Patent Publication Number: US-5289960-A

Title: Ball belt

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates generally to a nylon belt with an attached elastic pouch that straps around the waist and is designed in particular to hold three tennis balls while the player is engaging in the sporting activity. 
     2. Description of Prior Art 
     In the past, many have attempted to design a device to carry tennis balls in that eliminates time and energy in gathering balls. However, those devices have more drawbacks and fall short of the need to provide a suitably comfortable and easily accessible, safe product to wear and to carry balls. Companies, such as, Unique Sports Inc. have designed and trademarked a plastic clip-on ball pocket to hold only one ball. Its design does not allow the ball to be easily removed from its plastic pocket. U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,404 to Daniels (1983) disclosed a device that holds only 2 balls. In addition, the belt&#39;s fastener is cumbersome and the tubular construction of the ball chamber does not provide quick and easy access. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,803 to Liberboim (1984) disclosed a device to hold at least six tennis balls that is suitable only for practice, but not for the comfort of engaging in a game. 
     Technically, a tennis game without errors would require only one to two balls. Most games have a need for three balls. U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,427 to McManus (1989) disclosed a device to hold one to four tennis balls. However, the belt&#39;s construction of the ball retainer cages are not enclosed in a soft fabric bag for safety and suitably comfortable to wear in a game. 
     OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES 
     Accordingly, several objects and advantages of our invention are: 
     a) To provide a safe flexible fabric pouch that is suitably comfortable and easy to use in a game of tennis. 
     b) Since tennis balls are sold in a quantity of three, our device can be used as a carrying case for the balls during non-sporting activity. 
     c) To provide a device that safely and adequately holds three balls as needed per game. 
     d) Our adjustable waist band can conveniently fit a wide range of users of all ages. 
     e) To provide a device that can be safely and quickly secured around the players waist with the easy to use snap-lock male/female buckle. 
     f) Our Criss-Cross design of the fabric pouch&#39;s elastic opening safely holds the balls in place, but at the same time allows easy access to the balls. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The principal object of the present invention is to provide an original device that is safe and simple to use while playing tennis that allows the player easy access to three tennis balls during the sporting activity. Further objectives and advantages will be accomplished by the following detailed descriptions. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an overall drawing of a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
     FIGS. 2a-b are views of the Ball Belt pouch of FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view of the left side of the present design. 
     FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view of the right side of the present design. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Refer now to FIG. 1, which is an overall drawing of a Ball Belt sporting accessory designed to hold one to three tennis balls in accordance with the present invention. The Ball Belt device includes a semi-oval shaped pouch 1 with the opening 3 specifically designed and sewn with durable strength elastic 2 in a Criss-Crossed fashion 3A reverse stitched 6 to both sides of a nylon belt 5. The nylon belt 5 is attached to a male buckle 7, female buckle 4, and a three strand adjustor 8. 
     Refer now to FIG. 2a, which is a view of the Ball Belt pouch. It includes two pieces of 12 inches long by 5 inches wide flexible and stretchable semi-oval cut shaped fabric 1. The pouch is formed by stitching the right sides together from point a to point b with a one inch margin left open at the top. The elastic opening is formed by cutting 2 pieces of 1/4 inch wide elastic, using the top straight opening edge of the fabric as a guide for the length. Elastic is pinned along each side of the pouch&#39;s opening edge and stitched together. The elastic is sewn to the top opening edge of each side of the fabric. It is then turned toward the wrong side of the fabric, folded to form an encasing for the elastic, and stitched through all thicknesses to secure. 
     Refer now to FIG. 3 which is a fragmentary view of the left side of the Ball Belt that has a total length of 31/2 inches. It includes a plastic female buckle 4 U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,464) and a strand of nylon belt 5 which is 5 inches long by 1 inch wide. The nylon belt 5 is looped through the female buckle 4, folded and stitched to secure. 
     Refer now to FIG. 4 which is the fragmentary view of the right side of the Ball Belt. It includes a strand of nylon belt 5 which is 27 inches long by 1 inch wide and a plastic male buckle 7 U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,555). One end of the nylon belt 5 is looped through a three strand adjustor 8, folded 11/2 inches and sewn to secure. The other end of the nylon belt 5 is looped through the male buckle 7 and threaded back through the three strand adjustor 8. 
     Refer to FIG. 2b, which illustrates the Criss-Crossed design of the pouch&#39;s opening. It is formed by placing the raw edge of the left side of the nylon belt (FIG. 3) between the correct side of the fabric against the raw edge of the left side of the pouch. The bottom edge of the pouch&#39;s opening is folded over the nylon belt. Then the top left edge of the pouch&#39;s opening is lapped over the bottom edge and sewn to secure. 
     To connect the right side of the nylon belt (FIG. 4) to the right side of the pouch, the same instructions as previously stated will apply, except the folding process has been reversed. The raw edge of the right side of the nylon belt (FIG. 4) is placed between the correct side of the fabric against the raw edge of the right side of the pouch. The top edge of the pouch&#39;s opening is folded over the nylon belt. Then the bottom right edge of the pouch&#39;s opening is lapped over the top edge and sewn to secure. The pouch&#39;s fabric is inverted so that the correct side of the fabric is facing outward. The edges of the attached belt are then reverse stitched to reinforce 6. 
     In use, the pouch can be stretched from 111/2 inches to 16 inches in length and from 4 inches to 6 inches in width, so balls can easily be inserted and removed from the elastic opening. To accommodate different waist sizes, the nylon belt can be adjusted from a minimum of 221/2 inches to a maximum length of 451/4 inches. The belt is constructed so the player can easily fasten the buckle at the side of the waist. After the buckle is snapped in place, the belt can be comfortably secured by sliding the three strand adjustor. The belt is also constructed so the player can position the pouch in the front or on the backside of the waist. The ball belt is also specifically designed to be used as a case to carry balls during non-sporting activity. 
     Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in the foregoing detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. 
     Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above illustration. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto.