Canopy Leg Anchor

Abstract

The present invention provides a canopy leg anchor that is designed to anchor the legs of a canopy to the ground and prevent the canopy from being blown over and damaged. The canopy leg anchor includes a rectangular portion having two opposing length sides, two opposing width sides, and coextensive interior and exterior surfaces designed to wrap around the leg of a canopy. The interior surface and exterior surface enclose a defined interior volume filled with ballast to provide weight for anchoring. The opposing length sides comprise strips of aligning hook and loop fasteners that removably secure the rectangular portion around a canopy leg. The opposing width sides also comprise strips of aligning hook and loop fasteners to allow additional rectangular portions to be removably attached to one another in an end-to-end manner along the length of a canopy leg, thereby increasing the anchoring weight.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/923,337 filed on Jan. 3, 2014. The above identified patent application is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety to provide continuity of disclosure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to weights to anchor down support legs of a canopy to the ground to prevent a canopy from being blown over and damaged. More specifically, the present invention pertains to an improved canopy leg anchor having a rectangular portion with a defined interior volume filled with ballast and strips of aligning hook and loop fasteners along the sides to removably secure the rectangular portion around a canopy leg.

One of the biggest pregame activities to football is tailgating. A tailgate party is a social event usually occurring in parking lots at stadiums and arenas before and occasional after games. Tailgating, prior to sporting events, has long been a tradition in the professional sports and collegiate sports. Tailgating festivities are a great way to bring friends, family, classmates, and alumni together for a fun, safe and secure experience.

However, real tailgaters do not let the weather spoil their fun. Diehard football fans keep the tailgate party going despite uncooperative weather. Especially in areas of with frigid temperatures, blustery winds, icy roads and snow storms, tailgating requires preparation and bravery. Winds are particularly dangerous in winter months because they decrease already frigid temperatures. On cold, windy days, not only do tailgaters have to protect themselves by selecting outerwear that are wind resistant, they also have to protect their friends and other fellow tailgaters by taking extra precautions. One such precaution is in regard to canopies. Unanchored canopies can easily be blown over and present a safety hazard and may cause damage to property. Tailgaters can utilize sandbags, water barrels, or weights to ensure that tents and canopies are anchored appropriately. As most tailgating events are in parking lots, anchoring canopies through the use of stakes is prohibited.

The present invention provides an undemanding and convenient solution to anchoring canopies to prevent them from being blown away without the use of sandbags, water barrels, or weights that attach to the feet of the legs of a canopy. The present invention provides a canopy leg anchor that includes a rectangular portion having an interior surface and an exterior surface forming a defined interior volume filled with ballast. The opposing length sides include aligning strips of hook and loop fasteners designed to removably secure the rectangular portion around the leg of a canopy. In addition, the opposing width sides also include aligning strips of hook and loop fasteners designed to allow additional rectangular portions to be removably attached to one another from above or below in an end-to-end manner.

2. Drescription of the Prior Art

Devices have been disclosed in the prior art that relate to anchoring a tent, awning and patio umbrella. These include devices that have been patented and published in patent application publications. Some devices provide a weight that is grounded and is removably attached to a supporting leg of a canopy to anchor the canopy. Other devices provide a plurality of weights secured by fasteners and designed to secure a foot of a leg of a tent to secure the leg to the plurality of weights. These devices, however, do not disclose a device that removably fastens around the length of a supporting leg of a canopy. The foregoing is a list of devices deemed most relevant to the present disclosure, which are herein described for the purposes of highlighting and differentiating the unique aspects of the present invention, and further highlighting the drawbacks existing in the prior art.

Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 8,312,888 to Rees describes a canopy anchor pad system that has a pad with a metal plate attached thereto and a fastening member that extends through the pad. The Rees device is attached to the bottom of the legs of a canopy assembly. The Rees device includes a secondary weight is placed on the metal plate such as a cooler in order to anchor the leg of the canopy assembly. The Rees device, however, does not provide a rectangular portion having a defined interior volume filled with ballast designed to wrap around and removably fasten a leg of a canopy.

Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,981,680 to Gordon are weights for the legs of tents to stabilize the tents. The Gordon device provides a weight with one or more plates stacked upon one another and secured by fasteners extending through aligned holes in the plates. The Gordon device further provides additional holes in the plates and are designed to receive another fastener extending through a foot on the leg of the tent to secure the leg to the weight. The Rees device, however, does not describe a rectangular portion having a defined interior volume filled with ballast designed to anchor down a leg of a canopy.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,619,610 to Genovese is a portable anchoring device having a centrally disposed throughbore whereby a stanchion of a free standing structure can be inserted therein. The Genovese device is substantially hollow with a sealable cavity with an ingress and egress which allows for the filling and removal of ballast removal from the cavity. The throughbore is attached to a base support that is composed of two semi-circle shaped and provide foundation for the Genovese device. The Genovese further includes a hook element positioned on the base whereby the stanchion can be secured with a securing line such as a bungee cord. The Rees device, however, does not a ballast-filled rectangular portion that is wrapped around a leg of a canopy to prevent a canopy from blowing away.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,213,869 to McClellan is a hold down system that secures an RV awning in position which includes a weight associated with a coupling mechanism that is configured to removably couple to a supporting foot of an awning. The McClellan device further discloses that an awning assembly has at least one supporting leg that is disconnected from a side of the RV. The bottom surface of the weight is placed on the ground with the top surface that has a mechanism that secures the foot of a support leg and allows the awning to be anchored down. The Rees device, however, does not provide a rectangular portion that is filled with ballast and further including hook and loop fasteners.

Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,054 to Ma is a patio umbrella base that has a dome-shaped base housing with a central opening from which a cylindrical shaft extends. The Ma device further has an interior wall defined by an interior space wherein a first weight is secured to the interior wall and retained inside the interior space, and a second weight is removably secured to the interior wall and also retained inside the interior space. The arm of a patio umbrella is removably inserted into the cylindrical shaft of the Ma device to provide stable support. The Rees device, however, does not provide a weighted rectangular portion that is designed to wrap around a leg of a canopy to prevent the canopy from being blown away.

The devices disclosed in the prior art have several known drawbacks. Some devices provide a weight that is placed on the ground and is removably attached to a supporting leg of a canopy to anchor the canopy. Other devices provide a plurality of weights secured by fasteners and designed to secure a foot of a leg of a tent to secure the leg to the plurality of weights. However, these devices are limited for anchoring a canopy through the feet of supporting legs of a tent. The present invention overcomes these limitations by providing a rectangular portion that wraps around the length of a supporting leg of a canopy instead of attaching at the foot of a supporting leg. The rectangular portion encloses a defined interior volume filled with ballast and also includes hook and loop fasteners on opposing sides of the rectangular portion to removably fasten the rectangular portion around the length of a supporting leg of a canopy. It is therefore submitted that the present invention is substantially divergent in design elements from the prior art, and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to tube tent weights. In this regard, the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of devices that anchor canopies now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new and improved canopy leg anchor that is designed to anchor a canopy to the ground through a rectangular portion that is wrapped and fastened around the length of a supporting leg of a canopy.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a new and improved canopy leg anchor that has all of the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved canopy leg anchor that is designed to prevent a canopy from being blown away.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved canopy leg anchor that is convenient, portable, and easy to use.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved canopy leg anchor that allows users to stop carrying around burdensome sandbags, water barrels, or weights to ensure that the canopy is anchored appropriately.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved canopy leg anchor that comprises a rectangular portion filled with ballast that wraps around and removably fastens to a supporting leg of a canopy.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved canopy leg anchor that is designed to allow a plurality of canopy leg anchors to be removably attached to each other down the length of a supporting leg of a canopy.

Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved canopy leg anchor wherein the device may be readily fabricated from materials that permit relative economy and are commensurate with durability.

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

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

Although the characteristic features of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims, the invention itself and manner in which it may be made and used may be better understood after a review of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein the numeral annotations are provided throughout.

FIG. 1 shows a side perspective of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the present invention as wrapped around and removably fastened on a supporting leg of a canopy.

FIG. 3 shows an overhead cross section view of a pair of the present invention removably fastened to one another and wrapped around a supporting leg of a canopy.

FIG. 4 show a side perspective of a pair of the present invention linked together and removably fastened to one another in an end-to-end manner.

FIG. 5 shows an overhead perspective of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

References are made herein to the attached drawings. Like reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to depict like or similar elements of the canopy leg anchor. For the purposes of presenting a brief and clear description of the present invention, the preferred embodiment will be discussed as used to wrap around and anchor a supporting leg of a canopy. The figures are intended for representative purposes only and should not be considered to be limiting in any respect.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a side perspective of the canopy leg anchor 20. The canopy leg anchor 20 comprises a flexible rectangular portion 21 having an exterior surface 30 and a coextensive interior surface 31 encasing a defined interior volume that is filled with ballast. The rectangular portion 21 further comprises a pair of opposing length sides 22, 23 and a pair of opposing width sides 24, 25 The opposing length sides 22, 23 further comprise strips of aligning hook and loop fasteners 26, wherein the hook and loop fasteners 26 are designed to removably secure the rectangular portion 21 as it is wrapped around a leg of a canopy. The interior surface 31 is designed to be placed in contact with the leg of a canopy with the opposing length sides 22, 23 removably fastened to one another thereraround. The ballast filled within the defined interior volume of the rectangular portion 21 is designed to provide additional weight to the leg of the canopy to prevent the canopy from being blown over and causing potential damage or harm to others. Preferably, the ballast enclosed by the rectangular portion 21 is sand or gravel, however, other embodiments may be alternatively composed of iron, lead, or any other suitable heavy material that is designed to improve stability.

In addition, opposing width sides 24, 25 further comprises a second set of hook and loop fasteners 26. This second set of hook and loop fasteners 26 are designed to allow an additional rectangular portion 21 to be linked above or below the rectangular portion 21 in an end-to-end manner down the length of the supporting leg, thereby increasing the anchoring weight to stabilize a canopy. In the end-to-end manner, the opposing width side 24 is removably attached to the opposing width side 25 of a second rectangular portion 21 through the strip of hook and loop fasteners 26. A third rectangular portion 21 can also be removably attached to the second rectangular portion 21. Thereby, allowing a plurality of canopy leg anchors 20 to be removably fastened along the supporting leg of a canopy. The rectangular portion 21 is preferably composed of a nylon or a fabric, however, other waterproof, durable, and flexible material can be used. In some embodiments, the exterior surface 30 further comprises a customizable printed design thereon.

The strips of hook and loop fasteners 26 extend along the length of opposing width sides 24, 25 in a pair of matching strips of hook and loop fasteners 26 that extend along the opposing width sides 24, 25. However, in alternative embodiments, strips of hook and loop fasteners 26 may extend the entirety of the length of the opposing width sides 24, 25 or subdivide into a multiplicity of shorter strips of fasteners 26.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a front perspective of the canopy leg anchor 20 as removably secured to a supporting leg 51 of a canopy 50. The interior surface 31 is placed in contact and plush to the supporting leg 51 of a canopy 50. The opposing length sides 22, 23 and rectangular portion 21 are wrapped therearound and removably fastened with the aligning strips of hook and loop fasteners on the opposing length sides 22, 23. Other embodiments are alternatively composed of other suitable types of fastening means, such as, without limitation, eye hooks, and S hooks, which allow the canopy leg anchor 20 to be removably secured therearound.

