AU3346001A - Wearable tennis ball carrier - Google Patents

Description

S.I'

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: "WEARABLE TENNIS BALL CARRIER" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: 2

TITLE

WEARABLE TENNIS BALL CARRIER FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to tennis ball storage devices suitable for use by tennis coaches when conducting a tennis lesson.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION When conducting a tennis lesson, professional tennis coaches typically require access to a large number of tennis balls. Tennis coaches typically utilise a laundry basket and corresponding trolley to store the *eee 10 tennis balls which they use during a tennis lesson. As a tennis coach typically moves about a tennis court during a lesson, the trolley and associated laundry basket is typically either moved to various positions on the court from which the tennis coach hits tennis balls during the course of the lesson; or kept at the back of the court so that the trolley 15 and associated laundry basket does not interfere with movement of the tennis coach during a lesson.

There are problems associated with both options and above.

For example, if the trolley and associated basket is moved about the court, as in option above, the trolley can present a hazard on the court.

20 The trolley on the court also restricts a tennis coaches movement on the court. Furthermore, efficient access to a tennis ball is restricted because the tennis coach has to frequently return the basket to collect a small number of tennis balls.

While positioning of the trolley and associated basket at the back of the court according to option above enables a coach to move freely about the court, such positioning of the trolley and associated basket provides even less efficient access to tennis balls than option above.

Large amounts of time are therefore wasted during a lesson because a coach has to frequently return to the back of the court to obtain a small number of tennis balls with which to continue the lesson.

Tennis ball holding devices which are the subject of U.S. Patents 5,395,022, 5,259,541 and 5,234,214 are designed for attachment to a tennis player and are suitable for carrying a small number of tennis balls.

While these devices may provide assistance to a tennis player, they are not suitable for use by a tennis coach because a tennis coach requires access to a much larger storage of tennis balls than any of the devices of the aforementioned US patents are capable of storing.

It is therefore desirable to provide an alternative wearable tennis ball carrier to the aforementioned trolley and associated baskets, and wearable tennis ball carriers which are the subject of the aforementioned US patents.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a tennis ball carrier wearable by a o :user and comprising: a storage bag; 5 at least one support strap associated with an upper portion of said storage bag; and restraining means for restraining movement of a lower portion of .t said storage bag relative to the user.

The tennis ball carrier may further comprise an openable pouch, S. 20 the storage bag being storable within the openable pouch in a folded stored configuration, and expandable from the folded stored configuration to an expanded high volume configuration.

The pouch may comprise a length of flexible material having fastening means extending at least part way along the side of the length of flexible material to secure the pouch in the folded stored configuration when the length of flexible material is folded at a fold region which extends transversely of a longitudinal axis of the length of flexible material.

The fastening means may comprise a zip.

The storage bag is preferably arranged to hold 10 or more standard tennis balls in the high volume configuration.

The storage bag is preferably folded in half both lengthways and sideways in the folded stored configuration.

The openable pouch may be slideable with respect to the support strap which may comprise a waist strap and/or a shoulder strap.

The restraining means may be attached to the storage bag.

Alternatively, the restraining means and storage bag may be attached to the pouch, the storage bag being attached to the pouch at an upper most part of the pouch and a lower most part of the pouch.

The restraining means may comprise a leg strap.

The restraining means may comprise a lower leg strap which is 10 positioned proximal a lower part of the storage bag when the storage bag is in the expanded high volume configuration, and an intermediate leg strap which is positioned between the lower leg strap and the support strap, when the storage bag is in the expanded high volume configuration.

The restraining means may comprise a sheath and the sheath is preferably positioned above a knee of the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 20 FIG 1 is a front perspective view of a first embodiment of a wearable tennis ball carrier; FIG 2 is a perspective view of the wearable tennis ball carrier of FIG 1 as attached to a person; FIGS 3 and 4 are respective front and rear perspective views of a second embodiment of a wearable tennis ball carrier in an unfolded configuration; FIGS 5 and 6 are respective front and rear persipective views of the wearable tennis ball carrier of FIGS 3 and 4 in a folded configuration; FIG 7 is a perspective view of the wearable tennis ball carrier of FIGS 3-6 as attached to a person via a waist strap; and FIG 8 is a perspective view of the wearable tennis ball carrier of FIGS 3-6 as attached to a person via both waist and shoulder straps.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Referring to FIG 1, in a first embodiment a tennis ball carrier generally comprises a bag 12, and waist and shoulder straps 14 and 16 respectively which support an upper end of the bag 12. The dimensions of s the bag 12 are such that the bag 12 is capable of storing approximately 70-80 standard tennis balls. The waist strap 14 supports an upper end of the bag 12 via a loop 18 which slidably receives the waist strap 14. One end of the shoulder strap 16 attaches to the loop 18 via a loop 20 which extends upwardly from a upper longitudinal edge of the loop 18. The other 10 end of the shoulder strap 16 attaches to an edge of the waist strap 14 via a loop 22. Ends of the shoulder strap 16 attach to loops 20 and 22 via dog clips 24 and 26 respectively. The waist band and shoulder straps 14 and 16 respectively are made of flexible nylon material. The tennis ball carrier includes a flap 28 which attaches to an upper end of the bag 12 and is designed to fall downwardly to cover an opening 30 in an upper end of the bag 12. The flap 28 is attached to the bag 12 at a region which is near the loop 18. The bag 12 and flap 28 are made from flexible nylon material.

