PORTABLE WETSUIT WRINGING DEVICE

[0001] This U.S. Non-Provisional Application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/746,146, titled “Portable Wetsuit Wringing Device,” filed January 16, 2025, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

[0002] Wetsuits are commonly used by individuals engaging in water sports. More specifically, surfers and body boarders like to use wetsuits to remain warm and comfortable in cold water. However, when they finished using the wetsuits, the suits retain a large amount of water within their fabric and can take a very long time to dry. Moreover, wetsuits cannot be placed in traditional clothes drying machines to speed up this process. As such, the damp wetsuits can form mildew and emit an unpleasant odor due to their slow dry time.

[0003] Accordingly, there is a need for a device to speed up the drying process for wetsuits.

[0004] The present invention satisfies this need. In a first embodiment the present invention is directed to a portable wringing device. The portable wringing device has a wringing structure, at least one rotating handle, at least one foot, a front panel and a rear panel.

[0005] The wringing structure has a main body; at least one central pass-through opening disposed within the main body; at least one roller rotatably disposed within the central opening; and a handle rod rotatably coupled to the at least one roller and extending through a side wall of the main body forming a free end of the handle rod.

[0006] The at least one rotating handle is configured to removably couple to the free end of the handle rod.

[0007] The at least one foot is configured to removably couple to a bottom surface of the main body of the wringing structure.

[0008] The front panel is configured to removably couple to the main body of the wringing structure.

[0009] The rear panel is configured to removably couple to the main body of the wringing structure.

[0010] Optionally, the device comprises a pair of rollers disposed within the central opening of the main body.

[0011] Optionally, the device comprises a pair of roller adjustment mechanisms.

[0012] Optionally, the device comprises a pair of feet.

[0013] Optionally, the device also has at least one roller adjustment mechanism, the mechanism comprising: at least one threaded rod mechanically coupled to at least one roller and extending out a top surface of the main body forming a free end of the rod; at least one spring disposed around at least a portion of the threaded rod; and at least one nut rotatably coupled to the free end of the threaded rod.

[0014] Optionally, the device has a carrying handle coupled to and extending from the top surface of the main body of the wringing structure

[0015] Optionally, the device has a bottom support to which the front and rear panels are movably, and/or removably coupled, and to which the main body of the wringing structure is mounted.

[0016] In a second embodiment, the present invention is directed to a method of using the portable wringing device. The method comprises the steps of: a) providing the device; b) either moving the front and rear panels from a closed position to an open position, or removing the panels entirely; c) removing the feet from one of the panels and coupling them to either a bottom surface of the bottom support, or to a bottom surface of the main body of the device; d) removing the rotating handle from one of the panels and coupling it to the free end of the handle rod; e) providing at least one piece of material to be wrung; f) placing at least a portion of the piece of material between the pair of rollers; and g) rotating the handle to cause the rollers to roll and wring the material.

[0033] As used herein, the following terms and variations thereof have the meanings given below, unless a different meaning is clearly intended by the context in which such term is used.

[0034] The terms “a,” “an,” and “the” and similar referents used herein are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural unless their usage in context indicates otherwise.

[0035] As used in this disclosure, the term “comprise” and variations of the term, such as “comprising” and “comprises,” are not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers ingredients or steps.

[0036] In a first embodiment, the invention is directed to a device 100 for wringing out a wet/damp wetsuit, in other words, a device 100 for removing at least some retained water from a wetsuit or other material.

[0037] Referring now to FIG. 1, the device 100 has a housing 102 and a removable, bottom tray 104.

[0038] The housing 102 has an open center section/cavity having at least two rollers 108 disposed therein. Rotatably, and removably coupled to at least one roller 108 is a rotatable handle 110 that is configured to rotate at least one of the rollers 108. Optionally, there is at least one movable lever 112 coupled to at least one of the rollers 108 that can be moved to adjust the spacing between the at least two rollers 108 to either increase or decrease the pressure the rollers 108 place on the wetsuit as it is rolled between the rollers 108, and to accommodate wetsuits made from material that varies in thickness.

[0039] Optionally, the housing 102 also has a lid 106 coupled thereto. Preferably the lid 106 is hingedly coupled to the housing 102 so that it can move between an open position shown in FIG. 1 and a closed position shown in FIG. 4. The open position allows the rollers 108 to be accessed and the device 100 to be used. Additionally, in the open position, the lid 106 creates a flat clean surface upon which the suit 600 can rest as it being wrung. The closed position places the device 100 in transport condition.

[0040] Optionally, the housing 102 has at least one, but preferably four legs 114 coupled thereto. The legs 114 can be removably coupled, or hingedly coupled to the housing 102. Preferably, the legs 114 are composed of a plurality of telescoping segments so that their length can be adjusted by the user. Optionally, at least one leg 114 has a foot rest 116 removably or movably coupled thereto which allows the user to stand on the foot rest 116 and stabilize the device 100 when in use.

