Patent Application
20200179769
The present invention relates generally to belts, and more particularly to a belt for holding tennis balls.
Sporting goods stores or clothing stores will sell tennis skirts or shorts with pockets. Some of these pockets do not have wide openings and while playing tennis it takes extra time to retrieve the ball from the pocket. This is an inconvenience and can slow down the game. The other inconvenience is that if you want to play tennis and you are wearing pants that don't have pockets or have small pockets then it makes it harder to play tennis. It is also an inconvenience to change into another outfit, and some tennis courts do not have a place where you can change.
It is difficult to over-emphasize the deleterious effect which results from repeated interruptions when they occur during the play of the game of tennis, which after all is to a large degree for those who so pursue it, a serious sport requiring no small amount of perseverance and concentration. Therefore, anything that contributes to reducing interruptions i.e. distractions from concentration contributes to the improvement of the game. The interruptions that I address here are those caused by balls going out of bounds out of play or out of reach, and the immediate need for a reserve of replacement balls.
Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. All terms in the plural shall also be taken as singular and vice-versa. Further, any reference to he shall also be applicable to she and vice-versa.
Referring now to
It is to be understood that, while the belt-type garment 100 of this invention is specifically illustrated to hold tennis balls and will be hereinafter described for use by a tennis player for carrying tennis balls 201, 202, 203, 204, the specific construction of the belt-type garment 100 is also applicable for use by other wearers in carrying one or more other types of similar balls.
The belt-type garment 100 preferably comprises an elongate, longitudinally extending, belt portion 110 having a front surface 112 and a rear surface 114, respectively. The belt portion 110 further includes means thereon for removably fastening the belt portion 110 around the waist of a wearer, as shown in
Preferably, the belt portion 110 may be fastened by means of a fastener, where the fastener has a receiver end and a clip end, the clip end is coupled into the receiver end and the clip end engages upon fully entering the receiver end to secure the belt portion 110 on a wearer. The clip end may be actuated to release the clip end from the receiver end to allow the user to remove the belt portion 110 after play has ended. The clip may be made of plastic, etc. Furthermore, the plastic clip may be C-shaped.
This fastening means preferably comprises adjustable, cooperating fastener means 116, 118 respectively carried by each end of the belt portion 110 for being fastened together at desired positions to secure the belt portion 110 around varying size waists of different wearers.
Preferably, the adjustable, cooperating fastener means 116, 118 are a snap clip type, the snap clip has a receiver end 142 and a clip end 144, the clip end 144 is coupled into the receiver end 142 and the clip end 144 engages upon fully entering the receiver end 142 to secure the belt portion 110 on a wearer. The clip end 144 may be pressed to release the clip end 144 from the receiver end 142 to allow the user to remove the belt like garment 100 after play has ended. Other means of fastening the belt portion 110 to the wearer may include snaps, Velcro, etc. The clip 144 may be made of plastic or other such material.
In another embodiment, The adjustable, cooperating fastener means 116, 118 are “Velcro” (or hook and loop) type including a patch of loose, nylon material secured to one end of the belt portion and extending inwardly therefrom along a desired portion of the length thereof and an elongate group of hook-like elements , not shown, secured to the other end of the belt portion and extending inwardly therefrom along a desired portion of the length thereof for releasably engaging and being held within the patch of felt-like material upon being pressed therein.
The belt portion 100 is of a set length, but some tennis players may desire to have a longer tennis belt portion 100. Thus, another embodiment includes belt extensions (not shown) that could be of varying lengths. The extension could be the same material or a different material from the material used in the belt portion 100, such as nylon. The extensions would have connectors to coincide with the fastener means 116, 118 of the belt portions 100 described above, thus clips 116 and 118 would be at either end of the extensions. The extensions fasten into the clips 116, 118 of the belt portion 100 and elongates the belt portion 100. Further still, the belt portion 100 may include a folded portion (not shown) that extends back upon itself by means of a fastener loop or other accessory. The belt portion 100 may be made of webbed nylon in other embodiments. This may further feature nylon slides on one or more sides of the waist that help to adjust the size to larger or smaller lengths without the need of a snap in extension piece.
Coupled to the material 120 at various positions are ball holders 124, 126, 128, 130. The ball holders 124, 126, 128, 130 are without balls in
The ball holders 124, 126, 128, 130 have a base 132, a clip 134, and a connector, not shown, on the opposite side of the ball holders 124, 126, 128, 130. The base 132 is of a radius that would accommodate a tennis ball. The clip 134 is smaller than the radius of a tennis ball but secures the tennis ball in the base 132 while not being used.
The clip 134 allows for the tennis ball to easily be secured in the base and when a wearer wishes to use the tennis ball, the clip allows the tennis ball to be released by using a finger or fingers on the clip that releases the tennis ball into the wearer's hand. Thus, the wearer of the belt has easy access to the tennis ball and the belt is not causing an affect on the game. The game plays without interruption when a new tennis ball needs to be put into play.
The ball holders 124, 126, 128, 130 are coupled to the material 120 of the belt 110 by the connectors (not shown). The connector corresponds to the type of material used. The connector can be Velcro, a hook, a zipper, etc.
The features described with respect to one embodiment may be applied to other embodiments or combined with or interchanged with the features of other embodiments, as appropriate, without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.
