Appeal No. 2003-1144
Application 09/212,343
portions (i.e., front and back portions 16, 18) that are
specifically described as being sized quite differently.
In describing the flotation device (10), Helt notes that it
includes a front portion (16), a back portion (18) and an
intermediate, narrow, connecting crotch portion (20), with “the
back portion being of substantially greater area and volume than
the front portion” (col. 2, lines 24-26). As further pointed out
in column 2, line 52, et seq., in use, the flotation device
therein is worn with the crotch portion (20) between the legs of
the user, and with the inner surface (22) of the front portion
(16) “in engagement with the user’s abdomen,” and with the inner
surface (22) of the back portion (18) “in engagement with the
user’s buttocks and lower back.” The Helt patent makes clear that
with this particular sizing of the front and back portions of the
flotation garment
[t]he increased volume of back portion 18 compared with the
front portion 16 helps float the wearer in a generally
upright position as shown in FIG. 1. Further, the portion
of back portion 18 which engages the user’s buttocks helps
maintain the user in a generally seated upright position
also as shown in FIG. 1.
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