A lower leg strap 32 attaches to the bag 12 at a lower end of the So. bag 12 while an intermediate leg strap 34 attaches to the bag 12 at a region which is approximately midway between lower and upper ends of the bag 12. Each of the leg straps 32 and 34 are formed of ends 36 and 38 which attach to and extend from opposite sides of the bag 12 and are designed to attach to each other via corresponding loop and pile material such as that commonly sold under the velcro trade mark.

Referring to FIG 2, the tennis ball carrier 10 is attached to a person The bag 12 is supported relative to the person 40 via the waist strap 14 and shoulder strap 16 so that the bag 12 is positioned at a side 42 of the person 40 and extends downwardly against a leg 44 of the person.

The lower end of the bag 14 is positioned approximately midway between a knee 46 and ankle 48 of the person 40. The lower leg strap 32 extends around the leg 44, approximately midway between the knee 46 and ankle 48. The intermediate leg strap 34 extends around a thigh 50 of the person The lower and intermediate leg straps 32 and 34 are designed to prevent the bag 14 bouncing against the leg 44 of the person 40 as the person 40 moves about a tennis court.

While the leg straps 32 and 34 attach to leg 44 via corresponding velcro type attachments, the leg straps 32 and 34 could be attached to the leg 44 by any other suitable means of attachment. For example, alternative means of attachment could involve any one of the following: a buckle; clips; or zipper.

The bag 14 can be attached to the leg 44 via a sheath (not shown) in place of the leg straps 32 and 34. The sheath would be designed to surround part of the length of the leg 44. The sheath could be designed to attach to the leg 44 by the person 40 inserting their foot 50 into an upper end of the sheath and pulling the bag 12 upwardly along their leg 44.

Alternatively, part of the sheath could be detachable, along its length, 15 either from itself or from the bag 12 to enable the sheath to be extended around the leg 44 for attachment of the bag 12 to the leg 44, via the S* sheath.

A wearable tennis ball carrier 10 is specifically designed for use by a tennis coach to enable the coach to have access to a large number of 20 balls without having to frequently return to a storage source of tennis balls. However, the wearable tennis ball carrier 10 is also suitable for use by tennis players. For example, a wearable tennis ball carrier having a bag slightly shorter in length than the bag 12 would be suitable for use by a hitting partner of an amateur or professional tennis player. The shortened length of such a wearable tennis ball carrier would inhibit movement of a tennis player to a lesser degree than the wearable tennis ball carrier 10, and would allow the player to have direct access to a significantly increased number of tennis balls than would otherwise be the case.

Referring to FIGS 3-6, in a second embodiment a wearable tennis ball carrier 52 is essentially the same as a wearable tennis ball carrier but further includes a pouch 54. For ease of reference, like features of the alternative wearable tennis ball carriers 10 and 52 are referred to be like reference numerals. The pouch 54 is formed by folding lengthwise a length of flexible nylon material 56 which extends downwardly from a lower longitudinal edge of the loop 18. Details which enable the length of flexible material 56 to be formed into the pouch 54 are explained below after briefly outlining other differences between the wearable tennis ball carriers 10 and 52. The bag 12 attaches to the length of flexible nylon material 56 in an upper region of the length of flexible material 56, just below the loop 18. The bag 12 is also attached to the length of flexible 10 nylon material 56 along one of its edges which is positioned just inside a ongitudinal edge of the length of flexible nylon material 56. The length of the bag 12 is slightly less than the length of the flexible nylon material.

o When the bag 12 is pressed flat against the length of flexible nylon material 56 its width is slightly less than double the width of the length of 15 flexible nylon material 56.

The loop 18 is formed from a length of material 59 which is glued to a back surface of the length of flexible nylon material 56. The length of material 59 extends upwardly beyond an upper edge of the length of *flexible nylon material 56 and loops back on itself so that a free end of the length of material 59 attaches to the rear surface of the length of flexible nylon material 56, at an upper most end of the length of flexible nylon material 56.

The ends 36 and 38 of lower and intermediate leg straps 32 and 34 attach to and extend from opposite side of length of flexible nylon material 56. The lower and intermediate leg straps 32 and 34 are attached to the length of flexible nylon material 56 so that they are positioned similarly relative to the bag 12 as are the corresponding leg straps of the tennis ball carrier 10 relative to its bag 12. Apart from the manner of attachment of the lower and intermediate leg straps 32 and 34 to the tennis ball carrier 52, the leg straps 32 and 34 of the tennis ball carrier 52 are otherwise identical to the leg straps 32 and 34 of the tennis ball carrier Zips 58 which extend down each side of the length of flexible nylon material 56 enable the length of flexible nylon material 56 to be formed into the pouch 54 of FIGS 5 and 6. Before folding the length of flexible nylon material from the pouch 54, the lower leg strap 32 is detached from the leg 44 and the bag 12 is folded widthwise as shown in FIG 4 so that the entire bag 12 can be pressed flat against-the length of flexible nylon material 56. The length of flexible nylon material 56 is then folded lengthwise and the zips 58 on either side of the length of flexible nylon material 56 are zipped up to form the pouch 54.

