Patent Application
20110174857
The invention relates to a carrier for recreational equipment such as snow skis, water skis, snowboards, skateboards and the like, and more particularly to such a carrier featuring a dedicated surface for bearing indicia such as advertising, decorative graphics, etc.
It can be cumbersome to carry recreational equipment such as skis, water skis, snowboards, skateboards, surfboards, etc. To address this problem, numerous carrying devices have been heretofore developed. Of these, the ski carrier of U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,838 exemplifies a simple solution in the form of a shoulder strap having affixed to the opposite terminal ends thereof perpendicularly-oriented end straps. The end straps include hook and loop style fasteners to facilitate their securement about a pair of skis. Once the end straps are so fastened, a user can carry the skis by the shoulder strap.
While the foregoing and other solutions to the problem of carrying such recreational articles have proven satisfactory, they could be improved upon.
The present invention improves upon the prior art by providing a carrier for recreational equipment, such as skis, snowboards, skateboards, surfboards, etc., the carrier comprising: An elongate main strap having opposite ends and an upper surface defined between said opposite ends, the upper surface bearing indicia thereon; at least one securement strap extending generally transversely of said main strap proximate each of the opposite ends thereof, said securement straps capable of being selectively formed into closed loops; an elongate shoulder strap having opposite terminal ends, each such terminal end secured to one of the securement straps or the main strap; and wherein, when recreational equipment is being carried in the carrier, the main strap overlies a surface of the recreational equipment so that indicia on the upper surface of the main strap is visible.
According to one embodiment, the length of the shoulder strap between the opposite terminal ends thereof is adjustable. Further according to this embodiment, the shoulder strap may be comprised of at least two separate strap sections, each such strap section comprising one of said terminal ends and a free end opposite thereof, and wherein the opposite free end of one strap section is adjustably connected to the opposite free end of the other strap section so that the length of the shoulder strap between the opposite terminal ends thereof is adjustable. In one embodiment, the opposite free ends of the strap sections may be adjustably connected by a pair of rings.
Per another feature of the invention, each securement strap has a single free end comprising one portion of a hook and loop type fastener, the complementary portion being provided proximate the main strap, and whereby the free end of each securement Strap is capable of selective securement to the complementary portion to thereby define the closed loop of sufficient dimensions to encircle one of a pair of skis, a skateboard, a snowboard, a surfboard, or the like.
According to a further feature, the opposite terminal ends of the shoulder strap may be secured to the securement straps, such that the shoulder strap is disposed generally parallel to the main strap. Alternatively, the opposite terminal ends of the shoulder strap may each be secured to the main strap.
Per one embodiment, the securement straps each define opposite free ends which extend generally transversely of said main strap in opposite directions, each pair of opposite free ends capable of being selectively connected to form closed loops. According to one feature, each pair of opposite free ends of the securement straps may comprise complementary portions of a hook and loop type fastener, whereby each pair of free ends are capable of being selectively connected to form closed loops.
The present invention will be appreciated from the following description and accompanying drawings, of which:
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein. However, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The accompanying drawings are not necessarily to scale, and some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
Referring now to the drawings, there is disclosed a carrier for recreational equipment such as skis, snowboards, skateboards, surfboards, etc. As shown particularly in
At least one elongate securement strap 13a, 13b is secured to and extends generally transversely of the main strap 10 proximate each of the opposite ends 10a, 10b thereof. Each securement strap 13a, 13b is capable of being formed into closed loops of sufficient dimensions to encircle at least one of a pair of skis, a skateboard, a snowboard, a surfboard, etc., such as shown in
It is contemplated that the number and manner of forming the securement straps into closed loops may be varied. According to the embodiment of
According to an alternative embodiment, shown in
Of course, other conventional fastening means, including, by way of non-limiting example, snaps, D-rings, buckles, etc. may be substituted for the hook and loop type fasteners of the foregoing embodiments.
With reference again being had to
The components of the carrier as heretofore described may be made of any suitable material including, by way of non-limiting example, fabric such as nylon, canvas, etc. Preferably, though not necessarily, the material of the carrier is suitably flexible to permit the carrier to be folded into a relatively compact condition for easy stowage and/or transportation when not in use.
As best shown in
The shoulder strap 14 may constitute an element of fixed length (such as shown in
As desired, the adjustable connection between the opposite free ends 14e, 14f of the strap sections 14c, 14d may be accomplished by a pair of rings 20, such as the conventional “D”-rings shown in
The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiment of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the innovation. The embodiments are shown and described in order to explain the principals of the innovation and its practical application to enable one skilled in the art to utilize the innovation in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Although only a few embodiments of the present innovations have been described in detail in this disclosure, those skilled in the art who review this disclosure will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the subject matter recited. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present innovations. Other substitutions, modifications, changes and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions and arrangement of the exemplary embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present innovations.
