Patent Publication Number: US-7210177-B1

Title: Convertible beach towel bag with fanny pack strap

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention relates to a convertible beach towel and tote bag. More particularly, the invention relates to a beach towel that folds into a compact form and provides multiple storage compartments therein. When combined with the included fanny pack strap, the tote bag is easily carried. 
   When traveling to the beach, one must often carry a variety of items. In addition to sun tan lotion, personal items such as a wallet and keys, and a towel, often it is desirable to bring a radio and a beverage cooler. It is difficult to carry all of these items simultaneously. Especially when carrying a cooler, it would be highly desirable to also have the ability to easily carry personal items. 
   Another difficulty commonly encountered at the beach is preventing lost keys, wallets, and other personal items. When placed on the sand, small items easily disappear—never to be seen again. It is a common practice to place items at the bottom of the ‘beach bag’. Unfortunately, when one removes larger items—such as a towel—from the bag, the smaller items can easily spill out and get lost. 
   Currently available are a myriad of tote bags of various designs, devices that simplify the carrying of a beach chair and/or umbrella, and devices that facilitate bringing valuables into the water in a water-proof container. 
   While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is an object of the invention to produce a convertible beach towel that folds compactly for easy transport. Accordingly, the towel folds in longitudinally half and neatly zippers using a zipper that continuously follows its outer edge. Further, the towel the folds transversely in half and secures to itself, and transversely in half again, securing to itself in a compact rectangular form. 
   It is another object of the invention to provide a convertible beach towel bag that provides multiple storage compartments. Accordingly, when the towel is folded, at least one storage compartment is formed and enclosed by the zipper. When the towel is folded again the storage compartment is effectively partitioned, wherein access is selectively provided to either portion by the zipper. 
   It is yet another object of the invention to provide a convertible beach towel that is easily carried. Accordingly, a shoulder strap attaches at both ends to the compact rectangular form, whereby the strap extends over the shoulder as the compact rectangular form is supported therebeneath—allowing the use to carry the towel “hands-free”. 
   It is a further object of the invention to provide a convertible beach towel that provides a secure location for personal items. Accordingly, the shoulder strap includes a fanny pack that is sized to contain needed personal items. The fanny pack extends over the shoulder when the towel is being carried, and then detaches from the rectangular form so that it can be attached around the waist of the user. 
   The invention is a convertible towel, for use by a user having a shoulder and a waist. The convertible towel includes a towel portion and a shoulder strap. The towel portion is selectively folded longitudinally and maintained in that once folded position by a zipper, then folded transversely and maintained in that twice folded position by secondary fasteners, and then folded transversely and maintained in that thrice folded position by primary fasteners. The thrice-folded towel portion is in a compact rectangular form that is then connected to the shoulder strap so that it can be carried by the user in a hands-free manner. In the compact rectangular form, multiple storage compartments are provided that are selectively accessible by the zipper. The shoulder strap preferably includes a fanny pack for containing personal items, such that the shoulder strap may be detached from the towel portion and extended around the waist of the user. 
   To the accomplishment of the above and related objects the invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Attention is called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only. Variations are contemplated as being part of the invention, limited only by the scope of the claims. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In the drawings, like elements are depicted by like reference numerals. The drawings are briefly described as follows. 
       FIG. 1  is a diagrammatic perspective view, illustrating the invention, per se, wherein the towel is folded into its compact rectangular form, and wherein the fanny pack and shoulder strap are attached to the compact rectangular form. 
       FIG. 2  is a diagrammatic perspective view, wherein the fanny pack and shoulder strap have been detached from the towel, and wherein the towel has been partially unfolded to reveal fasteners that are used to maintain the towel in its compact rectangular form. 
       FIG. 3  is a diagrammatic perspective view of just the towel portion, similar to  FIG. 2 , except wherein the towel has been a unfolded once more, revealing further fastener. 
       FIG. 4  is a diagrammatic perspective view, similar to  FIG. 3 , except wherein the towel has been fully un-zippered and unfolded along the fold line illustrated, the towel is now ready for use. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1  illustrates a convertible beach towel  10 , comprising a towel portion  12 , and a shoulder strap assembly  14 . The towel portion  12  is illustrated in a compact rectangular form, wherein the towel portion  12  has been folded once along a longitudinal fold line  13  and secured along its edges with a zipper  16 , and then has been folded twice more transversely. This may be referred to as a thrice-folded position of the towel portion  12 . A longitudinal zippered edge  17  is seen in this view as well. In this compact rectangular form, four storage compartments  21  are effectively created—being partitioned by the folds in the towel portion, which are accessible by a pair of traveling zipper tabs  16 T. The traveling zipper tabs  16 T can be moved together (as a unit) around the zipper  16  midway on the desired compartment  21 , and then separated somewhat to create access to that compartment  21 , and allow items to be inserted thereinto. 
   The shoulder strap assembly  14  includes a first end  141  and a second end  142 . A first coupler  181  is present at the first end  141  and a second coupler  182  is present at the second end  142 . The towel portion  12  has a pair of connecting straps  20  that each has a connecting coupler  22 . The connecting couplers  22  mate with the first coupler  181  and second coupler  182  so that the shoulder strap assembly  14  can extend over the shoulder of a user, whereby the towel portion  12  is suspended beneath the armpit of the user for hands-free carrying. The shoulder strap assembly  14  may be adjusted in length by using a pair of adjustment buckles  15  which may be configured to allow the shortening and lengthening of the shoulder strap assembly  14  in a conventional way. 
