Patent Publication Number: US-10780817-B2

Title: Metal wrapped bungee assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
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     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
     Not Applicable 
     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 wrapped bungee devices and more particularly pertains to a new wrapped bungee device for resisting abrasion and corrosion. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a bungee cord that includes an elastic member and a pair of hooks. The bungee cord is stretchable between objects for attaching the objects together. Additionally, the elastic member is comprised of a resiliently stretchable material. A sleeve is positioned around the elastic member of the bungee cord. The sleeve is comprised of a metallic material for protecting the elastic member from abrasion. Moreover, the sleeve comprises a plurality of enmeshed wires such that the sleeve is expandable and collapsible along a longitudinal axis extending through each of the hooks. The sleeve is comprised of a corrosion resistant to resist rusting in the rain. 
     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 perspective view of a metal wrapped bungee assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a cross sectional view taken along line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1  of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 3  thereof, a new wrapped bungee 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 3 , the metal wrapped bungee assembly  10  generally comprises a bungee cord  12  that has an elastic member  14  and a pair of hooks  16 . The bungee cord  12  is stretchable between objects for attaching the objects together. The elastic member  14  is comprised of a resiliently stretchable material, and the elastic member  14  is stretchable between a relaxed length and a fully stretched length. The bungee cord  12  may be a rubber bungee cord or any other conventional type of bungee cord. Additionally, the bungee cord  12  may be manufactured in a variety of lengths. 
     A sleeve  18  is positioned around the elastic member  14  of the bungee cord  12  and the sleeve  18  is comprised of a metallic material, such as a metal alloy or the like. Thus, the sleeve  18  protects the elastic member  14  from abrasion thereby extending the service life of the bungee cord  12 . The sleeve  18  may comprise a plurality of enmeshed wires, a single wire coiled around the sleeve  18 , or any other design that will facilitate the sleeve  18  to be expandable and collapsible along a longitudinal axis extending through each of the hooks  16 . 
     The sleeve  18  is comprised of a corrosion resistant material so the sleeve  18  resists rusting in the rain. The sleeve  18  has a first end  20  and a second end  22 , and each of the first  20  and second  22  ends of the sleeve  18  is attached to a respective one of the hooks  16 . The sleeve  18  is expandable to a maximum length that is equal to the fully stretched length of the elastic member  14 . Further, the sleeve  18  is collapsible to a minimum length that is equal to the relaxed length of the elastic member  14 . 
     In an alternative embodiment  24  as shown in  FIG. 3 , a plurality of the bungee cords  12  may be provided. The plurality of bungee cords  12  may be arranged into a first set of bungee cords  26  that are oriented perpendicular to and are coupled to a second set of bungee cords  28 . Thus, the first  26  and second  28  sets of bungee cords may form a net  30 . Moreover, each of the first  26  and second  28  sets of bungee cords includes a pair of outermost bungee cords  32 . Each of the outermost bungee cords  32  of each of the first  26  and second  28  sets of bungee cords has a pair of hooks  16  associated therewith. Each of the hooks  16  can engage an object for retaining the net  30  over the object. Continuing in the alternative embodiment  24 , a plurality of the sleeves  18  is each positioned around a respective one of the bungee cords  12 . 
     In use, the bungee cord  12  is employed on the conventional means of bungee cords, in that the bungee cord  12  can be stretched over a tarp, an article of cargo or any other object. The sleeve  18  inhibits the elastic member  14  of the bungee cord  12  from being damaged thereby extending the service life of the bungee cord  12 . Moreover, the expandable and collapsible construction of the sleeve  18  facilitates the sleeve  18  to cover the elastic member  14  when the elastic member  14  is fully stretched. The net  30  described in the alternative embodiment  24  can be laid over the object in the convention of a cargo net. 
     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.