CONFIGURABLE COVER FOR SPORTS EQUIPMENT

Abstract

A configurable cover for sports equipment designed to store and protect recreational sports equipment after use. Several types of recreational sports equipment may become wet during use (e.g., skis, water bards, and the like). If such equipment remains wet after use, the equipment may become rusty and deteriorate. The present subject matter provides an adjustable equipment cover made from a breathable wicking material that assists with drying any enclosed equipment after use as well as protection for storage and transportation. Further, the sports bag is designed with a single opening having a cinching collar such that many different types of recreational sports equipment can be used with the apparatus.

Description

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a Continuation-in-Part application that claims the benefit of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 17/583,126 entitled “BREATHABLE COVER FOR SPORTS EQUIPMENT” filed Jun. 24, 2022 which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Recreational sports are enjoyed by many people the world over. There are several popular recreational sports that cause equipment, such as snowboards, skis, and water skis to become wet during and after use. As alluded to, such recreational sports may include snowboarding, ice skating, skiing, water skiing, wakeboarding, knee boarding, surfing, bodyboarding, skateboarding, longboarding, kiteboarding, windsurfing, paddleboarding, and more. Equipment designed for use with the aforementioned recreational sports often comprises designs that incorporate one or more flat surfaces with rounded front and tail ends. Some equipment may include sharp edges incorporated via metal components with the potential to rust. The length and width of this equipment varies among people's preferences according to the sport activity, a person's height, a person's weight, and a person's style preferences. People may often have more than one set of equipment with varying lengths, widths, heights, and shapes.

The aforementioned recreational sports equipment typically becomes wet from use. Because sports often incorporate metal components, these metal components may be subject to rust from residual water after use if (and likely when) the equipment is not dried effectively. Proper care after use of such recreational sports equipment will benefit the longevity and maintenance of the equipment, but often remains an ignored step by people enjoying use of the equipment. This results in faster deterioration of the condition of the recreational sports equipment.

Further, recreational sports equipment can be damaged during transportation from one place to another, such as in the back seat of a vehicle. Because this recreational sports equipment often has sharp edges or other sharp components, the interior of vehicle can also be damaged easily. What is needed is a robust sports equipment cover that provides protection for the sports equipment and the environment in which it may be placed in addition to providing an ability to wick moisture away from the sports equipment ensuring protection from rust and the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein in accordance with the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an equipment cover for sports equipment according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the equipment cover of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the equipment cover of FIG. 1 showing a snowboard partially inserted into the equipment cover according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the equipment cover of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the expandable collar composition of the equipment cover of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein.

Note that the same numbers are used throughout the disclosure and figures to reference like components and features.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject matter of embodiments disclosed herein is described here with specificity to meet statutory requirements, but this description is not necessarily intended to limit the scope of the claims. The claimed subject matter may be embodied in other ways, may include different elements or steps, and may be used in conjunction with other existing or future technologies. This description should not be interpreted as implying any particular order or arrangement among or between various steps or elements except when the order of individual steps or arrangement of elements is explicitly described.

Embodiments will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and which show, by way of illustration, exemplary embodiments by which the apparatus and devices described herein may be practiced. The apparatus and devices may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy the statutory requirements and convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

By way of an overview, the apparatus discussed herein may be directed to an equipment bag designed to store and protect recreational sports equipment after use. Several types of recreational sports equipment may become wet during use (e.g., skis, water bards, and the like). If such equipment remains wet after use, the equipment may become rusty and deteriorate. The present subject matter provides an adjustable equipment cover made from a breathable wicking material that assists with drying any enclosed equipment after use as well as protection for storage and transportation. Further, the sports bag is designed with a single opening having a cinching collar such that many different types of recreational sports equipment can be used with the apparatus. These and other aspects of the apparatus disclosed herein will be described in more detail in conjunction with FIGS. 1-5 below.

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an equipment cover 100 for sports equipment according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein. In this embodiment, the equipment cover 100 includes a cover material 110 having a size typically suited to encompass sports equipment such as a snowboard, a surfboard or the like. The equipment cover 110 may comprise an opening 120 disposed in the cover material 110 such that the opening 120 comprises a size configured to facilitate packing and unpacking the suited sports equipment (e.g., big enough to facilitate insertion and removal of the snowboard, surfboard or the like). The equipment cover 100 may also include a collar 130 disposed along the edge of the opening 120 for providing a manner of enlarging or restricting the size of the opening 120. Further, the collar 130 may enclose a cinching cord 140 that may be elastically biased to maintain a small opening but can be stretched to enlarge the opening when inserting or removing equipment. In other embodiments, the cord 140 may be a drawstring embodiment that may be tightened to reduce the size of the opening 120 and/or loosened to increase the size of the opening 120.

