blade member 502. Lift
vectors 531 have a horizontal component of lift 532 and a vertical
component of lift 533.
[0247] When the direction of these vectors are seen from the view
shown in FIG. 41 with the knowledge that blade 502 and ribs 504 are
inclined at a significant deflection around a transverse axis as
shown in FIG. 39, then it can be understood that vertical
components of lift 530 and 533 are oriented at a forward
inclination relative to the desired direction of movement for the
swimmer. In other words, vertical components of lift 530 and 533
shown in FIG. 41 are substantially parallel to the direction of
lifting force 520 shown in FIG. 39. Just has lifting force 520 has
a related forward component of lift 522 that creates forward
propulsion as shown in FIG. 39, in FIG. 41 vertical components of
lift 530 and 533 also have forward components to these vectors that
are determined by the overall deflection angle of ribs 504 and
blade member 502 around a transverse axis as shown in FIG. 39. For
this reason, significantly large deflection angles near shoe member
500 as shown in FIG. 39 combined with a substantially convex lee
surface contour as shown in FIG. 41 can allow lee surface flow 516
to occur in a sufficiently smooth and attached manner to produce
significantly strong lift vectors which have a significant forward
directed component. This can significantly increase the propulsive
force generated by the swim fin.
[0248] The methods of the present invention permit a major
improvement over the prior art scoop-type swim fin shown in FIGS.
36 to 38. Lee surface separation 518 in FIGS. 39 to 41 is seen to
significantly smaller that turbulence 498 in FIGS. 36 and 38. This
permits the fin shown in FIGS. 39 to 41 to exhibit significantly
reduced levels of drag. Also, this reduction in turbulence in FIGS.
39 to 41 is seen to occur in an amount effective to permit lee
surface flow 516 to flow in a sufficiently smooth and attached
manner to create significantly strong lifting forces to increase
forward propulsion. As seen in the prior art fin of FIGS. 36 to 38,
turbulence 496 is too large to permit significant levels of lift to
form. Also, the strong vortices of turbulence 496 in FIGS. 36 to 38
is seen to draw the flow along attacking surface 488 in an outward
sideways manner to create significantly strong outward sideways
flow conditions 498. In FIGS. 39 to 41, attacking surface flow 514
has significantly reduced levels of outward sideways directed flow.
Preferably, the scoop-like contour of attacking surface 506 is
sufficiently deep enough to permit attacking surface flow 514 to
flow in an inward converging flow direction; however, any depth of
may be used. Also, it is preferred that lee surface flow separation
518 is sufficiently reduced enough to avoid drawing significantly
large amounts of water around ribs 504 in an outward sideways
direction from attacking surface 506 toward lee surface 508.
[0249] In FIG. 41, significantly smooth flow above lee surface 508
is achieved with a combination of blade 502 being oriented at a
significantly reduced lengthwise angle of attack around a
transverse axis as shown in the side view of FIG. 39 while also
having a significantly deep scoop-like contour along attacking
surface 506 which provides a reduced angle of attack along a
transverse direction. In FIG. 41, blade member 502 has flexed away
from an unloaded blade orientation 534 to form a longitudinally
directed scoop-like or channel-like contour between ribs 504 and
along attacking surface 506. The distance between unloaded blade
orientation 534 and the actual flexed position of blade 502 during
use defines a predetermined depth of scoop 536, which is displayed
by a vertical double-ended arrow. A predetermined transverse blade
dimension 538 is displayed by a horizontal double-ended arrow,
which identifies the overall width of the swim fin taken at the
line 41-41 in FIG. 40. It is preferred that predetermined depth of
scoop 536 is at least 10% of predetermined transverse dimension 538
while blade 502 is experiencing a deflection if at least 20 degrees
during a relatively light kicking stroke. The resulting improvement
in smooth flow conditions can greatly reduce drag and kicking
effort while increasing propulsion efficiency. It is preferred that
a significantly large portion of the deflection of blade 502 occurs
within the first half of the overall length of blade 502. Excellent
results occur when a major portion of the blade deflection is
arranged to occur within the first quarter of the overall blade
length or substantially near shoe member 500. Such a deflection of
at least 20 degrees can be measured from a tangent to the
lengthwise alignment of ribs 504 or blade 502 at the midpoint of
the overall length of blade 502. The deflection can be measured
relative to neutral position 524 shown in FIG. 39 existing when the
swim fin is at rest. Also, the deflection angle, or the reduced
angle of attack around a transverse axis may be measured relative
to the direction of intended travel. Excellent results may be
achieved with providing blade 502 or ribs 504 with a deflection of
at least 30 degrees during a light kicking stroke. It is also
preferred that depth of scoop 536 is at least 5% of transverse
dimension 538 of blade 502 existing between ribs 504. Preferably,
depth of scoop 536 is at least 5% of transverse dimension 538 at
the three quarters of the overall length of blade 502 toward free
end 510. Excellent results can also occur when depth of scoop 536
is at least 10%, at least 15%, at least 20% or at least 30% of
transverse dimension 538 at the midpoint of the overall length of
blade 502. Alternatively, depth of scoop 536 may be at least 5%, at
least 10%, at least 15%, at least 20%, at least 30%, at least 40%,
or at least 50% of transverse dimension 538 in the outermost
quarter of the overall length of blade 502 near free end 510 (three
quarters of the blade length toward free end 510). With sufficient
reduced angle of attack around a transverse axis and sufficient
energy storage within the load bearing material, depth of scoop 536
may be reduced, minimized, or even eliminated if desired.
