MULTIPURPOSE ATHLETIC UTILITY BAG
A multipurpose utility bag for conveniently transporting and storing balls and necessary or optional equipment for participating in sporting or athletic activities. The bag can include selected interior and exterior enclosures and/or attachments for transporting and storing miscellaneous items, such as a cell phone or water bottle or shoes, whether or not associated with the specific sporting activity. The bag and attachments may be constructed or configured to resemble or function as an article, such as a net, used in the selected athletic activity.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/669,988, filed Apr. 11, 2005, and hereby incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to an athletic utility bag, particularly designed to carry balls used in a sports activity, and an appearance corresponding to the sporting activity. More particularly, the present invention relates to an athletic utility bag that is designed using materials characterizing the sport activity, and accommodates one or more balls used in the sports activity.
BACKGROUNDAthletes commonly use bags for transporting equipment necessary for participation in a specific sport to and from athletic venue. Often, these bags are designed for general-purpose use and simply consist of a large central compartment for stowing of equipment, and are typically simply a fabric enclosure.
In order to participate in many sports activities, specific balls are required, as well as possibly other equipment. The balls used in the sports activities have certain characteristics, and one or more balls may be required. For example, a single basketball is required for playing the game, whereas tennis, golf and other sports typically use more than one ball to facilitate play. In preparing to play the sport activity, a participant is required to bring the balls necessary for play, as well as possibly other equipment and apparel. Carrying these items to and from the athletic event can be awkward, particularly for large balls such as basketballs, or a plurality of balls used in another sport. Athletic bags have been developed for assisting in carrying sports apparel and other gear, typically being a bag having a size to accommodate the desired apparel and/or equipment, such as a standard gym bag. In other instances, a participant may simply carry the balls necessary for the activity, such as to the local park or playground for example. In pick up basketball games for example, individuals typically play on playgrounds or the like, and are required to furnish their own basketball. Common gym bags are designed to carry standard sports apparel and equipment including uniforms, shoes, and a change of clothes to be worn after the athletic event has finished. These bags are typically too small to accommodate a basketball or other balls used in athletic events. Thus, as the typical gym bag is too small to accommodate a basketball, it is common to find individuals carrying the basketball in one of their hands or lodging the basketball to one side of their body with one of their arms. Particularly for younger participants, carrying the balls used in the sport activity may be cumbersome, especially if the participant uses a bicycle or the like to get to basketball or other court. It would therefore be worthwhile to provide a product for more simply carrying one or more balls used in a sport activity. Other carrying devices include those designed specifically for carrying baseball equipment, including bats, baseballs and helmets for example. A basketball is not designed to fit into these types of bags. Other sports that require a single ball, such as football and soccer, have similar issues associated therewith.
Furthermore, when playing or practicing sports such as tennis or golf, a player will typically desire a plurality of balls. These balls are typically placed in their pockets to facilitate their availability. Carrying such balls in a pocket is uncomfortable and cumbersome and may affect one's swing or stroke while practicing sports such as golf or tennis. It would be desirable to provide a more convenient way to carry a plurality of such balls, and in these instances to provide the ability to strap a ball carrier to the player's body. Such a device would allow the player to conveniently carry the plurality of tennis or golf balls while practicing.
It is also noted that typical gym bags or the like, do not provide an indication of the sport being played. Such bags usually appear generic. It would be desirable to provide a sports bag for carrying one or more balls having an appearance corresponding to the activity, which indicates the type of sporting activity, and which can be used in promotion of the activity. It may also be desirable to provide a sports bag that would be useful to assist in playing the activity. For example, many basketball-court goals, at playgrounds and the like, do not have nets. Therefore, participants are required to bring a net of their own. Many athletes/participants would welcome a sports bag that could be readily used is such situations.
In addition, athletes often carry or store miscellaneous items while playing or practicing a particular game or sport. Thus, carriers with the ability to carry, for example, water bottles, shoes, cell phones, or the like will be a great convenience. Moreover, it would be particularly desirable to provide carriers for such items that integrate with the sports or ball bag used to transport the ball(s) associated with the activity.
