Abstract:
An animal decoration kit for a bicycle or tricycle is provided. The decoration kit is configured to mount to the exterior of a bicycle or tricycle. The decoration kit includes each of a handlebar attachment member and a seat attachment member to transform the bicycle into an animal such as a horse or other creature. The decoration kit provides a recess for storing items, and safety reflective tape to make the decorative kit useful and practical for children. The handlebar attachment member may also include a handle so that when the handlebar attachment member is removed, it may serve as a bag or tote for carrying belongings.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/168,961, filed Jun. 1, 2015, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Children often imagine their bicycles, tricycles, or scooters as majestic horses or other creatures. Such imagination play allows kids to feel safer and be more confident when riding their bicycles, tricycles, or scooters. It further allows for creative development. There are several devices currently available on the market to transform bicycles or tricycles to appear as animals or other creatures. However, the existing devices have a number of drawbacks. 
         [0003]    Existing devices for “transforming” bicycles into animals and other creatures often require structural modifications to the bicycle or tricycle itself. Such modifications can materially affect the bicycle&#39;s performance. Other devices are made of a hard, heavy material and therefore weigh down a bicycle or tricycle, thus affecting its performance. Yet other embodiments are specifically designed to fit a single bicycle or tricycle, or require tools besides the apparatus itself for installation. 
         [0004]    Thus there is a need to provide a fun, safe, and useful kit that is able to “transform” a bicycle or tricycle into a fun animal or other creature. 
       SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
       [0005]    An animal decoration kit for attachment to a bicycle is provided. The animal decoration kit may “transform” an ordinary bicycle or tricycle into an animal or other creature. Such a “transformation” allows a child riding the bicycle or tricycle to imagine that he or she is riding an animal or other creature instead of a simple mechanical bicycle or tricycle. The kit should be able to work with existing bicycle and tricycles, and the kit should be easily transferrable from one device to another with no need for additional tooling. 
         [0006]    The decoration kit includes a handlebar attachment member that includes a recess forming a pocket for storing various items therein. The handlebar attachment member also includes upper attachment straps at its upper portion and ties at its lower portion. The upper attachment straps and the ties are for selectively attaching the handlebar attachment member to a handlebar of a bicycle. 
         [0007]    The decoration kit also includes a seat attachment member that includes an inner strap and an outer strap, wherein the inner strap and the outer strap are for selective attachment to a seat of the bicycle. 
         [0008]    In at least one embodiment, the handlebar attachment member includes a handle for toting the handlebar attachment member when the handlebar attachment member is removed from the bicycle. 
         [0009]    In another separate embodiment, the handlebar attachment member includes reflective safety material, such as tape. The reflective safety tape may be in a number of decorative shapes, for example, an eye or a horse bridle 
         [0010]    In yet another embodiment, the handlebar attachment member is in the shape of an animal head, for example a horse head. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the specification and are to be read in conjunction therewith in which like reference numerals are used to indicate like or similar parts in the various views: 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  is an elevation view of an animal decoration kit attached to a bicycle subject to the teachings of the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a handlebar attachment member of the animal decoration kit of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the handlebar attachment member of  FIG. 1  shown attached to a handlebar; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a side elevation view of the handlebar attachment member of  FIGS. 2 and 3 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a plan view of a seat attachment member of the animal decoration kit of  FIG. 1 ; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the seat attachment member of  FIG. 5  attached to a seat. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0018]    The present invention provides a decoration kit for selective attachment to a bicycle or tricycle.  FIG. 1  illustrates decoration kit  1  attached to a bicycle  5 , though in alternative embodiments, decoration kit  1  may be attached to a tricycle. As shown and illustrated in  FIG. 1 , decoration kit  1  preferably comprises a handlebar attachment member  10  and a seat attachment member  15 . Handlebar attachment member  10  is preferably in the shape of an animal head such as a horse, and seat attachment member  15  is preferably in the shape of an animal tail such as a horse, though in alternative embodiments, attachment members  10 ,  15  may take the form of other decorative structures. In at least one embodiment, attachment member  10  may take on the form of a mythical animal like a unicorn or a dragon. 
         [0019]    Handlebar attachment member  10  is preferably attachable to handlebar  20  of bicycle  5  (or in the alternative a handlebar of a tricycle), and seat attachment member  15  is preferably attachable to seat  25  of bicycle  5  (or in the alternative a seat of a tricycle). The method and mechanism by which handlebar attachment member  10  and seat attachment member  20  may be attached to bicycle  5  are described in greater detail in the descriptions of  FIGS. 2-6  herein below. 
         [0020]      FIGS. 2-4  illustrate various perspective views of handlebar attachment member  10 .  FIG. 2  illustrates handlebar attachment member  10  in its unattached, freestanding position,  FIG. 3  illustrates attachment member  10  attached to handlebar  20 , and  FIG. 4  illustrates attachment member  10  from a side elevation view, thus showing some of its features in greater detail. 
         [0021]    Attachment member  10  includes an upper portion  30  and a lower portion  35 . Upper portion  30  may include a handle member  40  that may be used to tote attachment member  10  when it is detached from bicycle  5 , for example as shown in  FIG. 2 . When detached from bicycle  5 , attachment member  10  may be used as a tote for carrying school books, personal goods, snacks, and other items. Upper portion  30  of attachment member  10  may further include a pair of attachment straps  45 , each of which include an upper strap  50  and a lower strap  55 . Upper strap  50  and lower strap  55  preferably include fastening members  60  for releasably attaching the upper strap  50  and lower strap  55  to one another. In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 2 , fastening members  60  are Hook and loop strips, but in alternative embodiments could be other known fastening members such as ties, buckles, or snaps, all of which are non-limiting examples. Attachment member  10  may also include ties  65  located at lower portion  35  of attachment member  10 . 
         [0022]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , upper strap  50  and lower strap  55  may be secured to one another around a crossbar  70  of handlebar  15 , and ties  65  may be secured to one another around a base portion  75  of handlebar  15 . In alternative embodiments having a different handlebar  15  assembly (for example a non-“BMX” style bicycle), straps  50 ,  55  may still be utilized to attach attachment member  10 . When straps  50 ,  55  and ties  65  are secured to handlebar  15  in the above described configuration, attachment member  10  is preferably secured to bicycle  5  sufficiently to allow a rider to ride bicycle  5  with attachment member  10  safely and securely attached thereto. 
         [0023]      FIG. 3  further illustrates a recess forming a pocket  80  associated with attachment member  10  for storing equipment, toys, and other items within attachment member  10 . Recess  80  is shown in its open configuration in  FIG. 3 . Flaps  85  of recess  80  may be secured to one another by fastening members  90 , which in the illustrated embodiment are hook and loop fasteners, though in alternative embodiments could be other foreseeable or known fastening members such as zippers or snap fasteners. Flaps  85  may be opened and closed as desired to access items within recess  80  or secure items within recess  80 , respectively. 
         [0024]    As shown in  FIG. 4 , attachment member  10  may further include a first strip of reflective safety tape  95  and a second strip of reflective safety tape  100  for providing a safety feature to the attachment member  10 . Tape  95 ,  100  increases awareness of cars that the bicycle  5  and its rider are present when it is dark outside. In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 4 , reflective safety tape  95 ,  100  are in the form of a bridle and eye of a horse, respectively. In other embodiments, tape  95 ,  100  could serve as adornment for another animal or creature, including but not limited to a nose, hair, mane, etc. In alternative embodiments, more or less reflective safety tape may be provided. 
         [0025]      FIG. 5  illustrates seat attachment member  15  having each of a proximal end  105  and a distal end  110  with no decorative adornment attached thereto. In a preferred embodiment, attachment member  15  may include decorative adornment attached to distal end  110 , such as a tail-like design or other decorative feature (for example in  FIG. 1 ). In at least one embodiment, different types of decorative adornments may be swapped out so that a child may imaginatively ride on the animal of his or her choice simply by switching the adornment (attachment member  10  may similarly be interchangeable). The adornment may be integrally formed with seat attachment member  15  in at least one embodiment. 
         [0026]    At proximal end  105  of attachment member  20 , each of an inner strap  115  and an outer strap  120  may be provided. Straps  115 ,  120  are each able to be secured to themselves by fastening members (not illustrated) for securement around an adjustment stem  125  of seat  25 . The fastening members may be loops, hook and loop, buckles, or other known or foreseeable fastening members to those skilled in the art. Strap  115  may be thinner than strap  120  as shown in  FIG. 5  to provide space between seat  25  and stem  125 .  FIG. 6  illustrates straps  115 ,  120  secured to stem  125 , thus securing attachment member  20  to bicycle  5 . 
         [0027]    From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all the ends and objects hereinabove set forth together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the structure. It will be understood that certain features and sub combinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and sub combinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims. Since many possible embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is also to be understood that all matters herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings are to be interpreted as illustrative and not limiting. 
         [0028]    The constructions described above and illustrated in the drawings are presented by way of example only and are not intended to limit the concepts and principles of the present invention. Thus, there has been shown and described several embodiments of a novel animal decoration kit for a bicycle or tricycle. As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of the present invention are not limited by the particular details of the examples illustrated herein, and it is therefore contemplated that other modifications and applications, or equivalents thereof, will occur to those skilled in the art. The terms “having” and “including” and similar terms as used in the foregoing specification are used in the sense of “optional” or “may include” and not as “required”. Many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications of the present construction will, however, become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and the accompanying drawings. All such changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is limited only by the claims which follow.