Positive Drive Swim Fin
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Europaisches Patentamt 0 337 221 J) European Patent Office 0 Publication number: A1 Office europeen des brevets © EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION © Application number: 89105765.5 © Int. CI.4: A63B 31/11 © Date of filing: 01.04.89 © Priority: 12.04.88 US 180544 © Applicant: Mc Carthy, Kevin I. 6841 Via Verano © Date of publication of application: Carlsbad California 92008(US) 18.10.89 Bulletin 89/42 © Inventor: Mc Carthy, Kevin I. © Designated Contracting States: 6841 Via Verano DE FR GB IT Carlsbad California 92008(US) ® Representative: Hoeger, Stellrecht & Partner Uhlandstrasse 14 c D-7000 Stuttgart 1(DE) © Positive drive swim fin. © The specification herein shows a swimmer's fin (10) having a foot pocket (30) and a blade portion wherein the blade portion is offset from the foot pocket (30) to compensate for the natural supination during a flutter kick, stroke or beat, regardless of whether or not it is a backstroke, kick, or a crawl stroke kick. The fin can be molded in a symmetrical manner so that it can be interchanged between the feet and provided with an offset ankle strap (14) in order to create a more comfortable relationship dur- ing the swimming movement. The fin also (10) in- cludes an improved blade end having inner and outer curves wherein the outer curve from the body is of a larger radius than the inner curve. The offset of the foot pocket from the blade can be such wherein the axis of the blade and the axis of the foot ^pocket intersect within the foot pocket area (12) to provide for improved performance. CM CO UJ Xerox Copy Centre I =P 0 337 221 A1 3OSITIVE DRIVE SWIM FIN =IELD OF THE INVENTION rotation and medial femoral (upper leg) rotation. Of substantial concern is the ankle and foot undergo motion in a horizontal and oblique plane as well as This invention relates to swimming with a swim in the vertical plane. This horizontal movement is fin which can be used by scuba divers as well as s limited to inward or medial rotation and commonly those free divers and other people who use swim referred to as pigeon-toeing, toeing-in or turning-in. fins. More particularly, it relies upon the overall The anatomical term is supination, which is defined aspects of providing a proper orientation to the as inversion and adduction of the ankle and tarsel drive portion of a swim fin due to the natural . joints of the foot. supination that takes place by the foot during the io Supination or toeing-in results from the ana- flutter kick of an individual. tomical structure of the ankle and foot. Also, the water pressure against the foot's surface, the relax- ation of appropriate muscles and the conscious BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION awareness of the optimal foot position contributes 75 to supination. Swimmers possessing a naturally propelling flutter kick display varying degrees of This invention is a new aquatic body propulsion supination both in the up-stroke and the down- device or swim fin for attachment to the human stroke. foot. It is designed for swimmers and swim fin During the down-stroke the foot supinates natu- users involved in various surface and underwater 20 rally in order to contact more water with the top of swimming sports. Such sports include recreational the foot. This in turn pushes the water backwards swimming, competitive swimming, surfing, body- at a more effective angle, as the foot can be surfing, kick-boarding, body-boarding, knee-boar- extended further in this position. In many cases ding, free-diving, snorkeling, skin-diving, scuba-div- hyperextension of the lower foot is achieved ing and the like. 25 through supination, thereby adding more pushing This new fin is economically designed to take power in the downward stroke. advantage of the natural movements of the torso, When the anatomical centeriine of the foot has legs and feet commonly found in the flutter kick. angled inwardly during supination, the alignment of This enables improved hydrodynamic, propulsion the toes changes in reference to the direction of and efficiency. To effectively illustrate the advan- 30 travel of the swimmer. This toe line which can be * tages of this new swim fin, the critical yet often 65 offset from the anatomical line of the foot, can overlooked aspects of the flutter kick will be de- increase to an approximate 90° angle, perpendicu- scribed. lar to the direction of travel. The flutter kick is fundamentally an alternating During the upstroke the foot rotates laterally oscillation involving the legs and feet with a defini- 35 but stops short of anatomical alignment, thus re- tive up-stroke and down-stroke. The primary pur- taining a degree of supination. Importantly, it pose of each sequential "whip-like" stroke is to should be noted that the angle of supination in both effectively and efficiently push against the water. the upward and downward strokes relates directly This in turn causes a reactive forward propulsion of to the speed and force of the flutter kick. Test the body through the water. 