Patent Publication Number: US-7210170-B2

Title: Disposable swimsuit

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of Invention 
   The present invention relates to a swimsuit, and more particularly to a disposable swimsuit which can be adjusted to fit the body size of the wearer and is well suited for disposable one-time use for hygiene purpose while being cost effective. 
   2. Description of Related Arts 
   Various kinds of swimsuits, such as one-piece swimsuits or bikini swimsuits, are provided in the market not only for outdoor sports, such as swimming, but also for sun bathing, pool party, or enjoying spa. Therefore, it is desirable to have different types of swimsuits for a specific purpose and occasion. 
   In addition, the user needs a swimsuit for the occasion such as enjoying the spa at friend&#39;s house or going to swim in the fitness center after work. Therefore, the user may merely either wear no clothing or purchase another new swimsuit for such occasion. It is worth to mention that the user should wear his or her own swimsuit not only for hygiene purpose but also for fitting his or her body. Even though the swimsuit is washed every time after use, especially for common swimming or bathing area, the swimsuit is not absolutely clean that any germs may still exist on the swimsuit. 
   Furthermore, swimsuits are made of expandable or elastic material so that the user is able to fittingly wear the swimsuit. If the user wears an unsuited swimsuit, especially for the bikini that the bikini cups should be retained in position to cover the wearer&#39;s breasts, the swimsuit may be taken off accidentally during swimming. It is worth to mention that a suitable swimsuit can provide support and shaping to the body of the user for enhancing the aesthetically pleasing appearance. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   A main object of the present invention is to provide a disposable swimsuit, which is made of material well suited for disposable one-time use for hygiene purpose while being cost effective. 
   Another object of the present invention is to provide a disposable swimsuit, which comprises an outer stretchable layer and a lining layer overlapped with the outer stretchable layer. The outer stretchable layer of the disposable swimsuit is made of flexible and water resistant material such as poly propylene to tightly fit the body of wearer when worn so as to allow the body movement of the wearer. The lining layer is made of non-irritant and air ventilating material to comfortably contact with the body of wearer. 
   Another object of the present invention is to provide a disposable swimsuit, wherein the adjustable straps of the disposable swimsuit can be adjusted to fit the body size of the wearer such that the disposable swimsuit fits for slim women or full-figured women. 
   Another object of the present invention is to provide a disposable swimsuit, which can be designed or configured as a swimsuit for men or bikini swimsuit having an upper piece and lower piece for women. 
   Another object of the present invention is to provide a disposable swimsuit, which does not require any expensive material and complicated manufacturing process such that it is affordable for the wearer to purchase the disposable swimsuit in a convenient store or even in the gym for the occasion as a disposable one-time use swimsuit. 
   Accordingly, in order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a disposable swimsuit which comprises a lower piece having a front covering piece and a back covering piece to define two leg openings at two outer edges of the lower piece and a waist opening at two upper edges of the front and back covering pieces. 
   The disposable swimsuit is made of swimwear garment comprising an outer stretchable layer and a lining layer overlappedly attached to the outer stretchable layer in an edge to edge manner, wherein the outer stretchable layer is made of water resistant material having air ventilating ability and flexibility, wherein the lining layer is made of non-irritant and air ventilating material. 
   These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a lower piece of a disposable swimsuit according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates the swimwear garment of the lower piece of the disposable swimsuit according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates an alternative mode of the lower piece of the disposable swimsuit according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an upper piece of the disposable swimsuit according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates the sliding adjustment of breast cups of the upper piece of the disposable swimsuit according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1 through 5  of the drawings, a disposable swimsuit according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, wherein the disposable swimsuit comprises a lower piece  10  and an upper piece  20 . 
   The disposable swimsuit is made of swimwear garment  30  comprising an outer stretchable layer  31  and a lining layer  32  overlappedly attached to the outer stretchable layer  32  in an edge to edge manner. In other words, the upper and lower pieces  20 ,  10  are made of the swimwear garment  30 . 
   The outer stretchable layer  31  is made of water resistant material having air ventilating ability and flexibility. Accordingly, the outer stretchable layer  31  can be stretched to tightly fit the body of wearer when worn so as to allow the body movement of the wearer, especially for swimming. In other words, the outer stretchable layer  31  can fit the body curvature of the wear when the wearer wears the disposable swimsuit of the present invention. Preferably, the outer stretchable layer  31  is made of poly propylene. 
   The lining layer  32  is made of non-irritant, soft and air ventilating material as an inner layer to comfortably contact with the body of wearer. In addition, the lining layer  32  can absorb the sweat of the wearer during exercise so as to enhance the comfortability of the disposable swimsuit. Accordingly, the lining layer  32  is made of germ-free tissue such as synthetic tissue paper that should be non-irritant and has a disinfectious ability for preventing germs and skin disease from being infected such that the disposable swimsuit is easy and economical to manufacture so as to well suit for disposable one-time use safety. Moreover, the used disposable swimsuit can be collected and recycled after further treatment. 
   As shown in  FIG. 1 , the lower piece  10 , which is embodied as a trunk for men or a bikini top for women, has a front covering piece  11  and a back covering piece  12  to define two leg openings  101  at two outer edges of the lower piece  10  and a waist opening  102  at upper edges of the front and back covering pieces  11 ,  12 . 
