Patent Application
20080234114
This invention relates to athletic gear and more particularly to a velcro workout belt with velcro backed clips for securing a workout towel to the torso of a person. This “hands free” belt, clip and towel assembly allows a person to exercise, jog or run with the workout towel securely attached to the waist. A different embodiment utilizes clips which attach the workout towel directly to the person's clothes.
Exercise is a popular and necessary part of today's active lifestyle. It promotes health and emotional well-being.
For cardiac health, it is recommended that a person exercise for an uninterrupted, thirty minute session at least three times a week.
However, with this increase in cardiac rate, the person begins to perspire quit heavily. Therefore, it is necessary and desirable to wipe the face and body of sweat during the exercise session.
Accordingly, athletic clubs supply workout towels to all their patrons for “sweat management”. However, it is burdensome to lug these workout towels around during the exercise session; ie: from workout station to workout station, and machine to machine. Additionally, there is a tendency to forget one's workout towel somewhere along the way or inadvertently pick up someone else's towel.
An additional problem with the workout towel is there is no appropriate place to set it. Accordingly, it is usually thrown on the floor next to the person exercising simply because there is no other place to put it. Throwing the workout towel on the dirty floor and then wiping one's face and body is not a particularly hygienic practice, but it is a common everyday occurrence. at the “health” clubs.
In order to solve the, “what to do with the workout towel” problem, people sometimes try to tie the towel around their waist. However, it constantly falls off and is much too cumbersome to wear while exercising, so once again it is tossed on the dirty floor.
Some people attempt to keep the workout towel off the floor by draping the towel over the exercise equipment. However, this often interferes with the person trying to exercise. Additionally, a towel is a rather personal item for most people. Even though the athletic clubs supply clean workout towels to their patrons, many people would prefer to bring and use their own towel.
Accordingly, an object of this invention is to design a “hands free” workout towel so people can exercise, jog or run without need to hand carry their workout towel.
Another object of this invention is to design a belt and clip assembly for securing a workout towel to the waist of the person in order to keep it off the dirty floor.
Still another object is to design a belt and clip assembly for securing a workout towel that utilizes an easy-on, easy-off clip for quick towel accessibility.
It is a further object to design a belt that is highly adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of waist sizes and assembly styles.
It is a further object to design a belt that is comfortable and not cumbersome to wear during workout sessions.
Still another object is to design a belt and towel workout assembly that is an attractive fashion accessory.
It is a further object to design a velcro belt and mated clips to accommodate both the towels supplied by the athletic clubs, as well as personal towels that a person may prefer to use during their workout session.
A further object is to utilize a belt, clip and towel assembly to compliment beach wear and to cover a portion of the swimsuit to make one more publicly presentable during trips to and from the beach or pool.
In keeping with an aspect of the invention, these and other objects are accomplished by use of a velcro belt with velcro-backed clips for securing a workout towel, to the belt. Preferably, the belt is made of industrial strength velcro in which the back sides of the hook strip and loop strip are fused or sewn together to form an approximate four foot long belt. Accordingly, one side of the four foot long belt will comprise hook velcro for the entire four foot span of belt and the other side will comprise loop velcro for the entire four foot span of belt. This way when the belt is wrapped around the waist, the loop side easily mates to the hook side no matter what a person's waist size.
Attached to the velcro belt are plastic clips with velcro on the back side of each clip for easy attachment to the velcro belt.
In operation, a towel is slid into the plastic clip. Then the velcro backed clip secured to any desired location on the belt.
This way the towel may be hung from one side of the belt for easy access, ie: especially for wiping perspiration from a person's brow while exercising or running.
Additionally, the towel may be wrapped around a person to cover their lower torso or as a cover over swim wear, by attaching the clips to opposite ends of the towel and then attachment to the velcro belt.
Additionally, the belt may be fashioned as a sash around one's shoulder for a change in style and function.
Still a different embodiment of the invention utilizes two mated clips for securing the workout towel directly to a person's clothes.