Preferably, depth of scoop 536 is arranged to be sufficient to
encourage substantially smooth flow conditions to occur above lee
surface 508. It is preferred that ribs 504 and blade 502 are
arranged to form a substantially unobstructed flow path sufficient
to encourage relatively smooth flow conditions to form above lee
surface 508. By encouraging smooth flow conditions to occur along
an angled flow path that has both lengthwise and transverse flow
components can permit lift forces to be efficiently generated while
drag forces are and kicking resistance are significantly
reduced.
[0250] FIG. 42 shows a side view of an alternate embodiment swim
fin. The fin can be similar to any of the embodiments described in
the above description while the load bearing rib is preferably
arranged to provide flexing near the foot pocket that creates
non-linear large scale deflections. A shoe member 540 is secured to
an elastomeric flexible rib portion 542 and a relatively stiffer
rib portion 544 is secured to flexible rib portion 542. A
relatively stiffer rib base 546 is seen within flexible rib portion
542 near shoe member 540. The swim fin is seen to have a root
portion 548 near shoe member 540 and a free end portion 550 spaced
from root portion 548 and shoe member 540. Stiffer rib base 546 is
secured to flexible rib portion 542 near root 548 with a series of
mechanical bonds 552 shown by dotted lines. Mechanical bonds may be
one or more vertical spaces, holes, tubes, recesses, gaps, or
orifices within stiff rib base 546 into which the material of
flexible rib portion 542 may flow during fabrication to form a
mechanical bond. Any suitable mechanical bond and, or chemical bond
may be used to connect shoe member 540 to flexible rib 542.
[0251] Stiffer rib portion 544 may be secured to flexible rib
portion 542 with mechanical and, or chemical bonds in any desirable
manner. In FIG. 42, stiffer rib portion 544 is secured to flexible
rib 542 with a series of mechanical bonds 554 shown by dotted
lines. Bonds 554 may be one or more vertical spaces, holes, tubes,
recesses, gaps, or orifices within stiffer rib portion 544 into
which, the material used to make flexible rib portion 542 flows
during fabrication in order to enhance the strength of the
connection. However, any desirable mechanical and, or chemical bond
may be used.
[0252] The swim fin is being kicked upward with a direction of kick
556 and ribs 542 and 544 are seen to be deflected from a neutral
position 558, shown by broken lines, to a deflected position 560. A
deflected position tangent line 562 is shown by a dotted line above
deflected position 560 and a neutral position tangent line 564 is
shown by a dotted line above neutral position 558. A focused
bending zone 566 is seen to exist along a predetermined length of
flexible rib portion 542 between stiffer rib base 546 and stiffer
rib portion 544. A predetermined deflection angle 568 is displayed
by an arrow extending between neutral tangent line 564 and
deflected tangent line 562. Deflection angle 568 may be arranged to
be at any of the angles or ranges of angles described in the above
description. The bend in focused bending zone 566 is determined
largely by the predetermined length of bending zone 566 as well as
the predetermined degree of blade deflection created by deflection
angle 568. It is preferred that flexible rib portion 542 is
sufficiently more flexible than stiffer rib portion 544 so that a
major portion of the bending along the swim fin occurs near root
548. A root radius line 570 is displayed by a dotted line
intersecting rib portion 542 near root 548 and extending below
flexible rib portion 542. A forward radius line 572 is displayed by
a dotted line intersecting flexible rib portion 542 near the
forward portion of flex zone 566. Radius lines 570 and 572 have a
predetermined radius length that is significantly determined by the
predetermined length of bending zone 566 as well as the
predetermined degree of blade deflection created by deflection
angle 568. Radius lines 570 and 572 show that flexible rib portion
542 is flexing around a transverse axis.
