Flexible miniature carrier for sports accessories

Abstract

An article and method for securely carrying a small item for personal use during and after recreational and physical activities is provided. A flexible sheet, as of foam, which may be waterproof, is formed into a receptacle for the item. An overlying flap portion of the sheet is secured back to the receptacle with Velcro® strips or the like, as with buttons or snaps, after a strap of an article of the user's clothing, as on a cap, tank top, or the like, is placed under the flap. Alternative securement devices, as slits in the carrier or as toothed snaps, are also disclosed. This securement prevents the item and carrier from flopping about during use while keeping hands and arms free of bands and constraints.

Description

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to carriers for small personal accessories such as MP3 players, radios, cell phones, digital devices, flashlights, medicines and devices such as epipens or inhalers, lipstick or lip balm, cash, credit cards, keys, and the like, for safekeeping and use during recreational or physical activity, such as exercise, during which the user wears baseball or golf-type hats, or clothing and accessories with straps.

2. BACKGROUND OF THE ART

Containers and devices for carrying small items securely on the person of a user are well known, from wallets and purses to hidden coin or currency holders, key fobs, cellular telephone holsters, and the like. Carriers for asthma inhalers are well known in the art, for keeping an assembled canister and applicator at the ready for use in an attack situation. Bands for holding radios and tape, compact disk, and MP3 players on the upper arm or waist of a person while exercising are commonplace. Each of such carriers includes a container area for holding securely a specific device or type of device and an attachment means for holding the carrier bodily to a belt loop, belt, arm, or the like.

No device is known for affixing a small container to an existing strap of an article of the user's clothing (tank top strap, bra strap, strap at the back of a cap), purse, or backpack, for holding and protecting a device or item in the container from jostling and damage during physical activity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide a small flexible container which may be fixed to a strap on an article of clothing of a user and secured with snaps, Velcro® strips, hooks, buttons, or like fasteners. The container closely fits the item to be enclosed, whether an MP3 player, cell phone, radio or other digital device, a lipstick or lip balm applicator, a credit card, money, key, or the like, and holds it as against loss while also preferably protecting it from sweat, rain, and the like while in use. Because the container and carrier are held closely to a strap, as on the rear of a cap or on the strap of a clothing top, there is less opportunity for joggling of the container and enclosed device as the user moves—sometimes jerkily—as in exercising than is the case where a cable or hook device is used. Wires running from the enclosed device to the user's ears are less likely to interfere with the user's movements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a carrier of the present application, holding an enclosed MP3 player and attached to a strap of the user's clothing.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the carrier of FIG. 1 opened and without the player enclosed.

FIG. 3 is an end view of the carrier of FIG. 1 with a portion of the strap to which the carrier is attached.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the carrier of the present invention, enclosing a lipstick or similar object and attached to a strap of the user's clothing.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the carrier of FIG. 4 opened and without the lipstick or, alternatively, a credit card as shown enclosed therein, and with a portion of an adjacent strap.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the carrier of FIG. 4, taken on line 6-6 thereof.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a cap with a carrier for an MP3 player attached to the rear adjustment strap thereof.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a tank top with the carrier of this invention being attached to one shoulder strap thereof.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an alternate attachment method, where a free end of a strap is passed through slots or slits in the carrier for secure attachment.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a further alternative attachment method for the carrier, where snap-clamps that open on spring hinges are connected with the body of the carrier and grasp the strap with toothed inner surfaces.

THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A wearable carrier 10 for a small personal item 12 such as an MP3 player, or lipstick, money, and the like, is made of a durable material that is preferably waterproof but need not be, depending on the intended uses for the carrier. The sheet material 14 may be of one or more plies of resilient, netted, expanded or foamed material and is cut to a desired width depending on the length of the item 12 to be carried. As shown in FIG. 1, one end 16 of the sheet material 14 is sewn, glued, welded, or otherwise securely and permanently attached as along line 18 back to the material 14, forming a generally cylindrical receptacle 20 with a space or volume inwardly of the sheet material 14 that is sized to receive snugly the article 12 to be carried. A flap of material 22 of the sheet 14 beyond the line 18 is long enough to extend over or partly about the receptacle 20 of the carrier 10. An inner side of the flap material 22 is fitted with a Velcro® hook and loop or like strip of material 24 or other closure device with cooperates with a like strip or device 26 on the adjacent body of the carrier 10.

When the flap 22 is open as in FIG. 2, a strap 28 of a cap, backpack, tank top, or the like can be passed between the flap 22 and the body of the carrier 10; and the flap 22 is then closed over the body to capture the strap, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 7, and 8.

