US1559059A - Life preserver - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 27 1925.

4 w. E. ABBOTT Lira rnzsnavsa Original. Filed Aug. 22, 1923 Patented Oct. 27, 1925.

UNITED STATES" PATENTAFOFFICE.

WILLIAM E. ABBOTT, OF PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOB, OF ONE-FO-URTH TO DENNISON. F. REASE, OF SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA, AND ONE-FOURTH TO K. H. CALDWELL AND ONE-EIGHTH TO LOGAN SMITH, BOTH OF SANTA .CRUZ CALI- FORNIA.

sum rnEsEnvEn;

Application filed August 22, 1923, s r arm'. 658,694. Renewed March 17, 1925.

To all "whom it mayco'ncem: j I

Be it known that I, lVILnIA E. ABBOTT, a citizen of the'United States, residing at Pasadena, in the county ofLos Angeles and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Life Preservers, of which, the following is a specification. v

This inventionrelates to the general class of life preservers of the type worn by individuals, and has particular reference to a buoyant piece of mechanism for individual or personal use either for recreation or pleasure purposes as in bathing or swim ming, for use on shipboard, or for use in connection with water craft for use in lease of accident or the like. Among'the objectsof the invention is to improve this class of devices with respect to a number of features among which may be noted the following: Base and simplicity of application to the person; facility for carrying or storage purposes; maximum reliability for sustaining thev wearer with his heador face elevated above the surface of the Water irrespective ofthe position of the other parts of the'body', maximum freedom for movement of the individualand especially his arms and legs while in the water; practical immunity from loss: of life as a result of puncturing or other damageto the device while in use; ease'of adj ustability of the device, making itadaptable to persons of different sizes, and other advantages and purposes that will be apparent as this description progresses.

lVith the foregoing, and other objects in view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and While the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a front perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of the invention. Fig. 2 is a side View of the same. Fig. 3 is a rear'view, j i Fig. 4 is anin side' or front elevation of the device detached and indicating slight modifications in detail." Fig. 5 is a sectional detail indicating the manner of sealing the casing ends. Referring now more specifically to the drawings my improved life preserver is shown herein as comprising two buoyant members 10 each of which consists prefera ably of a shell or cover of any suitable but preferably flexible waterproof'or impervione material such as rubber or rubberized fabric, or the like, and adapted to be either inflatable or otherwise 'suitably'filled with light material for the sake of ,maximum displacement. In the form in which thisinvention has been made and practised extensively the members 10 are offlexible rubber tubing with the ends hermetically sealed at 11, a result that may be accomplished in various ways as by theintroduction of cement or by vulcanization. Whateverthe' means employed for rendering the ends of the members 10 hermetically sealed there are provided fiatv strong reinforced end tabs which are utilized for attachment purposes and to provide means for securing the device not only to theperson but with the two members in proper relation'to each other.

7 For pleasure purposes such as for use at a bathing beach or in a swimming pool it may be preferred that'the members 10'be of simple rubber tubing or the like and adapted to be inflated with air at thetime the device is 'to, be used. 'Thus the device may be of a collapsible nature for ease and when deflated. For inflation each member is provided with a nozzle or nipple 12 which may be located atany convenient place.

For this purpose Figs. 1 and 2 indicate the nozzles located at the sides of the person and near theends of the members 10. In

Fig. 4, however, the nozzles 12 are indicated as located nearer the central portions 10 and within reach of the persons month while the device is being worn so that it is possible under certain conditions for the user of the device to maintain the members suitably inflated while being worn. I wish to emphasize at this time, however, that while for some purposes the members may be filled. with. air or other suitable buoyant gas, the spirit. of the invention contemplates the filling of the casings with any other suitable bulky and buoyant material such as kapok, other vegetable or animal fibrous material, sawdust, cork composition, or the like, but in all cases the casings 10 should be of such a nature as to be preserved water-tight and of suflicient strength for the purpose intended.