A pocket 60 which is suitable for storage of a score card is formed by positioning a rectangular sheet of fabric 62 against a rear surface of the length of material 59. The pocket is positioned just beneath a lower longitudinal edge of the loop 18 and is formed by stitching two side edges and a lower edge of the rectangular sheet of material 62 to the length of material 59.

While the pouch 54 of the tennis ball carrier 52 is formed with the use of the zips 58 which extend down either side of the length of flexible nylon material 56, the bag 12 may be retained within other appropriately oleo designed pouches. For example, the pouch could comprise a drawstring bag. The pouch could also be provided by a bag which is openable via a 20 single zip which extends a distance along an edge of the bag that is not sufficient for the bag to be unfolded as in the case of the length of flexible nylon material 56.

Referring to FIGS 7 and 8, the tennis ball carrier 52 is shown attached to a person 40. Referring to FIG 7, the shoulder strap 16 is absent so that the bag 12 is attached to the person 40 solely via the waist strap 14.

Referring to FIG 8 the bag 12 is attached to the person 40 by both the waist strap 14 and shoulder strap 16. The positioning of the bag 12 relative to the person 40 of FIGS 7 and 8 is essentially the same as that described above in relation to the tennis ball carrier 10 of FIG 2.

While the tennis ball carriers 10 and 52 described above are attached to the person 40 either solely via the waist strap 14 or via both 9 the waist strap 14 and shoulder strap 16, the tennis ball carriers 10 and 52 could be attached to a person solely via the shoulder strap 16. In such a case, the loop 18 would be slightly modified to provide an additional loop (not shown) similar to the loop 20 which is positioned at an opposite end of the loop 18 to the end from which the loop 20 extends. The additional loop would be suitable for attachment of the dog clip 26 to enable the shoulder strap 16 to attach to opposite ends of the loop 18.

o **o*oo

Claims (16)

1. A tennis ball carrier wearable by a user and comprising: a storage bag; at least one support strap associated with an upper portion of said storage bag; and restraining means associated with a lower portion of said storage bag for restraining movement of said storage bag relative to the user.

2. The tennis ball carrier of claim 1 further comprising: an openable pouch, the storage bag being storable within the openable pouch in a folded stored configuration, and expandable from the folded stored configuration to an expanded high volume •oo o configuration. 00

3. The tennis ball carrier of claim 2 wherein the pouch comprises a length of flexible material having fastening means extending at least part way along each side of the length of flexible material to secure the pouch in the folded stored configuration when the length of flexible material is folded at a fold region which extends transversely of a longitudinal axis of the length of flexible material.

4. The tennis ball carrier of claim 3 wherein the fastening means comprises a zip.

The tennis ball carrier of claim 1 wherein the storage bag holds or more standard tennis balls in the expanded high volume configuration.

6. The tennis ball carrier of claim 2 wherein the storage bag is folded in half both lengthways and sideways in the folded stored configuration.

7. The tennis ball carrier of claim 2 wherein the openable pouch is slideable with respect to the support strap.

8. The tennis ball carrier of claim 1 wherein the at least one support strap comprises a waist strap. •*go

9. The tennis ball carrier of claim 1 wherein the at least one support strap comprises a shoulder strap. C. CC° C

10. The tennis ball carrier of claim 1 wherein the restraining means is o* Co S. 15 attached directly to the storage bag. CC..

11. The tennis ball carrier of claim 2 wherein the restraining means and storage bag are attached to the pouch, the storage bag being attached to the pouch at an upper most part of the pouch and a lower most part of the pouch.

12. The tennis ball carrier of claim 11 wherein the restraining means comprises a leg strap.

13. The tennis ball carrier of claim 10 wherein the restraining means comprises a leg strap.

14. The tennis ball carrier of claim 10 wherein the restraining means comprises a lower leg strap which is positioned proximal a lower part of the storage bag when the storage bag and an intermediate leg strap which is positioned between the lower leg strap and an upper end of the bag.

The tennis ball carrier of claim 11 wherein the restraining means comprises a lower leg strap which is positioned proximal a lower part of the storage bag and an intermediate leg strap which is positioned between the lower leg strap and an upper end of the bag.

16. The tennis ball carrier of claim 11 wherein the restraining means comprises a sheath. S17. The tennis ball carrier of claim 12 wherein the restraining means comprises a sheath. DATED this Fifth day of April 2001 15 JASON GEOFFREY ABEL By his Patent Attorneys FISHER ADAMS KELLY S•