Claims
- 1. A rack for holding sporting equipment, comprising:
a pair of parallel vertical members, laterally-spaced in relation to each other; a pair of tubular arms each mounted on one of said vertical members using a mounting bracket at generally equivalent heights, said arms being substantially parallel and extending outward, generally perpendicular to the surface; at least one flexible support suspended between an inward end and an outward end of each tubular arm; and wherein the mounting bracket associated with each tubular arm allows the tubular arm to pivot with respect to the mounting bracket so that said arm may be rotated from a stored position generally parallel with the surface to a support position generally perpendicular to the surface.
- 2. The rack of claim 1, wherein the rack further includes:
a base to which the vertical members are attached at their respective bottoms; and at least one bridge member spanning between the respective vertical members, wherein the combination of the base and the bridge provides sufficient support to retain the vertical members in a generally vertical, spaced-apart position.
- 3. The rack of claim 1, wherein said rack further includes an adjustable attachment mechanism associated with each of said mounting brackets so that said tubular arms may be moved in a vertical direction along the respective vertical member.
- 4. The rack of claim 1, wherein said flexible support is a fabric strap.
- 5. The rack of claim 4, wherein at least one end of said flexible support is affixed to said tubular arm using a wire form loop.
- 6. The rack of claim 5, wherein said wire form loop includes a T-shaped end thereon for insertion through a slot and into an interior region of said tubular arm.
- 7. The rack of claim 5, wherein said wire form loop includes a pin end thereon for insertion through a hole and into an interior region of said tubular arm.
- 8. The rack of claim 7, wherein said mounting bracket further includes at least one flange to retain the wire form loop therein and thereby prevents the arms from freely rotating relative to the mounting bracket.
- 9. The rack of claim 1, wherein the tubular arms are formed in a J-shape.
- 10. The rack of claim 1, wherein the tubular arms are formed in a U-shape.
- 11. An apparatus for storing sporting equipment, comprising:
a pair of tubular arms each mounted on a surface using a mounting bracket at generally equivalent heights, said arms being substantially parallel and extending outward and perpendicularly to the surface; at least one flexible support suspended between an inward end and an outward end of each tubular arm; and wherein the mounting bracket associated with each tubular arm allows the tubular arm to pivot with respect to the mounting bracket so that said arm may be rotated from a stored position to a support position generally perpendicular to the surface.
- 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said flexible support is a fabric strap.
- 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein at least one end of said flexible support is affixed to said tubular arm using a wire form loop.
- 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said wire form loop includes a T-shaped end thereon for insertion through a slot and into an interior region of said tubular arm.
- 15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said wire form loop includes a pin end thereon for insertion through a hole and into an interior region of said tubular arm.
- 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein said mounting bracket further includes at least one flange to retain the wire form loop therein and thereby prevents the arms from freely rotating relative to the mounting bracket.
- 17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the tubular arms are formed in a J-shape.
- 18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the tubular arms are formed in a U-shape.
CROSS REFERENCE
[0001] The following related application is hereby incorporated by reference for its teachings:
[0002] “SPORTING EQUIPMENT HAMMOCK,” Timothy R. Tucker, application Ser. No. 09/815,075, filed Mar. 22, 2001.