COMBINED WRIST BAND-SWEAT TOWEL

Abstract

Combined wrist band and towel apparatus includes a tubular wrist band having an inner surface and an outer surface, a towel made of absorbent material, and an attachment structure for attaching the towel to the inner surface the wrist band. When worn by a user, the towel is partially between the wrist band and the user, and the user sees the outer surface. The attachment structure provides a direct attachment of the towel to the wrist band such that the towel is in direct contact with the wrist band. The attachment structure may also provide a permanent attachment of the towel to the wrist band, for example, stitches connect a portion of the towel to the inner surface.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/866,199 filed Jun. 25, 2019, which is incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a wrist band and sweat towel combination wherein a user wear the wrist band around their wrist and is able to easily access a towel attached to the wrist band, for example, to wipe sweat off of a part of their body or to wipe exercise equipment they are about to use.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The combination of a wrist band and a towel of any sort is believed to be quite rare. Only limited recognition of this possibility is apparent from prior art.

For example, Walker (U.S. Pat. No. 9,044,687) describes a rally towel apparatus including a sports fan rally towel and an attached wrist strap to ensure the rally towel apparatus is not dropped or lost during use at a sporting event. The rally towel apparatus includes a body or holder having a tube-like shape, and a first end cap and a second end cap arranged on a first and second ends, respectively, of the body. The second end cap has a ring molded or secured to at or near a center point of an outside surface. The ring is capable of receiving the wrist strap therethrough. A clip connects ends of the wrist strap to form a loop. The wrist strap may also include another smaller loop attached to an end thereof which may be used to secure to the ring, which is attached to the outer surface of the second end cap of the rally towel apparatus. Thus, the wrist strap may be secured to the bottom or the second end cap to hold it securely in place. The wrist strap may be used by the user of the rally towel apparatus in order to secure the rally towel to the user's hand.

Walker does not envision any and all types of towels to be used in combination with the wrist band. Rather, Walker is uniquely constructed to alloy for use of the rally towel. A rally towel is not considered the same type of towel as contemplated by the invention in that it is not used for wiping liquids. Rather, a rally towel is a misnomer in that it is, according to Walker, used by holding it by one corner and rotating it in a twirling motion to create a visual distraction to the opposing team when the entire crowd is twirling or shaking a rally towel. No mention is made to wipe liquids using the rally towel.

Basik (U.S. Pat. Appln. Publ. Nos. 20150150323 and 20160037840) describes a wristband extension towel that incorporates a sweatband type of wristband. The extension towel includes a sweatband 20 produced in a tubular form that can be slipped over the hand of a user and then onto the wrist, similar to a standard sweatband, a releasable closure having an elastic band 21 attached to the sweatband on the topside of the sweatband and wraps over or stretches across a towel element 30 which is affixed to the sweatband 20 by stitching, weaving or an adhesive or attached via VELCRO™ located at the base of the backside (non-wiping surface).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of at least one embodiment of the present invention is to provide a novel and unique combined wrist band and towel apparatus, with the towel part being especially suitable to wipe liquids.

Another object of at least one embodiment of the present invention is to provide a combined wrist band and towel apparatus that enables a user wearing the wrist band to have a towel readily accessible to wipe sweat from their body or to wipe and clean exercise equipment they are about to use.

Another object of at least one embodiment of the present invention is to provide a combined wrist band and towel apparatus wherein the towel is permanently attached to the wrist band.

Another object of at least one embodiment of the present invention is to provide a combined wrist band and towel apparatus wherein the towel is configured with an appropriate size to avoid interfering with a person exercising while wearing the apparatus.

Another object of at least one embodiment of the present invention is to provide a combined wrist band and towel apparatus wherein the towel is removably attached to the wrist band and can be easily removed therefrom to wipe surfaces and for cleaning.

In order to achieve one or more of these objects, or others objects, a combined wrist band and towel apparatus in accordance with the invention includes a tubular wrist band having an inner surface and an outer surface, a preferably planar towel made of absorbent material, and attachment means for attaching the towel to the inner surface the wrist band. When worn by a user, the towel is partially between the wrist band and the user, and the user sees the outer surface. A logo or other printed material may be provided on the surface of the towel visible to the user and others. The wrist band is typically flexible to enable a user to put it on and easily take it off their wrist.

In some embodiments, the attachment means provide a direct attachment of the towel to the wrist band such that the towel is in direct contact with the wrist band. This attachment may be of a permanent nature (intended to be permanent), e.g., stitches connect a portion of the towel to the inner surface, or be of a temporary nature (intended to enable easy removal and reattachment), e.g., hook or loop fasteners are on the towel and the wrist band and enable repeated attachment and detachment of the towel to and from the wrist band.