   The shoulder strap  14  also includes a fanny pack  30  substantially midway between the first end  141  and second end  142 . The fanny pack  30  preferably has a main pocket  32 , to which access is provided with a main pocket zipper  34 ; and a front pocket  36 . The front pocket  36  has a flap  38  that is selectively closeable to selectively allow access to the front pocket  36  and hold personal items securely therein. When the convertible towel  10  is being carried, the fanny pack  30  extends directly over the shoulder of the user. 
   In  FIG. 2 , the shoulder strap  14  has been detached from the towel portion  12  by detaching the first coupler  181  and second coupler  182  from the connecting couplers  22 . It should be noted that the first coupler  181  is male, while the second coupler  182  is female. Accordingly, the shoulder strap  14  can now be secured around the waist of the user by fastening the first coupler  181  and second coupler. Accordingly, the fanny pack  30  incorporated with the shoulder strap  14  can be worn around the waist of the user in manner conventionally associated with fanny packs. 
   Further illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the towel portion  12  has been unfolded once into a twice folded position, revealing a primary group of fasteners  41  which secure the towel portion in the thrice folded position, and a transverse zippered edge  19  extending substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal zippered edge  17 . At this point, it can be said that the towel portion  12  has a main portion  121 , and a couple of flap portion  122 ,  123  that are substantially half the longitudinal length of the main portion  121 , and abut each other along a center edge  121 C. The main portion  121  thereby forms one large storage compartment  21  and the flap portions  122 ,  123  form two smaller storage compartments that are each accessible by moving the traveling zipper tabs  16 T. 
   The primary group of fasteners  41  extend parallel to and near the longitudinal zippered edge  17 . The primary group of fasteners  41  are preferably snap fasteners that are positioned in equal amounts on each of the flap portions  122 ,  123 , and are substantially symmetrical in location and complementary in type about the center edge  121 C, to facilitate attaching the flap portions  122  together to form the towel portion into the thrice folded position of  FIG. 1 . 
   In  FIG. 3 , the towel portion  12  has been unfolded once again into a once folded position, revealing a secondary group of fasteners  42  which are used to secure the towel portion  12  into the twice folded position of  FIG. 2 . In this once folded position, a single storage compartment  21  is defined by the zipper  16  and is selectively accessible by the traveling zipper tabs  16 T. Also in  FIG. 3 , The secondary group of fasteners  42  are arranged in a row that extends parallel to and near the longitudinal zippered edge  17 , and parallel to the longitudinal fold line  13 . Note that in  FIG. 3 , the primary group of fasteners  41  cannot be seen—as they are now beneath the towel portion  12 . It should be noted that the fasteners are arranged in a pair of outer zones  42 A,  42 B, and a central zone  42 C located between the outer zones  42 A,  42 B. The central zone  42 C fasteners are of a type that is capable of mating with the outer zone fasteners. In this illustration, these are snap fasteners of complementary type. Alternatively, the fasteners can be zippers that are arranged to join the primary fasteners together, and outer zones  42 A,  42 B with the central zone  42 C. 
   Accordingly, referring momentarily and simultaneously to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , when the towel portion  12  is folded transversely, it is folded between each of the outer zones  42 A and the central zone  42 C to create the flap portions  122 ,  123  which abut each other along the central edge and secure against the main portion  121  by securing the fasteners in the outer zones  42 A to the fasteners in the central zone  42 C. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 4 , the towel portion  12  has been un-zippered along both the transverse zippered edges  19  and the longitudinal zippered edge  17 , allowing the towel portion  12  to unfold along its longitudinal fold line  13  that extends substantially parallel to the longitudinal zippered edge  17  and substantially parallel to the transverse zippered edges  19 . It is preferable that the zipper  16  be substantially continuous, so that the zippering and un-zippering can be carried out as a single operation when the user folds and unfolds the towel, for use and for storage. Note that the primary fasteners  41  and secondary fasteners  42  are not seen in this illustration, as they are now beneath the towel as shown. 
   It should be clear, then, to fold the towel on  FIG. 4  for storage, one need simply operate the zipper  16  to join a pair of the transverse zippered edges  19 , the longitudinal zippered edges  17 , and then the other pair of transverse zippered edges  19 , thereby naturally folding the towel portion  12  long the longitudinal fold line  13  to form the once folded position shown in  FIG. 3 . Then, the transverse zippered edges  19  are brought inwardly to abut each other along the center edge  121 C by folding the towel portion transversely between the central fastener zone  42 C and each of the outer fastener zones  42 A,  42 B to create the flap portion  121 ,  122 , and then securing the flap portions  121 ,  122  to the main portion by securing the fasteners of the outer fastener zone  42 A with the fasteners of the central fastener zone  42 C to create the twice folded position of  FIG. 2 . Then, the towel portion  12  is folded about the central edge  121 C to mate the flap portions  121 ,  122  together by mating the primary fasteners  41  together to form the thrice-folded position—also known as a compact rectangular form. To carry the towel portion  12 , the shoulder strap  14  is mated to the towel portion  12  by mating the first connection  181  and second connector  182  with the connecting couplers  22  of the towel portion  12 . 
   In conclusion, herein is presented a convertible towel that is easy to carry and allows the user to carry personal items in a hands-free manner. The invention is illustrated by example in the drawing figures, and throughout the written description. It should be understood that numerous variations are possible, while adhering to the inventive concept. Such variations are contemplated as being a part of the present invention.