The body of the carrier 10 may be apertured as at 30 in FIG. 1 and 2 so as to pass, or allow direct access to, control buttons 32 provided on the exterior of the item 12, such as an MP3 player, that is to be contained within the carrier 10 during use. The apertures may be custom fit for each model or brand of device 12, and so the carrier 10 is preferably provided with each such device 12 or may be marketed and sold for such use with a specific device. Wires 34 from the item or device 12, if any, as for earbuds, are then passed about the user to the ears or other location, as in FIG. 7.

An alternative design of the carrier of the invention is shown at 110 in FIGS. 4-6. In this embodiment, each end of the receptacle portion 120 is closed by a permanent wall 121, as shown, sewn, glued, welded, formed integrally with, or otherwise permanently secured to edge portions of the material of the carrier 110 and receptacle 120. This form of the invention is adapted more generally to enclose and carry securely a variety of small items that may be needed while exercising or engaging in other physical or recreational activity. A lipstick 112 or a credit card 113 may be placed into the generally cylindrical receptacle 120, which will configure itself by stretching somewhat to accommodate the item. As in the FIGS. 1-3 embodiment, a flap 122 extends from attachment points 118, at two of the upper edges of the end walls 121 and the middle of the material 114 along the side edges, to a free edge as shown. Velcro or similar patches or other secure attachment means 124, 126 are provided on the inner side of the flap 122 and the outer surface of the receptacle 120 as shown.

The carrier 110 of FIGS. 4-6 is used in the same manner as the carrier 10 of FIGS. 1-3. A small item as lipstick 112, money, a credit card 113, or the like is placed within the receptacle 120. A strap 28 of a cap, tank top, or other article of clothing is passed between the flap 122 and the body of the receptacle 120 and the Velcro or other fastener strips 124, 126 are pressed together to secure the carrier 110 to the strap 28. The carrier is then used during exercise or recreation, as in FIG. 7, leaving the user's hands and pockets free but the item within the carrier securely attached to the user's clothing until removed.

Many variations may be made in the invention as shown and its manner of use, without departing from the principles of the invention as described herein and/or as claimed as our invention. Minor variations will not avoid the use of the invention. For instance, the carrier 220 or a flap 222 may be slit or apertured as in FIG. 9, for running a free-ended strap 228 through the slits for attachment. Hinged snapping clamps 324 with teeth 326 to clamp securely onto material, such as on an edge of a fitted cap 328 not having a strap, may be used, as in FIG. 10. In accordance with the invention, each such attachment avoids flapping and flopping about of the carrier and the item within it, as well as affording less constraint on the user's movements due to the placement of wires from MP3 players and like devices, as is suffered in using known prior art devices.

Claims

1. A wearable carrier for a small personal item for use and safety of the item particularly while its user is physically active, the carrier comprising a flexible enclosure for the item fitting snugly to and about the item and a flap of material of the enclosure extending from the enclosure itself to a free edge, the flap having therein or thereon an attachment means for cooperating with a portion of the enclosure for securing the flap back to the enclosure, whereby the flap is adapted to be passed around a strap of an article of clothing or headgear, backpack, or purse of the user and secured to the enclosure of the carrier.

2. The carrier of claim 1, wherein the attachment means comprises one of a Velcro® type hook and loop fastener strip or pad, button, snaps, and other closure device.

3. The carrier of claim 1, further comprising a hinged, toothed clamp adapted to removably grasp the article of clothing outside the flap of the enclosure and without passing the flap about any strap on said article.

4. The carrier of claim 1, wherein the enclosure is perforated at one or more places on its exterior to expose to the user operating controls of a device within the enclosure.

5. The carrier of claim 1, wherein the material of the enclosure is impervious to water.

6. The carrier of claim 1, wherein the enclosure comprises a generally cylindrical form that is open at both ends and wherein the flap extends from a side of the form.

7. The carrier of claim 1, wherein the enclosure comprises a generally cylindrical form that is closed at both ends by end walls.

8. A method of carrying a small personal item during recreational activity and while wearing an article of clothing or an accessory which has at least one of a strap and an edge, the method comprising the steps of:

enclosing the item in a flexible carrier fitted to the item;

affixing the carrier either about any strap on said clothing by using a flap, or slits in the carrier, or to said edge of said article of clothing by a toothed attachment means on the carrier; and

fixing a free end of the flap of material back to attach onto the carrier.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of adjusting a control on the item while it is carried on the clothing strap or edge, by manipulating the control through an aperture in the carrier that corresponds with the control.