[0041] Optionally, the housing 102 has at least one carrying handle 118 coupled thereto, which allows the user to carry the device 100 when not in use.

[0042] The bottom tray 104 is perforated, or has at least one hole or opening therethrough, so that any water leaving the wetsuit can fall through the tray 104, but the tray 104 can catch and hold/support the wetsuit as it is rolled through the rollers 108. This prevents the user from having to hold or catch the rolled wetsuit to prevent it from touching the ground as it is being wrung.

[0043] Referring now to FIG. 2, a first step in dismantling/packing up the device 100 is shown. The foot rest 116 is rotated/pivoted to its upright position and the legs 114 are telescoped down to their smallest length. Additionally, the handle 110, which couples to the housing 102 via a rod 120 and cotter pin 122, is removed from the housing 102 so that it may be packed up.

[0044] Optionally, the device 100 also utilizes at least one rear clamp 124 that removably couple to a rear of the housing 102 to provide an additional means of securing the device 100 in use. Any type of clamp 124 may be used, but in the figures, a traditional C-clamp/screw clamp is shown. If those clamps 124 are in use, they are removed from the rear of the housing 102 when the device 100 is being dismantled for packing.

[0045] Referring now to FIG. 3, a second step in dismantling/packing up the device 100 is shown. Here, all four retracted legs 114 are folded inward such that they lie against a bottom surface of the housing 102.

[0046] Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, a third step in dismantling/packing up the device 100 is shown. The clamps 124 and handle 110 are placed in the bottom tray 104, and the housing 102 of FIG. 3 is lowered down onto and coupled to the tray 104. As shown in FIG. 5, when the housing 102 is coupled to the tray 104, a carrying case 500 is formed for the device 100. This makes the device 100 easily portable, which is desirable because most wetsuit users will wish to wring out their suit 600 post use, but prior to getting in their car and leaving the beach/water source. Carrying around a wet wetsuit 600 for the rest of the day in the car can be highly undesirable. The device 100 addresses this need.

[0047] Referring now to FIG. 6, use of the device 100 is shown. A wetsuit 600 is fed upwards, through the two rollers 108. While the wetsuit 600 is being wrung, tray 104 holds/supports the unwrung portion of the suit 600, and also allows the wrung water to pass through and onto the ground. As noted above, lid 106 forms a flat clean surface onto which the wrung portion of the suit 600 can rest. The user turns/rotates handle 110 to roll the rollers, and wring the suit 600.

[0048] Referring now to FIGS. 7 through 9, there is shown the adjustability of the rollers 108. In FIG. 7, the distance between rollers 108A, 108B is W₁, in FIG. 8 the distance between rollers 108A, 108B is W₂, and in FIG. 9 the distance between the rollers 108A, 108B is W₃. W₁ is smaller than W₂ and W_3, W₃ is greater than W₁ and W_2, and W₂ is greater than W₁. While only three different positions/adjustments of the rollers 108 are shown, a plurality of different positions can be achieved with the use of the lever 112. The benefit of the adjustability of the rollers 108 is that wetsuits are made in a variety of thickness depending on their use and how cold the water is, etc. As such, having rollers 108 that are fixed and not adjustable means they will not be as effective at removing water from suits 600 of various thicknesses. As such, the adjustability is very useful, especially if a user has more than one suit 600 for different environments.

[0049] Referring now to FIGS. 10, 11 and 12, there is shown use of the clamps 124. The clamps 124 are secured to the rear of the device 100, and are then used to secure the device 100 to some sort of rigid, vertically oriented surface, like a fence board for example. This allows the device 100 to function without the use of its legs 114 as it can be clamped to a vertical surface and hang off it. Preferably, the tray 104 can couple to/hang from the bottom of the housing 102 to provide the same support structure for the suit 600 as it is being wrung.

[0050] Referring now to FIGS. 13 and 14, there is shown a second embodiment of a portable wetsuit wringing device 200 having features of the present invention. The device 200 has a housing 202 that comprises at least one, but more preferably, a front and a rear panel 204A, 204B that are movably coupled to a bottom support 206. In FIGS. 13 and 14, the device 200 is shown in the closed/transport configuration, wherein the front and rear panels 204 are flipped/folded upward/inward and are enclosing the actual wringing structure 207 of the device. Preferably, the panels 204 are hingedly coupled to opposed sides of the bottom support 206. Optionally, the panels 204 are removably coupled to the bottom support 206 such that instead of unfolding the panels 204 into an open position, the panels 204 are entirely removed from the bottom support 206 in order for a user to use the device 200.

