Flotation vest

Abstract

Foam buoyancy .[.section.]. .Iadd.sections .Iaddend.carried in the front of a flotation vest are formed in four separate pieces that are cut from rectangular sheets of buoyancy material without any waste material.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A flotation vest having an outer shell including a back section and left and right front sections joined to the back section at the top and at the sides to form arm holes, and internal buoyancy means carried by the shell and including front portions formed by at least four pieces of buoyancy material which when properly fitted edgewise together form rectangular pieces such that there is no waste material in cutting the pieces from rectangular sheets, the front buoyancy portions include a lower body piece and a shoulder piece carried by each of the left and right front sections, each of said body pieces having a lower edge, a central edge, a side edge, and an upper edge, each shoulder piece including a lower edge, an arm hole edge, a neck hole edge, and an upper edge, the shoulder piece lower edge being positioned to engage the body piece upper edge with said engaging edges being formed to engage at an angle such that the arm hole edge and the neck hole edge of the shoulder piece slope at any angle upwardly and outwardly away from the body piece central edge, the width of a shoulder piece between the arm hole and neck hole edges being considerably less than the width of a body piece between its side and central edges so that with the shoulder piece lower edge being positioned close to the body piece central edge, a portion of the body piece upper edge forms an arm hole with the arm hole edge of a shoulder piece. 
     
     
       2. The vest of claim 1 wherein said shoulder pieces are rectangular and each body piece central edge is longer than its side edge so that the upper edge of each body piece is not parallel to its lower edge. 
     
     
       3. The vest of claim 1 wherein said body piece central edge is parallel to its side edge and perpendicular to said body piece lower edge. 
     
     
       4. The vest of claim 3 wherein said shoulder piece arm hole edge and neck hole edge are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the shoulder piece upper edge. 
     
     
       5. The vest of claim 3 wherein the body pieces if placed with their upper edges engaging each other form a rectangle. 
     
     
       6. The vest of claim 5 wherein the rectangle formed is about twice as long as it is wide. 
     
     
       7. The vest of claim 5 wherein the combined height of two of the body pieces when positioned with their upper edges engaging is equal to the combined length of two shoulder pieces. 
     
     
       8. The vest of claim 7 including a back buoyancy piece the height of which is equal to the combined height of two body pieces. 
     
     
       9. The vest of claim 3 wherein the upper edge of the body piece forms an angle of approximately 20° with respect to the lower edge of the body piece. 
     
     
       10. The vest of claim 1 wherein the neck hole edge of the shoulder piece intersects the central edge of its adjacent body piece to form an angle of approximately 160°. 
     
     
       11. The vest of claim 1 wherein the neck hole edge of a shoulder piece forms an angle with the central edge of the engaging body piece, and the width of the shoulder piece is less than that of the engaging body piece. 
     
     
       12. The vest of claim 1 wherein the length of a shoulder piece is about equal to the width of a body piece. 
     
     
       13. A flotation vest having an outer shell including a back section and left and right front sections joined to the back sections at the top and at the sides to form arm holes, and internal buoyancy means carried by the shell and including front portions formed by at least four pieces of buoyancy material which when properly fitted edgewise together form rectangular pieces such that there is no waste material in cutting the pieces from rectangular sheets, the front buoyancy portions include a straight edged lower body piece and a straight edged shoulder piece carried by each of the left and right front sections, each of said body pieces having a lower edge, a central edge perpendicular to the lower edge, a side edge parallel to central and shorter than the central edge, and an upper edge extending it an angle of about 20° with respect to the lower edge, each shoulder piece having a rectangular shape including a lower edge, an arm hole edge, a neck hole edge, and an upper edge, the shoulder piece lower edge being positioned to engage the body piece upper edge such that the arm hole edge and the neck hole edge of the shoulder piece slope at an angle upwardly and outwardly away from the body piece central edge, the length of the shoulder piece lower edge being considerably shorter than the width of a body piece, and said outer shell is formed so that the neck hole edge of the shoulder piece intersects the upper end of the body portion central edge. 
     
     
       14. The vest of claim 13 wherein the combined height of two of the body pieces when positioned with their upper edges engaging to form a rectangle is equal to the combined height of two shoulder pieces when positioned with their upper edges engaging to form a rectangle. 
     
     
       15. The vest of claim 14 including a back buoyancy piece the height of which is equal to the combined height of two body pieces so that the five buoyancy pieces when fit together form a rectangle and hence may be cut from a single rectangular sheet without any waste buoyancy material. 
     
