An Improved Device for Facilitating Swimming.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 7th July, 1893-Accepted, 9th Sept., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Device for Facilitating Swimming.
I, WILHELM KARL, Pastor, of Egringen in the Grand Duchy of Baden in the
Empire of Germany, do hereby declare the nature of my invention and in what
manner the same is performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
The object of the present invention is to provide a device for facilitating
swimming. As the speed in swimming is dependent upon the resistance offered to
the water by the body, the main object of the present device is to increase this
resistance as much as possible and thus attain a greater speed in swimming with
less bodily exertion than heretofore.
In order to attain this object many and various devices have already been
designed, the same cannot however be said to have accomplished the object in view
in a very satisfactory manner. For instance the watertight swimming gloves,
which were originally designed to attain a greater speed in swimming, and in which
the fingers were connected by webs, do not by any means offer sufficient resistance
to the water, and have consequently been adopted in a very small measure only.
The device forming the object of the present invention and which I term a
swimming shoe is attached to the feet of the swimmer and consists in a jointed
framework having webs between the ribs, the whole being in form somewhat similar
to that of a frogs foot. In striking out with the feet in swimming the shoe expands
and consequently offers very considerable resistance to the water and when the legs
are drawn in for the next stroke the said shoe contracts offering little or no
resistance.
According to a modified form of my invention I attach a sort of fan device to
the leg of the swimmer a little below the knee, which expands and contracts in a
similar manner to the shoe previously mentioned.
In order to make this description more easily intelligible, reference is had to the
accompanying drawing, in which similar letters denote similar parts throughout the
several views.
Fig. 1 is a plan of the shoe,
Fig. 2 a side elevation,
Figs. 3 and 4 are elevations of the modified form of my invention.
The sole a is of suitable elastic material so that the same can easily follow all
the movements of the foot, the same may be advantageously perforated and provided
with a hinge in the middle as shown in Fig. 1. The said sole is provided with five
more or less, ribs & having joints d and attached to the sole by means of ball joints
as shown in Fig. 1. The joints d in the middle of the ribs should also be preferably
ball joints, but all must be so arranged as to bend downwards, but when expanded
not to bend upwards towards the knee.
All the ribs are connected together by webs c advantageously of oil cloth, leather
or other elastic material.
The operation of the device is obvious, viz. on drawing the legs in previous to
striking out, the shoe will contract under the sole, offering little or no resistance to
the water, whilst on striking out the same will expand and considerably increase
the speed of the swimmer. The shoe is attached to the foot like a sandal..
The device illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 is designed not to impede the swimmer
when walking, for instance in shallow water, and consists of the webs c flexibly
attached to a band e passed round the leg at or about the calf, the said band e
being held in place by a strap g or band passing down underneath the sole of the
foot and retained in place by a second band fitting round the leg just above the
ankles. In order to prevent the webs from flapping upwards towards the knee,

page_text: cords are provided extending from the band to the outward extremities of the
webs and preventing the latter from expanding too wide.
The operation of the device is substantially the same as that described with
reference to Figs. 1 and 2, and needs no further elucidation.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A swimming shoe consisting of a sole a attached to the foot after the
manner of a sandal, and having jointed thereto ribs
up by means of webs in the manner and for the purpose
2. A modification of the device covered by Claim
attached to the band e, the straps or bands f and y and
tially as described and shown.
Dated th71 1
STL 1000
said ribs being connected
substantially as described.
consisting of the webs c
cords h arranged substan-
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.