US20200404990A1

US20200404990A1 - Suit having water-inflow double-blocking function

Info

Publication number: US20200404990A1
Application number: US17/017,974
Authority: US
Inventors: Yong Hui PARK
Original assignee: Surflo Co Ltd
Current assignee: Surflo Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-04-08
Filing date: 2020-09-11
Publication date: 2020-12-31
Also published as: WO2020209395A1; EP3747755A4; JP6990322B2; JP2021523305A; EP3747755A1; EP3747755B1

Abstract

Disclosed is a suit having a water-inflow double-blocking function. The suit includes a lower body portion, an upper body portion coupled to a top of the lower body portion and integral with the lower body portion, wherein the upper body portion has an opening defined in a top center of the upper body portion, and a neck cover coupled removably to the upper body portion, the neck cover including: a neck portion surrounding a neck, and an extension extending outwardly from a bottom of the neck portion to surround the neck, wherein the extension is inserted into the opening of the upper body portion and is coupled to an inner surface of the upper body portion, wherein the neck cover prevents water from flowing into the opening of the upper body portion.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/KR2019/004157, filed on Apr. 8, 2019. The disclosure of the above-listed applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Embodiments of the inventive concept described herein relate to a suit for water sports used on water and in water, and more particularly, to a suit for blocking water inflow in a double manner.
In general, a suit for water sports is worn to protect a body when enjoying various water sports such as scuba diving, surfing, swimming, triathlon, wind surfing, etc. The suit includes a wet suit and a dry suit. The wet suit refers to a suit in which inner seawater heated by a body temperature while the suit is gradually getting wet in water is maintained between a skin and the suit. The dry suit refers to a suit that essentially blocks inflow of water (seawater) into an inside thereof when used underwater. The dry suit is relatively expensive because the suit is manufactured using a water-proof zipper so that water does not inflow into the suit.
However, in a conventional existing dry suit, the water-proof zipper is provided on a back side of the suit. Thus, when wearing or removing the suit by himself or herself, a user must wear or remove the suit while being careful not to cause a breakdown in the water-proof zipper. Thus, not only is it inconvenient to open and close the proof zipper, but also it is not easy to wear or take off the suit by himself or herself.
Further, it is preferable to wear the wet suit so that only a small amount of seawater gradually inflows into the suit such that the suit is in close contact with the body while much seawater does not inflow into an inside of the suit. In other words, when the suit is too large, a large amount of water inflows through an ankle, wrist, and neck portion into the inside of the suit, thereby creating a space between the suit and a skin such that the suit is not in close contact with the body. Further, a large amount of water inflows into the suit, thereby leading to decrease in a body temperature and loss of buoyancy, thereby causing personal accident.
Accordingly, it is preferable to wear the wet suit so that the suit is tightly fitted to the body so that the suit is not loose. In this case, it is very inconvenient to wear or undress the suit by himself or herself. Moreover, when using the suit on water or underwater, a gap between a neck portion of a wearer and the suit is created due to movement of the head, so that the suit is not tightly fitted to a neck of the wearer. This causes a large amount of seawater to inflow through the gap into the suit, thereby causing decrease in the body temperature.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the inventive concept provide a suit for blocking water inflow into the suit in a double manner in which a time and effort in attaching and detaching the suit to and from a body of a user are significantly reduced compared to the conventional wet suit, and the user easily and conveniently wears and takes off the suit by himself or herself, and in which water inflow into the suit is effectively blocked when the user wears the suit and then uses the suit on water and underwater.
The purpose to be achieved by the inventive concept are not limited to the purposes mentioned above, and other purposes that are not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.
According to an exemplary embodiment, a suit having a water-inflow double-blocking function includes a lower body portion, an upper body portion coupled to a top of the lower body portion and integral with the lower body portion, wherein the upper body portion has an opening defined in a top center of the upper body portion, and a neck cover coupled removably to the upper body portion, the neck cover including: a neck portion surrounding a neck, and an extension extending outwardly from a bottom of the neck portion to surround the neck, wherein the extension is inserted into the opening of the upper body portion and is coupled to an inner surface of the upper body portion, wherein the neck cover prevents water from flowing into the opening of the upper body portion, wherein the upper body portion includes an over-head cover having one side part fixed to a rear portion of the upper body portion, and having the other side part coupled to a front portion of the upper body portion and extending across a central top of the upper body portion, wherein the over-head cover has a head receiving hole defined therein through which a head passes, wherein the over-head cover covers the opening of the upper body portion receiving the extension of the neck cover and thus seal the neck, thereby blocking water inflow to the opening of the upper body portion in a double manner, wherein the over-head cover further includes water-proof rubbers and water inflow prevention films for blocking water inflow while the over-head cover covers the opening of the upper body portion and thus seals the neck, wherein each of the water-proof rubbers is embedded into each of both lateral ends of the over-head cover to first block inflow of water while the over-head cover covers the opening of the upper body portion and thus seals the neck, wherein the water inflow prevention films are disposed inwardly of the water-proof rubbers, and second blocks inflow of water not blocked by the water-proof rubbers.
The water inflow prevention films may be arranged on each of an inner surface of the over-head cover and an outer surface of the upper body portion and may be spaced apart from each other at a predetermined spacing.
The water inflow prevention films formed on the inner surface of the over-head cover and the water inflow prevention films formed on the outer surface of the upper body portion may be arranged in a zigzag form, such that the water inflow prevention film formed on the outer surface of the upper body portion blocks a gap between the adjacent water inflow prevention films formed on the inner surface of the over-head cover.
Each of the water-proof rubbers may be made of an elastic rubber and pressurizes each of the both lateral ends of the over-head cover to allow the both lateral ends of the over-head cover to be in close contact with the upper body portion.
The upper body portion may further include a fixing cover fixed to the front portion of the upper body portion, wherein the fixing cover may include a zipper to couple and fix the other side part of the over-head cover to the front portion of the upper body portion.
One of female and male snap buttons may be formed on each of front and rear portions of the extension of the neck cover and the other of female and male snap buttons may be formed on each of the front and rear portions of the upper body portion so that the neck cover is detachably coupled to the upper body portion using the female and male snap buttons.
A water-proof rubber may be disposed on an inner surface of the neck cover to allow the neck cover to closely adhere to a skin of the neck, thereby preventing water from flowing through a gap between the neck cover and the neck into the opening of the upper body portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The above and other objects and features will become apparent from the following description with reference to the following figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various figures unless otherwise specified, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a suit for blocking water inflow in a double manner according to an embodiment of the inventive concept;