The casings may be, described as being of substantially horseshoe shape when inflated or filled and they are designed to be worn by the person with the central or bend portions directly over his shoulders on opposite sides of. his neck.. The rear portions of the casing are maintained substantially parallel and in close relationship to each other along the wearers back or close to his backbone, the rear endsbei'ng anchored close to each. other as by being attached to a waist band. or belt 13,. and atie member 14 is loopedaround the neck or shoulder blade port-ions of the casings and extends across the back of the wearers neck. This tie member is in the nature of a strap of any suitable, durable, preferably non-elastic but flexible material looped around the casings sufiicientl'y tightly to make it practically self retained in position while in use and still capable of adjustment longitudinally along the back portions of the casings so as to adapt the device to the individual wearer or wearers of different sizes or builds, said tie member, from its structural nature, affording a convenient and reliable hand grip for a child or other individual whom the wearer of the life preserver may desire to affordsupport. In all cases practical freedom of the persons head and neck will be assured.

The front end portions of the casings are secured in any suitable manner to the belt adjacent to the endsthereof so that when the belt is attached as by means of a buckle 15 or its. equivalent at the front of his body as usual, the front portions of the casings will be approximately parallel to each other and spaced according to the width of his neck.

The. attachment means between the cas ing ends 11 and the belt may be-as desired and to this end I show rivets 16 or stitching 17. Separable fasteners, especially for the front for maximum adjustment along the belt might be employed but for maximum reliability I recommend the use of permanent fasteners.

When the casings are made of flexible and elastic rubber the ends 11 before being sealed are preferably provided with pieces of nonelastic material such as fabric 18 so as to give ample strength for the anchorage of the device. The fabric thus inserted becomes thoroughly impregnated with the rubber composition during vulcanization.

The application of the. device: as. shown and described may be effected readily by simply passing it over the arms an'd 'shoub ders like a vest and fastening the buckle or its equivalent in front. Because of the close attachment of the rear portions of the casings to each other all along theline between the waist band and the neck, the loop portions ofthe casings are retained reliably in place and therefore the only attachment means necessary to be depended upon is the buckle at the front. It will be observed naturally that the position of the life preserver as shown causes no obstruction to the arms or any other part of the wearers person or body and so he is free to exert every effort necessary to reach the land in safety while the buoyancy of the device will insure that his face at least will be kept above the surface of the water irrespective of the position of all other parts of his body in the water. The device is peculiarly well adapted for the use of bathers and swimmers, especially in enabling one to learn the art of swimming, because of the fact that all the longer lines of the device, that is, those portions along the back and the chest of the wearer, are practically parallel to one another and the line of progress through the water, as distinguished from life buoys or life preservers as usually made, which are bulky in directions transverse to the direction of propulsion. Again, the construction of this improvement with respect to its attachment to the person, adapts it particularly well for the making of a rescue. For example, a swimmer or other person with the device attached as shown may'swim or float for a long time and with a child or other person located upon the swimmers or we-arers back and. holding to the tie member 14 as a convenient and reliable hand hold. The buoyancy of the device is ample for sustaining several persons in safe position. Furthermore, the fact that two casings 10 are employed adds also to the reliability of the device in practice even though one of them may become punctured or disabled while being inflated with air or gas.

I claim:

1. In a life preserver, the combination of a pair of substantially similar buoyant fierible members, adapted to be applied and to fit close to the wearers. trunk, said members being ofhorseshoe shape with the bends over the Wearers shoulders, a Waist belt,and flexible means coacting With the ends of the members and serving to seal the same'and constitute reinforcing anchorages between the members and the belt.

2. The herein described life preserver comprising a buoyant member consisting of a piece of flexible elastic rubber tubing, the ends of the tubing being hermetically sealed,

a piece of strong'nonelastic material being 10 applied Within each end of the tubing and vulcanized in such position for a strong the persons trunk. 1

In testimonywhereof I aflix my slgnature.

WILLIAM E. ABBOTT;

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