Patent Document:

fig1 a - b and 2a - b illustrate article 10 , an example of the present invention . in this example article 10 is a two - piece ( bikini ) bathing suit and includes top 14 and bottom 18 . top 14 thus comprises cups 22 and straps 26 for attachment about the neck and torso of a female wearer . straps 26 may be made of pvc or any other material capable of being connected permanently to cups 22 . each of cups 22a and 22b includes two plies of material 30a and 30b formed to be impervious to air ( or other appropriate inflation fluid ). although in presently - preferred embodiments of article 10 plies 30a and 30b are made of pvc , those skilled in the art will recognize that compositions other than pvc may be useable consistent with the present invention . those so skilled will also recognize that in some cases two separate plies may not be necessary ( as , for example , with materials whose internal structures permit entrapment of air ). nonetheless , for article 10 , plies 30a and 30b are shaped substantially identically and their respective edges 34a and 34b are sealed ( by heating , ultrasonic welding , or any other suitable technique ). sealing edges 34a and 34b effectively forms a pocket into which air may be introduced . fig2 a details valves 38a and 38b , one for each of cup 22a and 22b , through which air may be inserted into the cups 22 . because valves 38a and 38b are in the illustrated embodiments designed to be placed in plies 30b closest to the skin of the wearer , they may be covered by displaceable flaps 42 of suitable material . greater stability in structure or shape of top 14 may sometimes be obtained by connecting ( by , for example , spot welding or otherwise ) portions of plies 30a and 30b in the area of the pocket . doing so results in a lattice of connected and unconnected portions of plies 30a and 30b , with any injected air filling the space between the unconnected portions of the plies 30 . bottom 18 is conceptually similar to top 14 . intended to cover the pubic region of a female wearer , bottom 18 shown in fig1 b and 2b includes plies 46a and 46b whose respective edges 50a and 50b are sealed together . bottom 18 additionally may incorporate thong 54 and hook and loop fasteners 58 to facilitate attachment to the wearer . valve 62 may be used to inflate the pocket formed by plies 50a and 50b and may be covered ( when desired ) by flap 66 . like plies 30a and 30b of top 14 , plies 50a and 50b may be connected in some areas of the pocket they form . for stability in use , bottom 18 additionally may include a waistband 70 whose plies inflate as ( horizontally - oriented ) rectangles 74 . those skilled in the art will , however , recognize that other stabilizing methods may be employed consistent with the present invention . thus , although the foregoing is provided for purposes of illustrating , explaining , and describing embodiments of the present invention , further modifications and adaptation to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art and may be made without departing from the scope of spirit of the invention .

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