Abstract:
A chair banner comprises a single piece of material with pockets on the top and bottom of the fabric banner, the material being folded and having a single bungee cord or drawstring running through the pockets and a stopper for adjustability. The banner rests on and is attached to the back of any chair. Indicia, text or logos may be applied on one or all faces of the banner, and the design allows for reversible application of the banner. The chair banner is adjustable in width and the banner material may not cover the entire back of the chair.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/473,793, filed May 28, 2003. 
     
    
     
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
         [0002]    Not applicable.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0004]    The embodiments described herein are directed to banners or covers for placement over the existing seat back of a chair. The banner may be used to display team names or sponsor advertisements.  
           [0005]    2. Background of the Invention  
           [0006]    Often times the sports enthusiast wishes to display team names or sponsor advertisements on a chair while at games, competitions, or other sporting events. Thus, chair banners are frequently used and sold for fundraising purposes by organizations. For flexibility and ease of use, it is important for the chair banner to be easily removable from the chair while also having the ability to be securely fastened to the chair while the chair is in use.  
           [0007]    It is an objective of the present invention to provide a chair banner comprising a single piece of cloth, woven fabric, or other material for attachment to a chair.  
           [0008]    It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a chair banner able to fit most outdoor and indoor chairs, including fixed, collapsible, and folding chairs, such as by having an attachment means with an adjustable width.  
           [0009]    It is still a further objective of the present invention to provide an attachment means for the chair banner that prevents inadvertent removal from the chair.  
           [0010]    It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a chair banner having indicia for advertisement purposes.  
           [0011]    It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a chair banner having a construction that reduces manufacturing requirements and costs, thereby making the chair banner more affordable to the consuming public.  
           [0012]    It is still a further objective of the present invention to provide a chair banner that is reversible such that advertisements and logos may be printed on all sides of the banner. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    For a detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 shows a top elevational, schematic view of the prefolded chair banner material in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 2 shows a perspective, schematic view of the folded chair banner having a bungee cord and stopper in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the chair banner of FIG. 2 secured to a chair;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 4 shows a front elevational view of the folded chair banner of FIG. 2; and  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 5 shows a back elevational view of the folded chair banner of FIG. 2. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0019]    Certain terms are used throughout the following description and claims to refer to particular system components. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but not function.  
         [0020]    In the following discussion and in the claims, the terms “including” and “comprising” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “including, but not limited to . . . ”. Also, the terms “couple,” “couples”, and “coupled” used to describe any connections are each intended to mean and refer to either an indirect or a direct connection. Thus, for example, if a first device “couples” or is “coupled” to a second device, that interconnection may be through a mechanism directly interconnecting the two devices, or through an indirect connection via other devices and connections.  
         [0021]    In the drawings and description that follows, like parts are marked throughout the specification and drawings with the same reference numerals, respectively. The drawing figures are not necessarily to scale. Certain features of the invention may be shown exaggerated in scale or in somewhat schematic form and some details of conventional elements may not be shown in the interest of clarity and conciseness. The present invention is susceptible to embodiments of different forms. Specific embodiments are described in detail and are shown in the drawings, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to that illustrated and described herein. It is to be fully recognized that the different teachings of the embodiments discussed below may be employed separately or in any suitable combination to produce desired results. The various characteristics mentioned above, as well as other features and characteristics described in more detail below, will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the embodiments, and by referring to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0022]    Referring now to FIG. 1, the chair banner  10  includes a single piece of flexible material  12 , such as cloth, woven fabric, or any other such material, having a top edge  14  and bottom edge  16 . Edges  14 ,  16  may be fashioned into top pocket  18  and bottom pocket  20 , respectively, by folding over edges  14 ,  16  and coupling them to a surface of material  12 . Coupling edges  14 ,  16  to material  12  may be accomplished by sewing, gluing, or any other such means. Banner  10  also includes side edges  24  and  26 , and a fold line  22  approximately halfway between pockets  18  and  20 .  
         [0023]    Referring now to FIG. 2, chair banner  10  may be folded approximately in half along fold line  22  to create fold  32  and substantially symmetrical halves of material  12 . Alternatively, fold line  22  may be position elsewhere on material  12 . Preferably, the folded halves of side  24  are not coupled to each other. Similarly, the folded halves of side  26  are not coupled to each other. This feature allows a chair back, such as chair back  52  in FIG. 3, to extend past the sides of banner  10  without interference from banner material  12 . Thus, the size of banner material  12  does not limit the size of chair that banner  10  may be placed on. Banner  10  now has a front panel  36  and back panel  34 . Alternatively, banner  10  may be folded in the opposite direction.  
         [0024]    Still referring to FIG. 2, a cord  38 , such as a bungee cord or drawstring, may be threaded or extended through pockets  18 ,  20 . The ends  46 ,  48  of cord  38  may be coupled together by a stopper  40  to form a closed loop. Preferably, stopper  40  is manually adjustable so that the size of the loop formed by cord  38  may be decreased to attach banner  10  to a chair, or increased to remove banner  10  from a chair.  
         [0025]    Referring now to FIG. 3, banner  10  as shown in FIG. 2 may be placed over a back  52  of chair  50 . Fold  32  may rest on the top edge  54  of back  52  when banner  10  comes into contact with chair  50 . Once banner  10  has been placed in the position shown in FIG. 3, stopper  40  may be manually adjusted toward chair back  52  such that cord  38  engages back  52  and secures banner  10  to chair  50 . As can be seen in FIG. 3, sides  24 ,  26  of front panel  36  do not extend to be flush with the sides of back  52 . Also, as previously described, sides  24 ,  26  of front panel  36  do not attach to corresponding sides  24 ,  26  of back panel  34 . This feature allows banner  10  to be used in conjunction with all different types and sizes of chairs. Cord  38  may tend to limit the width of chair that banner  10  may be placed on, except that cord  38  may be expanded via elastic or stopper means, or cord  38  may simply be enlarged.  
         [0026]    It will be understood that stopper  40  may be any device that is reciprocal between engaging or clamping down on cord  38  and releasing cord  38 . For example, stopper  40  may be a device having a body with a throughbore for receiving cord  38 . The body may also retain a spring-loaded locking piece that may be selectively positioned to increase and decrease the diameter of the throughbore, thereby selectively increasing or decreasing the frictional engagement between the stopper and the cord. Stopper  40  may also be any other adjustable device for frictionally engaging cord  38 , such as a device that provides constant frictional engagement with cord  38  but only to the extent that stopper  40  remains slidable along cord  38 .  
         [0027]    Alternatively, cord  38  may form a continuous loop without requiring a stopper or any other friction inducing device. Cord  38  may be made from an elastic material such that cord  38  may be expanded to place banner  10  over a chair, and released such that the cord constricts to engage chair back  52 .  
         [0028]    Referring now to FIG. 4, front panel  36  includes a face  42  that may include indicia. The indicia may be screen printed, cad cut, or heat pressed to face  42  of banner  10 . Likewise, FIG. 5 shows back panel  34  having a face  44  which may also include indicia, text or logos. It will be understood that the opposite faces of panels  34 ,  36  may also have indicia. This provides at least four separate faces that may have different designs.  
         [0029]    Although material  12  is shown in rectangular form, it will be understood that material  12  may be other shapes that still allow for the use of pockets  18 ,  20  and cord  38  for adjustable engagement with a chair back.  
         [0030]    It will also be understood that pockets  18 ,  20  may not be continuous as shown in the Figures. For example, pockets  18 ,  20  may be a series of loops formed at edges  14 ,  16  by attaching small portions of material at intervals along edges  14 ,  16 . Furthermore, pockets  18 ,  20  may be substituted for other means for coupling cord  38  to banner material  12 . For example, cord  38  may be coupled to banner material  12  by Velcro or metal clasps. Additionally, cord  38  is not limited to being coupled to banner material  12  precisely at edges  14 ,  16 . Cord  38  may be moved away from edges  14 ,  16  while still functioning to attach banner material  12  to a chair back. However, it is preferred that cord  38  be substantially adjacent edges  14 ,  16  to ensure proper engagement with a chair back and to prevent interference with any indicia placed on the banner faces.  
         [0031]    The above discussion is meant to be illustrative of the principles and various embodiments of the present invention. While the preferred embodiment of the invention and its method of use have been shown and described, modifications thereof can be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and teachings of the invention. The embodiments described herein are exemplary only, and are not limiting. Accordingly, the scope of protection is not limited by the description set out above, but is only limited by the claims which follow, that scope including all equivalents of the subject matter of the claims.