Flotation vest

Foam buoyancy sections carried in the front of a flotation vest are formed in four separate pieces that are cut from rectangular sheets of buoyancy material without any waste material.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to an improved flotation vest and more particularly 
to an improved arrangement for use of the buoyancy material carried by the 
vest. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
In a typical way of making a flotation vest, an outer shell or envelope of 
nylon or other suitable material is formed in the shape of a vest, and 
closed-cell polyvinylchloride foam or other buoyancy material is inserted 
into the shell before the shell is completely closed. The flotation 
material usually includes a back piece and left and right front sections 
with the upper portion of each front section having curved edges to form 
arm hole openings in combination with the back and to form a neck hole 
opening with the back. The cutting of these curved edges from rectangular 
sheets results in wasted foam material, and requires special dies to cut 
the curved edges on a mass produced basis. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides an improvement over the foregoing system in 
that the front pieces are formed in a manner to eliminate waste material 
and to simplify the cutting operations. More specifically, the left and 
right front sections of the flotation material are each formed with a 
lower body piece and an upper shoulder piece. These pieces have straight 
edges and are essentially rectangular except that the upper edge of the 
body piece and the lower edge of the shoulder piece which engage are 
formed so that the shoulder pieces extend upwardly and outwardly away from 
the central edge of the body piece at an angle. In formation of the 
pieces, the left and right body pieces form a rectangular section when 
their upper edges are in edge-to-edge contact. Similarly, when the 
shoulder pieces are placed in edge-to-edge engagement, a rectangular 
section is formed. Thus, the pieces are formed with no loss of buoyancy 
material. 
In a preferred form of the invention, the central edge of the body piece is 
longer than the outer side edge of the body piece so that the upper edge 
of the piece extends at an angle with respect to the lower edge. The 
shoulder pieces are simply formed as rectangles. With that arrangement, 
when the lower edge of the shoulder piece engages the angled upper edge of 
the body piece, the shoulder piece is tilted or angled outwardly towards 
the shoulder so that a portion of the upper edge of the body piece and the 
outer edge of the shoulder piece and an upper portion of the back piece 
form an arm hole. Correspondingly, the neck opening edge of the shoulder 
piece is sloped properly to define the neck opening in combination with 
the other shoulder piece and with the back piece. 
For adult sizes of flotation vests, the average or central height of the 
body piece may be made equal to the height or length of the shoulder piece 
such that when the two body pieces are placed edge-to-edge with their 
upper edges in engagement, and the two shoulder pieces are placed with 
their lower edges engaging, the overall height of the body pieces is equal 
to the overall height of the shoulder pieces. Consequently, those four 
pieces can be cut from a single rectangular sheet if desired. A one-piece 
back portion is equal to the combined height of the front body pieces such 
that it too can be formed from the same rectangular section of material if 
front and back pieces are to have the same thickness. Thus, the buoyancy 
material may be simply formed as five separate pieces, which when properly 
arranged can be cut from a single rectangular sheet without any wasted 
material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION 
The flotation vest or life jacket illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a back 
section 12, a right front section 14, and a left front section 16. The 
front sections 14 and 16 are secured to the back section at their upper 
edges and at their lower side edges to form left and right armholes 18 and 
20, while the inner upper edges of the front sections and the upper edge 
of the back section form the neck opening 22. A belt 24 attached to the 
front and back sections enables the front central edges of the front 
section to be held together after the wearer has donned the vest. A zipper 
is usually also provided. 
The main portion of the vest visible in FIG. 1 is really an outer shell 25 
or envelope formed of nylon or other suitable material which carries 
buoyancy material to help the user float. Typically, buoyancy material is 
inserted into the shell through its lower edge before the shell is 
completely sewn closed. A variety of buoyancy materials may be utilized, 
but usually a closed cell synthetic foam material made of 
polyvinylchloride or polyethylene is employed. 
In accordance with the present invention, the buoyancy material is formed 
of five separate pieces as illustrated in FIG. 2. This includes a back 
piece 26, a right front low body piece 28, a right front shoulder piece 
30, a left front body piece 32, and a left front shoulder piece 34. As can 
be seen, the front body pieces mate together to conform to the front 
configuration of the vest as illustrated in FIG. 1. Broken lines are shown 
in FIG. 1 where the front buoyancy pieces engage within the envelope 25. 
When the various foam pieces are cut, they fit together as shown in FIG. 3, 
creating a single rectangular sheet such that in cutting them there is no 
waste material. If desired, the upper edges of the back pieces 26 may be 
trimmed slightly as illustrated in FIG. 2, to better create the desired 
shape. 