In this embodiment, the configurable cover 100 is configured to wick moisture away from or otherwise hasten drying of the enclosed recreational sports equipment (not shown in FIG. 1) when packed therein. In some embodiments, the cover material 110 may also be referred to as breathable wherein air may be freely able to move in and out of any enclosed space inside the sports bag/cover 100 such that moisture and/or wetness dissipates. Further, the sports bag/cover 100 can be used to protect enclosed equipment from damage during transportation as well as protect spaces (such as a vehicle back seat or trunk) from damage that may be caused by the sports equipment. The configurable cover 100 which allows airflow can be used in storage to keep equipment safe from damage and can allow equipment to dry effectively. Thus, a significant benefit to using such a configurable cover 100 is for protective measures that can prolong the life of recreational sports equipment. As such, one object of the present disclosed subject matter is to provide a protective cover 100 that allows sports equipment to dry effectively (e.g., providing enough airflow to prevent rust).

FIG. 2 is a top view of the equipment cover 100 of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein. As before, this embodiment includes cover material 110 with an opening 120 having a collar 130 that encloses a cinching cord 140. The embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2 may also be described as protective bag, that includes a bag body material 110 having a size to encompass at least one piece of sports equipment. The embodiment further includes an adjustable-size orifice 120 disposed in the bag body material 100, the orifice 120 having an adjustable size configured to facilitate packing and unpacking of the sports equipment. The embodiment further includes a cinching cord 140 disposed along an edge of the adjustable size orifice 120 that may be cinched to reduce the size of the orifice and uncinched to increase the size of the orifice 120. Further yet, the bag body material 110 is configured to hasten drying of the at least one piece of sports equipment enclosed therein.

In the embodiments of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the sports bag 100 may be configured to enclose at least one piece of sports equipment from the group comprised of a snowboard, skis, ide skates, water skis, a wake board, a knee board, a surfboard, a skateboard, longboard, a wind surfboard, a paddle board, a kite board or the like including more than one of each. In one embodiment, the cover material 110 may comprise a suede microfiber fabric having a fabric density of 200 grams per square meter (GSM). Grams per square meter (GSM) is a unit of measurement that describes the weight and density of a piece of material. This unit of measurement is commonly used on certain types of fabric like cotton. It is also used to describe fabric items like bedsheets, bath towels, and blankets. In other embodiments, the cover materials may comprise higher and lower density materials such as materials between 100 and 300 GSM.

The cover material 110 may also comprise 15% polyamide and 85% polyester. In other embodiments, these percentage may be different, but this combination is well suited to provide for a breathable wicking cover materials configured for this sports bag purpose. In one embodiment the cover material 120 comprises a single layer of fabric. In other embodiments, the cover material 110 comprises multiple layers of fabric. The cinching cord 140 may further comprise a 1/16th inch marine-grade shock cord that be enclosed by a collar 130 having an overlock stitch with an outside edge that is folded by % inches with a straight stitch encompassing a pocket suitable to enclose the cinching cord 140. The cinching cord is elastic and can stretch to accommodate ingress and egress of any sports equipment desired to be engaged with the equipment cover. This is shown next with respect to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the equipment cover 100 of FIG. 1 showing a snowboard 150 partially inserted into the equipment cover 100 according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein. In this view, one can see that the opening 120 is partially expanded so as to allow ingress/egress of the snowboard 150. Thus, the back end of the snowboard 150 is inserted (unless it's a goofy snowboard) into the equipment cover 100 such that the cover material 110 encloses this end. The other end remains exposed as this view represents a moment when the snowboard 150 is either being inserted or removed. To finish insertion, one could stretch the cinching cord 140 to expand the opening 120 so as to encompass the front end of the snowboard 150. When inserted fully, any residual water remaining on the snowboard may be assisted in dissipating because of the breathable, moisture wicking cover material 110. In this manner, the bottom side of the sports equipment 150 is completely covered by the cover material 110 and the cover material 110, along with the stretchable cinching cord 140, securely engages the top surface of the sports equipment while leaving a nominal opening for air flow improvement.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the equipment cover 100 of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein. In this view, one can see the cover material 110 having an opening 120 that may be expanded or contracted at a collar 130 having an enclosed (e.g., not seen here) cinching cord 140. The enclosed piece of sports equipment cannot be seen here as it may be a surfboard that is fully enclosed within the interior of the equipment cover 100. As is shown, the opening 120 remains open to some extent so as to assist in facilitating drying with better air flow.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the expandable collar 130 composition of the equipment cover 100 of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein. In this quasi-cutaway view, one can see the cinching cord 140 (in the cutaway section beyond the dotted lines) showing an enclosed by the expandable collar 130. The expandable collar 130 is, in turn, attached to the cover material 110 thereby defining the opening 120 (as seen in FIG. 1-4).