FIG. 2 is a view showing a state in which an over-head cover and a neck cover shown in FIG. 1 are separated from each other.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a state before wearing an over-head cover shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a state after wearing the over-head cover shown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 5A-5D and 6A-6D are schematic diagrams showing a process of wearing a suit for blocking water inflow in a double manner according to an embodiment of the inventive concept.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Advantages and features of the inventive concept, and a method of achieving them will become apparent with reference to the embodiments to be described later in detail together with the accompanying drawings. However, the inventive concept is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but will be implemented in various different forms.
In the present specification, the present embodiments are provided to completely disclose the inventive concept, and to fully inform a person of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the inventive concept belongs to the scope of the invention. Further, the inventive concept is only defined by the scope of the claim. Accordingly, in some embodiments, well-known components, well-known operations, and well-known approaches are not described in detail in order to avoid obscuring the inventive concept.
In addition, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements throughout the specification. In addition, the mentioned terms used in the present specification are intended for explaining the embodiment, and are not intended to limit the inventive concept. As used herein, the singular forms “a” and “an” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes”, and “including” when used in this specification, specify the presence of the stated features, integers, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, operations, elements, components, and/or portions thereof.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this inventive concept belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
Hereinafter, technical features of the inventive concept will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a suit for blocking water inflow in a double manner according to an embodiment of the inventive concept, and FIG. 2 show a state of a separation between an over-head cover and a neck cover shown in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a suit 10 according to an embodiment of the inventive concept is worn to protect a body of a user when performing various water sports activities such as scuba diving, surfing, swimming, triathlon, windsurfing, etc. The suit implements a protective effect that prevents a decrease in a body temperature during water sports activities, and prevents damage to the body from external objects.
The suit 10 is manufactured in a one-piece form for easy wearing and undressing, and is made of neoprene having excellent elasticity so that water does not inflow into the inside of the suit by maximizing adhesion thereof with the body after wearing the suit. In addition, the neoprene outer surface is coated with polyurethane to reduce a surface friction with water during scuba diving or swimming, thereby lowering a resistance to water during underwater activities.
The suit 10 is manufactured in a one-piece form, and is divided into a lower body portion 1 and an upper body portion 2 based on a body wearing portion. As shown in FIG. 2, an opening 2 a which has an open top is defined in a top center of the upper body portion 2. In this connection, the opening 2 a is formed by cutting a top portion in a roughly ‘Y’ shape so that the wearer does not feel uncomfortable when wearing or removing the suit 10. Accordingly, when wearing or undressing the suit 10, the wearer may open the opening 2 a of the upper body portion 2 beyond a width of the wearer's shoulder, thus significantly reducing wearing and undressing times. Further, it is easy to wear for those having a physical handicap to easily wear the suit 10.
A neck cover 21 is provided on the opening 2 a of the upper body portion 2, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. The neck cover 21 may protect the wearer's neck from external objects, and keep the neck of the wearer warm and prevent water from flowing into the opening 2 a of the upper body portion 2 during water sports activities.
The neck cover 21 may have an approximately neck warmer shape. For example, the neck cover 21 may include a neck portion surrounding the neck, and an extension extending outwardly from a bottom of the neck portion to surround the neck and coupled to an inner surface of the upper body portion 2. The neck cover 21 has at least a portion inserted inside the upper body portion 2 through the opening 2 a of the upper body portion 2, and tightly coupled to an inner surface of the upper body portion 2. In this connection, the neck cover 21 has male snap buttons 21 a on front and rear sides thereof, such that the male snap buttons 21 a may be detachably coupled to female snap buttons 2 b provided on front and rear sides of the upper body portion 2.
Further, an inner skin of the neck cover 21 which is in direct contact with the wearer's neck is made of a shark skin fabric so that the neck cover 21 closely adheres to the skin of the neck area when the neck cover 21 is in contact with water, thereby to prevent water from flowing into the inside of the suit through the neck cover 21 and the neck portion.
As shown in FIG. 2, an over-head cover 22 is coupled, at one side, to a back side (a rear side) of the upper body portion 2 to cover and seal a gap between the neck cover 21 and the opening 2 a in a double manner. A fixing cover 24 is provided on a front side (abdomen side) of the upper body portion 2 and combined with the over-head cover 22 using a zipper 23, thereby to fix the other side of the over-head cover 22 to the upper body portion 2. In this connection, the zipper 23 may include a water-proof zipper.
As shown in FIG. 2, the over-head cover 22 has a head receiving hole 22 a into which the wearer's head is inserted. Accordingly, when wearing the suit, the user pulls the other side of the over-head cover 22 whose one side is fixed to the rear side of the upper body portion 2 to overlap a top central portion of the upper body portion 2, and then insert the head through the head receiving hole 22 a and then fastens the other end of the over-head cover 22 to a top end of the fixing cover 24 using the zipper 23.
In one example, a water-proof rubber 25 may be embedded at each of both lateral ends of the over-head cover 22 to prevent water from flowing into the inside of the suit while preventing both lateral ends of the over-head cover 22 from rolling up. In this connection, the water-proof rubber 25 is made of an elastic rubber embedded inside and along each of both lateral ends of the over-head cover 22.
The water-proof rubber 25 uses an elastic force to elastically press both lateral ends of the over-head cover 22 to tightly adhere both lateral ends of the over-head cover 22 to the upper body portion 2. Thus, during water sports activities, water is prevented from flowing into the inside of the suit through a gap between the over-head cover 22 and the upper body portion 2.
FIG. 3 is a view showing to explain a state before wearing the over-head cover shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a view showing a state after wearing the over-head cover shown in FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, in a state in which the neck cover 21 is inserted into the opening 2 a of the upper body portion 2, and is coupled to an inner face thereof using the snap buttons 21 a and 2 b, as shown in FIG. 4, the user pulls the other side of the over-head cover 22 to overlap the top central portion of the upper body portion 2, and then use the zipper 23 to fix the other end of the over-head cover 22 to a top of the fixing cover 24.
In this way, when the over-head cover 22 covers the opening 2 a of the upper body portion 2 to which the neck cover 21 is coupled in a double manner to seal the neck portion, water inflow into the suit may be effectively blocked compared to a traditional rubber seal. In particular, the over-head cover 22 covers and seals, in a double manner, a gap around the neck portion that may be formed due to movement of the head during water sports activities, thereby to completely block the inflow of water through the opening 2 a of the upper body portion 2 into the suit.
Further, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, after wearing the over-head cover 22, the inner surface of the over-head cover 22 is maintained only in a contact state with the outer surface of the upper body portion 2. Thus, water may inflow into a gap formed between the over-head cover 22 and the upper body portion 2. Accordingly, according to the inventive concept, water inflow prevention films 22 b and 2 c are formed to correspond to an inner surface of the over-head cover 22 and an outer surface of the upper body portion 2, respectively. In a state in which the over-head cover 22 is in close contact with the outer surface of the upper body portion 2, the water inflow prevention films 22 b and 2 c block a gap between the over-head cover 22 and the upper body portion 2 so that water inflow into the gap may be prevented.
Each of these water inflow prevention films 22 b and 2 c may be made of a silicon film. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a plurality of water inflow prevention films 22 b formed on the over-head cover 22 are arranged on the inner surface of the over-head cover 22 and are spaced from each other by a predefined regular spacing. In addition, a plurality of the water inflow prevention films 2 c are arranged on the outer surface of each of front and rear sides of the upper body portion 2 and are spaced from each other by a predefined regular spacing and correspond to the plurality of the water inflow prevention films 22 b formed on the over-head cover 22.
In a state in which the over-head cover 22 is coupled to the fixing cover 24 while cover a front portion of the upper body portion 2, the water inflow prevention films 22 b formed on the over-head cover 22 and the water inflow prevention films 2 c formed on the outer surfaces of the front and rear sides of the upper body portion 2, respectively, are arranged in a zigzag shape, as shown in FIG. 4. In other words, the water inflow prevention film 2 c formed on the outer surface of the upper body portion 2 blocks a spacing between adjacent water inflow prevention films 22 b formed on the over-head cover 22.
FIGS. 5A-5D and 6A-6D are schematic diagrams showing a process of wearing a suit for blocking water inflow in a double manner according to an embodiment of the inventive concept. FIGS. 5A-5D are diagrams when viewed from a front of the suit, and FIGS. 6A-6D are diagrams when viewed from a rear of the suit.
Referring to FIGS. 5A-5D and 6A-6D, the user first inserts the neck cover 21 into the opening 2 a of the upper body portion 2 and connect the neck cover 21 thereto, and then pulls the other side of the over-head cover 22 to overlap the top central portion of the upper body portion 2 and then puts the head thereof through the head receiving hole 22 a and thus wear the suit. Then, the user attaches the other end of the over-head cover 22 to a top of the fixing cover 24 using the zipper 23 to complete the wearing. In addition, the undressing may be performed in an order opposite to the order of wearing.
According to the inventive concept, the suit includes the neck cover coupled to the opening of the upper body portion, and the over-head cover for covering and sealing a gap between the neck cover and the opening of the upper body portion in a double manner. Thus, when the wearer wears the suit and uses the suit on water or underwater, the suit may effectively block inflow of outside water into the inside of the suit.
The effects of the inventive concept are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects that are not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.
While the inventive concept has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventive concept. Therefore, it should be understood that the above embodiments are not limiting, but illustrative.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A suit having a water-inflow double-blocking function, the suit comprising:

a lower body portion;

an upper body portion coupled to a top of the lower body portion and integral with the lower body portion, wherein the upper body portion has an opening defined in a top center of the upper body portion; and

a neck cover coupled removably to the upper body portion, the neck cover including:

a neck portion surrounding a neck; and

an extension extending outwardly from a bottom of the neck portion to surround the neck, wherein the extension is inserted into the opening of the upper body portion and is coupled to an inner surface of the upper body portion, wherein the neck cover prevents water from flowing into the opening of the upper body portion,

wherein the upper body portion includes an over-head cover having one side part fixed to a rear portion of the upper body portion, and having the other side part coupled to a front portion of the upper body portion and extending across a central top of the upper body portion, wherein the over-head cover has a head receiving hole defined therein through which a head passes, wherein the over-head cover covers the opening of the upper body portion receiving the extension of the neck cover and thus seal the neck, thereby blocking water inflow to the opening of the upper body portion in a double manner,

wherein the over-head cover further includes water-proof rubbers and water inflow prevention films for blocking water inflow while the over-head cover covers the opening of the upper body portion and thus seals the neck,

wherein each of the water-proof rubbers is embedded into each of both lateral ends of the over-head cover to first block inflow of water while the over-head cover covers the opening of the upper body portion and thus seals the neck, and

wherein the water inflow prevention films are disposed inwardly of the water-proof rubbers, and second blocks inflow of water not blocked by the water-proof rubbers.

2. The suit of claim 1, wherein the water inflow prevention films are arranged on each of an inner surface of the over-head cover and an outer surface of the upper body portion and are spaced apart from each other at a predetermined spacing.

3. The suit of claim 2, wherein the water inflow prevention films formed on the inner surface of the over-head cover and the water inflow prevention films formed on the outer surface of the upper body portion are arranged in a zigzag form, such that the water inflow prevention film formed on the outer surface of the upper body portion blocks a gap between the adjacent water inflow prevention films formed on the inner surface of the over-head cover.

4. The suit of claim 1, wherein each of the water-proof rubbers is made of an elastic rubber and pressurizes each of the both lateral ends of the over-head cover to allow the both lateral ends of the over-head cover to be in close contact with the upper body portion.

5. The suit of claim 1, wherein the upper body portion further includes a fixing cover fixed to the front portion of the upper body portion,

wherein the fixing cover includes a zipper to couple and fix the other side part of the over-head cover to the front portion of the upper body portion.

6. The suit of claim 1, wherein one of female and male snap buttons is formed on each of front and rear portions of the extension of the neck cover and the other of female and male snap buttons is formed on each of the front and rear portions of the upper body portion so that the neck cover is detachably coupled to the upper body portion using the female and male snap buttons.

7. The suit of claim 1, wherein a water-proof rubber is disposed on an inner surface of the neck cover to allow the neck cover to closely adhere to a skin of the neck, thereby preventing water from flowing through a gap between the neck cover and the neck into the opening of the upper body portion.