[0253] A vertical reference line 574 is shown by a dotted line
intersecting radius 572 and a deflected neutral surface position
576, also shown by a dotted line. Flexible rib portion 542 has a
rib attacking surface 578 and a rib lee surface 580. An elongation
range 582 existing along rib attacking surface 578 within flex zone
566 is displayed by an arrow above rib attacking surface 578. An
arrow below lee surface 580 displays a compression range 584 that
exists along rib lee surface 580 within flex zone 566. As described
in the above description, the predetermined length of radius lines
570 and 572 are determined by predetermined deflection angle 568
and the predetermined length of flex zone 566. In turn, the
predetermined length of radius lines 570 and 572 combine with the
predetermined vertical dimension of rib 542 to determine the degree
of elongation range 582 occurring within rib attacking surface 578
and the degree of compression range 584 occurring within rib lee
surface 580. Any degree or range of elongation and, or compression
described in the above description may be used in this embodiment.
It is preferred that deflected neutral surface position 576 is
shifted toward rib lee surface 580 during a harder kicking stroke
in an amount effective to create a proportionally large increase in
elongation range 582 if deflection angle 568 is exceeded.
Preferably, this will be arranged to occur in an amount effective
to permit deflection angle 568 to be significantly consistent
during light, medium, and hard kicking strokes.
[0254] Also, in alternate embodiments, the upper portion of foot
pocket 540 would be preferably made with the same relatively
flexible material as flexible rib portion 560. This allows flexible
rib portion 560 to be obtained by injection of the upper portion of
foot pocket 540 during the same step in the injection molding
process. In this case, any portions of the swim fin that are
relatively stiffer than the flexible material used in foot pocket
540 and flexible rib portion 560 would be preferably made in a
single step and then foot pocket 540 and flexible rib portion 560
would be molded onto the more rigid material during a second
injection step and the flexible material would preferably be bonded
to the more rigid material with thermal-chemical adhesion. In
alternate embodiments, relatively stiffer rib 544 and, or stiffer
rib base 546 could have at least one edge-to-edge chemical bond
with flexible rib portion 560 instead relatively stiffer rib 544
and stiffer rib base 546 existing within relatively flexible rib
560. Also, stiffer rib base 546 and stiffer rib 544 could be
connected to each other in any suitable manner which allows rib
base 546 and rib 544 to be injection molded in the same step so
that production time and costs can be produced. Preferably, stiffer
rib base 546 and stiffer rib portion 544 are made with a
thermoplastic material and a more flexible thermoplastic material
is used to make foot pocket 540 and flexible rib portion 560, which
is bonded to stiffer rib base 546 and stiffer rib portion 544.
[0255] FIG. 43a shows a cross section taken along the line 43-43 in
FIG. 42. The cross-sectional view of flexible rib portion 560 in
FIG. 43a shows that rib attacking surface 578 and rib lee surface
580 have a relatively rounded shape that is relatively broad in
widthwise dimension and preferably characterized by having a "full
radius". Curved rib side portions 586 are seen to have a relatively
convex curved contour. Side portion 586 is preferred to be slightly
curved. The cross-section of rib 542 is preferred to have a
substantially oval shape defined by a relatively rounded convex
contour adjacent rib attacking surface 578 and rib lee surface 580
together with side portions 586 having a relatively curved,
slightly curved, straight, or substantially straight vertical
contour.
[0256] FIG. 43b shows an alternate embodiment of the cross section
shown in FIG. 43a. Relatively straight rib side portions are seen
along the side of rib 560. The portions of rib 560 adjacent to rib
attacking surface 578 and rib lee surface 580 are seen to be
relatively wide and rounded, preferably with a full radius of
curvature. Alternatively, any desired cross sectional shape may be
used as well. Examples of such alternative cross sectional shapes
may include rectangular, triangular, diamond-shaped, I-beamed,
U-shaped, V-shaped, H-shaped, corrugated, ridged, hollow,
semi-hollow, vented, or any other desired shape.
FIGS. 44 to 55
[0257] FIG. 44 shows a side view of a prior art swim fin shown in
U.S. Pat. No. 3,082,442 to Cousteau et al (1963). The swim fin is
seen to have a foot pocket 600, a blade 602, a lower surface notch
604, an upper surface notch 606, and fabric strip 608 within the
blade in between notches 604 and 606. FIG. 45 shows the same swim
during use and having an upward kick direction 610. Blade 602 is
seen to have pivoted downward under the influence of kick direction
610. Notch 606 is seen to have pivoted shut to prevent blade 602
from pivoting further. Cousteau et al describes that the closing of
notch 602 in this manner allows the sidewalls of notch 604 to come
into contact with each other and act as stops to limit the maximum
deflection of the blade. FIG. 46 shows the same swim fin during use
and having a downward kick direction 612. Blade 602 is seen to have
pivoted upward and notch 604 has pivoted shut so that the sidewalls
of notch 604 contact each other to act as stops to limit the
maximum deflection of the blade. FIG. 47 shows a cross sectional
view taken along the line 47-47 in FIG. 46 during downward kick
direction 612. FIG. 47 shows that blade 602 has outer side ribs 614
and a central rib 615. In FIG. 47, blade 602 is seen to retain a
flat orientation during use and induced drag vortices are seen to
form above the lee surface of blade 602 during use.
