Stadium blanket construction

Abstract

An improved stadium blanket construction (10) including a generally rectangular blanket member (20) having a hand warmer member (30) formed on one face (21) and a pair of foot warming members (40) (40′) formed on the opposed faces of the blanket member (20) whereby the user may place the hand warmer member (30) on either side of the blanket member (20) while one of the foot warming members (40) will be positioned to receive the user's feet and the other foot warming member (40′) will be available to store other sport viewing related paraphernalia.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] Not applicable.

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to the field of blanket constructions in general and in particular to an improved stadium blanket construction that includes hand and foot warming pockets as well as a storage pocket.

[0004] 2. Description of Related Art

[0005] As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,920,931; 5,737,785; 5,884,331; 5,987,667; and DES. 341,979, the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse convertible blanket constructions employed for a variety of different purposes.

[0006] While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, they are uniformly deficient with respect to their failure to provide a simple, efficient, and practical convertible blanket construction having a reversible hand warmer member and a pair of foot warming members that allow the user to reverse the blanket construction to handle different cold weather conditions and wherein the blanket construction can be folded into a pillow/cushion configuration that is substantially contained within one of the foot warming members.

[0007] As anyone who has attended a sporting event in an outdoor stadium during the late fall and winter is all too well aware, as the sun goes down and shadows extend across the stadium, the temperature can plummet dramatically.

[0008] As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need among sports fans for a new and improved stadium blanket construction that can be transported as a pillow or seat cushion and then deployed in two different modes to handle both cold and bitterly cold conditions and the provision of such a construction is the stated objective of the present invention.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Briefly stated, the improved stadium blanket construction that forms the basis of the present invention comprises in general a blanket unit, a hand warmer unit and a pair of foot warmer units disposed on opposite sides of the blanket unit so that the blanket construction can be deployed in different modes to handle both merely cold and bitterly cold conditions.

[0010] As will be explained in greater detail further on in the specification, by placing virtually identical foot warming units on opposite sides of the blanket unit, the inwardly facing foot warming unit can receive the user's feet while the outwardly facing foot warming unit can hold various items such as binoculars, game programs, snacks, etc.

[0011] In addition, during cool or slightly cold conditions, the hand warmer unit can be deployed on the exterior surface of the blanket unit whereby the user's arms are exposed when their hands are inserted into the hand warmer unit; whereas in bitterly cold conditions, the blanket unit can be reversed to place the hand warmer unit on the interior surface of the blanket and the blanket unit can completely envelop the user's body while their hands are further protected by the hand warming unit.

[0012] Furthermore, either one of the foot warmer units may be employed as a storage receptacle for the blanket unit when it is folded into a pillow/cushion configuration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] These and other attributes of the invention will become more clear upon a thorough study of the following description of the best mode for carrying out the invention, particularly when reviewed in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

[0014] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the blanket construction in use;

[0015] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the blanket construction folded into a pillow;

[0016] FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of the unfolded blanket construction;

[0017] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the partially folded blanket construction;

[0018] FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the folded blanket construction in pillow form;

[0019] FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view of the unfolded blanket construction; and,

[0020] FIG. 7 is a side view of the unfolded blanket construction.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0021] As can be seen by reference to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, the improved blanket construction that forms the basis of the present invention is designated by the reference number 10. The construction 10 comprises in general a blanket unit 11, a hand warmer unit 12, and a pair of opposed foot warmer units 13 formed on opposite sides of the blanket unit 11.

[0022] As can best be seen by reference to FIGS. 2, 6, and 7, the blanket unit 11 comprises an elongated generally flat rectangular blanket member 20 having a front face 21, a rear face 22, a top 23, a bottom 24 and the opposed sides 25 26 wherein the foot warmer units 13 extend upwardly from the bottom 24 of both the front 21 and rear 22 faces of the blanket member 20 and the hand warmer unit 12 is disposed intermediate the top 23 and bottom 24 of the front face 21 of the blanket member 20 for reasons that will be explained presently.

