Patent ID: 7018256

Claim:
A swim fin comprising: (a) a foot attachment member having a relatively stiffer portion and a relatively flexible portion; (b) a blade member having a relatively stiffer blade portion and a relatively flexible blade portion, said blade member having a root portion near said foot attachment member and a free end portion spaced from said foot attachment member and said root portion, said blade member having opposing surfaces; (c) at least one rib member connected to said blade member and extending a majority of the distance between said root portion and said free end portion, said at least one rib member having a relatively stiffer rib portion and a relatively flexible rib portion, at least one portion of said relatively stiffer rib portion and at least one portion of said relatively flexible rib portion each extending above at least one of said opposing surfaces of said blade member; (d) said relatively stiffer portion of said foot attachment member, said relatively stiffer blade portion, and said relatively stiffer rib portion all being made with at least one relatively stiffer thermoplastic material during at least one phase of an injection molding process; and (e) said relatively flexible portion of said foot attachment member, said relatively flexible portion of said blade member and said relatively flexible portion of said rib member all being made with at least one relatively extensible thermoplastic material that is relatively more flexible than said at least one relatively stiffer thermoplastic material, said at least one portion of said relatively extensible thermoplastic material being molded to at least one portion of said at least one relatively stiffer thermoplastic material with at least one chemical bond created during said injection molding process.