Foldable Yoke Life Preserver

Abstract

A foldable life preserver is described which is usable as a boat cion. The opening for the head and neck of the user is closed by folding doors to allow the life preserver to be used as a solid cushion in either folded or opened form. The doors swing away in use to expose the opening and to provide additional buoyancy for supporting the wearer in an upright position in the water.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to flotation devices for water safety, and particularly to a folding yoke-type life preserver which is usable as a boat cushion.

Previous foldable yoke-type life preservers have embodied features which made them usable as boat cushions when folded. By providing such a dual purpose, the occupants of a boat are more likely to have the life preservers at hand in the event of an emergency. Such life preservers are represented by the U.S. Pats. of Brown, Nos. 3,065,476 and 3,152,343.

A disadvantage of prior devices is that the neck opening of the life preserver must be filled by a plug to create a solid shape which is usable as a boat cushion. In the prior devices this plug has taken the form of a mound or protuberance on the lower body portion of the life preserver which fits into the corresponding neck opening on the upper portion of the device when folded. While usable as a seat cushion in the folded position, the cushion is only large enough for one user and may be unnecessarily thick. The cushion cannot be opened up for side-by-side use because one portion contains an opening and the other portion contains an uncomfortable bulge.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the disadvantages of the foregoing prior art and to provide a new and improved foldable yoke-type life preserver which is usable as a boat cushion in either the folded or open condition. A further objective is to utilize the buoyant material used to close the neck opening for additional buoyancy at the upper portion of the life preserver, rather than at the lower portion where such additional buoyancy is not required, and may in fact constitute a hazard.

In the drawings, FIG. 1 is a perspective of an exemplary life preserver constructed according to the present invention in a flat or unfolded condition, as it might be used for a side-by-side seat cushion.

FIG. 2 is a perspective of the life preserver of FIG. 1 position for use, with the foldable doors swung inward to allow the user to insert his head and neck into the resulting opening.

FIG. 3 is a detail of the hinge means used to attach the upper and lower portions of the life preserver of the preceding figures.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the life preserver of FIG. 1 as folded for use as a seat cushion by one person.

While the invention is described in connection with a particular exemplary embodiment, it will be understood that it is not intended to so limit its applicability.

Turning to the drawings, there is shown an exemplary life preserver consisting of a lower buoyant portion 10 and an upper buoyant portion 11 connected by a flexible hinge means 12. Secured to the lower portion 10 is an attachment means consisting of a flexible cloth tie or tape 13 contained in a pocket 14 attached to the surface material of the lower portion 10. For use, the tapes 13 are pulled from the pocket 14 (FIG. 2) and wrapped around the back of the user and again brought forward to be tied in the front, in a conventional manner.

In accordance with the invention, an opening 15 is provided for the head and neck of the user, with the opening being positioned toward the lower edge of the upper portion 11. Preferably, the opening 15 consists of a rectangular lower portion and a substantially semi-circular upper portion as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 to form an arched opening. The hinge means 12 attaches securely to the depending sides of the upper portion 11 where they meet the lower portion 10.

As provided by the invention, a pair of hinged doors 16 are provided which are constructed of the same buoyant material as the upper and lower portions 10, 11 of the life preserver. These doors 16 are attached by flexible hinge means 17 to the opposite sides of the rectangular portion of the opening 15. Preferably, the doors 16 and hinges 17 are secured on the inner side of the upper portion 11 so that they open inwardly toward the wearer. In this manner the door 16 rest on the wearer's shoulders and are secured against movement.

It will be seen that a particular advantage of the invention is that the doors 16, when opened for use, remain adjacent the wearer's shoulders and serve to enhance the buoyancy of the upper portion of the life preserver. This is a desirable result, since it tends to bring the head of a submerged wearer upright in the water, even if he should be unconscious. The additional buoyancy of the doors 16 is thus utilized, rather than being sacrificed to another portion of the life preserver.

As a further feature of the invention, the upper and lower portions 10, 11 are hinged in a manner which allows folding forward (away from the wearer) to cover and protect the attachment means 13 when in use as a single boat cushion. For this purpose the hinge means 12 is attached to one or the other of the upper and lower portions 10, 11 at a line substantially midway between the front and rear surfaces of one body portion, and attached to the other body portion along its front or outward edge (FIG. 3). If the thickness of each of the upper and lower portions 10, 11 is L, then the width of the hinge portion 12 is preferably L/2. This allows for folding the life preserver flat in the preferred position (FIG. 4) while preventing complete folding in the opposite direction.

Preferably, the materials used in the life preserver of the present invention are light in weight and water-resistant. A resilient cellular foam is preferably used for the body portions 10, 11 of the preserver, as well as the doors 16. Both body portions and the doors are preferably covered with a flexible water-resistant sheet material such as rubberized canvas or heavy plastic.

As a further feature of the invention, the covering material of the upper and lower body portions 10, 11 is preferably utilized to form the hinge 12 by stitching, heat sealing or otherwise securing the seam at the ends of the body portions 10, 11 where they meet the hinge 12, and using the covering material itself as the hinge material (FIG. 3).

Claims

I claim as my invention:

1. A foldable yoke-type life preserver comprising a buoyant lower portion having securing means for attachment to a user's body, a buoyant upper portion hingedly attached to the lower portion and having an opening through which a user may insert his head and neck, and characterized by a pair of buoyant doors hingedly attached to the upper portion at opposite sides of said opening, said doors being shaped to substantially fill said opening when in a closed position whereby the life preserver acquires a substantially solid shape for use as a seat cushion.

2. A life preserver as defined in claim 1 wherein the buoyant doors are hinged for opening in a direction toward the user's shoulders, whereby the doors are retained against movement during use as a life preserver.

3. A life preserver as defined in claim 1 in which the opening consists of a lower rectangular portion and an upper semi-circular portion, and the buoyant doors are hinged on opposite sides of the lower portion of the opening.

4. A life preserver as defined in claim 1 in which the buoyant upper and lower portions are constructed of resilient cellular material and covered by flexible sheet material, and in which the upper and lower portions are connected by a continuous strip of said sheet material secured to the respective adjoining ends of said upper and lower portions to form a hinge.

5. A life preserver as defined in claim 4 in which each of said upper and lower portions has a thickness L and said hinge means has a dimension between upper and lower portions of L/2, and said hinge means is attached to one of said upper and lower portions at an edge opposite the user and to the other of said portions along a line substantially midway between its front and back faces, whereby the life preserver preferentially folds away from the user to conceal and enclose its outward-facing portions.

6. A life preserver as defined in claim 5 in which the securing means are contained in a pocket on the outwardly directed face of the lower portion when not in use, whereby said securing means are covered when the preserver is in a folded condition.