[0258] FIG. 48 shows a side view of swimmer using a pair of prior
art swim fins as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,343 to Lamont
(1988). In between a foot pocket 618 and a blade 620 there are a
series of lower surface notches 622 and a series of upper surface
notches 624. The upper swim fin is experiencing an upstroke kick
direction 626 and the lower swim fin is experiencing a downstroke
kick direction 628. Lamont describes that notches 622 close during
down stroke 628, which is describes as "the power stroke", so that
the side walls of notches 624 come into contact with each other and
act as stops to limit the maximum deflection of blade 620.
Similarly, notches 622 are intended to close during up stroke 626.
FIG. 49 shows a cross sectional view taken along the line 49-49 in
FIG. 48. In FIG. 49, blade 620 is seen to have outer side ribs 630
and central ribs 632. Blade 620 is seen to maintain a flat
orientation during use and induced drag vortices 634 are seen to
form above the lee surface of blade 602. The fin shown in FIGS. 48
and 49 was brought to market as the "Gorilla" fin and the "SeaWing"
by one of the world's largest scuba manufacturers, which later took
these fins off the market a few years ago by the manufacturer due
to only moderate performance and relatively low sales volume. While
the Gorilla fin had relatively rounded notches in which the side
walls of the notches did not contact each other to act as stops and
was also made of Pebax, one of the highest memory thermoplastics
known, the blade was not arranged to deflect to a sufficiently
reduced angle of attack during a light kicking stroke, energy
storage within the fin material was not maximized, turbulence and
drag was high, and no process or method was known or utilized for
achieving a dramatic improvement in performance. The fact that the
fin did not do well on the market, received only moderate
performance evaluations from independent testing facilities, and
was later abandoned and withdrawn from the market shows that an
essential method or process for achieving a dramatic improvement in
performance was unknown and unobvious to the design engineers for
one of the world's largest and most prestigious diving equipment
manufacturers.
[0259] FIG. 50 shows a prior art swim fin called the Volo, which
includes features disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,503 to Viale et
al (2000). The fin has a foot pocket 636, a blade 638, root portion
side ribs 640, outer side ribs 642, central ribs 644, a hinge 646,
flexible members 648, a rigid blade portion 650, and a flexible
blade portion 652. FIG. 51 shows a side view of the same prior art
swim fin shown in FIG. 50 while experiencing a downstroke kick
direction 654. Flexible members 648 act as a stopping device to
prevent further deflection of blade 638 by expanding from a loose
condition to an expanded condition. FIG. 52 shows a cross sectional
view taken along the line 52-52 in FIG. 51, which is taken at a
position along the length of blade 683 that is about three quarters
out along the length of the blade toward the tip of blade 683 while
the swim fin is being kicked in direction 654. In FIG. 52, blade
638 is seen to have a relatively flat orientation between ribs 642
during use at this position. The structure of blade 638 is not
arranged to bow significantly under during use and induced drag
vortices 656 form above the lee surface of blade 638 as water
spills around the sides of blade 638. FIG. 53 shows a cross
sectional view taken along the line 53-53 in FIG. 51 near the
extreme tip of blade 638. In FIG. 53, blade 638 is seen to have
flexed from a neutral position 658 to a flexed position 660. The
difference between neutral position 658 and flexed position 660 is
very small and the transverse orientation of blade 638 between ribs
642 remains significantly flat and induced drag vortices 656 are
formed. The arrangement of ribs 644, ribs 642, rigid blade portion
650 and flexible blade portion 652 are arranged in a manner which
causes blade 638 to experience only minimal flexing along a
transverse direction near the extreme outer tip of the swim fin
while the majority of blade 638 remains significantly flat along a
transverse direction under the exertion of water pressure. No
methods are used to reduce turbulence and establish smooth flow in
a significantly transverse direction.
[0260] FIG. 54 shows a side view of an alternate embodiment swim
fin using the methods of the present invention. The swim fin has a
foot pocket 662 and a blade 664. Blade 664 is in a neutral blade
position 665, which exists when the swim fin is at rest. Blade 664
has an upper surface 666, a lower surface 668, a root portion 670,
a free end 672, an upper cutout 674, and a lower cutout 676. A
dotted line below the sole of foot pocket 662 is a sole alignment
line 678. A dotted line above upper surface 666 is a neutral
position tangent line 680 that shows the alignment of blade 664
while at rest. Sole alignment line 678 and tangent line 680 are
seen to be at an angle to each other while the fin is at rest. This
angle is preferably between 10 and 30 degrees; however, any desired
angle could be used, including a zero angle. As the swim fin
experiences a kick direction 681 during a light kicking stroke,
blade 664 experiences a light kick deflection 682 to a light kick
deflected position 684 displayed by broken lines. A light kick
tangent line 686 shows the lengthwise alignment, or angle of attack
of blade 664. During a hard kick, blade 664 experiences a hard kick
deflection 688 to a hard kick deflected position 690 having a
reduced angle of attack displayed by a hard kick tangent line
692.
