Buoys – rafts – and aquatic devices – Rafts – Inflatable
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-06
2002-04-09
Avila, Stephen (Department: 3617)
Buoys, rafts, and aquatic devices
Rafts
Inflatable
C441S129000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06368171
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
The present development relates to a fabric cover for encasing a flotation device. The cover includes means for securing optional attachments, such as anchoring pouches, to the device.
Flotation devices, such as air mattresses and foam floats, are commonly used in swimming pools, lakes, and at other water recreation facilities. The user lays on the upper surface of the device while the device floats on the surface of the water. Typically, the user is clothed in a swimsuit, sun-suit, or shorts, and thus, significant portions of the user's skin is in direct contact with the flotation device. In order for the flotation device to function properly, the device has to retain air within its skin, or exterior shell, and prohibit permeation of water through the skin. To meet these requirements, the device usually has a skin made from plastic, vinyl, or a similar air and water impermeable material. When this impermeable material gets hot, such as when exposed to the sun for an extended period of time, the material can become uncomfortable next to the user's skin. Further, flotation devices are designed to move freely along the surface of the water. While this may be desirable in a swimming pool or small pond, it can be disconcerting for the user if the floatation device is carried too far from the shore at an ocean or large lake.
Cloth covered floating devices, per se, are not unknown. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,110,614 describes a life saving mattress made from a standard fabric filled mattress wrapped in a water-proof casing, then further wrapped in an outer cover. The cover preferably includes features to ensure that the mattress is held taut within a frame so that the mattress cannot sag and water cannot pool on the upper surface of the mattress. However, for recreational use, the user typically want at least a thin layer of water to reach the surface of the device because of the cooling benefits provided to the user from the water. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,262,989, air-tight inflatable tubes are packed within multiple layers of fabric casings to create a floating device. The multiple fabric layers provide protection for the tubes, but require that the user remove the tubes and turn the cover inside out for thorough drying. More recently, covers have been designed for inflatable mattresses to convert the mattresses from recreational use items to sleeping devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,244 describes a cover for an air mattress that uses a plurality of layers of material for the cover and that includes a side wall assembly, so that when the air mattress is inserted in the cover it appears similar to a standard bed mattress. To use the mattress in the water, the mattress must be removed from the cloth shell, leaving the uncomfortable water impermeable surface of the mattress exposed.
Thus, it would be desirable to have a cover designed to fit over a flotation device that would make the device more comfortable against the user's skin, that would dry quickly when the flotation device was removed from the water—even with the device remaining within the cover, that would be sufficiently flexible that the flotation device could function as though the cover was not present; and that could allow the user to anchor the flotation device—if so desired—so the device could remain in a limited area rather than floating freely.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a fabric cover for encasing a flotation device, or air mattress, having a skin made from an air and water impermeable material, with the cover including attachment sites for anchoring devices. The cover has at least one opening to allow the flotation device to be inserted within the cover. The opening optionally includes closure means, such as Velcro strips, for securing the device within the cover. Loops are attached to the cover along the periphery of the cover to allow the user to secure additional flotation devices or anchors to the cover. The covering is preferably made from a porous fabric that dries rapidly, that is relatively impervious to exposure to sunlight, saline solutions, and aqueous chlorine solutions, and that has a “soft” feel against the user's skin.
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Fuller Cheryl K.
Fuller Dan
Avila Stephen
Nagle, Jr. David W.
Stites & Harbison PLLC
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