Wrist memory strap to assist powerlifting

A strap is made of a flexible material such as cotton or NYLON and includes a loop at one end large enough to allow the other end of the strap to be slipped through the loop to provide a strap portion that may encircle the wrist of the user. The other end of the strap has a rigid ring attached to it and the body of the strap has a thin, stiff wire embedded in it. The strap portion may be encircled about the wrist of the user and the other end of the strap may be wrapped once about a barbell bar. The rigidity of the strap imparted to it by the thin, stiff wire allows the end of the strap with the rigid ring to be maintained in an upward direction so that a finger of the user may be slipped through the ring and used to tighten the strap about the bar.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a wrist memory strap to assist 
powerlifting. In the prior art, straps and other appliances used in 
facilitating enhanced gripping are known. Applicant is aware of the 
following United States Patents: 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,541,990 to Du Mas 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,412 to Meeko 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,974 to Buhr 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,244 to Miller et al. 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,343 to DaSilva 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,440 to Meldeau. 
None of these references teaches all of the features and aspects of the 
present invention, particularly the combination of an elongated strap 
having a rigidifying wire embedded therein with a loop at one end and a 
ring at the other end. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a wrist memory strap to assist 
powerlifting. The present invention includes the following interrelated 
objects, aspects and features: 
(1) In a first aspect, the present invention consists of an elongated strap 
having a first end and a second end. At the first end of the strap, the 
strap is folded upon itself and stitched to form a loop. The loop defines 
a large enough opening to allow the second end of the strap to be inserted 
through the loop and pulled tight to provide a strap portion that may be 
used to encircle the wrist of the user. 
(2) The second end of the strap has a rigid ring attached thereto. The 
rigid ring may be made of any suitable material such as, for example, 
wood, plastic, or metal. In the preferred embodiment, the rigid ring is 
made of a triangular shape preferably, a rounded corner triangular ring. 
Of course, a "D"-shaped ring, a square-shaped or rectangularly-shaped ring 
may also be employed. 
(3) The elongated strap has a thin, stiff wire embedded therein that 
imparts a degree of rigidity to the strap. 
(4) The second end of the strap may be inserted through the loop in the 
first end thereof and may be pulled tight with the wrist of the user 
extending through the strap portion defined thereby. The second end of the 
strap may be wrapped once around a barbell bar with the thin, stiff wire 
embedded within the strap body being useful to facilitate the second end 
of the strap holding a position slightly uplifted. Of course, if the thin, 
stiff wire were not embedded within the strap body, the second end of the 
strap would merely hang limply in a downward direction. However, due to 
the existence of the thin, stiff wire, the second end of the strap remains 
in a position whereby a finger of the user may be inserted through the 
rigid ring to facilitate manipulation of the second end of the strap to 
allow tightening of the strap about the barbell bar while the strap 
portion of the strap is tightly encircling the wrist of the user. In this 
way, a barbell bar may be securely gripped during weightlifting. 
As such, it is a first object of the present invention to provide a wrist 
memory strap to assist powerlifting. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a device 
wherein a first end of the strap is folded upon itself and stitched to 
form a loop. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a device 
wherein the second end of the strap may be extended through the loop and 
tightened to form a strap portion that may be encircled about the wrist of 
the user. 
It is a yet further object of the present invention to provide such a 
device wherein a thin, stiff wire is embedded within the strap body to 
impart rigidity to the strap allowing the rigid ring thereof to be easily 
gripped by the user to tighten the strap about a barbell bar.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
With reference, first, to FIGS. 4 and 5, the inventive strap is generally 
designated by the reference numeral 10 and is seen to include a body 11 
having a first end 13 and a second end 15. As seen in FIG. 4, the first 
end 13 is folded upon itself and stitched at 17 to form a loop 19. 
With further reference to FIG. 4, the second end 15 of the strap 10 
includes a rigid ring 21 shown having a generally triangular 
configuration. Preferably, the ring 21 comprises a rounded corner 
triangular ring. If desired, however, the rigid ring 21 may take on a 
D-shaped configuration, a square or rectangularly-shaped configuration. 
The ring 21 may be made of any suitable rigid material such as plastic, 
wood, or metal. In order to secure the ring 21 at the second end 15 of the 
strap 10, the end of the strap body 11 is folded upon itself and stitched 
at 23 to capture one side of the ring 21. 
With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, a thin, stiff wire 25 is embedded within 
the body 11 parallel to the longitudinal extent thereof. As seen in FIG. 
5, the body 11 is formed by the portions 27 and 29 folded at the crease 31 
and stitched together at the stitching 33 to form the body 11. The wire 25 
is placed between the portions 27 and 29 and the two parallel stitchings 
35 and 37 (FIG. 4) capture the wire 25 in the position shown. The wire 25 
may be made of any suitable steel, particularly a grade of steel or metal 
that allows bending upon force application and maintenance of a bent 
shape. 
With reference to FIGS. 1-3, it is seen that the second end 15 of the strap 
body 11 may be inserted through the loop 19 to form a strap portion 40 
that may encircle the wrist 2 of the user. In the position shown in FIG. 
1, the second end 15 of the strap 10 has been placed under the barbell bar 
5 and through the stiffness of the wire 25, the ring 21 is maintained in 
an upward position. 
The strap 10 is then wound or wrapped one revolution about the bar 5 to the 
position shown in FIG. 2 wherein the finger 6 of the user may be extended 
through the ring 21 to allow tightening of the strap 10 about the bar 5 to 
the position shown in FIG. 3 with the hand 4 of the user gripping over the 
portion of the strap that has been wrapped about the bar 5 to provide a 
firm grip of the bar 5 when weightlifting. 
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the body 11 of the 
strap 10 is made of any suitable material such as cotton or nylon. In the 
preferred embodiment, the wire 25 is preferably made from 0.001 inches to 
0.01 inches in thickness and from 8 to 12 inches in length. Of course, 
these dimensions are to be considered merely exemplary. 
Accordingly, an invention has been described in terms of a preferred 
embodiment thereof which fulfills each and every one of the objects of the 
invention as set forth hereinabove and provides a new and useful wrist 
memory strap to assist powerlifting of great novelty and utility. 
Of course, various changes, modifications and alterations in the teachings 
of the present invention may be contemplated by those skilled in the art 
without departing from the intended spirit and scope thereof. 
As such, it is intended that the present invention only be limited by the 
terms of the appended claims.