[0261] FIGS. 55 and 56 show a close up side view of the swim fin
shown in FIG. 54, which illustrates the processes used in
combination with the reduced thickness provided by notches 674 and
676. FIG. 55 shows blade 664 pivoting relative to notches 674 and
676 during a light kicking stroke. Notches 674 and 676 form a
flexible region 700. Flexible region 700 has an elongation surface
region 704 and a compression surface region 706. A neutral position
radius line 708 is displayed by a dotted line that is perpendicular
to neutral position tangent line 680. A light kick deflection
radius line 710 is displayed by a dotted line that is perpendicular
to light kick tangent line 686. A neutral position vertical
reference line 712 is displayed by a broken line that is parallel
to neutral position radius line 700 and also intersects radius line
710. At the intersection of radius 710 and reference line 712 is a
light kick neutral surface position 714 displayed by a broken line.
Neutral surface position 714 is a location of zero elongation and
zero compression within flexible region 700. An elongation range
716 is displayed by an arrow above elongation surface 704. An
elongation range 717. A compression range 718 is displayed by an
arrow below compression surface 706.
[0262] FIG. 56 shows the same close up side view shown in FIG. 55
while blade 664 is experiencing hard kick deflection 688 and has
reached hard kick deflected position 690 having a reduced
lengthwise angle of attack displayed by hard kick deflection line
692. A hard kick radius line 720 is shown by a dotted line that is
perpendicular to tangent line 692. A hard kick compression range
722 is displayed by an arrow below compression surface 706. Because
the load bearing material within flexible region 700 has been
arranged to have a predetermined compression range limit and
because the geometry of flexible region 700 has preferably been
arranged to cause such a predetermined compression range limit to
be used up during a light to moderate kick, the material along
compression surface 706 is unable to experience any significant
amount of further compression under the increased load of a hard
kicking stroke. As a result, hard kick compression range 722 is
substantially similar to light kick compression range 712. This
causes neutral position vertical reference line 712 to intersect
hard kick radius line 720 at a location within flexible zone 700
that is significantly close to compression surface 706. Since the
neutral surface must pass through this same point of intersection,
a hard kick neutral surface position 724 is also seen to be
significantly close to compression surface 706. Hard kick neutral
surface position 724 is seen to be significantly closer to
compression surface 706 than light kick neutral surface position
714 shown in FIG. 55. In FIG. 56, the downward shift in the neutral
surface to hard kick neutral surface position 724 causes elongation
surface 704 to experience a hard kick elongation range 726. A hard
kick elongation zone 728 is displayed by a triangular shaped area
below hard kick elongation range 726. Hard kick elongation range
726 and hard kick elongation zone 728 show the quantity of total
elongation that is distributed within the load bearing material in
flexible zone 700 in between radius lines 708 and 720. Hard kick
elongation range 726 and hard kick elongation zone 728 are both
significantly larger than light kick elongation range 716 and light
kick elongation range 717 shown in FIG. 55.
[0263] While FIG. 55 shows that there is a proportionately large
increase in elongation during a hard kick, FIG. 54 shows that there
is proportionately small difference between light kick deflection
682 and hard kick deflection 688. This shows that the methods of
the present invention can allow a swim fin to achieve large scale
blade deflections to a predetermined significantly reduced angle of
attack during a light kicking stroke to provide increase propulsion
efficiency while also allowing the blade to significantly maintain
such an efficient reduced angle of attack during a hard kick
without having the blade over deflect under increased load to an
excessively reduced angle of attack that is no longer capable of
generating efficient propulsion. At the same time, the methods of
the present invention allow potential energy to be stored within
significantly elongated high memory material for increase snap back
or returned kinetic energy at the end of the inversion portion of a
kicking stroke. The faster the recovery at the inversion portion of
the kicking stroke, the greater the efficiency due to reduced lost
motion and maximized amount of propulsion delivery. Because the
methods of the present invention permit significantly consistent
predetermined large scale deflections to occur for increased
efficiency during use while also Exponentially increasing
elongation for only a proportionately small increase in deflection,
increased energy is stored within the load bearing material in
elongation zone 728, which is released in a high kinetic energy
snap-back at the inversion portion of the kicking stroke. This
allows the blade to snap-back quicker and with more return energy
during hard kicking strokes, while at the same time the range of
motion of the blade is limited by the exponential increase in
bending resistance created by the shift of the neutral surface
toward compression surface 706. This allows substantially
consistent large scale blade deflections to occur while maximizing
the storage and release of energy for maximizing snap-back to
greatly improve efficiency and propulsion.
