Patent Publication Number: US-7721352-B1

Title: Inflatable wader garment assembly

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     Field of the Disclosure 
     The disclosure relates to wader devices and more particularly pertains to a new wader device for keeping a person afloat in deep water. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a lower body covering that includes a pair of leg coverings and a lower torso covering. The leg coverings each have a bottom end comprising a foot covering. The lower body covering has an upper edge forming an opening into the lower body covering. The upper edge includes a front edge and a back edge. A bladder has a top wall, a bottom wall and a perimeter wall extending between the top and bottom walls. The bladder is U-shaped and has a central portion and a pair of legs extending away from the central portion. Each of the legs has a distal end with respect to the central portion. A tube is fluidly coupled to the bladder. Air may be blown through the tube and into the bladder to inflate the bladder. A pair of front straps is provided. Each of the distal ends has one of the front straps attached thereto. Each of the front straps is attached to the front edge. At least one rear strap is attached to the central portion and is attached to the back edge. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a inflatable wader garment assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is an enlarged front perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a side broken view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a front perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 4  thereof, a new wader device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 4 , the inflatable wader garment assembly  10  generally comprises a lower body covering  12  that includes a pair of leg coverings  14  and a lower torso covering  16 . The leg coverings  14  each have a bottom end comprising a foot covering  18 . The lower body covering  12  has an upper edge  20  forming an opening into the lower body covering  12 . The upper edge  20  includes a front edge  22  and a back edge  24 . The lower body covering  12  comprises a water impermeable material. 
     A bladder  26  has a top wall  28 , a bottom wall  30  and a perimeter wall  32  extending between the top  28  and bottom walls  30 . The bladder  26  is U-shaped and has a central portion  34  and a pair of legs  36  extending away from the central portion  34 . Each of the legs  36  has a distal end  38  with respect to the central portion  34 . 
     A tube  40  is fluidly coupled to the bladder  26 . Air may be blown through the tube  40  and into the bladder  26  to inflate the bladder  26 . A conventional one-way valve, not shown, may be positioned within the tube  40  to prevent air from exiting the tube  40  after it has been blown into the bladder  26 . 
     A pair of front straps  42  is provided. Each of the distal ends  38  has one of the front straps  42  attached thereto. The front straps  42  are each attached to the front edge  22 . This should be understood to include the straps being attached to the lower body covering  12  adjacent to the front edge  22 . The front straps  42  each have an adjustable length. The front straps  42  may each also include a buckle  44  to releasably couple the front straps  42  from the front edge  22 . At least one rear strap  46  is attached to the central portion  34  and is attached to the back edge  24  though more than one rear strap  46  may be used as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
     An air canister  48  having compressed air therein is positioned within the bladder  26 . The compressed air may comprise CO 2 . An actuator  50  of the air canister  48  extends through the bladder  26 . The actuator  50  is actuated to release the compressed air from the canister  48  to inflate the bladder  26 . The actuator  50  may comprise a cord coupled to a release valve  52  of the air canister  48 . 
     A flexible panel  54  is attached to and extends between the legs  36 . The panel  54  is positioned adjacent to the distal ends  38  and is spaced from the central portion  34 . The panel  54  has a break therein to define first  56  and second  58  sections of the panel  54 . A zipper  60  releasably couples together the first  56  and second  58  sections. 
     In use, the lower body covering  12  is worn as conventional waders. However, the bladder  26  may be inflated to prevent the drowning of a person wearing the assembly  10 . The air canister  48  may be used in an emergency situation where the bladder  26  has not been previously inflated, for comfort reasons, but the wearer suddenly finds themselves in a situation where they are in too deep of water. 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure.