Patent Application
20220211152
This application addresses the problem of forgetting a towel when traveling to a sporting event, particularly a sport that is played outdoors. A towel is very common in the game of golf and while a player will hardly ever forget his or her shoes, a towel is a necessary item to frequently wipe down clubs and frequently dry the golf balls during a normal course of eighteen holes of golf.
Although the game of golf will be highlighted in this application, this problem is also present in other sports when items need to be dried from time to time. Example sports include the game of tennis, baseball, and soccer to name a few.
There are many other prior art references to towels and shoe carriers. A representative example of this type of device can be found in Minten, U.S. Patent Publication 2017/0238663. The Minten reference states that it is a shoe carrier with an attachable towel. In this application the towel is comprised of one of more inserts in which to store the shoe(s). This combination of shoe carrier towel is not anticipated or taught by Minten.
Another example of the prior art can be found in Waller, U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,772. The Waller references a shoe carrier but includes no towel. There are other prior art references that detail shoe carriers and shoe cleaning items and a representative example of this can also be found in Miles, U.S. Pat. No. D742637.
However, none of the prior art references teach or anticipate the features of the current device.
This is a combination device which combines the benefits of a towel with the benefits of a shoe carrier. The shoe carrier part of the device is on one side of the device and the towel material is on the opposite side. The shoe carrier will have pockets which are lined in plastic to prevent the cleat of the shoe grabbing the interior of the pocket.
The towel surface will be on one side of the device and the shoe carrier will be on approximately one-half of the second side of the device. A pouch with a bottom and sides and an opening for the shoe on the top will allow the storage of shoes in the device.
A plastic sheath will be placed in the pouch for the shoe carrier to prevent the towel from getting excessively soiled during normal use and to make it easier to clean the device. The device is designed to be washable and reusable and the material that is selected should be suitable for all environmental hazards and temperature extremes.
Two embodiments will be described in this application.
In the first embodiment each section of the towel will fold over the respective shoe that is contained in the pouch and the two section will fold at the center line between the two pouches for the shoes. In this embodiment a means to attach the sides of device will be provided on the respective sides for each shoe. In the folded state the towel surface will fold over each shoe that is contained in its respective pouch. The towel can be used as an ordinary towel.
In the second embodiment the shoes will be placed on one side of the device and the towel will fold over the shoes.
Regardless of the embodiment a strap will be provided to easily carry the device once it is folded.
Although the golf example is discussed in this application, this device can be used in other sporting activities such as baseball, softball, and tennis to name a few examples.
This device 1 is a combination towel, and shoe carrier. Although golf shoes are mentioned specifically in this application, this device can be used for any type of athletic footwear, and this includes baseball shoes, baseball cleats, football cleats, soccer cleats, tennis shoes or any other shoe that must be carried to any athletic event. This device will be particularly useful with outdoor sports where the footwear that is worn by the participant will become soiled.
In the first embodiment the device 1 will consist of two sections of equal size. The towel material 5 will be on one side of the device and a pair of pouches 20—one on each shoe of the towel 5 material—is provided on the opposite side.
A connection means 15 that lines the perimeter of the surface on the opposite surface from the towel 5 will be provided to secure the two sections such as depicted in
When the towel material 5 is folded over the respective shoe 25, the two sides will have golf towel material on the outside with the shoes placed within the respective pouch and a strap 10 will allow the device to be carried and hung off a golf bag as an example. A snap 11 is provided so that the strap 10 can be removed if the device is to be machine washed.
When the device is open such as depicted in
The device can be handwashed or machine-washed without destroying the material and the nylon liner may also be washed—either machine washed or hand washed—without destroying the golf towel material or the pouches. When shoes are placed within the nylon material, it will be as depicted by
In the second embodiment the shoes are placed on one side of the interior surface in the pouches 20 that are provided as depicted in
While the invention has been described in the application, certain modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the essential features of this invention.
