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  Hand paddleHand paddle description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20080032573, Hand paddle. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001]The invention relates generally to hand paddles for swimming. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002]Swimming aids such as swim fins and hand paddles are routinely used both as aids to swimming and as swim training aids. Hand paddles in particular are useful as swimming aids since they permit the user to apply greater force to their swimming strokes. Traditionally, hand paddles for use in swimming consist of a blade worn on each of the users hands. In a majority of hand paddle designs, which have been attempted, the blade consists of a flat planar member roughly in the outline of a hand and having a strap or brace on one side of the blade for accommodating the user's hand. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 894,311 to Brenton, U.S. Pat. No. 2,389,196 to Harmon, U.S. Pat. No. 2,555,969 to Holcombe, U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,042 to Montrella, U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,740 to Potter, U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,418 to Schlueter et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,254 to Elson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,998 to Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,710 to Rives et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,650 to Rives et al. and many others all disclose swim paddles having flat planar swim blades with one or more straps for securing the paddle to the user's hand. Other swim paddles use a flat planar blade having a plurality of apertures configured to permit the user to grasp onto the blade by passing the user's fingers through the apertures to facilitate the user's grip on the paddle. U.S. Pat. No. 2,745,119 to Whipple and U.S. Pat. No. 3,397,414 to Webb are examples of this sort of design. Yet another design for swimming hand paddles consist of a flat blade having an integral hand grip permitting the user to grip onto the paddle by grasping the hand grip. U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,925 to Proctor, U.S. Pat. No. 4,493,662 to Richmond and U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,603 to Brown are examples of this later design. [0003]These prior art hand paddles all permit the user to apply greater force to their swimming strokes; however, they suffer from a common problem, namely flutter. As the flat planar paddle is forced through the water by the user, the paddle tends to flutter wildly causing the user to expend energy to hold his hand steady through the stroke. Furthermore, the fluttering motion experienced by these flat planar swimming paddles may cause the user to loose his or her grip on the paddle. As a result, the user must often tighten his or grip on the paddle in order to keep the paddle in control during the stroke. A tighter grip creates increased fatigue and muscle strain in the user's hand, as the user must exert additional effort into maintaining a smooth swimming stroke. Furthermore, flat planar paddle designs usually require the users hand to be held flat against the swimming paddle with the fingers outstretched. This is not a natural position since the human hand, when in a comfortable position, tends to cup. Holding the hand in a flat position with the fingers outstretched for long periods of time results in increased hand strain and hand fatigue. [0004]Swimming paddles having concaved paddles have been attempted. These swimming paddles usually include a blade having a concave surface on one side and a hand holding aid, such as a hand strap, on the other side. U.S. Pat. No. 950,633 to Eastman, U.S. Pat. No. 2,159,972 to Larson and U.S. Pat. No. 183,045 to Dunlop and U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,027 to Evans et al. are examples of this type of design. These swim paddles consist of a flat member having a concave surface on one side and a convex surface on the opposite side, the hand strap being incorporated on the convex side. These designs have the advantage of permitting the user to grip the hand paddle in a more comfortable manner. These concave paddle designs also suffer from the problems associated with paddle flutter. Indeed, these concave designs often suffer from increased flutter due to turbulence created by the concave surface impinging on the water. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0005]In accordance with the present invention, here is provided a hand swimming paddle which overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art such as flutter and hand strain. The improved hand paddle includes a blade having a hand side and an opposite waterside. The blade has a proximal end, a distal end opposite the proximal end and opposite first and second lateral ends. A wrist portion is formed on the proximal end of the blade, the wrist portion adapted and configured to retain a user's wrist when the paddle is worn. A finger portion is formed towards the distal end of the blade, the finger portion being adapted and configured to retain the user's fingers when the paddle is worn. First and second flange portions are formed on the first and second lateral ends, respectively, the flange portions being swept back from the water side of the blade towards the hand side of the blade, the flange portions extending from the wrist portion to the finger portion of the blade. [0006]The invention is also directed at a method of manufacturing a swim paddle as described above by first forming a metal blade having the shape of the desired hand paddle by stamping a sheet of metal and then coating the metal blade with a plastic material. [0007]The invention is also directed at a method manufacturing a swim paddle as described above by first extruding a high modulus thermoplastic into a foamed sheet of two to six thousands of an inch thick with a density of 6 to 15 pounds per cubic foot, then thermoforming the sheet into a slightly concave geometric shape, then cooling and stress-stabilizing the stress-stabilized sheet and then cutting out the paddle in a cutter. [0008]With the foregoing in view, and other advantages as will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates as this specification proceeds, the invention is herein described by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, which includes a description of the preferred typical embodiment of the principles of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0009]FIG. 1. is a top view of a right hand swim paddle made in accordance with the invention. [0010]FIG. 2. is a sectional view of the swim paddle shown in FIG. 1 taken along line A-A. [0011]FIG. 3. is a sectional view of the swim paddle shown in FIG. 2 taken along line B-B. [0012]FIG. 4. is a top view of a right hand swim paddle made in accordance with the invention being worn on a user's hand. [0013]FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the swim paddle shown in FIG. 4 taken along line C-C. [0014]FIG. 6 is a bottom view of right hand swim paddle made in accordance with the invention being worn on a user's hand. [0015]FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the right hand swim paddle made in accordance with the invention being worn on a user's hand with the user's fingers being extended. [0016]In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0017]Referring firstly to FIG. 1, a swim paddle made in accordance with the invention for use on the right hand is shown generally as item 10. It will be appreciated that the present invention is directed towards swim paddles for use with both the right and left hands. A swim paddle made in accordance with the present invention for use in the left hand would be a mirror copy of paddle 10 and would have all of the features of the paddle shown in FIG. 1. Paddle 10 consists of a blade 12 having a hand side 14, a water side 16 on the opposite side of the hand side, proximal end 18, a distal end 20 opposite the distal end and opposite first and second lateral ends 22 and 24, respectively. Wrist portion 26 is formed on proximal end 18 of the blade, the wrist portion being formed and dimensioned to receive the wrist (not shown) of the user's right hand. Slits 28 and 30 are formed on wrist portion 26 to accommodate a wrist strap (not shown). The blade includes a finger portion 32 formed towards distal end 20. Apertures 34, 36, 38 and 40 are formed on finger portion 32 adjacent distal end 20. Apertures 34 to 40 are dimensioned and configured to receive the fingers of the user's right hand (not shown). The blade further includes a palm portion 46 in the approximate center of the blade between wrist portion 26 and finger portion 32 and flange portions 42 and 44. Notch 48 is provided on first latter end 22 to accommodate a user's thumb. [0018]First and second flange portions 42 and 44, respectively, are formed on the first and second lateral ends of the blade, respectively, on either side of wrist portion 26. As best seen in FIG. 2, first flange portion 42 and second flange portion 44 are swept back from waterside 16 towards hand side 14 such that the flange portions extend upward relative to wrist portion 26 between the flanges. [0019]Referring back to FIG. 1, finger portion 32 includes inter-digital portions 54, 55, 57 and 59. Fingertip portion 56 is formed on the blade between distal end 20 and apertures 34, 36, 38 and 40. As best seen in FIG. 3, the inter-digital portions are swept back from waterside 16 towards hand side 14 and fingertip portion 56 is swept forward from the hand side towards the waterside of the blade. Palm portion 46 of the blade is shaped such that the palm portion forms a concave surface 50 on the waterside of the blade and a slightly convex surface 52 on the hand side of the blade. Kink 113 is formed on palm portion 46 and helps form the convex surface 52 and concave surface 50. Kink 113 adds structural strength to the blade and adds to the hand comfort when the blade is worn. Furthermore, kink 113 allows for water disbursement in different directions, which reduces pressure build up, thus reducing flutter and hand strain. Continue reading about Hand paddle... Full patent description for Hand paddle Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Hand paddle patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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