The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the specification and in the following claims are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms “having,” “including,” “containing” and similar referents in the specification and in the following claims are to be construed as open-ended terms (e.g., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value inclusively falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate embodiments and does not pose a limitation to the scope of the disclosure unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to each embodiment of the present disclosure.

Different arrangements of the components depicted in the drawings or described above, as well as components and steps not shown or described are possible. Similarly, some features and sub-combinations are useful and may be employed without reference to other features and sub-combinations. Embodiments have been described for illustrative and not restrictive purposes, and alternative embodiments will become apparent to readers of this patent. Accordingly, the present subject matter is not limited to the embodiments described above or depicted in the drawings, and various embodiments and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the claims below.

Claims

1. A sports equipment apparatus, comprising:

a cover material having a size to encompass at least one piece of sports equipment;

an opening disposed in the cover material, the opening having a size configured to facilitate packing and unpacking the at least one piece of sports equipment; and

a collar disposed along the edge of the opening, the collar enclosing a cinching cord that may be tightened to reduce the size of the opening and loosened to increase the size of the opening;

wherein the cover material is configured to wick moisture away from the at least one piece of sports equipment when packed.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cover material further comprises a size to pack the at least one piece of sports equipment from the group comprised of a snowboard, skis, water skis, a wake board, a knee board, a surf board, a skateboard, a longboard, a wind surfing board, a paddle board, and a kite board.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cover material comprises a suede microfiber fabric having a fabric density of 200 grams per square meter.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cover material comprises 15% polyimide.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cover material comprises 85% polyester.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cover material comprises a single layer of fabric.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cover material comprises multiple layers of fabric.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cinching cord further comprises a 1/16th inch marine-grade shock cord.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the collar further comprises an overlock stitch having an outside edge and folded by % inches with a straight stitch encompassing a pocket suitable to enclose the cinching cord.

10. A protective bag, comprising:

a bag body material having a size to encompass at least one piece of sports equipment;

an adjustable-size orifice disposed in the bag body material, the orifice having an adjustable size configured to facilitate packing and unpacking the at least one piece of sports equipment; and

a cinching cord disposed along an edge of the adjustable size orifice that may be cinched to reduce the size of the orifice and uncinched to increase the size of the orifice;

wherein the bag body material is configured to hasten drying of the at least one piece of sports equipment.

11. The protective bag of claim 10, wherein the apparatus comprises a size to pack the at least one piece of sports equipment from the group comprised of a snowboard, skis, water skis, a wake board, a knee board, a surf board, a skateboard, a longboard, a wind surfing board, a paddle board, and a kite board.

12. The protective bag of claim 10, wherein the bag body material comprises a suede microfiber fabric having a fabric density of 200 grams per square meter.

13. The protective bag of claim 10, wherein the bag body material comprises 15% polyamide.

14. The protective bag of claim 10, wherein the bag body material comprises 85% polyester.

15. The protective bag of claim 10, wherein the bag body material comprises a single layer of fabric.

16. The protective bag of claim 10, wherein the bag body material comprises multiple layers of fabric.

17. The protective bag of claim 10, wherein the cinching cord further comprises a 1/16th inch marine-grade shock cord.

18. The protective bag of claim 10, wherein the edge of the orifice of the bag body material further comprises an overlook stitch having an outside edge and folded by % inches with a straight stitch encompassing a pocket suitable to enclose the cinching cord.