40 results show that the more vigorous the kick the Many experts recognize the flutter kick as a greater the degree of natural supination. crucial counteraction to stabilize the upper torso This toe-in or supinated position is observed in during the crawl stroke. This kick may involve a the flutter kick of both the crawl stroke (when the sequence of flexion, extension and rotation of var- swimmer is ventral side down) and the back stroke ious joints from the lumbar vertebrae of the lower 45 (when the swimmer is ventral side up). The foot back to the flanges of the toes. The specific posi- moves into supination only during the leg stroke tion of the lower foot for accelerating into the that moves the foot towards the ventral side of the whipping sequence determines the effectiveness swimmer. The foot moves away from supination and quantity of force generated. The foot position and back towards anatomical alignment during the desired is one which provides the widest and flat- so leg stroke that moves the foot toward the dorsal or test surface possible for pushing potential. back side of the swimmer. Therefore, since the The primary movements involved in the flutter terms upstroke and downstroke can become con- kick are anatomical flexion and extension of the fusing when speaking of the crawl and back hips, knees and ankles. However, many swimmers strokes, we will now use the terms ventral and display styles that incorporate body rotation, hip dorsal when examining the flutter kick motion. 2 i :P 0 337 221 A1 Once again defined as inversion and adduction together during the kicking action. )f the lower foot, supination, as applied to a swim- The patent to Decorlieu, namely, U.S. Patent ner's foot motion, is somewhat different than foot 2,588,363, shows somewhat of an offset. However, supination in a standing or weight bearing position, it is not tantamount to this invention, nor is it in the n the flutter kick, a strong emphasis is placed on 5 configuration as to the symmetry of the swim fin nversion of the foot and less emphasis on adduc- herein for wearing on both feet. ion. However, since similar foot muscles control The patent to W. H. Smith, U.S. Design Patent joth positions, a significant degree of adduction is 132,377 shows somewhat of an offset with a fin. jsually present. This can be undesirable because it However, this fin and shoe combination cannot be angles or pitches the foot into a position less than (0 used effectively for swimming. optimal for propulsion. U.S. Patent D 124,013 to Churchill shows a Swimmers with substantial adduction in their particularly interesting prior art fin. In a top view the supinated foot position, will inwardly rotate the fem- Churchill fin is symmetrical whereas its foot pocket 3r or thigh to an appropriate degree that tilts the has no offset with reference to the rails. It should :oot back into a position for optimal push against is be kept in mind that the basic design of the Chur- tie water. chill fin is such that hydrodynamic flow favors the Now therefore, there are three significant foot direction parallel to the anatomical center line of xcurrences which compose a Kenetically Im- the foot. Droved Kicking position in the ventral kick. They Virtually all swim fins today largely exhibit a are: (1) foot supination; (2) an adjusting and propor- 20 standard symmetry as viewed from the top. That is, tionate degree of inward femoral rotation; and (3) the medial and lateral sides of the fin follow a foot extension. In the dorsal kick therefore the foot similar diverging line in relation to the foot pocket and leg return back to anatomical alignment. area as shown in the prior art. The aforementioned anatomical movements in- One can only assume that the foot pocket to volved in the flutter kick are in general observed 25 blade parallelism stems from a traditional philos- and practiced by proficient and competitive partici- ophy that either the foot seldom wavers from an pants in the field of swimming and finswimming anatomical line during the flutter kick, or that pre- disciplines, disciplines. vention or discouragement of this action will have This complete motion of the ventral and dorsal no ill consequence on power, hydrodynamics or kick can be termed the Kinetically Improved Kick- 30 comfort. Supination allows for increased extension, ing Cycle or the KIK Cycle. A specific definition of aligning of the foot with the leg in a vertical plane, the KIK Cycle is as follows: The complete flutter therefore maximizing hydrodynamics and power.