[0264] The shape of notches 764 and 676 shown in FIGS. 54 to 56 may
be varied in any desirable manner. For instance, they may be
U-shaped, V-shaped, rectangular, rounded, cornered, tapered,
hollowed, elongated, deep, shallow, wide, narrow, ribbed, serrated,
corrugated, undulated, or any other shape or configuration. A
series of notches along the length of the blade may also be used to
create a plurality of pivotal sections or areas of increased
flexibility. The longitudinal dimension of flexible region 700 may
be any desired length. The shorter the longitudinal length, the
smaller the radius of curvature of the resultant bend which allows
blade 664 to reach a significantly large scale deflection to
significantly reduced angles of attack during light or hard kicking
strokes. The shorter the radius of curvature occurring along
flexible region 700, the greater the degree of elongation. As a
result, a decrease in the longitudinal dimension of flexible region
700 can allow the vertical dimension of region 700 to be reduced
without significantly changing the characteristics of the load
bearing material. If the longitudinal dimension is reduced and the
vertical dimension remains constant, then the load bearing material
must be modified to have an increased modulus of elasticity in
order to reach the desired blade deflections. Similarly, if the
longitudinal dimension of flexible region 700 is increased, the
radius of curvature shall increase along with a resultant reduction
in elongation and therefore, either the modulus of elasticity of
the material should be reduced to increase bending resistance or
the vertical dimension should be increased in order create an
increase in elongation. Using a series of notches along the length
of blade 664 which have a relatively short longitudinal dimension
is treated similarly to having a single notch, which has a
relatively long longitudinal dimension. The elastic modulus can be
modified by using a modified load bearing material having a
variation in stress to strain curves, or by changing the durometer
or hardness of an elastic material that has a relatively high
modulus of elasticity. The greater the memory of the material, the
greater the ability for the material to store and then release
energy in the form a snapping motion during the inversion portion
of a kicking cycle. For high durometer materials, light kick
compression range 718 can be at least 1% while light kick
elongation range 716 can be at least 3%. When materials are used
that have a significantly high modulus of elasticity, light kick
elongation range 716 can be at least 5% and hard kick elongation
range 726 shown in FIG. 56 can be at least 5%. It is preferred that
hard kick elongation range be at least 10% when increased snap back
is desired. By increasing light kick elongation range 716 in FIG.
55 or hard kick elongation range 726 in FIG. 56, energy storage and
return can be greatly increased while using a high memory material
having a high modulus of elasticity within the load bearing portion
of flexible region 700. Elongation ranges 716 or 726 can be
arranged to be at least 7%, at least 10%, at least 20%, at least
30%, and at least 40% to produce excellent results. Excellent
results can also occur when hard kick elongation range 726 in FIG.
56 is arranged be at least 50% or higher, or even substantially
near 100% or higher.
[0265] In FIGS. 54 to 56, it is preferred that light kick
deflection 682 is at least 20 degrees and hard kick deflection 688
is at least 20 degrees. Fore excellent results, deflections 682 and
688 may also be arranged to be at least 20 degrees and at least 30
degrees, at least 25 degrees and at least 30 degrees, at least 30
degrees and at least 30 degrees, at least 30 degrees and at least
40 degrees, at least 20 degrees and less than 50 degrees, at least
20 degrees and less than 40 degrees, at least 20 degrees and less
than 30 degrees, at least 30 degrees and less than 50 degrees, and
at least 30 degrees and not substantially greater than 50 degrees,
respectively. To increase the blade deflection angle, the vertical
thickness of flexible region 700 may be reduced, the longitudinal
dimension of flexible region 70 may be increased, the durometer of
the load bearing material may be reduced, the modulus of elasticity
of the load bearing material within flexible portion 700 may be
increased, or the flexibility of blade 664 in front of flexible
region 700 may be increased. Any combination of these can occur. To
reduce the deflection angle of blade 664, the opposite may be done.
Also, elongation ranges and degree of exponential increase in
bending resistance can be increased by increasing the modulus of
elasticity of the load bearing material within flexible region 700,
which can increase deflection angles, while also taking structural
steps to reduce deflection angles. Such structural steps include
reducing the longitudinal dimension of flexible zone 700),
increasing the vertical dimension of flexible zone 700, or
increasing the transverse dimension of flexible zone 700, or any
combination thereof. To permit relatively stiffer high memory
materials to be used within flexible zone 700, which have a higher
Shore hardness durometer and, or a reduced elastic modulus (stress
to strain curve), the vertical dimension of flexible zone 700 may
be reduced, the longitudinal dimension of flexible zone 700 may be
increased, additional flexible regions such as region 700 may be
added along the length of blade 664, or the transverse dimension of
flexible region 700 may be reduced, or any combination of these
adjustments thereof. Adding additional flexible regions along the
length of blade 664 that are similar to region 700 has a similar
effect to increasing longitudinal dimension of a single flexible
region such as region 700. By using multiple flexible regions such
as region 700 along a predetermined length of blade 664, the
longitudinal dimension of each flexible zone may remain relatively
small so that the bending radius is relatively small within each
flexible zone and therefore elongation and memory storage is
maximized. This can allow a smaller vertical dimension to be used
within each flexible zone and the overall weight of the swim fin
can be reduced.