The preferred embodiments of the invention may become more apparent from the following specification, taken with the attached drawings, wherein:
In greater detail,
As illustrated in
The width of velcro athletic belt 10 is approximately 1¾ inches wide to accommodate clips 12 and 14 which are 1¾ inches long. However, it is understood that any size belt, clip and towel can be used to form the inventive instrument. Also, the belt, clip and towel can come in a multitude of colors and even designs for fashionable workout and beach wear.
As illustrated in
Clips 12 and 14 may be affixed to any desired location on velcro athletic belt 10 by attaching them onto outer hook side 20.
The free ends 24 and 26 of velcro athletic belt 10 may be cross-crossed as seen at 28 to form an attractive closure, which is especially important when the belt is worn as a fashion accessory. The free ends 24 and 26 may, also, be fastened in a standard overlap closure.
Additionally, free ends 24 and 26 may be rounded as illustrated in
Additionally, stitching may be added around free ends 24 and 26 to add more fashion flare, as well as durability to the ends.
In greater detail, clip 12 is basically a tight U-shaped design. Clip 12 contains two parallel walls 32 and 34 attached together by a bridge 36. Area 38 is open space to accept an edge of workout towel 16.
The back side of parallel wall 32 contains a velcro strip 40. Velcro strip 40 is a loop design to mate with the outer hook side 20 of athletic belt 10.
The inside of parallel wall 34 contains several round tabs 42 which contact opposite inner wall 33. This contact ultimately provides the grip needed to secure workout towel 16 within open area 38.
Preferably, clips 12 and 14 are made of a plastic material with a flat, rounded contour for optimal comfort during on the floor workout routines.
In operation, the velcro athletic towel 10 is fastened around the waist of a person. An edge of workout towel 16 is slid into open area 38 of clip 12. The round tabs 42 on the inside of parallel wall 34 grip workout towel 16, securely holding it within clip 12. Clip 12 is then attached to any desired area on the velcro athletic belt 10 via the velcro strip 40 contained on the back side of Clip 12.
Accordingly, during an exercise session, a person may easily separate clip 12 from velcro athletic belt 10 to wipe their face and body with very little interruption to the workout/exercise routine. After the person is finished wiping their brow, the workout towel 16 may easily be attached back onto the velcro athletic belt 10.
Clips 12 and 14 may both be utilized to more securely hold workout towel 16 to velcro athletic belt 10, especially during strenuous exercise or running.
Additionally, clips 12 and 14 may be used to create various draped fashion styles and designs for workout towel 16. For example, workout towel 16 may be fashionably, wrapped around a person's backside, draped at the midriff, or used as a cover over a swimsuit.
The easy-slide on, easy-slide off design of clips 12 and 14 works well with all towels whether it be hand size, bath size or beach size.
In operation, the velcro strip 52 of towel 50 simply fastens onto velcro athletic belt 10 without the need for clips. Accordingly, towel 50 may be expanded its entire width or gathered for a more unique towel design.
In greater detail, clip 60 contains a velcro hook strip 64 glued to back side 66 of clip 60. The other clip 62 contains a velcro loop strip 68 glued to back side 70 of clip 62. The inside of clips 60 and 62 both contain round tabs 72, 73 respectively for gripping fabric contained within open areas 74 and 76.
In operation, a portion of workout clothing is slid into open area 74 of clip 60. Round tab 72 holds the workout clothing taught within clip 60. Then a end of workout towel 16 is slid into open area 76 of clip 62. The round tab 73 holds workout towel 16 securely within clip 62. Clips 60 and 62 are then pressed together to hang the workout towel 16 directly from the person's workout clothes.
In operation, clip 80 is secured to a person's workout clothes and clip 82 secured to workout towel 16. Then clips 80 and 82 are attached with magnetism via magnets 85 and 86.
This embodiment may be desirable if one wants to temporarily remove workout towel 16 and attach it to the metal exercise equipment.
All the features disclosed herein may easily be substituted and combined with each other. Also, those skilled in the art will perceive still other minor changes to the invention. For example, other flat clips could be utilized and areas of elastic could be added to the velcro athletic belt. Therefore, the appended claims are to be construed broadly enough to cover all equivalent structures falling within the scope and spirit of this invention.
