Bocci ball caddy

• US 5,480,026 A
• Filed: 01/17/1995
• Issued: 01/02/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 01/17/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: David W. Darling, Judy S. Darling
• Original Assignee: David W. Darling, Judy S. Darling
• Inventors: Darling, Judy S., Darling, David W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ackun, Jacob K.
• Application Number:
  US08/373,610
• Time in Patent Office: 350 Days
• Field of Search: 211/14, 211/126, 206/315.9, 206/315.91, 206/315.1, 206/485
• US Class Current: 206/315.9
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2243/0062 Petanque
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 47/00 Devices for handling or treating balls , e.g. for holding or carrying balls
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 61/00 External frames or supports adapted to be assembled around, or applied to, articles collapsible containers B65D5/00, B65D7/24, B65D9/12, B65D11/18

Abstract

A bocci ball caddy including a pair of similarly shaped halves, each half having a top rail, an opposed aligned bottom rail, and a plurality of coplanar and parallel cylindrical spaced bars extended therebetween; a hinge mechanism secured between the bottom rails of the halves for allowing the halves to be folded into an orientation with the top rails placed in opposition, the bottom rails placed in opposition, and each bar of one half positioned in a spaced and symmetrically aligned offset relation to a corresponding bar of the other half to define a coupling bar pair and with adjacently positioned coupling bar pairs defining a holding space therebetween for holding a plurality of bocci balls in a linear stacked sequence; and a coupling mechanism for coupling the halves together.

Claims

1. A bocci ball caddy for allowing a user to transport standard-sized bocci balls from one location to another comprising, in combination:

a pair of similarly shaped halves, each half having a top rail, an opposed aligned bottom rail, and five coplanar and parallel rigid cylindrical spaced linear bars extended therebetween with each bar having a diameter of about 3/8 inches and with the spacing between adjacent bars being about 41/8 inches;

a pair of hinges secured between the bottom rails of the halves for allowing the halves to be folded into an orientation with the top rails placed in contact, the bottom rails placed in contact, and each bar of one half positioned in a spaced and symmetrically aligned offset relation to a corresponding bar of the other half to define a coupling bar pair with the spacing between the bars of each coupling bar pair being about 17/8 inches and with adjacently positioned coupling bar pairs defining a holding space therebetween for holding two bocci balls in a linear stacked sequence, the hinges further allowing the halves to be unfolded with the bars positioned in a common plane;

a latch formed of a hook portion coupled to one of the top rails of one of the halves and a loop portion coupled to the other top rail of the other half and with the loop portion securable to the hook portion for locking the folded halves together; and

a generally rigid U-shaped carrying handle coupled to one of the top rails at the midpoint thereof near the latch.

2. A bocci ball caddy comprising:

a pair of similarly shaped halves, each half having a top rail, an opposed aligned bottom rail, and a plurality of coplanar and parallel cylindrical spaced bars extended therebetween;

a hinge mechanism secured between the bottom rails of the halves for allowing the halves to be folded into an orientation with the top rails placed in opposition, the bottom rails placed in opposition, and each bar of one half positioned in a spaced and symmetrically aligned offset relation to a corresponding bar of the other half to define a coupling bar pair and with adjacently positioned coupling bar pairs defining a holding space therebetween for holding a plurality of bocci balls in a linear stacked sequence; and

a coupling mechanism for coupling the halves together.

3. The bocci ball caddy as set forth in claim 2 wherein each bar is linear.

4. The bocci ball caddy as set forth in claim 2 wherein each bar is linear and has a diameter of about 3/8 inches and the spacing between adjacent bars coupled to one of the rails is about 41/8 inches.

5. The bocci ball caddy as set forth in claim 2 wherein each bar is linear and the spacing between the bars of each coupling bar pair is about 17/8 inches.

6. The bocci ball caddy as set forth in claim 2 wherein the coupling mechanism is a latch formed of a hook portion coupled to one of the top rails of one of the halves and a loop portion coupled to the other top rail of the other half and with the loop portion securable to the hook portion for locking the folded halves together.

7. The bocci ball caddy as set forth in claim 2 further including a carrying handle coupled to one of the top rails.