Patent Application
20070180726
1. Field of the Invention
It is common for tools such as tape measures to have a clip attached thereto, so that the tool may be clipped to a user's waist, belt or pocket. One problem commonly associated with such clips is that they tend to tear up the area of clothing where they are attached. Further, the tool has a tendency to become detached from the user when they sit down or during the normal activity associated with construction work. The present invention relates to an improved tape measure and holster system for removably attaching a tape measure having a clip to a user's belt or waist. More specifically, the present invention pertains to a tape measure and a holster system, where the holster is made from a generally rectangular strip of flexible, durable material formed into a loop on an upper end for attachment to a user's belt, and formed into a pocket on a lower end to receive the clip member of a tape measure.
2. Description of the Art
The use of holsters to attach various tools to a user's belt or waist is disclosed in the following documents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,927 pertains to a holder for suspending a rule clip or the like. U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,933 is directed to a leather tape rule holder. U.S. Pat. No. 5,450,994 discloses a measuring tape holder with a notched back panel and riveted clip means. Published U.S. Patent Application No. US 2004/0124220 A1 is directed to a rigid tool holder with a guide plate for mounting tools having spring clips. In this disclosure, the guide plate is above the clip holder, and does not extend into the clip holder, where the sides are in parallel relation. Published U.S. Patent Application No. US 2004/0140337 A1 discloses a belt clip extension for personal use devices. All of the United States patents cited in this application are hereby incorporated by reference.
Each of the devices described in the above publications has certain disadvantages, including difficulty and expense in manufacturing and lack of user comfort, among other problems. Therefore, it can be appreciated that a need exists for an improved tape measure holster system that is relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, is comfortable for a user to wear, and avoids other disadvantages of the above-mentioned devices.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of holders present in the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved tape measure holster system that includes the advantages of the prior art while avoiding the disadvantages. The general purpose of the present invention is to provide a tape measure holster system that may be secured to a user's belt, allowing a user to removably attach a tape measure to the holster.
The holster system includes a generally rectangular strip of durable material formed into a loop on an upper end for attachment to a user's belt, and a pocket on a lower end for receiving the clip of a tape measure. The holster may be formed by folding a single strip of the durable material to form a loop at the top end, and stitching the end of the strip to the body of the strip, so that the stitching is directed transversely across the strip of material. Alternatively, the loop may include a hook and loop attachment means, a button, snap, or other temporary attachment means instead of the permanent stitching, so that the user may open and close the loop at his or her convenience. This optional feature allows a user to attach the loop to a belt without having to unbuckle or unfasten the belt as it is being worn. At the lower end, the strip is folded into a pocket for receiving the tape measure clip, and the pocket portion is stitched along the edges of the folded strip in a longitudinal direction. Preferably, the lip of the pocket is folded inwardly one time, to increase the rigidity of the pocket lip and to prevent fraying. From each edge of the lip, a stitch may be sewn downwardly at an angle to form a V-shape, which acts as a guide for the clip of the tape measure, so that the tape measure may be positioned centrally within the pocket portion of the holster. This arrangement also allows tape measures of different sizes (and tape measures having clips of different sizes) to be secured within the pocket portion. Further, the tape measure is less likely to pivot or slide within the pocket with the V-shaped guide, which is particularly advantageous if a user wishes to extend the tape from the tape measure for a measurement while the tape measure is still secured within the holster.
On the front face of the loop member above the pocket, advertisements may be displayed in any suitable manner, including through embroidery, printing, or by having removable advertisement patches releasably secured to the loop member by a releasable attachment means, such as hook and loop fastening material.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:
A first embodiment of the tape measure holster is shown in
In one preferred embodiment, the material used to make the tape measure holster is a webbing of nylon, polyester, or a combination thereof. On a bottom portion of the tape measure holster, the strip is folded onto itself and attached thereto in order to form a pocket member 16, preferably by providing a stitch on either side of the pocket member running in a longitudinal direction, and allowing an opening at the top of the pocket 16. In a preferred embodiment, the top of the pocket member is folded inwardly and downwardly, so that the lip portion 18 of the pocket member is a folded crease in the material. This arrangement provides more rigidity for the lip of the pocket for ease of attachment to the tape measure clip, and reduces the chances of fraying along the lip 18.
Alternatively, as shown in
As shown in
Although the tape measure holster may be manufactured in different sizes to accommodate different sizes and types of tape measures, one preferred embodiment of the holster measures approximately 1¾ inches in a transverse direction and approximately 3½ inches in a longitudinal direction. This size allows the holster to provide a sufficient buffer area to prevent the tape measure, which may become soiled in normal construction type activities, from coming into contact with a user's pants. In this embodiment, the pocket member of the holster is approximately 1½ inches deep, allowing for a variety of sized tape measure clips, and the loop member is approximately 2 inches from top to bottom, which should accommodate most standard sized belts.
In an alternate embodiment, advertising material may be disposed on an outer portion 20 of the loop member 12. Such advertising may be printed, embroidered, painted, or affixed in any other suitable manner. One alternate embodiment may include removable advertising that is affixed to a patch having a hook and loop fastener on a backside thereof, which may be attached to a hook and loop fastener attached to the outer portion of the loop member.
In another alternate embodiment, the loop member 12 may be attached by releasable means 26, such as with hook and loop fastening material, snaps, buttons or in some other conventional manner, as shown in
Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein. All features disclosed in this specification may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.
