A life-saving device adapted to be thrown to swimmers requiring aid consisting of a buoyant member loosely confined within a net-like web. The web is preferably buoyant and the opening in the web permits ready grasping thereof by the swimmer and the web also facilitates the device being accurately thrown considerable distances with safety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The invention pertains to buoyant life-saving devices of the type adapted 
to be thrown to a swimmer requiring aid. 
Life-saving devices such as rings and floats are frequently carried upon 
watercraft and located at beaches and swimming pools for the purpose of 
aiding swimmers encountering difficulty. Such life-saving devices normally 
consist of a buoyant member adapted to be grasped by the swimmer. The 
buoyant members often include means defined thereon, such as handles or 
ropes, which may be easily grasped. 
The most common type of life-saver of the aforementioned type is of a 
flattened ring configuration often having rope handles affixed to the 
periphery thereof. The device is usually employed by throwing the same in 
the vicinity of the swimmer but such devices have the disadvantage of 
being awkward to handle and are difficult to accurately throw and, when 
thrown a considerable distance, have a tendency to "kite" or sail, making 
it very difficult to accurately throw the life-saver in the desired 
direction. 
This type of life-saver also has the disadvantage of being relatively 
difficult to grasp, particularly by children, as the handles are not 
readily grasped and ones arm must usually be inserted over the life-saver 
body through the inner hole and in the state of panic or hysteria of many 
swimmers encountering difficulty, the effective grasping of the life-saver 
is uncertain. Also such devices are rigid and hard and may strike and 
injure the swimmer. 
Several life-saver constructions are known which use a loose web with a 
buoyant member, such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,817,860; 3,176,327 and 
3,421,165. However, these devices do not overcome all the aforementioned 
problems. 
British Pat. No. 207,758 also discloses a life-saver constituting a buoyant 
ball having rope arms to facilitate grasping and while this device may be 
thrown relatively accurately, grasping is somewhat difficult and 
deficiencies are present. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the invention to provide a life-saving device which may 
be readily thrown in an accurate manner, is safe to use, and may be 
readily grasped by small children, as well as adults. 
A further object of the invention is to provide an economical buoyant 
life-saving device which does not "kite" or sail when thrown through the 
air and which would not injure the swimmer if struck thereby during 
deployment. 
In the practice of the invention, a buoyant member, preferably formed of a 
closed cell cured foam material, is surrounded by a loose envelope defined 
by a web having an open-mesh configuration. 
The web loosely surrounds the buoyant member so that the web may be readily 
grasped and the web is preferably formed of a buoyant material, such as 
nylon or polypropylene, so that the web itself contributes to the buoyancy 
of the life-saving device and the web will tend to spread out on the water 
adjacent the buoyant member to facilitate grasping. 
The web also includes elongated strands which define a handle when the 
device is suspended from the hand and this "handle" facilitates accurate 
throwing and permits a "sling"-type throw to be used capable of achieving 
a greater distance than if a sling-type throw is not utilized. 
Retrieving means in the form of a flexible buoyant rope is preferably 
attached to the web so that the swimmer may be pulled to safety once the 
web is grasped.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The life-saving device in accord with the invention basically includes a 
buoyant member 10 loosely confined within an open web 12. 
The buoyant member 10 may take a variety of forms, for instance it could be 
of square, rectangular, oval or oblong configuration but is preferably of 
a spherical form, as illustrated. The member 10 is buoyant and preferably 
formed of a closed cell synthetic foam material wherein the foam hardens 
to a resilient form after activating wherein the resultant material is of 
a resilient characteristic and may have a relatively high density skin 
coating, such as a vinyl lacquer, substantially impervious to water 
penetration. Such buoyant materials include that sold under the Uniroyal 
Corporation Trademark ENSOLITE, Type M, and acceptable materials are well 
known in the marine arts having excellent flotation characteristics, 
durability and resistance to deterioration during repeated immersion in 
salt or fresh water. 
The diameter of the member 10 must be sufficient, with respect to the 
density and buoyancy of the member material, to provide adequate flotation 
and buoyancy for life-saving purposes. For instance, a sphere of 
approximately one foot in diameter is acceptable in most instances. Also, 
it is significant that the member have sufficient weight to permit the 
life-saving device to be thrown a reasonable distance and, thus, the 
member 10 should not be of such a light weight material as to render 
throwing difficult. It is appreciated that the member may consist of a 
hollow sphere of metal or plastic material and need not be formed of a 
closed cell foam material. 
The buoyant member 10 is surrounded by a web 12. The web 12 preferably 
includes a mesh portion 14 and a strand portion 16, the strands 18 being 
connected to a loop or ring 20. The web is preferably formed of a strong 
buoyant material, such as nylon or polypropylene, and the strands of the 
portion 14 are knotted to define evenly spaced mesh openings 22 of 
sufficient dimension to readily permit the swimmer to insert his fingers 
therethrough. 
The strands 18 are of such length as to define a handle portion 24 of the 
web when grasped, as shown in FIG. 3. However, the length of the strands 
18 is not sufficient to permit the buoyant member 10 to be able to pass 
therebetween. 
The ring 20 may be formed of the same material as the web and strands, or 
could be of a rigid plastic or of metal. Preferably, a retrieval rope 26 
of a buoyant material, such as polypropylene or nylon, is attached to the 
ring 20. However, it will be understood that the device will function for 
buoyancy in life-saving purposes without the rope 26. 
The dimension of the member 10 with respect to the dimension of the 
envelope defined by the web 12 is such that the web loosely surrounds the 
member but is not so loose as to be ineffective to support a swimmer 
grasping the web. When the device rests upon a hard surface, such as a 
table top, the web will be disposed about the member 10 in a manner as 
shown in FIG. 1. When the life-saving device rests upon the water the web 
will be disposed about the member in a manner similar to that shown in 
FIGS. 2 and 4. Under these circumstances, the upper portion of the web 
will be directly engaging the upper portion of the buoyant member 10 and 
the portions of the web 12 adjacent the water surface 28 not immediately 
below the member 10 will tend to float and bow outwardly and space 
themselves from the wall of the member 10. That portion of the web 
directly below the member will engage the bottom of the member, FIG. 4. 
As will be appreciated from FIG. 4, with the mesh 12 deployed about the 
member 10 in the manner illustrated, sufficient spacing exists between the 
mesh and the member adjacent the water surface 28 to readily permit the 
swimmer to grasp the web. A swimmer fearful of drowning may be near 
hysteria, threshing his arms, and once the life-saving device is within 
his grasp the lunging at the device with the fingers will usually result 
in the fingers passing through the web and the swimmer will then be able 
to effectively hang onto the device. 
As the configuration of the web permits the member 10 to be "suspended" 
below the location of the strands 18 when the device is lifted, the 
pendulum effect permits the device to form a type of sling capable of 
being thrown a greater distance than if the member 10 were thrown as a 
baseball. The device may be thrown either underhand or with an overhand 
motion and the uniform shape of the member 10 prevents kiting or sailing 
and the device may be accurately thrown without adverse aerodynamic 
effects created by the shape of the device. Further, as the web and member 
are relatively soft the swimmer, if struck, will not be injured. 
Preferably, the rope 26 is affixed to the ring 20 wherein the swimmer may 
be pulled to the pool edge, shore or boat, once the device is grasped and, 
in most instances, the device will not be used without the rope. However, 
the buoyancy of the member 10 is sufficient to permit the swimmer to 
maintain his head above water and the fact that the web may be easily 
grasped substantially eliminates the likelihood of the swimmer losing his 
grip upon the device. 
It is appreciated that various modifications to the invention may be 
apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and 
scope of the invention.