Patent Publication Number: US-8523127-B1

Title: Holding apparatuses for attachment to chain link fences

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present disclosure claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/437,961, entitled “Holding Apparatuses for Attachment to Chain Link Fences,” and filed on Jan. 31, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     At neighborhood baseball fields and other sports facilities, it is often desirable to hang baseball equipment, such as, bats, gloves and helmets, from a fence of a dugout for easy retrieval. In addition, spectators and participants present at baseball games or similar sporting events often consume beverages as they watch or participate. At such times, it would be convenient if a drink container, such as a cup, a drink can or a drink bottle could be similarly hung from a fence within or near a dugout. 
     Chain link fences are typically found at fields and other areas where sporting events occur. The fabric of a chain link fence has diamond-shaped cells formed by intertwining wires that make up the chain link fence, and the fabric of the chain length fence is typically held in place by fence posts and rails. Because a chain link fence is rugged and sturdy, there have been a variety of devices that persons have developed to hold equipment and drinks to a chain link fence. It is generally desirable for such devices to be securely attached to a chain link fence during use, yet easily removable from the fence after use. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The elements of the drawings are not necessarily to scale relative to each other, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the disclosure. Furthermore, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a hub attachable to a chain link fence. 
         FIG. 2  depicts a front view of the hub of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  depicts a side view of the hub of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  depicts a cross-sectional view of the hub of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  depicts an exemplary structure of a fabric of a chain link fence. 
         FIG. 6  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a holding apparatus for holding a drink container or other object. 
         FIG. 7  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a holding apparatus for holding a bat or other object. 
         FIG. 8  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a holding apparatus having a hook. 
         FIG. 9  depicts the hub of  FIG. 1  inserted for attachment into an exemplary structure of a fabric of a chain link fence. 
         FIG. 10  depicts the hub of  FIG. 1  inserted and attached into an exemplary structure of a fabric of a chain link fence. 
         FIG. 11  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a holding apparatus, such as is depicted by  FIG. 7 , aligned for insertion into a fabric of a chain link fence. 
         FIG. 12  depicts the holding apparatus of  FIG. 7  after a hub of the holding apparatus has been inserted into the fabric of a chain link fence. 
         FIG. 13  depicts the holding apparatus of  FIG. 7  after the holding apparatus has been rotated to secure the holding apparatus to a chain link fence. 
         FIG. 14  depicts the holding apparatus of  FIG. 7  while it is holding a bat. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present disclosure generally pertains to holding apparatuses that can be easily attached to and removed from a chain link fence. In this regard, chain link fences can be found at a variety of locations, such as amateur sporting fields or courts for baseball, softball, football, tennis, soccer, and other sports. At such sports venues, players bring jackets, hats, and other clothing in addition to sporting equipment such as bats, catcher masks, gloves, tennis rackets, and other items. Holding apparatuses in accordance with the present disclosure may be used to hang such articles from a chain link fence, as will be described in more detail below. 
     In one exemplary embodiment, a holding apparatus has a hub that is adapted for insertion into a fabric of a chain link fence. The hub has grooves into which wires of a chain link fence are inserted as the hub is rotated, thereby securing the hub to the fence. To attach the holding apparatus to a chain link fence, the hub is aligned with a cell of a chain link fence such that the hub fits within and can be inserted into the cell. After insertion of the hub into the cell, the hub is rotated such that the wires of the fence are gripped by surfaces that form the grooves of the hub. Insertion of the wires into such grooves secures the hub to the fence. To remove the holding apparatus from the fence, the hub is rotated such that the wires move out of the grooves thereby releasing the hub from the fence. The hub may thereafter be pulled out of the cell into which it was previously inserted. 
     An exemplary embodiment of a hub  100  attachable to a chain link fence is depicted in  FIG. 1 . The hub  100  as seen in  FIG. 1  has a generally square shape with side corners  105 . The hub  100  has a front surface  101 , a back surface  102 , and four side surfaces  104 . The side corners  105  are formed by the intersection of side surfaces  104  and are rounded with a corner radius  106 . Hub  100  has a front groove  110  and a back groove  120  in each side corner  105 . Each front groove  110  is offset  111  (measured in the y-direction) from its respective back groove  120 . The value of the offset  111  corresponds to the offset of wires that define a cell of a chain link fence as will be described herein. The front groove  110  and back groove  120  at each side corner  105  are parallel and are orthogonal to grooves in adjacent side corners  105 . The grooves  110 ,  120  extend diagonally between side surfaces  104  at an angle of around 45 degrees as depicted in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 4 . The width of each of the grooves  110 ,  120  is slightly greater than the width of the respective wire on which they attach. The hub  100  can be easily attached and removed from many conventional chain link fences having intertwined wires that form diamond-shaped openings, referred to herein as “cells” as seen in  FIG. 5 . 
     The size and shape of the hub  100  are selected to allow the hub  100  to fit into a cell of a chain link fence. The size of the hub  100  is dependent on the size of the cell into which the hub  100  is to be inserted. In general, a large number of chain link fabrics have cells that are dimensioned such that opposite sides of a cell are separated by around 2.25 inches, but other dimensions of the cell are possible in other embodiments. 
     A front view of hub  100  depicted in  FIG. 2  shows the square shape of the hub  100 . The hub  100  has a width  107  of approximately 2.0 inches. Each side corner  105  of the hub  100  is rounded with a corner radius  106  of approximately 0.375 inches. A side view of the hub  100  depicted in  FIG. 3  shows the location of the front grooves  110  with respect to the back grooves  120 . The grooves  110  and  120  are formed in surfaces of the hub  100  and run diagonally at the hub side corners  105 . In one exemplary embodiment, each groove has an opening width of around 0.188 inches, but other sizes are possible in other embodiments. The opening width is selected to be slightly greater than the diameter of the chain link fence wires such that the wires fit snugly into the grooves when the hub  100  is secured to the fence, as will be described in more detail below. The front grooves  110  are offset, measured from center to center  111  of the grooves, from the back grooves  120  by around 0.563 inches. That is, a front groove  110  at a given corner of the hub  100  is separated from the back groove  120  at the same corner by around 0.563 inches. Further, the grooves  110  and  120  in opposite side corners  105  are parallel and in adjacent side corners  105  the grooves  110  and  120  are orthogonal.  FIG. 4  depicts a groove separation  130  of around 2.000 inches between grooves on opposite side corners  105  of the hub  100 . For the embodiment of the hub  100  of  FIG. 1 , there are a total of 8 grooves in the hub (4 front grooves  110  and 4 back grooves  120 ). 
       FIG. 5  depicts a typical fabric of a chain link fence having cells in which each cell is defined by a pair of intertwined wires, which are also typically intertwined with wires of other cells. As an example,  FIG. 5  shows a cell  170  of a chain link fence. The cell  170  is defined by a pair of wires  171  and  172  that form an opening  173  into which a hub  100  may be inserted, as will be described in more detail below. The wires  171  and  172  are also intertwined respectively with other wires  174  and  175  at the sides of the cell  170 . 
     The cell  170  is generally diamond-shaped. Such shape is formed by four wire segments  181 - 184  in which segments  182  and  183  are from the same wire  171  and segments  181  and  184  are from the same wire  172 . Segments  181  and  183  are parallel, and segments  182  and  184  are parallel. Further, the segments  181  and  183  are substantially orthogonal to the segments  182  and  184 . In addition, the segments  181  and  183  are offset relative to the segments  182  and  184 . That is, a plane of the segments  181  and  183  is separated by a plane of the segments  182  and  184 , though the two planes are parallel to one another. In the embodiment shown by  FIG. 5 , the segments  182  and  184  are closer to the viewer than the segments  181  and  183 . However, in other embodiments, it is possible for the orientation of the fence to be reversed such that the segments  181  and  183  are closer to the viewer than the segments  182  and  184 . Having both a front groove  110  and a back groove  120  at each corner of the hub  100  allows the hub  100  to accommodate either orientation of wires of a chain link fence. 
       FIG. 6  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a holding apparatus  300  for holding a drink container, such as a cup or bottle. The holding apparatus  300  comprises a hub  100  coupled to a drink holding element  310 . The drink holding element  310  comprises an open cylinder  312  and a bottom disk  314 . The disk  314  has holes  316  for allowing passage of fluids, such as spilled beverages or rain water. The open cylinder  312  is dimensioned to contain cups and a variety of beverage containers. The components of the holding apparatus  300  may form a unitary structure or may be defined by separate structures that are attached to one another. 