[0266] Blade 664 may be arranged to be relatively rigid or may be
arranged to be made sufficiently flexible to permit an S-shaped
wave to be generated along the length of blade 664 during the
inversion phase of a kicking stroke cycle. Preferably, blade 664 is
sufficiently flexible to generate such an S-shaped wave such as
shown in FIGS. 11, 13, and 35 since this can greatly increase
efficiency and top end propulsion speed. Flexible portion 700 shown
in FIGS. 54 to 56 can be arranged to be sufficiently flexible to
significantly increase the amplitude of such an S-shaped wave by
establishing a pivotal node near foot pocket 662. In alternate
embodiments, at least one additional flexible zone may be added
along the length of blade 664 to create at least one other pivotal
node a predetermined distance from foot pocket 662 that is farther
out on blade 664 in order to further increase the efficiency of
creating and S-shaped wave or an equivalent or similar pattern of
two opposing oscillation phases occurring simultaneously during the
inversion phase of a kicking stroke. In alternate embodiments, any
desired method of creating regions of increased flexibility at any
position or positions along the length of a swim fin blade may be
used as well. This would include the use of more flexible
materials.
[0267] Although a cross-sectional view is not shown for the
embodiment in FIGS. 54 to 56, any desired cross sectional shape can
be used. In addition, any of the cross sectional shapes and
configurations shown or described in the preceding description or
drawings may be used in combination with the embodiments shown if
FIGS. 54 to 56. For example, blade 664 shown in FIGS. 54 to 56
could the side view of a load bearing rib or the side view of a
relatively planar blade. In the case of blade 664 being a load
bearing rib, a plurality of ribs could exist with a relatively
thinner blade in between such ribs. The thinner blade could be free
of any notches or could have notches as well. Any ribs could be the
only portion that has notches and such notches could extend close
to the level of the blade, extend all the way to the surfaces of
the blade, or could extend below the surfaces of the blade. The
notches could also be spaces between a series of longitudinal ribs
existing along the length of the blade. When scoop-like
configurations are used such as shown in FIGS. 39 to 41, it is
preferred that flexible region 700 shown in FIGS. 54 to 56 store
high levels of energy in the form of elongation and, or compression
as well as exhibit exponential increases in bending resistance to
act as a stopping device before 676 or 674 can become closed during
use. However, in alternate embodiments using notches to create
flexible zone 700 or similar flexible zones within the first half
of the blade to create a blade deflection of at least 20 degrees
during a relatively light kicking stroke, while also combining a
scoop-like cross sectional shape such as shown in FIG. 41 having a
depth of scoop 536 that is at least 10% of transverse blade
dimension 538 at the three quarter blade position near free end 510
during use, the energy storage and exponential increase in bending
resistance can be neglected and excellent results can still occur.
Also, when using such a blade deflection of at least 20 degrees
starting near the root portion and also using a depth of scoop 536
shown in FIG. 41 that is at least 10% of transverse blade dimension
538 at the three quarter blade position near free end 510 during
use, the notches can be arranged to close to provide a stopping
device and superior performance over the prior art is achieved due
to reduced induced drag vortex formation, improved smooth flow over
the lee surface of the blade, reduced spilling of water around the
sides of the blade, and increased lift from the achievement of
better attached flow conditions. In other alternate embodiments
which include a blade that pivots to a reduced angle of attack of
at least 15 degrees around a transverse axis located within the
first half of the blade and preferably near the foot pocket while
also and also using a depth of scoop 536 shown in FIG. 41 that is
at least 10% of transverse blade dimension 538 at the three quarter
blade position near free end 510 during use, any suitable pivotal
connection may be used along with any suitable stopping device.
Results with these configurations can be further improved by
providing a reduced angle of attack of at least 20 degrees or even
30 degrees while such a depth of scoop is at least 10% at the three
quarter blade position. Greater depths of scoop including at least
15%, at least 20%, at least 30% can also improve performance. The
greater the portion of the overall blade length having a depth of
scoop that is at least 5% or greater of the transverse blade
dimension, the greater the resulting performance.
