Buoys – rafts – and aquatic devices – Swimming aid to increase stroke efficiency – Foot attached
Reexamination Certificate
2002-10-18
2004-03-09
Avila, Stephen (Department: 3617)
Buoys, rafts, and aquatic devices
Swimming aid to increase stroke efficiency
Foot attached
Reexamination Certificate
active
06702633
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to a propulsion mechanism for use with float tubes (aka. “belly boats”), pontoon boats, and other float devices commonly used in fishing, duck hunting, and other aquatic pursuits and, more particularly, to a foot fin assembly for propelling the user of such devices. Specifically, the present invention relates to an improved universal foot fin assembly which is easily adaptable for use in propelling the user of a float tube or other float device in either a forwardly facing direction or a backwardly facing direction in water while simultaneously permitting the user of such foot fins to walk in a forwardly facing direction in shallow water and on land without removing the fin assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, users of float tubes and similar aquatic apparatus use some type of propulsion aid on their feet to assist in moving about the water's surface. Most float tube fins presently used are similar in design to the foot fins used by swimmers and divers. Illustrations of such fins include those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,183,529, 4,857,024, 4,929,206, 4,940,437 and 5,597,336. Such devices operate by movement of the user's legs and feet in a flutter kick which propels an outstretched swimmer or diver in a forward direction. Conversely, they propel a person seated in or on a float tube or similar device rearwardly or backwardly relative to the direction he or she is facing. This backward movement is preferred by pontoon boat users on moving streams who need to face downstream and propel backwards to steer a course and avoid obstructions. However, still water float tube users generally desire to move forward when moving about on the water or casting to rising fish.
The forward extending fin blades of the previously described fins restrict foot movement, creating a risk of tripping and falling while walking with the fins on. Walking in marginal water to enter or exit a body of water is particularly hazardous, for in addition to the clumsiness of the protruding fins and the limitations of movement and visibility caused by the float tube the walker has to overcome the water's resistance on the fins with each step. As a consequence, most users of forward extending fins walk backward to enter and exit the water. Walking and wading backward, especially without use of the arms and hands as a balancing aid (that use precluded by hand carrying the annular float tube in position about the lower torso) creates a significant danger of falling, injury and drowning. Strenuous backward kicking with such prior art fins tends to cause leg cramps and fatigue.
The process of donning and removing a round float tube while wearing such forwardly extending fins is also difficult and hazardous. For example, the bulk and shape of a float tube limits movement, necessitating that the fins are attached to the user's feet prior to donning the float tube. In such an instance, with the float tube lying flat on the ground and the fins attached to the user's feet, the user balances on one foot while stepping over the circumference of the tube with the other foot to insert that foot with fin into the leg opening of the float tube seat. Thus straddling the tube, the user then shifts his or her balance to the foot now inside the tube so as to lift the opposite foot with fin over the tube and insert it also into the leg opening of the seat. The forward extension of such prior art fins, their general configuration and size, and the constriction of the seat of an annular float tube makes it extremely awkward to insert both feet with fins in place into the leg opening of a float tube. Balancing is especially difficult while bending over to maneuver the unwieldy tube into position to facilitate inserting the forward extending fin of the second foot into the leg opening.
As the result of such difficulties, several fins have been developed to provide a means of forward propulsion by float tube users. Moreover, designs have been provided wherein a single paddle is secured to an existing shoe of a float tube user. Such designs include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,395,844, 4,664,639 and 5,527,196. Other designs such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,276,082 and 3,432,868 have provided elongated or funnel shaped fins attached to the outside sides of the legs as an integral part of wading boots or waterproof garments for float fishing. A device known as the Paddle Pusher which is manufactured by Fishmaster Manufacturing Co. of Oklahoma City, Okla., provides side paddles to be worn on existing tennis shoes or other foot gear. The design of the previously described fins compel a float tube user to assume an unnatural forced vertical posture to propel the float tube on the water. Moreover, these designs are generally inefficient lacking the advantage of an extended longer arc of leg movement in the water which can be gained by positioning the fin in its operating position underneath the foot of a user. They also lack the advantage of a fin biased to an operating position from which the fin will generate usable thrust more rapidly than a fin which must be initially extended to its operating position by movement through the water. The design and construction of a float tube seat typically places a user thereof in the posture of a person seated in a chair with his or her legs and feet extended generally outwardly and forwardly. In such a position kicking is restricted to lower leg movement with the legs pivoting at the knees, not the hips as is assumed in many prior art devices.
Use of the fin disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,639 in which the fin is integrally secured as part of the sole of the shoe or as part of a sleeve that fits over the shoe requires the user to lean forward against the designed posture of the float tube in order to position his or her body and legs in a generally upright vertical plane to provide a sufficient length of kick to make use of the device. This is due to the fact that the integral fin flap is by its nature biased toward its retracted position against the shoe sole necessitating unusual motion and force from the leg and foot of the float tube user to extend the fin away from the sole of the shoe and into position to create forward user motion. The devices of U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,276,082 and 3,432,868 and the Paddle Pusher also compel the user of a float tube to assume a forced, generally upright vertical position to move through the water. Much of the user's leg motion with these devices is wasted, and such awkward movement within the float tube is inherently uncomfortable.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,077,139 provides a fin surface of coated fabric into which tubular ribs are sewn to stabilize the fabric in a generally planar fin surface. The device attaches loosely downwardly and behind the heel of the user's foot, being secured to the user's boot by woven straps and buckles. In walking to enter and exit the water the fin surface drags on the ground behind the user's foot, thereby creating a danger of tripping and falling if the user of the device were to be in a rearward off balance position. In such an off balance position, the fin surface and its integral ribs would catch on the ground restricting or preventing a backward movement of the user's foot to regain his or her balance thus causing the user to fall over backward. In use in water the fin hangs downwardly from its attaching straps, being biased toward an operating position only by the forces of gravity and an adjustment in fin width by the manner in which the heel straps are adjusted to the user's foot. Because it is not positively biased to its open operating position the fin frequently does not fill with water in a kicking motion and thus is generally inefficient. Many users of float tube fins do not wear boots, preferring to eliminate the weight of the boot by using only “stocking foot” waders. If used over stocking foot waders the device tends to slip off the foot since there is no protruding boot heel to retain the fin and it
Avila Stephen
Dux Fin Co.
Isaac John L.
Isaac & Asso.
LandOfFree
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