Suspendable carrying device for decorative lights

The present invention is a suspendable carrying device for decorative light strings wherein the light strings include a plurality of light bulbs connected to the others and each bulb has an enlarged portion of greater diameter than the neck portion. The carrying device comprises a body member having an elongated track extending through the body member where at least one expanded aperture is located along a length of the elongated track. The expanded aperture has a greater width than the elongated track which is sufficient to accommodate insertion of the enlarged portion of each light bulb therethrough. The elongated track has a width sufficient to accommodate the neck portion of each light bulb therein and prevent passage of the enlarged portion of each light bulb therethrough.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1) Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates generally to carrying devices for decorative 
lights, and more particularly to a suspendable carrying device for 
decorative lights on a wire string. 
2) Description of the Related Art 
Decorative light carrying devices are well known in the art. Several 
patents have issued concerning carrying devices for decorative lights. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,384,227 to Spatz for Christmas Tree Lights Storage 
Container and U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,619 to Garis for Light String Carrier 
include the disclosure of containers designed to hold wire strings of 
decorative lights. U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,067 to McAllister et al. for 
Christmas Light Organizer and Canadian Patent 2,083,292 to Blot for Holder 
for a String of Lights include the disclosure of suspendable decorative 
light carrying devices. Applicants have a co-pending application entitled 
Suspendable Carrying Device for Decorative Lights, filed Mar. 31, 1995, 
Ser. No. 29/037383. 
Examining these devices however reveals several problems. Problems with 
some of these devices include the entanglement of the electrical wiring 
and the lights during storage. An additional problem is the possibility of 
damaging the lights while hanging the device because the lights will be 
placed on both sides of the device, instead of segregating the wire from 
the lights. Because the lights are on both sides of the device, both sides 
need to be shielded to prevent bulb breakage from outside forces. Another 
problem with other devices is their complexity causes increased 
manufacturing costs. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The current invention is a suspendable carrying device for decorative 
lights that segregates the wire from the light bulbs when decorative 
lights are stored, thereby allowing the side with the protruding wire to 
be exposed to outside forces while the other side with the protruding 
light bulbs can be placed in an area where the bulbs will be protected. 
Also segregating the wire from the bulbs prevents the wire and the bulbs 
from becoming entangled. Furthermore, the device has a thin body member 
with an opening in the middle of the body member for storage of decorative 
lights. Due to the simple construction of the device, these devices can be 
manufactured at a low cost. Also these devices have a small hole near 
their base whereby several devices can be connected together in series. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a suspendable carrying 
device for decorative lights that can be manufactured inexpensively. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a suspendable 
carrying device for decorative lights that segregates the wire from the 
bulbs thereby preventing the wire and the bulbs from becoming entangled. 
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a suspendable 
carrying device having a plurality of substantially horizontal brace 
supports and a plurality of expanded apertures whereby the frame of the 
device is strengthen and several strings of lights can be stored in the 
device. 
In accordance with these aims, one embodiment of the present invention is a 
suspendable carrying device for a decorative light string wherein the 
light string includes a plurality of light bulbs connected to the others 
and each bulb has an enlarged portion of greater diameter than the neck 
portion. The carrying device comprises a body member having an elongated 
track extending through the body member where at least one expanded 
aperture is located along a length of the elongated track. The expanded 
aperture has a greater width than the elongated track which is sufficient 
to accommodate insertion of the enlarged portion of each light bulb 
therethrough. The elongated track has a width sufficient to accommodate 
the neck portion of each light bulb therein and prevent passage of the 
enlarged portion of each light bulb therethrough. 
Another embodiment of the present invention is a suspendable carrying 
device for decorative lights comprising a body member including an 
elongated track. The upper portion of the elongated track includes an 
expanded aperture that has a greater width than the elongated track 
whereby the neck of the decorative light is inserted and moved downward 
therein. 
An additional embodiment of the present invention is a suspendable carrying 
device for decorative lights comprising a body member and a suspension 
mechanism coupled to the body member. The body member further includes an 
elongated track wherein the upper portion of the elongated track includes 
an expanded aperture having a greater width than the track.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
One embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 
3. Referring now to FIG. 1, a suspendable carry device 1 for decorative 
lights is preferably constructed from plastic. However it should be 
pointed out that the device could be manufactured from other materials 
such as metal or a combination of metal and plastic. Therefore for the 
purpose of this description the term "member", as used hereinafter, shall 
be understood to be possibly manufactured from any material suitable for 
lightweight and inexpensive construction. Furthermore, in the claims the 
elements have been recited as being "coupled"; the reason being that it is 
anticipated that elements may be connected together in such a way that 
there are other components interstitially located between the connected 
elements or that the elements may be connect in fixed or movable relative 
one to the other. 
Referring to FIG. 1, the suspendable carrying device 1 includes a body 
member 3. An elongated track 5 is positioned in the middle of the member 3 
for storage of the decorative lights. At least one expanded aperture 7 is 
located along the length 9 of track 5. Aperture 7 is preferably located in 
the upper portion of track 5. The width 11 of aperture 7 is greater than 
the width 13 of track 5. The greater width of aperture 7 allows the bulb 
of a light to be inserted into and through aperture 7. Sliding the light 
bulb downward into track 5 will hold the light in place because the bulb 
will protrude on one side of member 3 while the neck and wire of the bulb 
will protrude on the other side of member 3. Once one bulb is placed in 
aperture 7 and lowered downward, the rest of the bulbs can be inserted in 
aperture 7 and successively slid downward. The bulbs are stacked one on 
top of the other. Bulbs can be inserted into aperture 7 until track 5 is 
filled. 
A suspension receiver mechanism 17 is located at the lower end 16 of member 
3. Receiver mechanism 17 is an aperture, though receiver mechanism 17 
could also take the form of VELCRO fasteners or a groove. 
A suspension mechanism 15 is coupled at an opposite end 18 of member 3 from 
receiver mechanism 17. Suspension mechanism 15 is a hook, though 
suspension mechanism 15 could also take the form of any number hanging 
devices, such as a spike, clip, or VELCRO. A plurality of devices 1 can by 
connected together by inserting the hook of one device 1 into the aperture 
of another device 1 whereby a series of devices can be suspended 
end-to-end. 
The device 1 further comprises a frame 19 that surrounds the perimeter 21 
of member 3. A support member 23 is located inside of the frame 19 which 
contains elongated track 5 and expanded aperture 7. The support member 23 
should be made of a flexible material and be strong enough to house the 
decorative lights. The frame 19 should also be constructed of a strong, 
rigid material to hold support member 23 and maintain the shape of the 
carrying device 1. As shown by FIG. 3, support member 23 is constructed 
from a thin sheet of material. Therefore frame 19 is constructed from a 
material strong enough to provide support to member 23. The combination of 
support member 23 and frame 19 gives device 1 its thin, unibody shape. 
This shape allows device 1 to be manufactured and moved with ease. 
An identifying mechanism or identifier 25 can be releasably coupled to 
member 3. By use of an identifier 25, the location of where particular 
strings of lights are to be installed can be indicated on device 1. 
Furthermore identifier 25 can be used with several devices 1 holding 
separate strings to indicate in what order those strings should be placed 
on or in the building. The identifier 25 can be colors or a note taped 
next to the stored string of lights. The identifying mechanism 25 as shown 
in FIG. 1 is a set of numbers 25, as shown by the "II". The set of numbers 
25 are coupled to the device by a glue on the back of the numbers and 
correspond to locations in or on the building where the lights are to be 
placed during the holiday season. 
Referring to FIG. 2, the preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. 
The suspendable carrying device 30 differs from device 1 in that at least 
one substantially horizontal brace member 31 is added to the device 30, 
though two members 31 are present. 
Another difference is device 30 contains a plurality of expanded apertures 
33. The width 35 of the aperture 33 exceeds the width 37 of track 36. A 
further difference is track 36 extends to frame 40. 
The brace members 31 and expanded apertures 33 of the preferred embodiment 
allow for the storage and segregation of several strings of lights on a 
single device 30. An identification mechanism or identifier 39 can be used 
to indicate where light strings are to be hung in or on the building. The 
mechanism 39 used is a set of numbers 39. The numbers, "I, II, and III", 
can be glued next to each string corresponding to where strings are to 
hung in or on the building or the order in which the strings are to be 
strung. 
While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and 
described, it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that various 
modifications may be made in the embodiment without departing from the 
spirit of the present invention.