[0023] Still referring to FIGS. 2, 6, and 7, it can be seen that the hand warmer unit 12 comprises a generally trapezoidal shaped hand warmer member 30 having a longitudinal axis disposed perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the blanket member 20; wherein, the generally straight top 31 and bottom 32 edges of the hand warmer member 30 are fixedly secured to the blanket member 20 as by stitching or the like; and, wherein the angled sides 33 33 are open so as to define an open ended sleeve that will receive the user's hands in a well recognized fashion.

[0024] In addition, the foot warmer units 13 comprise a pair of generally rectangular foot warming members 40 40′ whose bottom edges 41 41′ are secured to the bottom 24 of the blanket member 20 on both the front 21 and rear 22 face respectively of the blanket member 20.

[0025] Furthermore, the opposed sides 42 42 and 42′ 42′ of each of the foot warmer members 40 40′ are likewise fixedly secured to the front 21 and rear faces of the blanket member 20 at locations spaced from the opposed sides 25 26 of the blanket member 20 leaving an open top 43 43′ on the foot warming member 40 40′ which is dimensioned to receive the user's feet and/or other diverse articles as will be explained presently.

[0026] As can be seen by reference to FIGS. 1 and 3, when the blanket construction 10 is worn with the front face 21 of the blanket member 20 facing away from the user, the hand warmer member 30 will be disposed on the exposed face 21 of the blanket member 20 and the foot warmer member 40′ on the rear face 22 of the blanket member 20 will be oriented to receive the user's feet while the other foot warmer member 40 on the front face 21 of the blanket member 20 can be used to store binoculars, game programs, snacks, etc.

[0027] However, as can be appreciated by reference to FIG. 6, when the weather is bitterly cold, the blanket member 20 can be reversed so that both the hand warmer member 30 and one of the foot warmer members 40 are faced toward the user to conserve the maximum amount of body heat.

[0028] Turning now to FIGS. 2 through 5, it can be seen that by folding the sides 25 and 26 of the blanket member inwardly along the dashed lines and then continuing to fold the blanket member 20 downwardly into sections, it will be possible to fold the majority of the blanket member 20 and the hand warmer member 30 into a compact bundle that can be stuffed into one of the foot warmer members 40 or 40′ to assume a pillow configuration.

[0029] Although only an exemplary embodiment of the invention has been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the following claims.

[0030] Having thereby described the subject matter of the present invention, it should be apparent that many substitutions, modifications, and variations of the invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that the invention as taught and described herein is only to be limited to the extent of the breadth and scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. An improved stadium blanket construction comprising:

a blanket unit including an elongated blanket member having a front face, a rear face, a top, a bottom, and two opposed sides;

a first foot warmer member formed on one of the faces of the blanket member; and

a hand warmer member formed on one of the faces of the blanket member.

2. The blanket construction as in claim 1; wherein, said first foot warmer member has a bottom affixed to the bottom of the blanket member, two sides affixed to one of the faces of the blanket member, and an open top dimensioned to receive a user's feet.

3. The blanket construction as in claim 2; wherein, said hand warmer member has a top and bottom affixed to one of the faces of the blanket member and two open sides.

4. The blanket construction as in claim 3; wherein, the first foot warmer member and said hand warmer member are disposed on the same face of the blanket member.

5. The blanket construction a sin claim 3; wherein, the first foot warmer member is disposed on one face of the blanket member and the hand warmer member is disposed on the other face of the blanket member.

6. The blanket construction as in claim 1 further comprising

a second foot warmer member formed on the opposite face of the blanket member.

7. The blanket construction as in claim 1; wherein, the hand warmer member has a generally trapezoidal configuration.

8. The blanket construction as in claim 7; wherein, the blanket member has a generally rectangular configuration.

9. The blanket construction as in claim 8; wherein, the at least one foot warmer has a generally rectangular configuration.

10. The construction as in claim 6; wherein, the hand warmer member has a generally trapezoidal configuration.

11. The construction as in claim 10; wherein, the blanket member has a generally rectangular configuration.

12. The construction as in claim 11; wherein, the at least one foot warmer has a generally rectangular configuration.