An important feature of some embodiments is that the towel is connectable to the wrist band only by the attachment means, and the attachment means connect the towel to the wrist band at only a single location. For example, when the towel has a rectangular shape, which includes a square shape, the attachment means attach the towel to the wrist band at only one of the four corners and do not attach or enable attachment of the towel to the wrist band at any other location on the towel. The towel is thus attached to the wrist band at only the corner and cannot be attached to the wrist band anywhere else.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following drawings are illustrative of embodiments of the system developed or adapted using the teachings of at least one of the inventions disclosed herein and are not meant to limit the scope of the invention as encompassed by the claims.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a combined wrist band and towel apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the rear view being the same.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a left side view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the right side view being a mirror image thereof.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 taken along the line 6-6 in FIG. 3 and showing the attachment of the towel to the wristband.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 taken along the line 7-7 in FIG. 2 and showing the attachment of the towel to the wristband.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numbers refer to the same or similar elements. FIG. 1 shows a combined wrist band and towel apparatus 10 on a wrist 8 of a right hand 6 of a user. The combined wrist band and towel apparatus 10 includes a wrist band 12 and a towel 14 attached to the wrist band 12.

The wrist band 12 has an outside or outer surface 16 seen in FIG. 1 and an inside or inner surface 18 seen in FIG. 6. The outer surface 16 is that surface which typically has a larger circumference, in comparison to the inner surface 18, when the wrist band 12 is not stressed, and is designed to face outward when the user wears with the wrist band 12 (see FIG. 1). The inner surface 18 is that surface which typically has a smaller circumference when the wrist band 12 is not stressed, and is designed to face inward toward the user's wrist 8 when the user wears the wrist band 12. The inner surface 18 is usually in contact with the skin of the user when the user is wearing the wrist band 12 on their wrist. Also, the outer surface 16 is that surface which contains an optional logo 4, promotional material, advertising material and the like, since it is visible to people.

The wrist band 12 is preferably tubular, i.e., circular in cross-section, and dimensioned to fit around the wrist 8 of a user. If so desired, the circular size of the wrist band, i.e., its circumference, can be varied for different users, e.g., a small size, a medium size, a large size, an extra large size, etc. The material of the wrist band 12 can be made of any known material or combination of materials used for wrist bands. Preferably, the wrist band 12 should be flexible to enable a user to place it over their wrist and remove it from their wrist when no longer needed or desired. One skilled in the art of wrist bands would easily understand how to make and use a wrist band that may constitute wrist band 12 in the invention. Indeed, the wrist band 12 is not in and of itself a novel component of the invention but rather it is the use of the wrist band 12 in combination with the towel 14 that provides novelty to the invention.

The towel 14 is made of one or more absorbent materials to enable it to be used to absorb liquids, notably sweat from a person exercising. In one embodiment, the towel 14 is planar (flat). A planar towel is one that is flat with planar upper and lower surfaces and only a nominal thickness, and when rectangular, has four corners.

As shown, the towel 14 has a generally rectangular or square shape and is attached at one corner (the upper corner) to the inner surface 18 of the wrist band 12. By having a generally square shape, it is not intended that the towel 14 has exactly a square shape but that it appears like a square when viewed, e.g., it may have slightly different length sides and/or rounded corners. The attachment at the upper corner results in the towel 14 having a diamond configuration relative to the wrist band 12. That is, when positioning the square towel 14 so that it has upper and lower corners, the upper corner is attached to the inner surface 18 and thus not visible, while the lower corner is below the upper corner, and the left and right corners and at about the same level and spaced equally apart from a virtual line extending between the upper and lower corners.

Attachment of the towel 14 to the wrist band can take a variety of different forms, and generally will be referred to as attachment means 20 herein. The attachment means 20 can be either of the permanent type or the temporary type. In a permanent type of attachment, the wrist band 12 and the towel 14 would be an integral unit and would be cleaned together, and not designed to intentionally separate from one another. In a temporary type of attachment, the towel 14 can be separated from the wrist band 12 and cleaned separately, or replaced by another towel 14 during the same workout. This type may also be referred to a detachable or separable type of attachment.

In one embodiment of a permanent attachment, the attachment is by means of stitching or sewing the towel 14 to the inner surface 18 of the wrist band 12 (exemplifying stitches being shown as 22 in FIG. 7_. As such, when the wrist band 12 is worn, a portion of the towel 14 will be between the wrist band 12 and the user's wrist 8 and a remaining portion will be exposed as shown in FIG. 1. By permanent attachment, it is not meant that the towel 14 can never be separated from the wrist band 12 (since obviously one could remove the stitching and then separate the towel 14 from the wrist band 12). Rather, it is meant that the attachment of the towel 14 to the wrist band 12 is not intended to enable detachment of the towel 14 from the wrist band 12 without structural modification of the attachment means. A permanent attachment is one that will endure until destroyed by the user or worn out. For example, when stitches 22 obtained through sewing are used, the stitches 22 could be removed to enable separation of the towel 14 from the wrist band 12, thereby destroying the attachment means 20 since the towel 14 could not be reattached to the wrist band 12 except through re-sewing and forming new stitches. By contrast, a temporary attachment is one that enables repeated attachment and detachment of the towel 14 to/from the wrist band 12 without destroying the attachment means 20.

In one embodiment of a temporary attachment, the attachment is by means of hook and loop fasteners, e.g., of the VELCRO™ variety (not shown). In this case, hook fasteners are fixed to the inner surface 18 of the wrist band 12 and loop fasteners are fixed to the towel 14 (or vice versa). The user attaches the towel 14 to the wrist band 12 by pressing the hook and loop fasteners together and separates the towel 14 from the wrist band 12 by pulling the towel 14 apart from the wrist band 12. In this embodiment, a portion of the attachment means 20 are on the towel 14 and a portion of the attachment means 20 are on the wrist band 12. The same partial placement on both the wrist band 12 and the towel 14 arises with other attachment means 20, such as snaps.

Generally, there would be first attachment structure on the wrist band 12 and second attachment structure on the towel 14. The first and second attachment structures are repeatedly engageable and disengageable from one another in some embodiments, and when worn by a user, the towel 14 is partially between the wrist band 12 and the user, and the user sees the outer surface 16 of the wrist band 12. These attachment structures provide a direct attachment of the towel 14 to the wrist band 12 such that the towel 14 or a part thereof is in direct contact with the wrist band 12 or a part thereof at least at a location in a vicinity of the first and second attachment structures. As noted above, the first attachment structure may comprise hook or loop fasteners while the second attachment structure comprises the other of hook and loop fasteners. Snaps or buckles are also a possibility.

An important aspect of some embodiments of the invention is that there is a direct attachment of the towel 14 to the wrist band 12 (see FIGS. 3 and 7). This means that there is typically actual contact between a surface of the towel 14 and the wrist band 12, e.g., between some portion or surface of the towel 14 and the inner surface 18 of the wrist band 12. Often, the contact is between an absorbent portion of the towel 14 and the wrist band 12.

This direct contact improves the retention of the towel 14 in combination with and attached to the wrist band 12 since the user may be exercising and moving their hand having the wrist band 12 thereon. It is not desirable that the towel 14 separate from the wrist band 12 or flap around. Rather, a secure and tight attachment of the towel 14 to the wrist band 12 is sought. A direct attachment, whether permanent via sewing or temporary via hook and loop fasteners, provides such a secure and tight attachment.

By contrast, the rally towel apparatus of Walker described above, intentionally allows the rally towel to flap around and be manipulated by the user for the express purpose of serving as a rally towel. Such movement is not desirable for combined wrist band and towel apparatus 10. In addition, differing from the apparatus in Basik, the apparatus 10 does not include means that enable the towel 14 to be secured in a folded state to the wrist band 12, i.e., the attachment means 20 at a single location are the only attachment means that connect or could connect the towel 14 to the wrist band 12. In the invention, the towel 14 is designed to freely hang from the wrist band 12 without any possible state in which it is rolled or folded and secured in the rolled or folded state to the wrist band 12. The towel 14 can thus always be in a hanging state. Of course, the user could tuck in the lower corner of the towel 14 under the wrist band 12 but the towel 14 is not retained in this position by any attachment means on the towel 14 or wrist band 12 and would likely fall out to revert to the hanging state. Being continually in the hanging state also allows the towel 14 to be available for continuous use.

However, in an embodiment wherein the attachment is of a temporary nature and the user finds that the towel 14 is moving excessively or otherwise interfering with their workout, the user can easily detach the towel 14 from the wrist band 12 and continue the workout. The user can put the towel 14 down, e.g., on, near or around the exercise equipment, and then when finished, re-attach the towel 14 to the wrist band 12.

Additionally, the attachment means occupy only a small portion of the inner surface 18 of the towel 14, e.g., a corner as seen in FIG. 6. This size may be only about 1 inch square or often less, and does not extend across the entire towel 14. Another option is to put the hook or loop fasteners on an edge of the towel, in a middle region to enable the towel 14 to be folded from both perpendicular edges inward.

Towel 14 is not limited to the square shape as shown and may be any color, shape, size, and thickness, and it may include a logo 4, for example, of the exercise facility in which it is being used by the user. As such, the combined wrist band and towel apparatus 10 could be a promotional item provided to users of an exercise facility, or provided a perk for membership.

As to the size of the towel 14, the size of the towel 14 is an important consideration to avoid interference with the exercise being performed by the user of the apparatus 10. If the towel 14 is too long, it will interfere with a workout and could get tangled in gym equipment. If the towel 14 is too short, it would provide insufficient capacity to absorb sweat. In the illustrated embodiment, the towel 14 has a size that allows it to extend to about the elbow area of the user when the wrist band 12 is on the user's wrist 8. This extension is about the distance between the upper and lower corners of the towel 14. It has been found that this size is preferred for use of the apparatus 10, but is not intended to limit the apparatus 10 and other size towels 14 may be used. For example, it is possible to make the apparatus 10 with different size wrist bands 12 and corresponding different size towels 14, e.g., small, medium, large, extra large, for different size people.

In some embodiments, the towel 14 can be folded or rolled to be compact and dimensioned to avoid interfering with the user's hand when the combined wrist band and towel apparatus 10 is worn by the user on their wrist. In such a position though, there is no structure on the apparatus 10 to retain and hold the towel 14 in this position.

There are numerous uses of the combined wrist band and towel apparatus 10. A user can put the apparatus 10 on and use the towel to wipe sweat from their hands or face during a workout, or use the towel to wipe down exercise equipment before use.

It is also pointed out that the wrist band 12 is not limited for placement around the wrist 8 of a user. Rather, the user could decide to place the wrist band 12 around any of their limbs, e.g., their leg, if so desired. As such, a wrist band 12 is not limited to use on the wrist of a person, but rather is termed this in light of the very common usage on the user's wrist.

Wrist band 12 may be a commercial embodiment that is modified to include attachment structure as disclosed above. Similarly, the towel 14 may be a commercial embodiment, cut to a desired size if necessary, and also modified to include attachment structure as disclosed above.

The invention encompasses wrist bands 12 with different lengths and possibly including a pocket into which a gym card, keys, a credit card, cash, and the other objects may be secured by securing means. The pocket could be formed extending inward from an opening in the outer surface 16 of the wrist band 12. The pocket may be defined by the outer surface 16 of the wrist band 12 and an inner piece of material (not shown) that is between the outer and inner surfaces 16, 18, or possibly only by an additional piece of material between the outer and inner surfaces 16, 18, or by the inner surface 18 of the wrist band 12 and an inner piece of material (not shown) that is between the outer and inner surfaces 16, 18.

The securing means could be a zipper but other type of securing means are also envisioned as being with the scope and spirit of the invention, e.g., hook and loop fasteners of the VELCRO™ type, snaps, buttons, etc.

Any number of pockets may be provided, with different sizes, at different locations, intended to serve different purposes, etc. For example, one pocket may be designed to retain a gym card or fob used for a gym.

The present description is for illustrative purposes only and it should not be construed to limit the present invention in any way. Thus, a person skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications can be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention, which is defined in terms of the claims below. Other aspects, features and advantages may be apparent upon an examination of the attached drawing figures and appended claims.

Claims

1. A combined wrist band and towel apparatus, comprising

a tubular wrist band having an inner surface and an outer surface;

a towel made of absorbent material; and

attachment means for attaching said towel to said inner surface of said wrist band,

whereby when worn by a user, said towel is partially between said wrist band and the user, and the user sees said outer surface.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said towel is connectable to said wrist band only by said attachment means.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said attachment means connect said towel to said wrist band at only a single location.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said attachment means provide a direct attachment of said towel to said wrist band such that said towel is in direct contact with said wrist band.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said attachment means provide a permanent attachment of said towel to said wrist band.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein said attachment means comprise stitches connecting a portion of said towel to said inner surface.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said towel has a rectangular shape having four corners and said attachment means attach said towel to said wrist band at only one of said four corners and do not attach or enable attachment of said towel to said wrist band at any other location on said towel.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said towel has a generally square shape having four corners and said attachment means attach said towel to said wrist band at only one of said four corners and do not attach or enable attachment of said towel to said wrist band at any other location on said towel.

9. A combined wrist band and towel apparatus, comprising

a tubular wrist band having an inner surface and an outer surface; and

a towel made of absorbent material;

said towel being sewn to said inner surface of said wrist band such that only a portion of said towel is in direct contact with said inner surface of said wrist band and when worn by a user, said towel is partially between said wrist band and the user, and the user sees said outer surface.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said towel is connectable to said wrist band only by said attachment means.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said attachment means connect said towel to said wrist band at only a single location.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said towel has a rectangular shape having four corners and said attachment means attach said towel to said wrist band at only one of said four corners and do not attach or enable attachment of said towel to said wrist band at any other location on said towel.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said towel has a generally square shape having four corners and said attachment means attach said towel to said wrist band at only one of said four corners and do not attach or enable attachment of said towel to said wrist band at any other location on said towel.