Abstract:
A front-mounted swimming snorkel has a forehead brace which pivots about an axis perpendicular to the snorkel tube to adapt to different swimmers&#39; heads.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application is a continuation-in-part of International application no. PCT/CA2006/02912, filed 24 Feb. 2006 designating the United States, which is pending. 

   TECHNICAL FIELD 
   The invention relates to swimming aids and more particularly to snorkels for use as recreational and fitness training swimming aids. 
   BACKGROUND 
   Swimmers in a swimming pool or an open body of water often use the front crawl stroke, where in order to breathe, a swimmer must either lift his or her head or rotate it to one side, which also rotates and disrupts the body alignment. While diving snorkels have long been used to permit divers to breathe when near the surface of the water without lifting their heads from the water, snorkels have only recently been developed to allow swimmers to breathe while using the front crawl or other strokes without lifting or turning their heads. 
   The present inventor has disclosed and claimed a front-mounted snorkel in International application no. PCT/CA2006/02912, filed 24 Feb. 2006, and issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,047,965 issued May 23, 2006, which are incorporated herein by reference. A front-mounted swimmer&#39;s snorkel is also disclosed in U.S. Design Pat. No. Des 406,333 of Finis, Inc. It has a snorkel tube positioned in front of the user&#39;s forehead and secured by a head-brace, which extends above the water surface and has at its lower end a mouthpiece held in the user&#39;s mouth and a water purge valve. A problem with the Finis snorkel is that the head brace is at a fixed angle relative to the mouthpiece tube, so it does not accommodate swimmers with differently shaped foreheads. 
   There is a need therefore for a front-mounted swimming snorkel which adapts to different swimmers with varying head sizes and shapes. 
   SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
   The invention provides a swimming snorkel for use by a swimmer while swimming on or adjacent the surface of the water comprising means for releasably securing the snorkel to the head of the swimmer, whereby the mouth-piece of the snorkel is held in the mouth of the swimmer and the upper ends of the snorkel tube extends above the surface of the water when the head and body of the swimmer are on or adjacent to the surface of the water, wherein the means for securing the snorkel tube to the head of the swimmer is hingedly connected to the snorkel tube by hinge means pivotable about an axis perpendicular to said hollow airway. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     In drawings which describe preferred embodiments of the invention: 
       FIG. 1  is a side elevation view of a first embodiment of the invention in use by a swimmer. 
       FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment of the invention shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the invention. 
       FIG. 4  is an exploded side view of the embodiment of the invention shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 4A  is a lower end view of the valve assembly shown in  FIG. 4 . 
       FIG. 4B  is a side view of the valve assembly shown in  FIG. 4 . 
       FIGS. 4C ,  4 D and  4 E are cross-sectional views of the breathing tube shown in  FIG. 4 . 
       FIG. 4F  is an end view, partially in cross-section, of the mouthpiece and hollow chamber shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 4G  is a detail cross-section view of the valve assembly shown in  FIG. 4  with the butterfly valve shown in the open position. 
       FIG. 4H  is a cross-section of the valve assembly shown in  FIG. 4  with the butterfly valve shown in the closed position. 
       FIGS. 4J and 4K  are detail views of the headbrace connection of the invention. 
       FIG. 5  is a front view of the snorkel shown in  FIG. 3 . 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the headbrace of the invention. 
       FIG. 7  is a front view of the embodiment of the headbrace shown in  FIG. 6 . 
       FIG. 8  is a detailed perspective view of the embodiment of the headbrace of the invention shown in  FIG. 6  in place on the snorkel tube. 
       FIG. 9  is a side view of the embodiment of the headbrace of the invention shown in  FIG. 8 . 
       FIG. 10  is a cross-section taken along lines A-A of  FIG. 9 . 
       FIG. 11  is an exploded view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 9 and 10 . 
       FIG. 12  is a front view of a third embodiment of the headbrace of the invention. 
       FIG. 13  is a side view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 12 . 
       FIG. 14  is a front view of the embodiment of the invention shown in  FIG. 12  in place on the snorkel tube. 
       FIG. 15  is a side view of the embodiment of the invention shown in  FIG. 12  in place on the snorkel tube. 
       FIG. 16  is a schematic side view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 12  showing two positions of the headbrace in dotted outline. 
   

   DESCRIPTION 
   Throughout the following description, specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the invention. However, the invention may be practiced without these particulars. In other instances, well known elements have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative, rather than a restrictive, sense. 
   With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a swimming snorkel  10  according to the invention is in use by a swimmer  12 . The snorkel  10  has a curved breathing tube  14  which is secured to the head  11  of the swimmer by a brace assembly  18  which comprises an adjustable, flexible rubber strap  20 , a forehead brace  22  which is secured to the strap  20  and bears against the swimmer&#39;s forehead  24 , and is hingedly connected to an adjustable tube-mounting element  26  secured to forehead brace  22  which slidingly receives the breathing tube  14 . Adjustable tube mounting element  26  is slidable with a friction fit on breathing tube  14  and is connected by hinge rod  23  with forehead brace  22  to form a hinge that allows rotation of mounting element  26 . 
   Tube  14  is connected to hollow chamber  28 , which has water purge exit passage  30  ( FIG. 2 ) and is connected to mouthpiece  32  which is held in the mouth  34  of the swimmer. Tube  14 , with a valve assembly  36  and an adjustable threaded butterfly valve  57  at its upper end, curves through an angle of approximately 90 degrees from chamber  28  to valve assembly  36  and is sufficiently long, generally about eighteen inches, so that the valve assembly  36  extends above the water line  38  when the swimmer&#39;s head  11  and body  17  are horizontally oriented during swimming. 
