BOOTSTRAP FOR HIKING BOTTLE WEIGHT LIFTING EXERCISES

Abstract

Bootstrap converts any hiking bottle into a safe and long-lasting weightlifting device. It consists of two main components: 1″-1.5″ plushed strap with low elasticity and high durability, 0.4″ or thicker silicon bumper for bottle bottom. Several embodiments have additional components used as connection items. VELCRO® brand VELSTRETCH® tape is a perfect material for the heavy bottle strap. It is used in industrial applications to withstand multiple expansions/contractions and to minimize shear stress on hands. Thick silicon bottom bumper absorbs stress coming from two bottles collision that is common for such weight lifting exercise. Overall design protects hikers head, hands, and body from injuries. Several embodiments varying aesthetically and in cost are presented. Basic math provided in the background section explains current solutions' failures. The same math lays the path to the bootstrap.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/008,672, filed 2020 Apr. 11 by the present inventor.

PRIOR ART

The following is a tabulation of some prior art that presently appears relevant:

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
	Patent Number	Kind Code	Issue Date	Patentee
	5,580,343	B1	1996 Dec. 3	Cafiero

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
	Country	Kind		App or
Foreign Doc. Nr.	Code	Code	Pub. Dt	Patentee
AT4824U1	AT	B1	2001 Dec. 27	Eis Boris

Electronic Publications as Prior Art

Relevant products available online in April 2020:

R1. “Nike Minimal Handheld 22 oz. Bottle”, https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/nike-minimal-handheld-22-ozbottle-19nikumnmlhndhldbgaf/19nikumnmlhndhldbgaf, April 2020

R2. “Nylon Outdoor Hiking Camp Belt Carrier Pouch Water Bottle strap Holder Bag”, https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nylon-Outdoor-Hiking-Camp-Belt-Carrier-Pouch-Water-Bottle-strap-Holder-Bag-/392275230277, April 2020

R3. “Handiwear (2 Pack, Water Bottle Carrier Grip for Running. Soft Band Holder Strap Makes Any Bottle Handheld. Bike, Gym or Jogging”, https://www.amazon.com/s?k=B018ZE50UC&i=sporting&ref=nb_sb_noss, April 2020

R4. “Windspeed Water Bottle Carrier Grip for Outdoor, Soft band Holder Strap Makes Any Bottle Handheld, Water Bottle Bands For Bike, Gym or Jogging 4 Pack (random color)”, https://www.amazon.com/s?k=B01LZ3S9ST&i=sporting&ref=nb_sb_noss, April 2020

R5. “REUZBL Protective Silicone Boot Sleeve for 12-40 oz Hydro Flask Insulated Water Bottles, Anti-Slip Bottom Cover”, https://www.amazon.com/s?k=B07QTY2XBQVZVD&i=sporting&ref=nb_sb_noss, April 2020

R6. “Felt Furniture Sliders Hardwood Floors X-PROTECTOR 16 PCS—Furniture Slider—Heavy Duty Felt Sliders Hard Surfaces—Move Your Furniture Easy & Safely!” https://www.amazon.com/s?k=B07QTY2HC3&i=sporting&ref=nb_sb_noss, April 2020

R7. “VELCRO Brand All-Purpose Elastic Straps|Strong & Reusable|Perfect for Fastening Wires & Organizing Cords|Black, 27 in×1 in|2 Count”, https://www.amazon.com/s?k=B00006IC2R&ref=nb_sb_noss, April 2020

DESCRIPTION

Background

Hiking becomes increasingly popular in U.S., but UC Davis (“Muscle matters: Dr Brenan Egan at TED×UCD” on YouTube) shows that “walking is not enough—we have to lift weights” to avoid sarcopenia (loss of muscle tissue as a natural part of the aging process). Hikers, inventors, and industry have tried to use bottles as dumbbells (patents 5580343, AT4824U1), light plastic bottles with hand-strap (available at sporting goods), bottle-carrying straps (available at ebay.com), and silicon carrier grips for water bottles (available at amazon.com). I have been hiking Bay Area trails for 20 years and I have observed only a handful of hikers a year lifting weights when walking. Why? Let's use math and physics for the explanation and for finding a solution:

• • (a) Average hiking takes 3-4 hours. With 10-20 hands lifting every 5-10 minutes we have 400-500 hands-up per trip.
  • (b) Popular among hikers 1-1.2 lb thermoflask or hydroflask (or another metallic bottle, often with vacuum insulation) with 24-40 oz of water weights 2.5-3.7 lb. That matches 2-3 lb dumbbells used at gym aerobics.
  • (c) It is essential to understand how arms move when lifting 2-4 lb bottle in each hand 500 times in 4 hours. Because it is quite exhausting exercise, it works like a pendulum swing (FIGS. 7C, 7D) rather than folding and unfolding arms. Swing-up ends over a hikers head and a relaxed swing-down ends behind hiker's hips (by inertia, and to avoid hurting the hiker's sides). Bottle swing trajectory is about 1 meter diameter semicircle, and bottles meet 500 times at the trajectory's apex and 500 times at the trajectory's bottom.
  • (d) With a 1 meter swing-up taking about 1 second, acceleration is about 0.2 g and speed at the apex is about 2 m/sec. When bottles meet at the top and at the bottom of the trajectory, their stop path is very short and is determined by the thickness of a bottle's bumper (elaborated later) or by the bottle's deformation (if there is no bumper). Let's do the math for 1 cm—thick bumper as a stop path (1 cm=0.01 m=0.4″). Newton's formula for acceleration gives an acceleration of −20 g at the collision (based on the speed coming down from 2 m/sec to zero at 0.01 m distance). For 2-4 lb bottle, 20 g acceleration means 40-80 lb stress at the bottles' collision (FIG. 7A).
    Now let's translate these numbers into English to see what fails or what does not scale from light bottle usage to an intensive workout with 2-4 lb bottles:
  • (e) There is significant and repetitive normal (perpendicular to surface) stress on the bottles and there is shear (along the surface) stress on hands from either side: from bottles grip to the palm side of the hand at every collision of the bottles, and from a strap jig-sawing the dorsal side of the hand on every acceleration.
  • (f) If strap material is too stretchable then the jig-sawing effect coming from strap's elongation and contraction on every acceleration is considerable. And if straps are not elastic then normal repetitive stress damages hands and skin.
  • (g) No hiker wants a bottle holding device to crack, snap, or fall off the bottle when it is over his/her head and hit him/her with 40-80 lb force. Neither hiker wants fingers jammed with such force, as even if it is a rare incident—on 500 repetitions, an accident is bound to happen (aka “happens by design”).
  • (h) Damage to the bottle and its vacuum insulation (if present) at the bottles' collision should be avoided.
  • (i) Hands' exhaustion from carrying heavy bottles around contributes to the unpopularity of the existing solutions.
  • (j) Some patents were not implemented by manufacturers and some products died out because of poor aesthetic and/or because of substantial price.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Bootstrap converts any hiking bottle into safe and durable workout device. It consists of two main components:

1″-1.5″ plushed strap with low elasticity and high durability;

0.4″ or thicker silicon bumper for bottle bottom.

Embodiments differ from aesthetic and cost perspectives. Some embodiments can be applied to any bottle, other depend on bottle design. VELCRO® brand VELSTRETCH® tape used for the strap comes from industrial applications where it provides comfort for hands in similar circumstances: numerous expansions and contractions, substantial load, and high durability. Moderate pressure to the dorsal side of the hand provided by the strap allows a hiker to relax his/her grip. That minimizes shear stress on hands when bottles collide and reduces hands' fatigue when the hiker carries bottles around. Slight curvature of his/her fingers and support from the strap are enough to control the bottle. The second main component, thick bumper, absorbs impact on the bottles and on the hands when bottles collide. Bootstrap material and design suppress bottle's wiggling and keep the hiker's hand reliably confined between the strap and the bottle. That eliminates head, body, and hands injuries.

DRAWINGS—FIGURES

FIG. 1A shows bootstrap embodiment for a bottle with a cap holder.

FIG. 1B shows the bootstrap on the bottle with a cap holder.

FIG. 2A shows bootstrap embodiment with a ring for the bottle neck.

FIG. 2B shows the bootstrap with the ring attached to the bottle neck.

FIG. 3 shows Do-It-Yourself bootstrapped bottle embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows By-Manufacturer-Only bootstrapped bottle embodiment.

FIG. 5 shows hook-and-loop strap with a soft lock as an alternative to a strap with a buckle.

FIG. 6 shows a furniture slider, with the hard/sliding side up and the soft/silicon side down, that can be used as a bumper for Do-It-Yourself embodiment.

FIG. 7A shows operation—moment before or after bottles collide.

FIG. 7B shows operation—the grip over the bottle.

FIG. 7C shows operation—swing move done by a hiker (view from the hiker's left).

FIG. 7D shows operation—another possible swing move (view from behind the hiker's back).

Drawing Reference Numerals
10  Strap
20  bumper with sleeve and hole
25  hole in bumper
30  parachute buckle
40  adjustable buckle
50  Ring
60  Bottle
70  hook-and-loop ring(s)
80  duct tape attaching bumper
90  flat bumper
100 bottle with two buckles
110 metallic buckles on the bottle
120 ultrasonically welded strap end(s)
130 bumper with long sleeve
140 buckle for soft lock
150 soft lock
160 hard side of furniture slider
170 soft side of furniture slider

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1A—First Embodiment

FIG. 1A shows bootstrap embodiment that can be applied to a bottle having a cap holder. Strap 10 and silicon bumper 20 are connected through hole 25 in the bumper's sleeve. Strap can be closed with a parachute buckle 30. Strap 10 is at least 1″ wide, and it goes over dorsal side of the hand twice, so plushed side should be the outer side of the locked strap. Silicon bumper 20 is in a shape of a cup/boot that is popular with thermoflask or hydroflask (“REUZBL Protective Silicone Boot Sleeve . . . ” in prior art), but it has 0.4″ or thicker bottom.

FIG. 1B—Application of First Embodiment

FIG. 1B shows first embodiment applied to a bottle with a cap holder.

FIG. 2A—Alternative Embodiment

FIG. 2A shows bootstrap embodiment with a ring 50 for the bottle neck, to be used with bottles not having a cap holder. Adjustable buckle 40 is used instead of parachute buckle because there is no need in opening and closing strap 10 loop in this embodiment.

FIG. 2B—Application of Alternative Embodiment

FIG. 2B shows alternative embodiment attached to the bottle neck with a ring 50.

FIG. 3 Do-it-Yourself Bootstrapped Bottle Embodiment

FIG. 3 shows the embodiment that can be made of any metallic bottle 60 by anybody. Strap 10 is attached to the bottle with two hook-and-loop rings 70. 0.4″ or thicker flat silicon bumper 90 is attached over its perimeter to the bottle with duct tape 80.

FIG. 4—By-Manufacturer-Only Bootstrapped Bottle Embodiment

FIG. 4 shows the embodiment for the bottle 100 having two metallic buckles 110 on its surface. In this embodiment strap 10 can have 1.5″ width and be single layered, with its plushed side facing the bottle. An end 120 of the strap goes through metallic buckle 110, flipped over the strap, and ultrasonically welded to it. Such closure eliminates scratching hand with the seams. Silicon bumper 130 is in a shape of a cup/boot popular with thermoflask or hydroflask (“REUZBL Protective Silicone Boot Sleeve . . . ” in prior art), but with 0.4″ or thicker bottom and with an elongated sleeve to hold on to the bottle. Sleeve in this bumper should be made longer/higher compared to the bumper with the hole, for it to hold well to the bottle.

FIG. 5—Hook and Loop Strap with Soft Lock

FIG. 5 shows hook and loop strap 10 with soft lock 150 and simple loop-through buckle 140. Soft lock provides better comfort compared to hard plastic locks, and is less expensive. Lock 150 should be welded to strap 10 with sticky side of the lock and plushed/soft side of the strap facing the same way (that differs it from “VELCRO Brand All-Purpose Elastic Straps . . . ” prior art where sticky side of the lock and non-plushed side of the strap face the same way). Length of strap 10 should be couple inches more than twice the distance between the points where the strap is attached to the bottle. So the item (strap+lock) length is 2.5-3 times the distance between the attachment points.

