Special receptacle or package – For a sport implement – exercise device – or game
Utility Patent
1998-07-22
2001-01-02
Moy, Joseph M. (Department: 3727)
Special receptacle or package
For a sport implement, exercise device, or game
C206S315500, C206S315700, C206S315800, C206S315900, C224S245000
Utility Patent
active
06168016
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to bags for transporting athletic equipment and particularly to a bag organized to contain equipment for baseball and softball teams. that can be transported on a golf cart.
Every baseball or softball team utilizes a sizable collection of balls, helmets, catchers propective gear, bats and gloves. It is frequently necessary to gather up all of this equipment and transport it between the field and a storage area. A typical situation is where a coach carries all of the team equipment in the trunk of his car or station wagon to a school parking lot from whence he must lug it to the athletic field Many teams practise on a school athletic field located a quarter mile or more from the parking facility so that carrying all of this equipment is very tiresome.
Bags for carrying baseball/soft ball sport utility equipment have been disclosed.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,002 to Brown discloses a utility bag with an elongated chamber for carrying the bats.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,588.529 to Spack also discloses a bag with an elongated chamber for storing bats and a removable shelf.
Neither of these disclosures consider the problem of storing helmets or catchers gear.
Another situation that occurs during practice the requirement to move a collection of balls from one part of the field to another, such as from the dugout to the pitchers mound or to a pitching machine. A systematic arrangement for keeping track of the balls and being able to transport them as a group from one location to another is not only a convenience but also tends to keep the balls from being scattered or lost.
Other sports have a related problem of transporting and accounting for equipment needed by the team.
Golfers have solved their problem by developing a bag that may be mounted on a golf bag hand-pulled cart. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,531 to Beretta discloses a golf club bag configured for use on a golf cart having a tubular main body with a base at the lower end and a cuff at the upper end. Separators extend across the cuff which define partitioning areas across the opening at the cuff so that each partition area may receive a specific club thereby enabling the player to withdraw more conveniently a desired club from the bag. An added bag compartment with zippered opening, is secured to the outside surface of the bag for storing golf balls. Hand pulled golf carts have been developed for transporting these bags, filled with clubs, on the golf course.
This golf bag and other similar golf bags in use for many years would not be suitable for carrying baseball equipment for many reasons without making very substantial changes which are not suggested by the prior art.
SUMMARY
It is an object of this invention to provide a bag for organizing and transporting baseball/softball equipment using a golf cart.
It is another object to compartmentalize the bag so that each type of item is separated from other types of items thereby making it more convenient to account for all the items of each type and to withdraw a required item from the bag. In particular, it is an object to store the balls as a group, the helmets as a group and the bats as group in a manner that each group can be separate from each of the other groups.
This invention is directed toward a bag for transporting base ball/soft ball equipment which has a generally tubular construction of flexible material such as canvas. Several metal or plastic rods extend between opposite ends of the tube and are attached to the inner surface of the bag so that the bag is “free standing”.
The top open end of the tube has a stiffening collar of lexan or similar that supports the upper end of the tube in an open configuration. The collar has a circumferential inner shoulder that supports the lip of a bucket for holding a plurality of baseballs or softballs. The storage region for the balls is thereby separated from the lower, larger region of the bag where helmets and catchers gear are stored.
A lid has an edge hingably attached to one side of the open top end of the tube so that, to contain the bucket of balls inside the bag the lid is rotated about the hinge and fitted down over the collar at the open end of the tube where it is secured by a VELCRO™ strap. The hinge is preferably a strap having one end sewn to the collar and the end sewn to the lid.
The bottom end of the tube is enclosed in a reinforcing cap section which also anchors the bottom ends of the reinforcing rods.
The cap and collar sections are made of a “yielding” material such as lexan plastic so that these two sections are stiffer than the canvas tubular section. The lexan surfaces are preferably covered by a decorative material such as fabric.
Several pockets are provided around the outside of the bag. Each pocket may be closable by a flap securable over the top opening of the respective pocket by a hook and eye material such as VELCRO™. Alternatively, one or more of the pockets may be closable by vertically extending zippers.
A mesh bag
31
for holding bats is shown having a number of attachments
29
(e.g., two “S” hooks ) arranged peripherally around the bat bag near the upper end of the bag, which are detachably attachable to “D” rings on the bat bag. The lower end of the bat bag may be secured by a single elastomeric strap (bungee cord) that wraps across the bat bag and engages the golf cart.
A handle is attached to the outside surface of the bag configured to permit carrying the bag. The bag for baseball/softball equipment may also be strapped to a golf cart for transportation or stored in the trunk of most vehicles.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4463789 (1984-08-01), Leiseron
patent: 4509643 (1985-04-01), Rhee
patent: 4793532 (1988-12-01), Cash
patent: 4968048 (1990-11-01), Lortie
patent: 5123531 (1992-06-01), Berretta
patent: 5356002 (1994-10-01), Brown
patent: 5588529 (1996-12-01), Spack
patent: 5605310 (1997-02-01), Jungkind
patent: 5765712 (1998-06-01), Skinner et al.
patent: 5860519 (1999-01-01), Meyer et al.
Moy Joseph M.
Smith Robert S.
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