Abstract:
A multi-purpose personal utility pouch for carrying a variety of items, including items for yard maintenance, physical exercise, and as animal and child care accessories. The multi-purpose personal utility pouch can be flexibly configured to meet the needs of the wearer.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/586,743, filed Jul. 9, 2004. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The disclosed embodiments relate to the field of personal utility pouches in general. Specifically, the disclosed embodiments relate to multiple configurations of said personal utility pouch, making it adaptable for uses in many fields, including yard maintenance, physical exercise, and as animal and child care accessories.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Various types of utility belts have previously been known to those in the art, primarily in the military field, as well as those made specially for the purpose of tool carrying or other items. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,600,027; 3,364,560; 4,993,614; 5,004,136; and 5,941,438, all incorporated herein in its entirety. While belts have been designed for the purpose of carrying heavy tools, they are bulky and unconfigurable, and not practical for smaller tasks, including gardening, exercising and completing tasks around the home or community. U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,823, incorporated herein in its entirety, provides a reconfigurable utility belt, but again designed for larger, heavy duty tasks. Moreover, utility belts described in the art are self-contained and encompass a means of fastening the utility belt to the wearer. This is impractical and bulky to the casual wearer who requires a less-intrusive and accomodating means of carrying a utility pouch.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     The disclosed embodiments relate to a multi-purpose utility pouch for retaining everyday items, including keys and mobile phone, as well as small tools for light tasks, including gardening, exercising, and completing tasks around the home or community, including pet exercising. The disclosed embodiments also may serve as a clothing accessory, including as a carrier for items, such as child care items or dog-walking accessories.  
         [0005]     The device comprises an elongated two-sided panel, whereby a wearer&#39;s belt is passed through the top end of the pouch, providing a means of securing the pouch for carrying items. The pouch includes a plurarity of pockets attached to the front face of the pouch that may be removable and reconfigurable according to the wearer&#39;s needs. The pouch also includes a back face that holds a means of securing valuables.  
         [0006]     It is yet another object of the disclosed embodiments to provide a removable utility pouch capable of storing a plurality of items and tools.  
         [0007]     It is yet another object of the disclosed embodiments to provide a multi-purpose utility pouch which can securely retain valuable items and documents, and similar items therein.  
         [0008]     Other objects, features and advantages of disclosed embodiments will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments described herein, when considered with the attached drawings and appended claims. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]      FIG. 1  is a front view of the device.  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a back view of the device.  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the device.  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is an example of an exemplary configuration of the optionally removable pockets as a frontal view, for the purpose of holding everday items.  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  is an example of an exemplary configuration of the optionally removable pockets as a frontal view, for the purpose of holding items needed for infant or child care.  
         [0014]      FIG. 6  is an example of an exemplary configuration of the optionally removable pockets as a frontal view, for the purpose of holding items for a pet owner.  
         [0015]      FIG. 7  is an example of an exemplary configuration of the optionally removable pockets as a frontal view, with optional name plate, for the purpose of holding items when a purse or other accessory is impractical.  
         [0016]      FIG. 8  is an example of an exemplary configuration of the optionally removable pockets as a back view, for the purpose of holding items when a purse or other accessory is impractical. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]     Referring now to  FIGS. 1, 2  and  3 , the disclosed embodiments relates to a multipurpose utility pouch for holding tools, everyday items and valuable items or documents. The multipurpose utility pouch is small enough to be comfortably worn by the wearer or user when attached to the wearer&#39;s belt, or other fastening means, such as a scarf or tie or rope-like or fastening material tied around the waist or hip of the wearer. The utility pouch preferably measures less than 16 inches in height and width, more preferably less than 14 inches in height and width. A preferred embodiment is a device that measures about 13 inches in height and 12 inches in width.  
         [0018]     The device comprises an elongated panel  1  having a front  3  surface and back  5  surface, a top and bottom edge, and at least one securing  7  means for passing a wearer&#39;s belt  9  (or other fastening means) through the securing means in order to enable the wearer to carry the pouch around his hip or waist. The securing means is permanently affixed to the front of the utility pouch, either through gluing or sewing, or any other manner of permanently affixing the securing means to the front of the pouch. This feature gives added security to the wearer that the utility pouch cannot be removed from the wearer unless the wearer&#39;s belt (or other fastening means) is detached from the wearer first. The panel may be constructed with leather, vinyl, cloth or a similar equivalent. Preferably, the panel is constructed of a light-weight, but sturdy material capable of withstanding tearing or staining. However, as will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art, the size, shape and materials of construction may be varied without departing from the spirit of the disclosed embodiments.  
         [0019]     The front pouch comprises a plurality of removable and reconfigurable pockets  11 . The pockets may be constructed with leather, vinyl, cloth or a similar equivalent. The pockets may be secured using hook and loop fasteners, VELCRO® (a securing means), or any other suitable means of attachment. The removable pockets allow the user to selectively configure the utility pouch to include any combination of pockets depending upon the application.  
         [0020]     The front pouch may also contain pocket(s) sewed  15  or otherwise attached into the pouch that secures items, such as valuables, within the pouch. The secured pocket may be closed with a zipper, button, fastener (e.g. VELCRO®) or any other suitable means of securely closing the pocket. By making the pockets stationary and securely attached, manufacturing costs may be decreased. An identification tag may also be added to the front panel to help in identifying the wearer, or use of the invention, or be added to the pocket to identify the use of each.  
         [0021]     The back pouch may contain additional pocket(s) sewed or otherwise attached into the pouch that secures items, especially valuable items, within the pouch. The secured pocket may be closed with a zipper, button, or any other suitable means of securely closing the pocket.  
         [0022]      FIG. 4  is one embodiment of the invention, specifically for carrying everyday items, including a cell phone  17 , sunglasses  19 , keys  21  and miscellaneous items  23 . The plurality of pockets are labeled with the use of each pocket to assist in organizing each item. In addition to the keys  21  pocket, the front of the pouch contains another secure pocket  25  sewed within the pouch itself comprising a zipper fastening means for securing valuable items, including money, ID cards or other valuable items.  
         [0023]      FIG. 5  is yet another embodiment of the invention, specifically for carrying items useful for infant or child care, including baby bottles  27 , keys  29 , cell phone  31 , and miscellaneous items  33 . The top edge  35  of the pouch panel, directly below the securing means  7  are two additional pockets  37  sewn into the pouch that may carry other larger items, for example, baby wipes or diaper.  
         [0024]      FIG. 6  is an additional embodiment of the invention, specifically for carrying items useful for exercising a pet, including pockets for a cell phone  39 , baggies for disposal of pet waste  41  and treats  43 . An optional ID strip may be included in this embodiment.  
         [0025]      FIGS. 7 and 8  describe yet another embodiment, specifically for carrying items for going to events where carrying a purse is impractical. An optional ID strip  44  is also included in this embodiment. The pockets may be securely attached to the front  3  panel of the pouch to avoid inadvertent loss or theft of the items, or may be removable and reconfigurable as above. In addition, a plurality of pockets may be sewn in or securely fastened in the back  5  panel of the pouch to hold additional valuables.  
         [0026]     Although there has been shown and described several embodiments of the present invention, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made thereto which do not exceed the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, the scope of the invention is only to be limited by the following claims.