       FIG. 7  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a holding apparatus  200  for holding a bat. The holding apparatus  200  comprises a hub  100  coupled to a bat holding element  210 . In one exemplary embodiment, the hub  100  and bat holding element  210  are a unitary structure that is formed by a molding process or other manufacturing process. However, it is possible for the hub  100  to have a structure separate from that of the bat holding element  210 . As an example, the bat holding element  210  may be screwed to the hub  100 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , the bat holding element  210  is a U-shaped structure having a pair of parallel arms  230  (extending from the hub  100  in the y-direction) separated by a gap  231 . The end of each arm  230  has a retaining tab  233  pointing upward (the z-direction). Surfaces of the bat holding element  210  form a notch  220  for holding a bat or other equipment. The retaining tabs  233  at the ends of the arms  212  keep a bat from slipping off the bat holding element  210 . The retaining tabs  233  may also be used for attaching other equipment to the fence. 
       FIG. 8  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a holding apparatus  400  having a hub  100  and a holding element  410  formed in the shape of a hook. The holding element  410  may be used for hanging clothing, such as a jacket, sport&#39;s equipment, or other objects. Like the holding apparatus  300 , the components of the holding apparatus  400  may form a unitary structure or may be defined by separate structures that are attached to one another. 
       FIGS. 9 and 10  show how the hub  100  is coupled to the fabric of a chain link fence. As shown by  FIG. 9 , the hub  100  aligned with a cell  170  of the chain link fence so that the hub  100  can be inserted into the cell  170 . In this regard, the hub  100  is oriented such that each corner of the hub  100  is aligned with a respective corner of the cell  170 . Once the hub  100  is aligned with the cell  170 , the hub  100  is inserted into the cell  170 , and the depth of the insertion of the hub  100  is such that the front grooves  110  are aligned with the wire segments  182  and  184 . The offset dimension between the front grooves  110  and the back grooves  120  is such that the back grooves  120  are simultaneously aligned with the wire segments  181  and  183  of the cell  170 . In this regard, the offset of the back grooves  120  relative to the front grooves  110  matches the offset of the wire segments  182  and  184  relative to the wire segments  181  and  183 . 
     After insertion of the hub  100  into the cell  170 , the hub  100  is rotated, around 45 degrees, until the segments  182  and  184  are respectively inserted into a pair of the front grooves  110  and the segments  181  and  183  are respectively inserted into a pair of the back grooves  120 , as shown by  FIG. 10 . Insertion of the segments  182  and  184  into the front grooves  110  and of the segments  181  and  183  into the back grooves  120  secures the hub  100  to the fence. In this regard, the segments  181 - 184  hold the hub  100  and the walls of the grooves into which the segments  181 - 184  are inserted keep the hub  100  from falling out of the fence fabric. 
     Note that a pair of the front grooves  110  and a pair of the back grooves  120  are unoccupied in  FIG. 10 . Such grooves, however, receive the segments  181 - 184  when the orientation of the fence is reversed relative to the orientation shown by  FIG. 5 , as described above. 
     To remove the hub  100  from the cell  170 , the hub  100  is rotated back to the position shown by  FIG. 9 . In this regard, as the hub  100  is rotated, the segments  181 - 184  pass out of the grooves  110  and  120  such that the hub  100  is no longer held by the segments  181 - 184 . Once the hub  100  is again aligned with the cell  170 , as shown by  FIG. 9 , the hub  100  may be pulled from the cell  170 . 
       FIGS. 11-13  show the holding apparatus  200  being attached to a chain link fence. The holding apparatus  200  is positioned for insertion into a diamond-shaped cell  170  of the fence fabric, as shown in  FIG. 11 . Then, the holding apparatus  200  is aligned with the cell  170  and inserted into the cell  170  for rotation as shown in  FIG. 12 . After the holding apparatus  200  is rotated, it is firmly attached to the fence and has an orientation as shown in  FIG. 13 . A view of the apparatus  200  holding a bat is shown in  FIG. 14 . 
     Hub  100  may be used as an element of other holding apparatuses having other holding elements extending from the hub  100 . For example, the bat holding element  200  with a notch  220  may be used to hold a tennis racket by widening the notch  220 . A holding element attached to hub  100  could have a U-shaped channel and thereby capable of holding a placard, book or similarly shaped article. 
     It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are merely examples of implementations, set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments of the disclosure without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present invention and protected by the following claims.