   With reference to  FIG. 2 through 4 , tube  14  comprises hollow intake tube  13  and exhaust tube  15 . Valve assembly  36  is divided into intake chamber  35  and exhaust chamber  37 . Intake chamber  35  communicates with intake passage  51  and intake tube port  50 . Exhaust chamber  37  communicates with exhaust passage  53  and exhaust tube port  54 . Threaded hole  55  extends through the wall of exhaust chamber  37  and receives threaded butterfly valve  57  to form a compression seal along the surface of the threads that does not allow the entry of air or water. Intake tube port  50  and exhaust tube port  54  receive the upper ends of intake tube  13  and exhaust tube  15 . Intake passage  51  and exhaust passage  53  have one-way valves  58 ,  60  respectively which comprise flexible silicone valve diaphragms  66 ,  68  having central stems  62 ,  64  which are secured in central apertures  74 ,  76  of valve seats  70 ,  72 . More than one one-way valve may be provided for either or both the intake or the exhaust passages. 
   Hollow chamber  28  communicates with mouthpiece passage  78 , purge exit passage  30 , intake tube port  52  and exhaust tube port  56 . Intake tube port  52  and exhaust tube port  56  receive the lower ends of intake tube  13  and exhaust tube  15 . Water purge exit passage  30  is closed by a one-way valve  40  comprising a flexible silicone valve diaphragm  42  having a central stem  44  which is secured in a central aperture  46  of valve seat  48 . 
   As shown in cross-section in  FIG. 4C ,  4 D and  4 E, while the upper and lower ends of inlet tube  13  are preferably circular in cross-section, the rest of inlet tube  13  has an arrowhead or bullet-shaped cross-section to reduce the hydrodynamic drag while swimming for reduced resistance through the water. Other shapes may be used to accomplish the same result. However the intake tube  13  should have a minimum cross-sectional area of about 0.44 square inch (0.75 inch circular diameter), so that a minimum amount of force is needed to inhale.  FIG. 4G  shows the valve assembly  36 , and  FIG. 4H  shows the threaded butterfly valve  57  in closed position. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 4J and 4K , adjustable tube mounting element  26  is connected to forehead brace  22  by hinge rod  23  which extends through holes  27  in extending arms  25  and holes  21  in extending arms  19  and is secured with washers  16  and cotter pins  17 . The tube mounting element is thereby hinged on forehead brace  22  and moveable about the axis defined by hinge rod  23 . 
   The adjustable tube-mounting element  26  is attached by a hinge to the forehead brace  22  to allow pivoting only about an axis perpendicular to the breathing tube  14  so that the entire forehead brace will make contact with the swimmer&#39;s forehead and press more firmly against the forehead to prevent the forehead brace from moving when the breathing tube  14  jogs or veers to one side in the water. The hinged forehead brace will thus fit snugly against the swimmer&#39;s forehead independent of the shape of the forehead. 
   A second embodiment of the forehead brace is shown in  FIG. 6 through 11 . In this embodiment, the forehead brace  60  has flexible arms  62 ,  64  on which are provided cylindrical hinge pins  66 ,  68 . Hinge pins  66 ,  68  are rotatably received in cylindrical depressions  70  formed in the hollow snorkel tube  72 . Cylindrical depressions  70  are formed in two parallel rows on opposite sides of snorkel tube  72  so that the position of brace  22  can be adjusted along the length of snorkel tube  72 . The length and separation of the hinge pins  66 ,  68  is such that when the pins are received in depressions  70 , the flexible arms  62 ,  64  are parallel and retain the pins  66 ,  68  in place, but when arms  62 ,  64  are flexed apart the pins  66 ,  68  can be removed from depressions  70 . A strap  74  is secured to brace  60  having strap connectors  76  to which a strap around the head of the swimmer can be adjustably secured. Thus the brace  22  is able to pivot about the axis formed by pins  66 ,  68  and can be adjusted along the length of the snorkel tube. 
   A third embodiment of the forehead brace is shown in  FIG. 12 through 16 . In this embodiment, a flexible material between the head brace and the tube or the tube-mounting element allows pivoting about an axis perpendicular to the breathing tube. The forehead brace  80  is connected to a connecting sleeve  82  by a living hinge  84 . Living hinge  84  is formed of a plastic material which returns to a rest configuration as shown in  FIG. 13  when pressure is not applied to it, but when pressure is applied, living hinge  84  can pivot through angle E between the positions C and D shown in  FIG. 16 . A slit  86  in brace  80  allows the two halves  87 ,  89  of brace  80  to be separated to snap sleeve  82  around the snorkel tube  72  at the desired location. As in the other embodiments, a strap (not shown) is secured to brace  80  using strap connectors so that the strap around the head of the swimmer can be adjustably secured. Thus brace  80  is able to pivot in the direction of angle E and can be adjusted along the length of the snorkel tube. 
   As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the foregoing disclosure, many alterations and modifications are possible in the practice of this invention without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. The invention will usefully operate on snorkel tubes of differing cross-sectional shapes, such as oval, square, star, rectangular, round or other shapes as well as single or multiple tubes. Also whereas a single axis hinge has been disclosed to allow movement of the head brace about the axis defined by the hinge rod, other means for hingedly connecting the head brace to the tube or the tube-mounting element would also be suitable, such as providing a flexible material between the head brace and the tube or the tube-mounting element which allows pivoting about an axis perpendicular to the breathing tube. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to be construed in accordance with the substance defined by the following claims.