[0051] Referring now to FIG. 15, there is shown the wringing device 200, wherein the front and rear panels 204A, 204B have been flipped/folded downward, revealing the wringing structure 207. Optionally, the wringing structure 207 is coupled to a top surface of the bottom support 206. Optionally, the device 200 does not comprise a bottom support 206 at all, and instead, the panels 204 are either hingedly coupled to, or removably coupled to the structure 207 itself.

[0052] In the current embodiment, the wringing structure 207 comprises at least one roller 208, but preferably at least one pair of rollers 208 rotatably contained within a main body 209. The main body 209 has at least one central opening 212 within which the rollers 208 are rotatably disposed. The rollers 208 are configured to roll/rotate in both a clockwise and counterclockwise direction, depending on the needs of the user.

[0053] The rollers 208 are rotatably coupled to a rod 211 that extends out a side of the main body 209. The rod 211 is configured to removably couple to a rotating handle 210, whose rotation causes the rotation of the rollers 208. As best seen in FIG. 15, the handle 210 is conveniently stored along an inside surface of one of the front and rear panels 204, to which it can removably couple by snaps, grips, Velcro (hook and loop fasteners), or some type of friction fitting. The handle 210 is removed from the panel 204B and its open end 213 is slid over rod 211, and holes in both the rod 215 and the handle 219 align so that a securing pin 216 can be inserted through both, securing the handle 210 to the rod 211.

[0054] Assembly of the device 200 also includes removing the legs/feet 214 from the other panel 204 and securing them to a bottom surface of the bottom support 206 using one or more fasteners 217. Preferably, although not necessarily, the bottom support 206 has at least two cut outs/recesses 218, each configured to receive at least a portion of one of the legs 114. While the legs/feet 214 are shown as having a relatively flat profile, with a somewhat arcuate shape, it should be noted that the legs/feet 214 can be any shape, design or configuration, and the device 200 is not limited to the specific shape/design shown herein.

[0055] The main body 209 also includes a carrying handle 220 that, even when the front and rear panels 204 are in the closed configuration, is still accessible (see. FIGS. 13 and 14) so that the entire device 200 can be easily carried when not in use. Additionally, the main body 209 has one or more projections 230 that interact with one or more recesses/openings in the front and rear panels 204 that have deformable portions 228 to frictionally retain the side panels 204 in the closed position. Other means of removably securing the panels 204 to the main body 209 may be used, and the device 200 is not limited to the specific securing structures shown.

[0056] In order to adjust the distance that the rollers 208 are spaced from each other (and therefore the wringing pressure the rollers 208 apply to the material passing through them), one or more roller adjustment mechanisms 212 are provided. In the second embodiment 200, the adjustment mechanisms 212 each comprise a threaded rod 222 that projects upward from the main body 209. A spring 224 encases at least a portion of the threaded rod, while a wing nut 226 (and optionally a washer) attached to the rod's free end can be rotated to adjust its position along the rod 222. This action alters the spring's 224 expansion pressure, modifying the downward force on the rollers 208 and thereby adjusting the spacing between them.

[0057] Optionally, the device 200 includes a tool 232, such as an Allen wrench (hex key), configured to engage one or more fasteners 217 used to attach and detach the legs/feet 214 to and from the bottom support 206 (and/or the main body 209). In some embodiments, the fasteners 217 comprise bolts having internal hex recesses. The tool 232 enables a user to quickly transition the device 200 between a transport configuration and an operational configuration by attaching or detaching the legs/feet 214. Preferably, the tool 232 is removably retained on an inside surface of one of the panels 204 (e.g., via clips, snaps, a friction fit, magnets, or hook-and-loop fasteners) so the tool remains with the device during transport.

[0058] Referring now to FIG. 18, use of the device 200 is shown. A wetsuit 600 (or any other type of material that needs to have liquid removed from it) is fed through the two rollers 208 while a user rotates the rolling handle 210. The user turns/rotates handle 110 to roll the rollers, and wring the suit 600.

[0059] The device 100, 200 can be made from any material that would be reasonable to make this device 100, 200 from, such as metal, plastic, composites, and/or combinations of any of the forgoing. Additionally, while the device 100, 200 is discussed through this application as applying to wetsuits 600, this device 100, 200 is not limited to use with wetsuits 600 and can be used with any type of material that needs water or other liquid to be wrung out of it.

[0060] Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments, other embodiments are possible. The steps disclosed for the present methods, for example, are not intended to be limiting nor are they intended to indicate that each step is necessarily essential to the method, but instead are exemplary steps only. Therefore, the scope of the appended features should not be limited to the description of preferred embodiments contained in this disclosure. All references cited herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety.