Patent Publication Number: US-2010108857-A1

Title: Spray Bottle Carrying Apparatus

Description:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY 
     This invention claims priority to U.S. provisional application No. 60/983,617 filed Oct. 30, 2007 for which the anniversary date falls on a Saturday. 
    
    
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to the field of apparatuses for carrying a liquid container, and in particular an apparatus for carrying a spray bottle and that can be secured to a clothing. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of one embodiment of the spray bottle carrying apparatus. 
         FIG. 2  is a top perspective view of the embodiment of the spray bottle carrying apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 , secured to a spray bottle. 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional side view of the embodiment of the spray bottle carrying apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 , taken along line  3 - 3 . 
         FIG. 4  is a top view of the embodiment of the spray bottle carrying apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 , taken along line  4 - 4 . 
         FIG. 5  is a side view of an alternate embodiment of the spray bottle carrying apparatus. 
         FIG. 6  is a rear view of the embodiment of the spray bottle carrying apparatus shown in  FIG. 5 , taken along line  6 . 
     
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Spray bottles are commonly used to transport liquids, including water, cleaning solutions, cosmetics, and solvents. It is desirable to have an apparatus which may secure a spray bottle to clothing in order to save time in cleaning and other tasks, and to avoid losing the spray bottle. This is a particularly desirable for liquids which are specially blended, toxic or expensive. 
     It is also desirable that a device for affixing a spray bottle to clothing be compatible with machinery for assembling spray bottles and caps, in particular that the device be capable of being gripped or manipulated by machinery used for assembling machines 
     As used herein, the term “spray bottle” refers to any container having a manually-operated pump that can be used to dispense fluids. 
     As used herein, the term “clothing” refers to pants, belt, sweater, band, string, drawstring or any other item of clothing. For example, clothing may refer to a belt, belt loop, or waist band of pants. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
     For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the present invention, references are made in the text hereof to embodiments of a spray bottle carrying apparatus, only some of which are depicted in the figures. It should nevertheless be understood that no limitations on the scope of the invention are thereby intended. One of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that modifications such as the dimensions, size, and shape of the components, alternate but functionally similar materials from which the golf club monitoring system is made, and the inclusion of additional elements are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the written description do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Some of these possible modifications are mentioned in the following description. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one of ordinary skill in the art to employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed apparatus or manner. 
     It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. In addition, in the embodiments depicted herein, like reference numerals in the various drawings refer to identical or near identical structural elements. 
     Moreover, the term “substantially” or “approximately” as used herein may be applied to modify any quantitative representation that could permissibly vary without resulting in a change in the basic function to which it is related. For example, one embodiment of the spray bottle carrying apparatus is disclosed herein as having an upper portion and a lower portion perpendicular to the upper portion. The lower portion might permissibly be somewhat non-perpendicular to the upper portion and still be within the scope of the invention if its functionality is not materially altered. 
     Referring now to the drawings,  FIG. 1  shows a top perspective view of one (1) embodiment of spray bottle carrying apparatus  100 . Spray bottle carrying apparatus  100  is comprised of upper portion  110 , lower portion  120 , first arm  131  and second arm  132 , which form recess  130 , into which the neck of a spray bottle (not shown) can be inserted and temporarily secured, and gripping member  140 . 
     Upper portion  110  of spray bottle carrying apparatus  100  has first end  101 , second end  102 , top surface  103 , and a bottom surface (not visible). Lower portion  120  is integrally molded perpendicular to upper portion  110  at second end  102  to form a one-piece apparatus. In the embodiment shown, lower portion  120  can be temporarily inserted between a belt (not shown) and a pant (not shown) or between a pant and a wearer of the pants to temporarily support the spray bottle without the user having to use their hands. 
     Extending from first end  101  of upper portion  110  are first arm  131  and second arm  132 , which form recess  130 . First arm  131  and second arm  132  form a substantially U-shaped recess  130 , into which the neck of a spray bottle (not shown) can be inserted and temporarily secured. 
     Also visible in the embodiment of spray bottle carrying apparatus  100  shown in  FIG. 1  is gripping member  140 . Gripping member  140  is positioned on top surface  103  of upper portion  110  of spray bottle carrying apparatus  100  and further includes a plurality of ribs  141 . Gripping member  140  and ribs  141  engage the neck of the spray bottle to further secure the spray bottle to spray bottle carrying apparatus  100 . 
     In the embodiment of spray bottle carrying apparatus  100  shown in  FIG. 1 , spray bottle carrying apparatus  100  is made of plastic, but can be made of any sufficiently light weight and durable material that can be formed into spray bottle carrying apparatus  100 . 
     Also visible in  FIG. 1  is logo  150 . Logo  150  can be disposed on lower portion  120  or any other location on spray bottle carrying apparatus  100 , but is not a necessary element. Logo  150  can be any mark related to cleaning supplies or any other graphical representation. 
       FIG. 2  is a top perspective view of the embodiment of spray bottle carrying apparatus  100  shown in  FIG. 1 , secured to spray bottle  50 . As can be appreciated, when spray bottle  50  is free standing, lower portion  120  of spray bottle carrying apparatus  100  extends downward, such that it can engage a user&#39;s belt, pocket, pants, or other article of clothing. It can also be appreciated that spray bottle carrying apparatus  100  engages spray bottle  50  at neck  51 , on which a plurality of ribs  52  are also present. Ribs  141  of spray bottle carrying apparatus  100  mate with ribs  52  on spray bottle  50 . 
       FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional side view of the embodiment of spray bottle carrying apparatus  100  shown in  FIG. 1 , taken along line  3 - 3 . As can be appreciated, lower portion  120  of spray bottle carrying apparatus  100  extends downward from upper portion  110  at a ninety-degree (90°) angle. However, as provided supra, lower portion  120  of spray bottle carrying apparatus  100  can extend downward from upper portion  110  at an angle other than ninety degrees (90°). 
       FIG. 4  is a top view of the embodiment of the spray bottle carrying apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 , taken along line  4 - 4 . As can be seen, first arm  131  and second arm  132  are each arcuately or otherwise shaped to form recess  130 , into which the neck of the spray bottle (not shown) can be temporarily positioned. Furthermore, it can also be appreciated that first arm  131  and second arm  132  form a U-shape in which opening  135  is less than one hundred eighty degrees (180°). If opening  135  was greater than one hundred eighty degrees (180°), arms  131 ,  132  would not secure the spray bottle within recess  130 . 
     Also visible in  FIG. 4  are ribs  141  positioned on gripping member. Ribs  141  correspond with the ribs on the neck of the spray bottle (not shown) and prevent the spray bottle from spinning or slipping when held by spray bottle carrying apparatus  100 . In the embodiment shown, ribs  141  are integrally molded to gripping member  140 , but can also be added to gripping member  140  in other embodiments of spray bottle carrying apparatus  100 . 
       FIG. 5  is a side view of an alternate embodiment of spray bottle carrying apparatus  200 . In this embodiment, spray bottle carrying apparatus  200  includes sprayer  210  and two (2) arms  220 , though only one (1) is visible from this perspective. Sprayer includes trigger  211  and nozzle  212  such that when trigger  211  is squeezed, a portion of the contents of spray bottle  50  is emitted through nozzle  212 . Arms  220  allow spray bottle  50  to be temporarily secured to a user. For example, in one embodiment, arm  220  can be positioned between a user&#39;s pants and belt, allowing spray bottle  50  to be temporarily suspended from the user&#39;s clothing for ease of retrieval. 
     In the embodiment shown, sprayer  210  has arms  220  integrally molded to sprayer  210 . Each arm  220  is positioned substantially rearward from nozzle  212  and trigger  211 , exposing most of neck  51  of spray bottle  50 . This allows spray bottle carrying apparatus  200  to be attached to spray bottle  50  during the capping process during manufacturing and filling of spray bottle  50 , as well as easy removal of spray bottle carrying apparatus  200  by the consumer to refill spray bottle  50 . 
     In the embodiment shown, arms  220  are integrally molded to sprayer  210  to form spray bottle carrying apparatus  200 . Thus, spray bottle  50  is manufactured with spray bottle carrying apparatus  200 . However, in alternate embodiments, spray bottle carrying apparatus  200  could instead be a shroud that can be temporarily secured over an existing sprayer  210 . The shroud embodiment of spray bottle carrying apparatus  200  can then be used to temporarily suspend spray bottle  50  from the user&#39;s belt, pocket, or other piece of clothing and removed from one spray bottle  50  and used with another spray bottle  50 . 
       FIG. 6  is a rear view of the embodiment of spray bottle carrying apparatus  200  shown in  FIG. 5 , taken along line  6 . Although the rearward positioning of arms  220  cannot be appreciated, that there are two (2) arms  220 , on either side of spray bottle carrying apparatus  200 , can be seen. In addition, space  225  between arms  220  and bottle  50  can be seen. As provided above, arms  220  can be positioned within a pocket, over a belt, or over the top of pants to temporarily support spray bottle  50 . 
     While the spray bottle carrying apparatus has been shown and described with respect to several embodiments and uses in accordance with the present invention, it is to be understood that the same is not limited thereto, but is susceptible to numerous changes and modifications as known to a person of ordinary skill in the art, and it is intended that the present invention not be limited to the details shown and described herein, but rather cover all such changes and modifications obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.