Patent Publication Number: US-8973875-B2

Title: Universal heavy bag hanger

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention generally relates to strap hangers, and, more specifically, to a universal heavy bag hanger for securing a heavy bag or the like to an overhead horizontal support member. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Heavy punching bags can weigh as much as 150 lb. Such bags, especially those for professional use, can exert significant forces on any mounting structure on which they are supported. Heavy bag hangers come in many different forms. Some of such hangers are metal brackets configured to be screwed into wooden beams, with or without swivels. Heavy bag hangers are also made for attachment to joists. Some heavy duty bag hangers are also designed to be supported by I-beams and are adjustable to accommodate a range of I-beam widths. 
     Aside from overhead mounting structures, heavy duty wall mounts are also known, typically in the form of a horizontal cantilevered beam or member attached to a wall at one end with the heavy bag mounted from the other end. However, to stabilize the cantilevered beam or member lateral braces are typically provided to maintain the horizontal beam in a fixed position normal to the wall or support surface. Also, because some heavy bags are extra long, reaching approximately 4 feet, they cannot be mounted too close to a wall since the bag would hit the supporting wall or surface. For this reason, some wall mounted hangers have supporting beams that reach 26 inches or more from the wall. However, the longer the supporting beam and the further the bag is mounted from the wall, the more heavily the supporting beam must be braced to the wall to prevent undesired movements. This makes some wall hangers massive, heavy and costly. 
     The disadvantages of all of the aforementioned heavy bag hangers is that they require tools and fasteners to be mounted. Because heavy bags weigh, as indicated, up to 150 lb, the fasteners tend to be substantial and inserting the fasteners into joists or wooden beams can be difficult and may require the use of power tools. 
     Heavy bags have, accordingly, also been supported by free-standing heavy bag stands or multiple station gyms. However, such stands and gyms tend to have large footprints and require extensive assembly. Furthermore, such bag stands and gyms can be very costly, ranging into the thousands of dollars. 
     Some hangers for suspending other objects that do not require installation or use of tools are also known. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,376 to Montgomery discloses a hanger holder for use in the laundry cleaning industry. The patent discloses a device for organizing and holding a group of clothes hangers in a laundry basket. The hanger holder includes an elongate strap in two different embodiment. In both cases, the strap is designed to loop about the laundry basket and Velcro pads or strips are used to secure the hanger or hangers to the device. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,657 to DeAth discloses a suspension device for hammocks and other objects. The device includes a shorter and wider gripping belt and a more narrow and longer spanning belt, loops being used to secure the belt to the gripping belt or strap. The remote ends of the belt are provided with securing means, such as a snap hook, for securing to a hammock. The device is intended to suspend a variety of objects from a variety of load bearing members. Although the device is shown used to secure a hammock to a tree, which is vertical, it is believed that the intention of the patented device is to a secure variety of objects to numerous load bearing members with little or no slippage. The gripping belt is described as being made of a material of sufficient strength and quality to support the load of the hammock and be sufficiently pliable to conform to the shape of the load bearing members and made of a material such as polypropylene, nylon or polyester. However, the patent does not teach or suggest the use of reinforcing members, such as steel bars or strips nor the use of a rubberized or other like inside surface to enhance friction. Additionally, the suspension device of this patent is not a self adjusting and self-locking or tightening device that increases the grip and frictional forces on the support member as a function of the weight or load applied. 
     In Kemper U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,933 a cable locking and retaining device is disclosed for supporting relatively light weight objects, such as extension cords, by means of a belt using a simple VELCRO strap. 
     In U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,740 to Scherb a flexible strap hanger is disclosed for use in hanging fresh meats, such as beef, to be suspended from an overhead support. The device uses a sliding bar fastener that can slide along the straps to receive an upper loop and allow the strap to be secured to an overhead bar. 
     However, none of the known hanging or suspending devices allow a heavy bag to be easily, quickly and conveniently mounted on or removed from any horizontal beam or support member without the use of hand tools or power tools. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, it is object of the invention to provide a heavy bag hanger that does not have the disadvantages inherent in existing heavy bag hanging devices. 
     It is another object of the invention to provide a universal heavy bag hanger that can be used to mount a heavy bag on any elongate beam or support member irrespective of its girth, circumference, perimeter, periphery or cross-sectional configuration. 
     It is still another object of the invention to provide a universal heavy bag hanger that is simple and convenient to use. 
     It is yet another object of the invention to provide a universal heavy bag hanger for mounting a heavy bag on any elongate horizontal support member that prevents the heavy bag from slipping and moving along the length direction of the support member even after extended use of the heavy bag. 
     It is a further object of the invention to provide a universal heavy bag hanger of the type under discussion that distributes the forces, reflecting the weight of the heavy bag as well as the blows thereto, over a surface area greater than the surface area of a supporting belt or strap to thereby prevent or reduce damage to the supporting member. 
     It is still a further object of the invention to provide a universal heavy bag hanger that is simple in construction and economical to manufacture. 
     It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a universal heavy bag hanger as in the previous objects that has the ability to adjust the height of the heavy bag when mounted on an overhead support member. 
     In order to achieve the above objects as well as others that will become here and thereafter, a universal heavy bag hanger in accordance with the invention for securing a heavy bag to an overhead horizontal support member having a predetermined cross-sectional girth or perimeter includes an elongate generally flat pad. The pad defines a length direction and a transverse width direction and has a length along said length direction sufficient to at least partially wrap around the support member. The pad has an inside surface for contacting the support member and an opposing outside surface. A slip resistant material is provided on at least part of said inside surface. A strap is secured to said outside surface extending beyond the longitudinal ends of said flat pad. Said strap has two free ends. First attachment means is attached to one free end of said strap for attaching to a heavy bag or the like. As second attachment means is attached to the other free end of said strap for cooperating with said free end to form a slip joint for tightening said strap about said flat pad and the support member for increasing tension applied to said other end. In this manner, resulting constricting action of said strap about said pad increases the frictional forces between said slip resistant material and the support member to thereby prevent sliding movements therebetween when force components along said length and transverse width directions are applied to said first attachment means and the heavy bag or the like attached thereto. In accordance with one presently preferred embodiment, force distributing means are provided for distributing forces applied to the strap to the support member to minimize or eliminate damage to the support member with extended use. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Those skilled in the art will appreciate the improvements and advantages that derive from the present invention upon reading the following detailed description, claims, and drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a top plain view of a universal heavy bag hanger for securing a heavy bag to an overhead horizontal support member in accordance with the present invention, partially broken away to illustrate one of the transverse rigid force distributing bars; 
         FIG. 2  is a bottom plain view of the universal heavy bag hanger shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is side elevational view of the universal heavy bag hanger illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , shown when wrapped on an overhead horizontal support member and ready to have a heavy bag suspended from the hanger; 
         FIG. 4  is cross-sectional view of the universal heavy bag hanger shown in  FIG. 2 , taken along line  4 - 4 ; and 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the universal heavy bag hanger shown in  FIG. 3  with a heavy bag suspended from the hanger. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now specifically to Figures in which similar or identical parts are designated by the same reference numerals troughout, and referring first to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a universal heavy bag hanger in accordance with the present invention is generally designated by the reference numeral  10 . The hanger  10  is suitable for securing a heavy bag to an overhead horizontal support member S, having a predetermined cross-sectional girth, circumference, perimeter or periphery. The hanger  10  can also be used irrespective of the nature of the horizontal support member, whether it is an I-beam or other metal beam, or other support members having square, rectangular, circular or any other cross-sectional configurations. 
     Still referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the hanger  10  includes an elongate generally flat pad  12  defining a length direction and a transverse width direction. The pad  12  has a length L 1  along its length direction and a transverse width W along the transverse width direction. The length L 1  is selected to allow at least part of the pad to be wrapped around the support member S. In a presently preferred embodiment, L 1  is approximately equal to 21 inches and the width W is equal to approximately 7.25 inches. 
     The pad  12  has an inside or internal surface  12   a  for contacting the support member S, as to be described, and an opposing outside or exterior surface  12   b.    
     Referring also to  FIG. 4 , a slip resistant material is provided on at least part of the inside surface  12   a . In the presently preferred embodiment, the pad  12  is formed of a superimposed top sheet  14  and a bottom sheet  16 . The bottom sheet  16  is formed is formed of a slip resistant material and, in the presently preferred embodiment, such lower sheet is made of a rubberized material such as textured neoprene rubber. A textured surface is preferably used to increase or enhance the friction and thereby the gripping ability of the hanger to the support member S. 
     The top sheet  14  is preferably formed of a PVC sheet material, advantageously formed with reinforced polyester backing to provide strength and reduce stretch of the pad along the length direction. 
     A strap  28  is slidingly secured to the outside surface  12   b  and extends beyond the longitudinal ends of the pad, the strap having two free ends  28   a ,  28   b , as shown. However, the strap  28  may also be permanently attached to the outside surface, with different degrees of advantage. One free end  28   a  of the strap is secured to an attachment member used to attach the hanger to a heavy bag or other like heavy object. In the presently preferred embodiment, such attachment member is a first closed ring  32  having a width w′. While any sufficiently strong closed ring can be used, including a split ring, the ring in the presently preferred embodiment is in a form of a D-shaped ring  32 . The second or opposing free end  28   b  is connected to a second attachment member in the form of a second closed ring  34 . Again, if sufficiently strong, the second ring can also be a split ring, and has dimensions  1  and w to allow the first or D-shaped ring  32  with its width w′ to freely pass theretrough. 