     
       16. The vest of claim 14 wherein the height of a shoulder piece is equal to the width of a body piece. .Iadd. 
     
     
       17.  A flotation vest having an outer shell including a back section and left and right front sections joined to the back section at the top and at the sides to form arm holes, and internal buoyancy means carried by the shell and including front portions formed by at least four quadrilateral pieces of buoyancy material which when properly fitted edgewise together form a single, substantially rectangular piece such that waste material is minimized in cutting the pieces from rectangular sheets, the front buoyancy portions include a lower body piece and a shoulder piece carried by each of the left and right front sections, each of said body pieces having a lower edge, a central edge, a side edge, and an upper edge, each shoulder piece including a lower edge, an arm hole edge, a neck hole edge, and an upper edge, the shoulder piece lower edge being positioned to engage the body piece upper edge with said engaging edges being formed to engage at an angle such that the arm hole edge and the neck hole edge of the shoulder piece slope at an angle upwardly and outwardly away from the body piece central edge. .Iaddend..Iadd.18. The vest as recited in claim 17 wherein the width of a shoulder piece between the arm hole and neck hole edges being considerably less than the width of a body piece between its side and central edges so that with the shoulder piece lower edge being positioned close to the body piece central edge, a portion of the body piece upper edge forms an arm hole with the arm hole edge of a 
     
     
        shoulder piece. .Iaddend. .Iadd.19.  A flotation vest having an outer shell including a back section and left and right front sections joined to the back section at the top and at the sides to form arm holes, and internal buoyancy means carried by the shell and including front portions formed by at least four quadrilateral pieces of buoyancy material which when properly fitted edgewise together form a plurality of substantially rectangular pieces such that waste material is minimized in cutting the pieces from a plurality of rectangular sheets, the front buoyancy portions include a lower body piece and a shoulder piece carried by each of the left and right front sections, each of said body pieces having a lower edge, a central edge, a side edge, and an upper edge, each shoulder piece including a lower edge, an armhole edge, a neck hole edge and an upper edge, the shoulder piece lower edge being positioned to engage the body piece upper edge with said engaging edges being formed to engage at an angle such that the arm hole edge, and the neck hole edge of the shoulder piece slope at an angle upwardly and outwardly away from the body piece central edge, wherein the width of a shoulder piece between the arm hole and neck hole edges being considerably less than the width of a body piece between its side and central edges so that a portion of the body piece upper edge forms an arm hole with the arm hole edge of a shoulder piece. .Iaddend. .Iadd.20. A flotation vest having an outer shell including a back section and left and right front sections joined to the back section at the top and at the sides to form arm holes, and internal buoyancy means carried by the shell and including front portions formed by at least four quadrilateral pieces of buoyancy material which can be formed from rectangular sheets of buoyancy material such that waste material is minimized in cutting the pieces from rectangular sheets, the front buoyancy portions include a lower body piece and a shoulder piece carried by each of the left and right front sections, each of said body pieces having a lower edge, a central edge, a side edge, and an upper edge, each shoulder piece including a lower edge, an arm hole edge, a neck hole edge, and an upper edge, the shoulder piece lower edge being positioned to engage the body piece upper edge with said engaging edges being formed to engage at an angle such that the arm hole edge and the neck hole edge of the shoulder piece slope at an angle upwardly and outwardly away from the body piece central edge, wherein the width of a shoulder piece between the arm hole and neck hole edges being considerably less than the width of a body piece between its side and central edges so that a portion of the body piece upper edge forms an arm hole with the arm hole edge of a shoulder piece. .Iaddend. .Iadd.21. The vest of claim 20 wherein said quadrilateral pieces of buoyancy material are formed from at least two rectangular sheets of buoyancy material. .Iaddend. .Iadd.22. A flotation vest having an outer shell including a back section and left and right front sections joined to the back section at the top and at the sides to form arm holes, and internal buoyancy means carried by the shell and including front portions formed by at least four quadilateral pieces of buoyancy material formed such that waste material is minimized in cutting the pieces from a plurality of sheets, the front buoyancy portions include a lower body piece and a shoulder piece carried by each of the left and right front sections, each of said body pieces having a lower edge, a central edge, a side edge, and an upper edge, each shoulder piece including a lower edge, an arm hole edge, a neck hole edge, and an upper edge, the shoulder piece lower edge being positioned to engage the body piece upper edge with said engaging edges being formed to engage at an angle such that the arm hole edge and the neck hole edge of the shoulder piece slope at an angle upwardly and outwardly away from the body piece central edge, wherein the width of a shoulder piece between the arm hole and neck hole edges being considerably less than the width of a body piece between its side and central edges so that a portion of the body piece upper edge forms an arm hole with the arm hole edge of a shoulder piece. .Iaddend. .Iadd.23. A flotation vest having an outer shell including a back section and left and right front sections joined to the back section at the top and at the sides to form arm holes, and internal buoyancy means carried by the shell and including front portions formed by at least four pieces of buoyancy material when properly fitted edgewise together, form a plurality of quadrilateral pieces such that waste material is minimized in cutting the pieces from rectangular sheets, the front buoyancy portions include a lower body piece and a shoulder piece carried by each of the left and right front sections, each of said body pieces having a lower edge, a central edge, a side edge, and an upper edge, each shoulder piece including a lower edge, an arm hole edge, a neck hole edge, and an upper edge, the shoulder piece lower edge being positioned to engage the body piece upper edge with said engaging edges being formed to engage at an angle such that the arm hole edge and the neck hole edge of the shoulder piece slope at an angle upwardly and outwardly away from the body piece central edge, wherein the width of a shoulder piece between the arm hole and neck hole edges being considerably less than the width of a body piece between its side and central edges a portion of the body piece upper edge forms an arm hole with the arm hole edge of a shoulder piece. .Iaddend.