FIG. 6—Furniture Slider as a Bumper

FIG. 6 shows furniture slider with its hard/sliding side 160 up and its soft/silicon side 170 down. It can be used as a bumper in Do-It-Yourself embodiment. It provides better bonding with the duct tape than silicon-only bumper because of thin hard layer 160.

Operation—FIGS. 7A-7D

FIG. 7A is a view of the moment before bottles collide or right after they bounce off each other.

FIG. 7B shows a grip over the bootstrapped bottle. This grip is intrinsically relaxed—it is far from being complete/closed. Slight curvature of the fingers and support from the strap secure the hold. To envision it better—even if a hiker straightens out his/her fingers and the bottle tries to roll of his/her hand—strap won't allow this to happen—thanks to the heavy weight of the bottle and the low elasticity of the strap.

FIG. 7C shows swing move done by a hiker (we are looking at him/her from his/her left). Apex point is over his/her head and bottom point of the swing is behind the hiker's back—hands arrive there by inertia from the swing.

FIG. 7D shows another swing move (we are looking at the hiker from his/her back). It looks like wings' flapping. Apex point is over and a bit in front of the hiker's head—to use inertia of the swing on the way down to bring his/her hands behind his/her back and not to hit the body.

Advantages—Prior Art Disadvantages or New Usage

Background section thoroughly explains math and physics behind weightlifting exercise with hiking bottles, gives insight why previous solutions fail, and shows the path to the presented solution. Here we extend prior art with what it is, why it is referenced, and to show disadvantages or new usages.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,343—bottle with a rigid handle. Rigid handle will cause wrists fatigue and is unsafe to use in 3-4 hour weightlifting exercise.
Patent AT4824U1—dumbbell-shaped bottle. Our solution is for any hiking bottle, and there is no need to manufacture a special bottle for weightlifting.

Electronic Publications:

R1—Lightweight plastic bottle with a hand-strap. The strap and the bottle materials are too weak to scale up to the heavy metallic bottle (that is our object).
R2—Bottle strap made of rigid material. This material will hurt hands if used on heavy metallic bottles at intensive weightlifting exercises (that is our subject).
R3, R4—Silicon bands for water bottles. These bands will squeeze and hurt hands when used with big and heavy bottles. And heavy bottles will be wiggling if controlled by such rubber bands, increasing risk of injuries.
R5—Silicon boot for HydroFlask or ThermoFlask. Its bottom will get chewed up quickly with a common weightlifting exercise where bottles collide up to 1,000 times a trip. With every independent claim we specify thicker bottom of this boot/bumper to prevent damaging bottles and hurting hands. Longer sleeve or a hole in the sleeve for a strap needed to secure boot/bumper to the bottle in some embodiments.
R6—Furniture sliders. In Do-It-Yourself embodiment we found new usage for them as bottle bumpers.
R7—VELCRO elastic strap. It is used in many industrial applications like lumber and cable holders. We claim another usage as a bottle strap. Soft lock should be flipped over to be used as the bottle strap and the length of the strap should be predefined.

CONCLUSION, RAMIFICATIONS, AND SCOPE

Heavy bottle is a different beast than a light-weight (plastic, aluminum, or single-layered metallic without vacuum insulation) bottle. Weightlifting exercise performed hundred times several hours in row is a new experience. The idea of carrying 2-4 lb bottle in each hand several hours may sound daunting. But with new materials' usage, new design, and with the understanding of how hands and arms work with the bootstrapped bottles—we dramatically reduce stress, fatigue, and overall concerns around this exercise.

Many manufactures can add weightlifting elements to their hiking bottles easily. Number of bootstrapped bottle owners will eventually reach critical mass, and other hikers will ask: “What's that for?” and “Where did you buy them?” And voila—weightlifting while hiking is trending and now bootstrapped bottles have a broad base to spread across. Such perspective should petrify manufactures and vendors who have not adopted this idea in the first place:

It is about new market that can be grown to the stage when it becomes self-growing.

It is about new customers coming for two bottles—per person.

It is about old customers coming for another bottle and a bootstrap device for the bottle they already have.

Now it is the time to emphasize benefits of adding weightlifting on top of walking. It is all about health—the actual scope of this invention:

Lungs and heart are pumped in and out at 100% rate and beyond.

Sarcopenia (loss of muscle tissue as a natural part of the aging process) won't be waiting around the corner.

In COVID-19 pandemics, it is not the virus per se that kills, but the inability to breathe with stiffen lungs. Forcing lungs expansion and contraction helps to beat such complication. Preparing your rib cage muscles for such kind of battle is a smart move.

When COVID-19 patients are knocked out and hooked up to ventilators with medically induced coma for several weeks—physically fit individuals have much better chances to come off and to restart their system.

Claims

1. A bottle-holding article for weightlifting exercise performed by a hiker with a 2-4 lb bottle, usually with two bottles at a time, comprising:

a. 1″-1.5″ wide plushed strap that has low elasticity, predefined strength, and high durability,

b. cup-shaped silicon bumper with at least 0.4″ thick bottom,

c. said silicon bumper has a horizontal hole near its upper end through which said plushed strap is looped,

whereby said strap is able to sustain 1,000 contractions and expansions during a single trip caused by bottle acceleration and its predefined strength protects hiker's head, body, and hands from injuries,

whereby said bumper absorbs repetitive stress coming from two bottles' repetitive collisions, therefore protecting bottle's surface and vacuum insulation, if such present, from damages,

whereby overall design allows the hiker to have his/her grip relaxed, therefore avoid shear stress on the palm when the bottles abruptly stop at the bottles' collision and avoid wrist fatigue coming from holding and carrying the bottle.

2. The article of claim 1 further including a parachute buckle to lock said plushed strap into a loop,

whereby said strap goes over the hiker's hand as a two-layered band to provide well controlled elasticity and comfort,

whereby said parachute buckle can be quickly unlocked when hiker wants to drink, and said strap holds the cap.

3. The article of claim 1 further including a ring to be put on the bottle's neck,

whereby said plushed strap can be looped through that ring that provides a connection point to the bottle top when it is not feasible to use the bottle cap for such connection.

4. The article of claim 1 wherein said plushed strap made of VELCRO® brand VELSTRETCH® tape that provides 55% elongation under 4 lb load,

whereby said tape material proved itself in industrial applications as cable and lumber holders that required a closure to expand and contract repeatedly under heavier than the bottle weight.

5. The article of claim 4 further including soft VELCRO® lock ultrasonically welded on said strap,

whereby said lock provides better comfort compared to a buckle made of hard plastic.

6. Do-It-Yourself hiking bottle upgrade into weightlifting article comprising:

a. metallic bottle,

b. two hook-and-loop narrow straps wrapped around the bottle as two rings,

c. plushed strap made of VELCRO® brand VELSTRETCH® 1″-1.5″ wide tape looped through said two rings and closed on itself with an adjustable buckle,

d. 0.4″ thick silicon circle matching the diameter of said bottle's bottom attached to the bottle's bottom by sticky tape, taping together the perimeter of said circle and said bottle, so said circle plays a role of the bottle bumper,

whereby said upgrade can be done to any bottle and not necessarily by the bottle manufacturer.

7. Furniture slider can be used for claim 6 bottle bumper,

wherein its sliding side made of non-elastic material faces toward the bottle bottom and ensures that duct tape secures the slider firmly, and said non-elastic layer distributes hit from another bottle evenly across the bottom area,

wherein the other side of the slider made of elastic silicon mitigates the hit first.

8. By-Manufacturer-Only hiking bottle upgrade into weightlifting article comprising:

a. metallic bottle with two metallic horizontal buckles on its surface,

b. plushed strap that has low elasticity, predefined strength, and high durability, attached to said buckles on the surface of the bottle,

c. cup-shaped silicon bumper with at least 0.4″ thick bottom and tall sides to hold on to the bottle and to withstand thousands of hits,

whereby cost of such upgrade to the bottle manufacturer, especially if thin silicon bumper was in place already, is low compared to Do-It-Yourself article in claim 6,

whereby aesthetical change comes down to the plushed strap on the bottle's side, thus, the change is easier to be accepted by designers.

9. The article of claim 8 wherein said plushed strap made of VELCRO® brand VELSTRETCH® 1.5″ wide tape with its ends looped through said buckles and ultrasonically welded to the strap,

whereby 1.5″ single-layer band with the welded-in ends is twice less expensive than two-layered 1″ band with some lock or buckle.