     The strap  28  is movably secured to the outside surface  12   b  by means of a series of spaced parallel loops  30 , restricting the relative movements between the strap  28  and the flat pad  12  to longitudinal directions along the length direction of the pad. The loops extend over a central region L 2  ( FIG. 2 ) to allow separation of the strap  28  from the pad at the longitudinal free ends to allow such free ends to be attached to each other, as to be more fully described. 
     In order to allow the strap  28  to be adjusted in length, the end  28   b  of the strap extends through the rectangular ring  34  and loops around to double up ( 28 ,  28 ′ in  FIG. 4 ) through a slide buckle or adjusting slide  36 . Such sliding buckles or slide adjusters are well known and described, for example, in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,440,334; 4,760,944; 5,370,286; 5,582,337 and 6,772,485. The slide buckle frictionally fixes the length of the strap  28  at a selected length in a well known manner for such slides. 
     The strap  28  is preferably formed of a polypropylene webbing, although any other suitable or appropriate material can be used, with different degrees of advantage. 
     A force distributing design to relieve concentrated points of stress on the support member S consists, in the presently preferred embodiment, of a plurality of spaced parallel transverse rigid bars  22  that are spaced along the length direction of the pad and are relatively narrow, compared to the length dimension L 1  and are substantially uniformly spaced at a distance s to allow the pad  12  to freely bend along the length direction of the pad while conforming to the cross-sectional configuration and dimensions of the overhead horizontal support member S on which the hanger is to be mounted. 
     In the presently preferred embodiment, the flat pad  12  is formed, as noted, of superimposed top and bottom sheets  14 ,  16 , respectively. The top and bottom sheets are attached, such as by stitching, to form elongate transverse pockets  20  therebetween to receive the bars  22  to thereby prevent shifting or movements of the bars relative to each other. This assures that the pad can continue to be bent or flexed along the length direction of the pad even after extended use. 
     In order to facilitate the application of the hanger  10  to a support post S, there is advantageously provided suitable connecting means for connecting the longitudinal ends of the flat panel to each other when wrapped around the horizontal support member S prior to the application of tension to the strap or constriction of the pad about the support. This is primarily intended to be a temporarily connection to prevent the strap from separating from the post during the mounting procedure. In accordance with the presently preferred embodiment, such connecting means is in a form of mating loop and hook fasteners  24 ,  26 , best shown in  FIG. 2 . While it is not critical which of the hook or the loop fasteners are applied to either end of the pad, in the presently preferred embodiment, the hook fasteners  24  are attached to the inside surface  12   a  proximate to the D-shaped ring  32  while the loop fasteners  26  are mounted to the exterior surface of the opposing end of the pad, most proximate to the rectangular ring  34 . Such hook and loop fasteners are typically marketed under the trademark VELCRO®. The centrally located loops  30  permit unfettered manipulation of the pad&#39;s longitudinal ends on which the VELCRO® fasteners  24 ,  26  have been applied to facilitate attachment of the ends of pad to form a closed loop. Referring also to  FIG. 3 , it will be clear that wrapping of the pad about the support member S causes the loop and hook fasteners to mate and join in at least temporarily joint together to form a loop about the support member and this prevents the hanger from the inadvertently separating from the support member while the rest of the mounting procedure is effected. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3-5 , the method of wrapping of universal heavy bag hanger of the invention about a support member S will now be described. The strap  28  is wrapped around the support member S to bring the two free ends  28   a ,  28   b  together and the D-shaped ring  32  is inserted through the rectangular ring  34 . The strap  28  can now be pulled downwardly to form a slip joint, not unlike a common slip knot, in which the resulting loop is shortened and the loop is tightened about an object when tension is applied to the free end of the line. A heavy bag (not shown) may now be attached to the D-shaped ring  32  by means of a snap hook or spring snap  42 , preferably one provided with a swivel eye so that a punching bag supported on the D-shaped ring can rotate or swivel about the ring about its own axis. The resulting slip joint tightens the strap  28  about the flat pad  12  and the support member S with increasing tensions applied when downwardly directed forces are applied to the end  28   a  of the strap. Resulting constricting action of the strap  28  about the pad  12  increases the frictional forces between the slip resistant material  16  and the support member S to prevent sliding movements of the bag hanger along or relative to the support when force components along the length and/or transverse width directions are applied to the D-shaped ring and a heavy bag or other like heavy object attached to the D-shaped ring. The heavier the bag the tighter is the resulting joint and the greater the frictional components are created inhibiting sliding movements along the support member. 
     The universal heavy bag hanger is quick, convenient and requires no tools whatsoever to secure to an overhead support member. Removal of the bag hanger from the support S is equally simple, simply requiring that the heavy bag be removed from the D-shaped ring  32  and the slip joint loosened and the joint opened by removing the D-shaped ring  32  and the free end of the strap  28   a  from the rectangular ring  34 . 
     The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention 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 invention.