SUMMARY, RAMIFICATIONS AND SCOPE
[0268] Accordingly, the reader will see that the methods of the
present invention can permit significantly extensible materials to
be used as load bearing structures to create significantly
consistent large-scale blade deflections as well as to create a
standing wave along the length of the hydrofoil blade that occurs
in harmonic resonance with the natural resonant frequency of the
blade and the oscillating frequency of the reciprocation propulsive
strokes. The methods of the present invention permit both slow
cruising speeds and high speeds to be achieved with high
efficiency. The methods of the present invention permit the natural
resonant frequency of the hydrofoil blade to be tailored to
resonate on the input frequency of the reciprocating propulsive
strokes so that the free end portion of the hydrofoil blade
experiences amplified oscillation for increased efficiency and
propulsion. The methods of the present invention also allow focused
bending zones to be formed that increase energy storage and release
in the form of an increased snap back motion at the inversion phase
of a reciprocating stroke cycle.
[0269] Although the description above contains many specificities,
these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the
invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the
presently preferred embodiments of the invention. For example,
although the methods of the present invention were described in the
above description for use in swim fins, these same methods can be
used in any type of hydrofoil device to create improved performance
and efficiency. Many variations on the structures and methods of
the present invention may be used without departing from the spirit
of the present invention. For example, the cross-sectional shape of
the elongated load bearing members does not have to be rounded.
Instead, the cross-sectional shape or the overall shape can be
multi-faceted, rectangular, hollow, semi-hollow, diamond shaped,
ribbed, knobbed, chamfered, beveled, convoluted, corrugated,
grooved, notched, prolate, rhomboid, turbinate, vermiculate,
volute, split, recessed, or any desired cross-sectional shape or
overall shape that can be arranged to create the desired results.
Also, any desirable blade features may be added or subtracted
without detracting from the spirit of the present invention.
Embodiments and variations can be combined in any desirable manner.
Any desirable material or combinations of materials may be used
such as thermoplastics, elastomeric thermoplastics, polyurethanes,
rubbers, elastomers, composite materials, room temperature
elastomers, vulcanized elastomers, metals, fabrics, woven
materials, carbon materials, laminated materials, or any other
suitable material. Preferably, materials will have significantly
high recovery and memory for enhanced performance. In embodiments
using a scoop-like cross section, the scoop-like shape can be
permanently molded into the shape of the blade so that the desired
flow conditions resulting from a significantly reduced angle of
attack around a lengthwise axis in combination with the scoop shape
are arranged to work efficiently on at least one stroke phase of a
reciprocation propulsion stroke. Alternatively, very deep scoops
having a depth of scoop that is at least 20% of the transverse
blade dimension can be permanently molded on either one or both
surfaces of the blade. This can be achieved with very tall side
rails that rise above one surface or both surfaces of the blade to
a height above a given surface that is at least 20% of the width of
the blade at a given portion of the blade. Taller heights can be
used as well to create permanent depths of scoops that are at least
30% of the blade width while simultaneously providing a lengthwise
reduced angle of attach of at least 20 degrees. Such permanent
scoop-like shapes can have curved, rounded, cornered, faceted, or
angled configuration, or any other desired configuration.
[0270] Also, any of the embodiments of the present invention that
are shown in the drawings or described in the description may have
a transverse configuration, orientation or shape that is relatively
flat, curved, rounded, cornered, channeled, scooped, ribbed,
ridged, corrugated, thin, thick, vented, hollowed, holed, grooved,
split, tapered, angled, chamfered, or any other desired
configuration. The above drawing figures and description regarding
the present invention share many of the same methods and operation
principles. All such methods, operation principles,
characteristics, arrangements, variations and alternate embodiments
of the above description may be used in any manner or combination
and are hereby incorporated by reference for use in any embodiment.
Any of the embodiments can be made with a foot pocket that has a
soft thermoplastic material along its upper portion and a stiffer
thermoplastic material along its lower portion (or vice versa) and
any of the stiffer parts of the blade or ribs may be made with the
same stiffer material used to make the lower portion of the foot
pocket and any of the more flexible portions of the blade or ribs
may be made with the same more flexible thermoplastic material as
the upper portion of the foot pocket during the same phase of
injection molding that the upper portion of the foot pocket is
made, and the more flexible thermoplastic blade and, or rib
portions can be secured to the less flexible blade and, or rib
portions with a thermal-chemical bond. Any other suitable method of
manufacture may be used as well.
[0271] For use on reciprocating propulsion hydrofoils on marine
vessels, less extensible materials or even inextensible materials
may be chosen to provide desired resonant frequencies and
performance parameters. On such vessels, any material or hydrofoil
configuration may be used as long as the primary methods of
matching hydrofoil resonant frequency to the oscillating frequency
of the reciprocating propulsion motion in an amount effective to
create a standing wave and constructive wave addition through
harmonic resonance.
[0272] Thus, the scope of the invention should be determined by the
appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the
examples given.
* * * * *