   The lower piece  10  further comprises a lower body attachment  13  provided at the lower piece  10  for fastening the lower piece  10  to a lower body of the wearer. The lower body attachment  13  comprises two elongated elastic leg straps  131  fastened along the two outer edges of the lower piece  10  at the two leg openings  101  thereof respectively and two elongated elastic waist straps  132  fastened along the upper edges of the front and back covering pieces  11 ,  12  respectively to form the waist opening  102 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 2 , a length of each of the elastic waist straps  132  is longer than that of the upper edge of the respective front and back covering pieces  11 ,  12 , wherein each of the elastic waist straps  132  has a mid-affixing portion  1321  affixing to the upper edge of the respective front and back covering pieces  11 ,  12  to provide an elasticity thereof and two free end portions  1322  sidewardly extended from two sides of the respective front and back covering pieces  11 ,  12  such that the sizes of the waist opening  102  and the leg openings  101  are selectively adjusted when the free end portions  1322  of the elastic waist straps  132  are tightened correspondingly. In other words, the lower piece  10  can tightly fit the body of wearer that the two leg openings  101  are adjusted to fittingly encircle the legs fork of the wearer by the elastic leg straps  131  and the waist opening  102  is adjusted to fittingly encircle the waist of the wearer by the elastic waist straps  132 . 
   Accordingly, two outer edges of the outer stretchable layer  31  are overlappedly attached with two outer edges of the lining layer  32  to form two seams as the two outer edges of the lower piece  10 , as shown in  FIG. 2 , wherein the mid-affixing portions  1321  of the elastic waist straps  132  are sewn to be enfolded within the two seams so as to securely fasten the two elastic waist straps  132  at the upper edges of the front and back covering pieces  11 ,  12 . It is worth to mention that the two elastic leg straps  131  are also sewn to be enfolded within the two outer edges of the lower piece  10  at the two leg openings  101  thereof as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
     FIG. 3  illustrates an alternative mode of the lower piece  10 ′ which is made of swimwear garment  30  including the outer stretchable layer  31  and the lining layer  32 , having a front covering piece  11 ′ and a back covering piece  12 ′ to define two leg openings  101 ′ at two outer edges of the lower piece  10 ′ and a waist opening  102 ′ at upper edges of the front and back covering pieces  11 ′,  12 ′. The lower body attachment  13 ′ comprises two elastic leg loops  131 ′ attaching to the leg openings  101 ′ respectively and an elastic waist loop  132 ′ attaching to the waist opening  102 ′. 
   As shown in  FIG. 4 , the upper piece  20 , which is embodied as a bikini top, comprises two breast cups  21  which are made of the swimwear garment  30 , and an upper body attachment  22  provided at the upper piece  20  for retaining the breast cups  21  in position to cover the wearer&#39;s breasts respectively. 
   Each of the breast cups  21  has an outer elastic cup edge  211 , an inner elastic cup edge  212 , and a bottom cup edge  213  to form a cup area having a size covering at least a portion of the wearer&#39;s breast. As shown in  FIG. 4 , two elastic bands  23  are seamed to be enfolded within the two inner elastic cup edges  212  of the breast cups  21  for providing elasticity. In addition, two elastic strips  24  are seamed to be enfolded within the outer elastic cup edges  212  of the breast cups  21  respectively for providing elasticity. 
   The upper body attachment  22  comprises two elongated elastic neck straps  221  upwardly extended from the two breast cups  21  respectively for fastening around the wearer&#39;s neck, and an elongated elastic chest strap  222  slidably extended along the two bottom cup edges  213  of the breast cups  21  for fastening around the wearer&#39;s chest, wherein the breast cups  21  are adjustably slid along the elastic chest strap  222  to adjust a distance between the breast cups  21  corresponding to a distance between the wearer&#39;s breasts, as shown in  FIG. 5 , for fittingly retaining the breast cups  21  in position to cover the wearer&#39;s breasts respectively. Accordingly, the elastic neck straps  221  are adjustably tightened to form a neck loop for encircling with the wearer&#39;s neck. 
   The bottom edge  213  of each of the breast cups  21  is folded to form a sliding groove  214  therealong wherein the elastic chest strap  222  is slidably passing through the two sliding grooves  214  such that the two breast cups  21  are allowed to slide along the elastic chest strap  222  to selectively adjust the distance between the breast cups  21 . Accordingly, the wearer is able to tighten two end portions of the elastic chest strap  22  around the wearer&#39;s chest to support the upper piece  20  thereon and to slide the breast cups  21  to adjust the distance therebetween until the breast cups  21  fittingly cover the wearer&#39;s breasts respectively. As shown in  FIG. 4 , each of the elastic chest straps  222  has an elastic portion enfolded along the bottom edge  213  of the respective breast cup  21  along the sliding groove  214  thereof for providing elasticity so as to substantially retain the breast cup  21  in position. 
   According to the preferred embodiment, each of the breast cups  21  further has a side opening  210  formed between the outer stretchable layer  31  and the inner lining  32 . Therefore, the wearer is able to put a cushion pad in each breast cup  21  between the outer stretchable layer  31  and the inner lining  32  through the respective side opening  210  for additional support and further enhancing the aesthetically pleasing appearance. 
   It is worth to mention that the material of the swimwear garment  30  is inexpensive and is adapted to be cycled while the manufacturing process of the disposable swimsuit of the present invention is simple and in low cost, the disposable swimsuit is well suited for disposable one-time use for hygiene purpose while being cost effective. Therefore, an individual is affordable to purchase the disposable swimsuit at any convenient store. The disposable swimsuit can be free to use in the fitness center for the member thereof to enjoy swimming or spa. Thus, the size of the disposable swimsuit is adjustable to fit the body size of the wearer by the upper and lower body attachments  21 ,  13  for enhancing the aesthetically pleasing appearance, such that the disposable swimsuit fits for slim men or full-figured women. 
   One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting. 
   It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. It embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.