Ventilated portable locker for hockey or other sports equipment

Abstract

A ventilated portable locker is a carrying case or sports equipment bag for storing, carrying and drying hockey or other sports equipment. The portable locker is a box-like enclosure with a zippered door on a side panel thereof. The portable locker includes a ventilation fan on a top panel for drawing fresh air into the locker and-for forcing stale air out of the locker through at least one filtered air outlet. Hanging straps are disposed on the top surface of the top panel for hanging the portable locker. Hooks and mesh pockets are provided inside the portable locker in order to facilitate storage and drying of the equipment. In other embodiments, a ventilated sports equipment bag and a ventilated footwear bag include a detachable fan and filtered outlets.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus generally described the nature of the present invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings by way of illustration showing a preferred embodiment, in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric perspective view of a ventilated portable locker in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the ventilated portable locker shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the ventilated portable locker shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an isometric perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the ventilated portable locker shown with hanging straps disposed on a top panel of the portable locker;

FIG. 5 is a an isometric perspective view of the ventilated portable locker of FIG. 4 after it has been folded up for carrying sports equipment in a compact travel mode;

FIG. 6 is an isometric perspective view of a ventilated sport bag with a detachable fan in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a front elevation view of a method of detachably connecting the detachable fan to a front panel of the bag of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a side cutaway view of a ventilated footwear bag in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a front cutaway view of the ventilated footwear bag of FIG. 8, showing a pair of shoes retained within the bag by upper and lower harnesses;

FIG. 10 is a rear elevation view of the ventilated footwear bag of FIG. 8, showing the upper and lower harnesses in stippled lines; and

FIG. 11 is a side elevation view of the ventilated footwear bag of FIG. 8, showing the bag in an open, unzipped position.

Claims

1. A portable equipment locker for storing, carrying and drying sports equipment, the portable equipment locker comprising: a container structure for containing the sports equipment within the portable equipment locker;a door in the container structure movable between an open position, in which sports equipment can be inserted or retrieved, and a closed position, in which the door cooperates with the container structure to substantially fully enclose the sports equipment within the portable equipment locker; anda ventilation fan mounted in a top portion of the container structure for drawing fresh air into the portable locker and for forcing stale air from the portable locker to exhaust through at least one filtered air outlet.

2. The portable equipment locker as claimed in claim 1 wherein the container structure is box-like having a top panel for housing the ventilation fan.

3. The portable equipment locker as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a pair of hanging straps extending upwards from the top portion of the container structure to enable the locker to be suspended, the hanging straps being disposed on opposite sides of the ventilation fan.

4. The portable equipment locker as claimed in claim 1 further comprising filtered outlets in a bottom panel of the container structure, in side panels of the container structure and in a back panel of the container structure, the filters being capable of purifying the air exhausting from the container structure.

5. The portable equipment locker as claimed in claim 1 wherein the container structure further comprises inside mesh pockets for storing sports equipment on opposed side portions of the container structure.

6. The portable equipment locker as claimed in claim 5 further comprising hooks depending from a top portion of the container structure for suspending sports equipment inside the locker.

7. A ventilated sports equipment bag for carrying and storing sports equipment, the ventilated sports bag comprising: an air inlet disposed on the bag;at least one filtered air outlet; anda detachable ventilation fan removably connected to the air inlet for drawing air into the bag and for forcing stale air to exhaust from the bag through the at least one filtered air outlet.

8. The ventilated sports equipment bag as claimed in claim 7 wherein the air inlet is disposed on a front panel of the bag.

9. The ventilated sports equipment bag as claimed in claim 7 wherein the at least one air outlet further comprises an air-purifying charcoal filter.

10. The ventilated sports equipment bag as claimed in claim 7 wherein the bag comprises filtered outlets on side panels, a back panel and a bottom panel of the bag.

11. The ventilated sports equipment bag as claimed in claim 7 further comprising a pair of hanging straps on a top portion of the bag for suspending the bag.

12. The ventilated sports equipment bag as claimed in claim 7 further comprising inside mesh pockets for holding sports equipment.

13. The ventilated sports equipment bag as claimed in claim 7 wherein the inlet comprises a filtered mounting port adapted to receive the detachable fan.

14. The ventilated sports equipment bag as claimed in claim 7 wherein the mounting port comprises a Velcreo™ strip for removably securing the detachable fan to the bag.

15. A ventilated footwear bag for carrying, storing and drying footwear after use, the ventilated footwear bag comprising: a ventilated compartment having at least one footwear attachment for detachably receiving footwear; anda mounting port on the bag for detachably connecting a fan for drawing air into the bag and for forcing air out of the bag through at least one filtered outlet in the bag.

16. The ventilated footwear bag as claimed in claim 15 wherein the mounting port for receiving the detachable fan is located on a rear portion of the bag.

17. The ventilated footwear bag as claimed in claim 15 further comprising a third ventilated compartment for storing and drying an article of clothing.

18. The ventilated footwear bag as claimed in claim 15 further comprising a plurality of filtered outlets disposed on at least two different panels of the bag.

19. The ventilated footwear bag as claimed in claim 15 wherein the mounting port comprises a Velcro™ strip for removably securing the detachable fan to the bag.

20. The ventilated footwear bag as claimed in claim 15 further comprising upper and lower harnesses disposed within the bag for detachably securing the footwear at a position within the bag that optimally ventilates the footwear.