Patent Publication Number: US-9902416-B1

Title: Sports equipment utility cart assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The disclosure and prior art relates to cart devices and more particularly pertains to a new cart device for transporting articles for sporting activities and in particular for holding and moving containers containing fluids. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a frame with a rectangular shape and a bottom wall is attached to the frame. A plurality of vertical members is attached to and extends upwardly from the frame. A plurality of horizontally oriented rails is attached to and extends between adjacent ones of the vertical members such that each of the vertical members has a plurality of the rails attached thereto. The rails include a plurality of apex rails extending between upper ends of the vertical members. A support is attached to and extends upwardly from the frame. The support extends above apex rails. A pair of hoops is provided and each of the hoops is attached to the support and each extends over one of the apex rails. The hoops are configured to receive an insulated water container such that the insulated water container rests upon an associated one of the apex rails. A plurality of wheels is attached to the frame and extends downwardly therefrom. Each of the wheels is rotatable with respect to the frame. A handle is attached to the frame and extends away therefrom. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a rear view of a sports equipment utility cart assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is an in-use rear perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 5  thereof, a new cart device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 5 , the sports equipment utility cart assembly  10  generally comprises a frame  12  that has a rectangular shape and comprises a front member  14 , a rear member  16 , a first lateral member  18  and a second lateral member  20 . The frame  12  is elongated from the front member  14  to the rear member  16  and is comprised of a rigid material such as a metal or plastic. The frame  12  has a length between 28.0 inches and 36.0 inches and a width between 18.0 inches and 26.0 inches. A bottom wall  22  is attached to the frame  12  and may comprise a mesh material to allow fluids to flow the bottom wall  12 . 
     A plurality of vertical members  24  is attached to and extends upwardly from the frame  12 . A plurality of rails  26  each is horizontally oriented and the rails  26  are attached to and extend between adjacent ones of the vertical members  24 . Each of the vertical members  24  has a plurality of the rails  26  attached thereto. The rails  26  include a subset group defining a plurality of apex rails  28  extending between upper ends of the vertical members  24  and being distal to the bottom wall  22 . The apex rails  28  define an access opening in a housing being bounded by the frame  12 , vertical members  24  and the rails  26 . The vertical members  24  each have a height between 18.0 inches and 26.0 inches. 
     A support  30  is attached to and extends upwardly from the frame  12  and further support extends above apex rails  28  a distance of between 4.0 inches and 16.0 inches. The support  30  may be attached to the rear member  16 . A pair of hoops  32  is provided and each of the hoops  32  is attached to the support  30 . As can be seen in the Figures, the hoops  32  may be positioned on opposite sides of the support  30 . Each of the hoops  32  extends over one of the apex rails  28 . The hoops  32  are configured to receive an insulated water container  34  such that the insulated water container  34  rests upon an associated one of the apex rails  28 . Each of the hoops  32  may have a diameter between 7.0 inches and 12.0 inches. 
     A plurality of wheels  36  is attached to the frame  12  and extends downwardly therefrom. Each of the wheels  36  is rotatable with respect to the frame  12 . The wheels  36  include two rear wheels  38  attached to the rear member  16  and two front wheels  40  attached to the front member  14 . The front wheels  40  are attached to swivels  42  to allow a direction of rotation of the front wheels  40  to be turned. A handle  44  is attached to the frame  44  and extends away therefrom. The handle  44  is attached to the front member  14  and may be pivotable with respect to the frame  12 . 
     In use, the assembly  10  is used in a conventional manner of a cart to hold a plurality of articles and transport the same. However, the assembly  10  is particularly well suited for transporting articles used during sporting events and practices to provide players with equipment and fluids. Thus, the assembly  10  includes loops  32  configured for holding fluid containers  34 . Additionally, cup holders  46  may be mounted on the apex rails  28 , or other locations, to hold drinking containers having fluids therein. The cup holder  44  may generally include a small hoop  48  having a diameter less than 4 inches positioned above a platform  50 . 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.