Personal floatation devices

Claim 1

A personal floatation device comprising: A. a vertically symmetrical back panel sized to overlay the back of a wearer and having an inner surface and an outer surface and having an upper zone and a lower zone, said back panel having, (a) a lower edge sized to extend across the back of a wearer at about the bottom of the rib cage and about the sides of a wearer toward the front of the wearer, (b) an upper edge shorter than said lower edge sized to extend across the shoulders of a wearer at the neck of a wearer, and (c) a pair of side edges on the lower portion each extending generally upwardly vertically from the lower edge to the upper port.on and each converging inwardly and upwardly defining a fair curve extending to the upper edge from the side edges of the lower zone, B. a front panel sized to overlay the chest of a wearer and having an inner surface and an outer surface and having, (a) a lower edge which in use is generally parallel to the bottom edge of the back panel and extends slightly below the level of the bottom edge of the back panel, (b) an upper edge which in use extends across the upper portion of the chest of a wearer below the shoulders, and (c) a pair of spaced side edges each extending between the upper and lower edges of the front panel, C. a shoulder panel having an opening for passage of the head of a wearer and having a front edge, rear edge and side edges, D. a first zone between the front edge of the shoulder panel and the upper edge of the front panel comprising a bendable zone extending between the side edges of the shoulder panel and the side edges of the front panel, and a second zone between the upper edge of the back panel and the back edge of the shoulder panel comprising a bendable zone extending between the side edges of the shoulder panel and side edges of the back panel, E. means connecting said panels together at said first and second zones, F. a girth strap having a first end zone and a second end zone and an intermediate zone, G. said girth strap being sized to extend about the girth of a wearer and the back and front panels adjacent the lower edges of said front and back panels, H. means securing the intermediate zone of the girth strap to the lower zone of the back panel and adjacent the lower edge of said back panel with said first end zone extending from one side edge of said back panel, and wherein said second end zone extends from the other side edge of said back panel, I. said first and second end zones each having an end, and mutually interengageable releasable fastening means on the end of the first end zone and second end zone, J. means on the front panel to maintain the girth strap in position adjacent the lower edge of the front panel, K. chest and upper back strap means sized to extend around the chest of a weare and the back and front panel adjacent the upper edge of the front panel and across the lower zone of the back panel between the girth strap and the upper edge of the back panel, L. means securing said back strap means to said back panel, and M. fastener means on the back strap means for hooked-up engagement about the body of a wearer.