Patent Application
20050025399
The present invention relates to a pleated pocket device. Particularly, the present invention relates to a pleated pocket device to secure loose items such as a fluid container, cell phone, and other similar items.
In the past, individuals that engaged in sports or exercise normally had to forgo drinking water or other fluids because it was not convenient to carry bottles filled with fluids during the exercise. This is even more difficult when the individual has to carry other equipment such as a golf bag, camping equipment, baby carry bags, and the like.
By way of example, a golfer spends many hours outside, in the open, and often during hot and sunny weather. Although many golfers ride on golf carts, many others prefer to walk, because carts are not allowed on many golf courses, and quite often out of a preference for walking, as endurance is considered by many to be an integral part of the game. Indeed, professional golfers are required to walk the course during tournament play (although a few Senior PGA tournaments allow cart play on extremely hilly courses). However, due to the effort required to carry or roll a golf bag, it is very awkward for a golfer to attempt to carry any type of beverage or sports bottle while transporting the golf bag.
Golfers often walk many miles during a game (the average distance walked on a round of golf is about 5 miles), carrying their own bag and clubs in a backpack style golf bag (usually called a stand bag or a carry bag). Thus it is essential to the walking golfer to have access to fluids during a game. Most golf bags are not designed or built to accommodate the storage of beverages or fluid containers. Thus, many golfers carry a fanny-pack style drink holder; others carry an over-the-shoulder type of drink holder. These types of drink holders are simply another item to carry, remove and replace during a game.
Many carry bags over the years have incorporated fluid container holders. Since a carry bag is generally carried horizontally across the golfer's back, the possible locations and configurations of integrated drink holders are limited. Integrated drink holders are generally fabricated with a foam or other covered substrate, resulting in a bulky, rigid extrusion attached to the bag, usually to a pocket, that protrudes rudely from the bag even when not in use. This results in added weight to the bag and thus, additional weight for the golfer to carry. Furthermore, all such drink holders are external, extending outward and creating instability with a large beverage container while walking. Moreover, an elegantly designed high-end golf bag is generally designed to be visually pleasing, and such drink holders can interrupt the contours and lines of a bag and/or pocket design.
Thus, there is still a need for a holder that may be integrated into clothes or a sports bag, such as a golf bag, in a more streamlined fashion to reduce weight, hold a variety of small, medium, or large items with stability, and provide a visually pleasing uninterrupted surface when not occupied with the item(s).
The present invention is an apparatus and method for forming a pleated pocket device having a back panel having at least one pleat, a first section, and a second section wherein the second section is capable of expanding more than the first section, and a front panel connected to the back panel to form a cavity adjacent to the second section.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the present invention and, together with the detailed description, serve to explain the principles and implementations of the invention.
In the drawings:
Embodiments of the present invention are described herein in the context of a pleated pocket device. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following detailed description of the present invention is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other embodiments of the present invention will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure. Reference will now be made in detail to implementations of the present invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same reference indicators will be used throughout the drawings and the following detailed description to refer to the same or like parts.
In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with application- and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.
The present invention relates to a pleated pocket device to secure loose items such as a fluid container, cell phone, or other similar items. The pleated pocket device may be used as a separate device or may be integrated into an article such as a sports bag to provide for a more streamlined fashion to reduce weight, hold a variety of containers with stability, and provide a visually pleasing uninterrupted surface when not occupied with an item.
Referring now to
Second portion 104 may be attached to the first portion 102 at the top section 112. The second portion 104 may also be attached to the third portion 106 at a bottom section 114. The third portion 106 may be circular in shape to simulate the shape of a typical sports bottle bottom. However, those of ordinary skill in the art will now realize that the third portion 106 may be any shape, such as a square, to adapt to any shape of the loose item.
Second portion 104 may be a trapezoidal shape to allow for expansion in the pleated pocket device. Top section 112 may be longer than bottom section 114 which expands the bottom of the pleated pocket device 10. The extra length at bottom section 114 further forms the inverted “V” shape of pleats 108a, 108b. It was also found that without second portion 104, the item, such as a fluid container, would not be stable within the pleated pocket device 10. The container would not touch the bottom of the device 10, would not be positioned securely within the device 10, and in fact, would be pushed out of the device 10.
The device further has a front panel 116. The front panel 116 has a bottom 120 that may be attached to the back panel 100 at the third portion 106. Bottom 120 may be rigidly fixed to the outer edges of third portion 106. The front panel 116 may also have a first side 122 opposite a second side 124. The first side 122 and second side 124 may be rigidly fixed to the back panel 100 second portion 104 and the bottom end 140 of first portion 102 as illustrated in
Top edge 208 may be longer in length than bottom edge 210 such that the back panel forms a trapezoidal shape. This allows for expansion, in width and depth, of the pleated pocket device 202 near the bottom edge. Moreover, the extra length at bottom section 114 further forms the inverted “V” shape of pleats 212a, 212b. It was also found that the items remained positioned securely within the pleated pocket device 202.
The back panel 204 may also be attached to a bottom panel 216 at bottom edge 210. A bottom panel 216 may be circular in shape to simulate the shape of a typical sports bottle bottom. However, those of ordinary skill in the art will now realize that the bottom panel 216 may be any shape, such as a square, to adapt to any shape of the loose item.
Front panel 206 may be fixedly attached to back panel 204. Front panel 206 has a bottom 218 that may be rigidly fixed to the outer edges of bottom panel 216. The front panel 206 may also have a first side 220 opposite a second side 222. The first side 220 and second side 222 may be rigidly fixed to the back panel 216 as illustrated in
Pleated pocket device 10 may be incorporated into articles such as a golf bag accessory 300 (as shown in
Referring now to
In use with a fluid container 200 (shown in phantom), pleats 108a, 108b provide for the expansion in width and depth of the pleated pocket device 10. Additionally, pleats 108a, 108b provide for less expansion at the top end 134 than at the bottom end 306 of the pleated pocket device 10 to create an envelope or pouch to provide stability for the fluid container 200.
The pleats may then be formed at 406 and stitched in place at 408. The pleats may be held in place by any other means such as glued, a snap, or any other similar means. Moreover, the pleats may extend through the length of first portion and part of second portion. A third portion may be cut from a single sheet of material at 410 and attached to the second portion at 412. A front panel may be cut from a single sheet of material at 414. If the pleated pocket device is attached to an article, such as a sports bag, at 416, then the first, second, and third portions are attached to the article at 420 and the front panel may be then attached to the first, second, and third portions at 422. The pleated pocket device may be rigidly fixed directly onto the article or may be rigidly fixed as an integral part of the article. If the pleated pocket device is not attached to an article at 416, then the front panel may be attached to the first, second, and third portions at 418.
Example 1 illustrates the method of the present invention with reference to
As shown in
Pleat 108b may be formed by folding the material at line W-W toward centerline Z and stitched 110b in place as shown in
A third portion 106 may be cut from a single sheet of material and stitched 504 to second portion as illustrated in
As shown in
While embodiments and applications of this invention have been shown and described, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure that many more modifications than mentioned above are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims.