SUMMARYBased upon the foregoing, the present invention is provided to overcome the problems or limitations of the prior art by providing a sports bag specifically designed to carry one or more balls associated with a sporting activity. The bag may have an appearance corresponding to the sporting activity, or may be formed of materials that are or emulate equipment associated with the sporting activity. The invention also provides in embodiments thereof, a promotional tool for communicating information about the sporting activity or equipment used therein, as well as advertisement relating to a particular sports team, company or the like. In another aspect, the bag may comprise equipment associated with the sporting activity. The invention contemplates an apparatus with carriers for other equipment, such as water bottles, cell phones, shoes or the like, that are selectively attachable to the utility bag noted above, and which may emulate certain aspects of the sporting activity. For example, a cell phone holder in a basketball-jersey form. The aforementioned novel features of the present invention are achieved by a multipurpose athletic utility bag as described in more detail below in conjunction with the drawings, and should be interpreted within the broad scope of the further appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring now to
In this embodiment, the housing 11 is made of non-rigid netting of the type commonly used for basketball nets. The housing 11 may itself simply be a commercial basketball net adapted into the configuration of the present invention, or made to emulate this appearance. For example, instead of a closure 12 at the bottom end, the housing 11 may be itself closed at the bottom end thereof. The housing 11 may thus be of a similar size, diameter, and length, to typical basketball nets, so a basketball B can easily fit within the interior compartment of the bag 10, as shown in
To facilitate carrying the sack 10, a variety of straps or the like may be used. For example, a selectively removable shoulder strap 20 may be provided for ease of carrying. The strap 20 may have removable connectors 22, 24, such as hook clamps, at each end for connecting the strap ends to different portions of the housing 11, or it may be permanently attached thereto. The strap 20 may be adjustable in length if desired. One strap connector 22 may connect to the top portion 16 of the housing 11, while the other strap connector 24 can be attached to the strap 12 at the bottom portion 14 or directly to the bottom portion netting. The strap 20, housing 11, upper portion 16 and bottom loops 14, are all made of a non-rigid material for compacting for storage in a small space when the bag is not in use. Other strap configurations are also contemplated for simplified carrying thereof. For example, as shown in
As seen in
The bag 10 may also serve as a promotional tool, such as by a sports team, wherein the bag itself communicates to a person the nature of the underlying sporting activity. By forming the bag 10 to have an appearance of a basketball hoop, people will readily identify with this sport, with the bag 10 creating an affinity to those interested in the sport. For example, a basketball team may use the bag 10 as a promotional tool to draw people to attend games or to promote players on the team, or the team itself. The housing 11 can be configured to communicate promotional information in a variety of ways, such as by the use of graphic material (such as team name or sponsor information) printed or otherwise provided on the netting 11 or other areas of the bag 10. Alternatively, the netting with which housing 11 is made in this embodiment may be differently colored, and it may be symbolic or representative. For example, the netting of the housing 11 may be colored into patterns, such as red, white, and blue, or the team colors of a particular team. Other graphic information may also be provided if desired, such a player numbers, team names and/or logos and the like. The graphic information 26 could allow personalization of the bag 10 in a variety of ways.
The invention also relates to a variety of accessory carriers for use in carrying different objects typically used by athletes in practicing or playing a sporting activity and for convenience for carrying personal items. As seen in
Turning to
As shown in
Turning to
In use, the strap fastener system comprising adjustable belt 64 is positioned around one's waist, and the strap 68 is secured around the leg, such that the bag 60 is positioned adjacent the leg of the user below the hip. In this position, the balls contained with in bag 60 are easily accessible, and opening and closing of the bag 60 is easy. To further facilitate use for playing or practicing golf, the bag 60 may also have holders for other golf equipment, such as tee holders 63 for holding a plurality of golf tees 67. As shown in
Turning to
In each of the embodiments of the instant invention as described, the ball bag may include extra pockets in the housing or in association with the straps, for storing other items, such as money, keys or the like. Each of these embodiments may also include indicia on the outside surfaces for displaying any desired graphic or other information, such as a company logo, team logo, phrase or other marking.
Turning to
The foregoing description of embodiments of the present invention has been provided for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with the various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.
Claims
1. An athletic bag for conveniently carrying and storing at least one athletic ball, said bag comprising:
- a bag enclosure having an exterior and an interior, the bag enclosure defining an interior space dimensioned to accommodate the at least one athletic ball, and having at least one opening through which articles are placed into the bag enclosure,
- the exterior of the bag enclosure being constructed of a materials or articles used in the athletic activity for which the at least one athletic ball is used, and
- a closure for the at least one opening to selectively close the opening of the bag enclosure.
2. The athletic bag of claim 1, wherein the at least one athletic ball is selected from the group that includes a basketball, football, tennis ball or golf ball.
3. The athletic bag of claim 1, wherein the exterior of the bag enclosure is formed from a basketball net.
4. The athletic bag of claim 3, wherein the bottom of basketball net is selectively closed to form the bag enclosure.
5. The athletic bag of claim 1, wherein the exterior of the bag enclosure is formed from netting as used in a tennis net.
6. The athletic bag of claim 1, further comprising a carrying strap connected to the bag enclosure.
7. The athletic bag of claim 1, further comprising a water bottle holder provided in association with the bag enclosure.
8. The athletic bag of claim 1, further comprising a removable inner lining selectively disposed within the bag enclosure.
9. A multipurpose carrier with a phone pocket configuration to conveniently carry accessories, such as a cell phone, comprising:
- (a) an open top end for inserting a phone or similarly sized article;
- (b) a bottom end forming said pocket to provide support;
- (c) a front surface;
- (d) a back surface; and
- (e) first and second side surfaces that attach to said front and back surfaces,
- wherein the top end is formed to provide the appearance of an athletic-activity jersey, such as those worn by professional basketball or football players, and wherein said carrier is selectively or permanently attached to an athletic bag by a suitable means.
10. A multipurpose carrier with a phone pocket configuration to conveniently carry accessories, such as a cell phone, comprising:
- (a) a specially designed back surface with selected cut-out portions;
- (b) a first upper front surface attached to top end of said back surface;
- (c) a second lower front surface attached to bottom end of back surface,
- wherein said carrier is configured essentially symmetrically, such that upon closing said carrier has the appearance of an athletic-activity jersey, such as those worn by professional athletes, and wherein said carrier is selectively or permanently attached to an athletic bag by a suitable means.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 11, 2006
Publication Date: Oct 12, 2006
Inventor: Cherrlyn Lampley (Akron, OH)
Application Number: 11/279,314
International Classification: B65D 85/00 (20060101); A45F 3/00 (20060101);