1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in devices for recreational or body-support floatation in water using a flexible foam tube or tubes and a fabric or mesh sling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Body support of an individual in the water for the purposes of recreational floatation or body-support may currently be accomplished by a number of different means.
The use of recreational floatation devices is widespread. Most popular are a very large number of inflatable products composed of flexible air-impermeable material such as vinyl plastic. The water mattress as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,068,134, 2,939,158 and 3,068,494 are common examples. These inflatable air mattress products may be simple and inexpensive or elaborate and expensive. Inflatable products are distributed in many shapes based such as, for example, dinosaurs, lobsters, whales and many others. Adaptations may provide for example, leg holes, handle grips, drinking glass holders and clear plastic viewing windows to look through into the water under the inflatable.
Other features have been designed into inflatable air mattresses. U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,329 describes a device said to improve the posturepedic qualities of an air mattress, incorporating two separate air chambers and other improvements.
These inflatable devices all suffer from a number of disadvantages. They all must be inflated, such as by using a pump or by the user blowing into a valve. Over-inflation or under-inflation is always a concern. They are typically plastic or water impermeable cloth fabric construction and when punctured loose buoyancy partially or completely. A puncture must be repaired to afford full usefulness to the device. Construction typically involves seams, which may be difficult to repair if a puncture or tear occurs on a seam. The inclusion of repair kits with available inflatable flotation devices is very common.
A second type of floatation lounger is a type of construction using a rigid or semi-rigid foam slab material. These are typically composed with two large opposing flat surfaces. There may be a foam pillow or such support incorporated at one end for head and neck support. A disadvantage of this type of product is that lying on the foam slab results in a high centre of gravity above the surface of the water. Thus it is very easy to tip about the centre axis of the device or to lose balance while moving about while on the slab.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,162,007 describes a water lounger or water mattress having stacked layers of air-bubble sheet plastic encased in flexible plastic sheet or mesh. This design may provide for lower centre of gravity and better stability while in the lying on the device in the water. However, this mattress design is bulky and may not be easily folded or disassembled for storage. Further, during use, accidental puncture or slitting of the outer water impermeable plastic vinyl sheet cover would result in water entering between the outer layer and inner construction. This could cause some loss of floatation. This water contamination would also be difficult, if not impossible, to remove and could result in problems such as bacterial or algae growth or moulding eventually within the layers of the device construction.
Another type of recreational water lounging product consists of some type of chair, such as a lawn chair construction, with buoyant means, such as rigid styrofoam attached to the chair. These devices have the disadvantage that they are bulky and may use metal frames, for example, aluminum tube frame, which may bend or crack. Typically, metal bolts are also used in the aluminum frame, which are subject to rusting or decay with use, especially when used in recreational pool water containing traces of chlorine for water. This type of water lounger also tends to be expensive.
Recently, an extruded foam tube has been found to be useful as a pool toy and floatation aid. However, this semi-rigid straight tube construction has not been useable as a lounge device.