In addition, additional canopy leg anchors 20 can be removably fastened together in a side-to-side manner. As illustrated in FIG. 3, there is shown an overhead cross-sectional view of a pair of canopy leg anchors 20 removably attached side by side to one another along the opposing length sides 24, 25 and wrapped around a supporting leg 51 to provide additional weight to stabilize the supporting leg 51. The opposing length side 24 having a strip of hook and loop fasteners 26 of a first canopy leg anchor 20 can be removably attached to the opposing length side 25 having the aligning strip of hook and loop fasteners 26 of a second canopy leg anchor 20, wherein the opposing length side 25 of the first canopy leg anchor 20 can also be removably fastened to the opposing length side 24 of the second canopy leg anchor 20 to wrap the pair of canopy leg anchors 20 around a supporting leg 51. In this side-to-side manner, the canopy leg anchor is designed to anchor down a supporting leg 51 that is thicker in diameter. In addition, the side-to-side manner also allows a user an alternative mode to stabilize a thinner supporting leg 51, as opposed to the end-to-end manner aforementioned.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown a side view of a canopy leg anchor 20 removably attached to an additional canopy leg anchor 20 and secured to a supporting leg 51 of a canopy. As illustrated, a second set of hook and loop fasteners 26 are designed to join an adjacent rectangular portion 21 above or below a first rectangular portion. In this end-to-end manner, one side of the opposing width sides 24, 25 comprising hook and loop fasteners 26 is removably fastened to a side of the opposing width sides 24, 25 of a second canopy leg anchor 20 by aligning the hook and loop fasteners 26 thereon. As can be readily recognized, removably attaching a plurality of canopy leg anchors 20 in an end-to-end manner is particularly advantageous to provide additional weight to a supporting leg 51 of a canopy to prevent the canopy from tipping over and causing damage to property or injury to others.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown an overhead perspective of alternative embodiment 2 of the canopy leg anchor. The alternative embodiment 2 is a flexible and tubular sleeve 39 having an ingress and egress on open terminal ends 40, 41. Tubular sleeve 39 further comprises an embedded metal plate 42 that provides additional stability to anchor a canopy. Sleeve 39 and open terminal ends 40, 41 form a hollow interior that is configured to receive a support leg of a canopy therethrough. This alternative embodiment 2 is designed to allow a multiplicity of sleeves 39 to be received by the supporting leg of a canopy. In this way, additional weight can be placed on the supporting leg to increase stabilize of the canopy. The tubular sleeve 39 is preferably constructed of a cotton fabric, however, other embodiments are composed of, but are not limited to wool, polyester, viscose, or any blends of these fabrics.

It is therefore submitted that the instant invention has been shown and described in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. With respect to the above descriptions then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function, and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specifications are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A canopy leg anchor for providing stability to a supporting leg of a canopy, comprising:

a rectangular portion having two opposing length sides, two opposing width sides, and coextensive exterior and interior surfaces;

wherein said rectangular portion is flexible and designed to be removably wrapped around a supporting leg of a canopy;

wherein said rectangular portion is designed to be wrapped around a supporting leg of a canopy and said opposing length sides being parallel to said supporting leg of said canopy;

said rectangular portion having a defined interior volume between said exterior surface and said interior surface filled with ballast designed to provide additional weight to anchor down said supporting leg of said canopy;

said opposing length sides further comprising a first fastener to removably fasten said opposing length sides together and said rectangular portion around said supporting leg of said canopy.

2. The canopy leg anchor of claim 1, wherein an additional rectangular portion can be affixed to said opposing length sides via said first fastener in a side-to-side manner to wrap around a larger supporting leg.

said first fastener on said opposing length sides also designed to removably attach a multitude of said rectangular portions around said supporting of said canopy in a side-to-side manner.

3. The canopy leg anchor of claim 1, further comprising a second fastener on said opposing width sides;

wherein said second fastener designed to join an adjacent rectangular portion above or below said rectangular portion and to removably attached in an end-to-end manner.

4. The canopy leg anchor of claim 1, wherein said second fastener is designed to extend along a length of said opposing width sides in at least one strip.

5. A canopy leg anchor of claim 1, wherein said exterior surface further comprising a printed design thereon.

6. A canopy leg anchor of claim 1, wherein said exterior surface and said interior surface of said rectangular portion are waterproof.

7. A canopy leg anchor for providing stability to a supporting leg of a canopy, comprising:

a tubular sleeve with a pair of open terminal ends forming a hollow interior configured to receive a supporting leg of a canopy therethrough;

wherein said tubular sleeve is embedded with a metal plate designed to provide additional weight to anchor down said supporting leg of said canopy.