Of course, it is not necessary that the five pieces be formed from a single 
sheet as illustrated in FIG. 3, but instead the body pieces 28 and 32 may 
be formed separately from a sheet of material, as illustrated in FIG. 4. 
Similarly, the shoulder pieces 34 may be formed as separate pieces from a 
separate sheet, as shown in FIG. 5; and the back piece 26 shown in FIG. 6 
may be formed from a separate sheet of material. 
Considering the front buoyancy pieces in more detail, it may be seen from 
FIG. 2 that the front body piece 28 includes a lower edge 28a, a central 
edge 28b, a side edge 28c, and an upper edge 28d. The central edge 28b and 
the side edge 28c are parallel to each other and they are perpendicular to 
the lower edge 28a. The central edge 28b is longer than the side edge 28c 
such that the upper straight edge 28d extends at an angle with respect to 
the edge 28a. That is, if the upper and lower edges were extended to 
intersect they would form an angle. Preferably, that angle is in the area 
of 20.degree.. Correspondingly the angle formed by the upper edge 28d and 
the central edge 28b is about 70.degree.. The body piece 32 is identical 
to piece 28 except that it is reversed so that the longer central edge 32b 
is adjacent to the central edge 28b of the piece 28. 
The shoulder piece 30 is rectangular and includes a lower edge 30a which 
engages the upper edge 28d of the body piece 28, a neck opening edge 30b, 
an arm opening edge 30c, and an upper edge 30d. The shoulder piece 34 is 
identical to the piece 30. 
Thus, it can be seen that when the lower edges 30a and 34a of the shoulder 
pieces are placed respectively into engagement with the upper edges 28d 
and 32d of the body pieces 28 and 32, with the neck opening shoulder piece 
edges 30b and 34b intersecting the central edges 28b and 32b of the body 
pieces, the slope of the upper walls 28d and 32d of the body pieces cause 
the shoulder pieces 30 and 34 to extend outwardly away from the central 
edges of the body pieces towards the wearer's shoulders. The angle formed 
by the shoulder piece edge 30b and the body piece central edge 28b is 
preferably about 160.degree.. 
Note that the body pieces could be made completely rectangular and the 
shoulder pieces formed with their lower edges at an angle that would 
produce the desired slope. Such an arrangement would still have the 
advantage of straight line cuts which form rectangular sections so as to 
involve no waste material. However, this arrangement is less advantageous 
in that there would be less buoyancy material immediately under the arm 
openings of the vest. Of course, the desired angle could be split between 
the shoulder pieces and the body pieces in whatever combination desired so 
that neither the body pieces nor the shoulder pieces would be completely 
rectangular. Nevertheless, they would mate together to form rectangular 
sections. 
For adults, a single set of flotation pieces may be employed in that the 
buoyancy requirement does not vary greatly. The girth of the vest may be 
varied by varying the amount of material between the buoyancy pieces. In a 
production version of the vest, the front body pieces 28 and 32 when 
placed together, as shown in FIG. 4, form a rectangle approximately 
19.times.91/2 inches, with the central edge 28b being about 11 inches and 
the shorter side 28c being about 8 inches. The shoulder pieces are about 
91/2.times.4 inches. Note that the length of a shoulder piece is equal to 
the width of a body piece, which may be convenient in cutting operations. 
Note also, that two of the shoulder pieces when placed side by side form a 
rectangle 91/2.times.8 inches which is equal to the rectangular lower 
portion of the body piece 28, that is, not including the triangular upper 
portion. A body piece 28 could of course be formed in several sections if 
desired. 
It has been found that the convenient arrangement illustrated in FIG. 3, 
wherein the combined length or height of the shoulder pieces 30 and 34 is 
equal to the combined length or height of the body pieces 28 and 32 is not 
quite so satisfactory for children's sizes of the vest. With such smaller 
sizes the shoulder pieces are preferably shortened so that their combined 
length or height is less than the combined length or height of the body 
pieces. This does not detract from the efficiency of the operations. As 
illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the body pieces and shoulder pieces may be 
totally formed from separate sheets of material having the desired width 
or height. The slope of the shoulder pieces is preferably sharper for 
children's sizes. 
It may be desirable to have the front buoyancy pieces made from material 
thicker than the back piece 26. With such an arrangement, all five pieces 
could of course not be cut from a single section as shown in FIG. 3, but 
again the convenience or efficiency of the arrangement is not lost in that 
the back pieces may be separately made from thinner material and still 
have essentially the rectangular configuration. In some instances it may 
be desirable to form the foam pieces in thin layers which are stacked to 
obtain the desired thickness. In a preferred arrangement the front pieces 
are about 11/4 inches thick, and the back piece is 3/4 inch thick. With 
1/4 inch layers, five layers could be used in front and three in back.