Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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ADVERTISING SRI PARAPHERNALIA CARRYING BASKET
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to indicia in combination with
ski paraphernalia carrying baskets for secure mounting onto
chair ski lifts, specifically onto the safety bars thereof.
More specifically, this invention relates to indicia, most
commonly in the form of removable and replaceable third party
paid advertising, displayed on ski paraphernalia carrying
baskets on chair ski lifts.
Description of the Prior Art:
Downhill skiing, also known as alpine skiing, has become
a very popular sport over the past several decades.
Typically, downhill skiing involves skiing down lengthy
slopes, also known as a ski runs, of perhaps several hundred
yards long to perhaps about a mile or more long, some of
which ski runs are also quite steep in order to allow for
expert skiers to obtain considerable speed. Accordingly, ski
lifts are provided for carrying skiers from the bottom of the
ski runs to the top of the ski runs.
The most common type of ski lift is a chair ski lift
having a frame member suspended from a cable, a chair portion
mounted on the frame member, and a substantially horizontally
disposed elongate safety bar mounted on the chair portion for
pivotal movement about a substantially horizontal pivot axis.
The safety bar is selectively moveable in an arcuate path
between a passenger safety position and an entry-exit
position through manual manipulation of an elongate
substantially horizontal handle disposed rearwardly of the
chair portion. In the passenger safety position, the safety
bar is disposed forwardly of an apex balance point and in
blocking relation directly in front of the chair portion of
the chair ski lift so as to preclude skiers sitting in the
chair portion from unwantedly exiting the ski lift before
reaching the top of the ski run. In the entry exit position,
the safety bar is disposed above and rearwardly of the chair
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ski lift and rearwardly of the apex balance point, to permit
easy ingress and egress of the skier or skiers from the
chair.
When ascending a ski hill in a conventional chair ski
lift, there is no place for a skier to temporarily set down
various ski paraphernalia such as gloves, goggles, hats, and
so on. Typically, goggles and hats simply remain in place on
the skier's head, with the goggles removed from covering the
eyes. However, it is quite common to remove one's gloves so
as to wipe or blow the nose. If gloves, or even hats and
goggles, are removed while in a chair ski lift, they must
either be placed in one's lap, or on the chair portion of the
ski lift. As a result, they tend to be dropped during the
ascent up the ski run, and possibly not found subsequently.
Ski gloves may also be clipped to the skier's jacket, but
this is very inconvenient and is generally not done.
At the same time, a new trend in the advertising
industry has been to develop new and innovative sites for the
placement of revenue producing advertising. An outstanding
example of this has been the placement of removable and
replaceable third party paid advertising inside of golf
holes. In the context of this invention, the term "third
party" advertisement contemplates an arms length advertiser
that is ordinarily neither the supplier of the invention nor
the operator of the chair ski lift on which the invention is
employed, although neither is precluded.
Typical of this type of technology are a number of
issued U.S. patents. Examples are Boudreau, U.S. patent no.
4, 928, 417, Boudreau, et al. , U. S. patent no. 4, 878, 665, Dark,
U.S. patent no. 5,249,384, Hannon, U.S. patent no. 5,190,283,
Hageman, U.S. patent no. 5,362,044, and Mabie, U.S. patent
no. 5,788,581. So far as is presently known, there are no
issued patents teaching the provision of a device for the
storage of ski paraphernalia on a chair ski lift, and almost
certainly there are no patents on the placement of removable
and replaceable third party paid advertising on such a
storage device on a chair ski lift.
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Bearing in mind the foregoing, it is a principal object
of the present invention to provide a site for removable and
replaceable third party paid advertising in combination with
ski paraphernalia baskets for use with a chair ski lift.
It is another obj ect of the present invention to provide
a site for removable and replaceable third party paid
advertising in combination with a ski paraphernalia basket
for use with a chair ski lift, which advertising site and
basket are connected to the safety bar of a chair ski lift.
It is still a further object of the present invention to
provide a site for removable and replaceable third party paid
advertising in combination with a ski paraphernalia basket
for use with a chair ski lift, which basket is unobtrusive
during entry into and exit from a chair ski lift.
It is yet an another object of the present invention to
provide a site for removable and replaceable third party paid
advertising in combination with a ski paraphernalia basket
for use with a chair ski lift, which basket effects dumping
of ski paraphernalia inadvertently remaining within the
basket, rearwardly of the chair portion of the ski lift when
the safety bar is in the entry-exit position.
One more object of the invention is to provide a ski
paraphernalia basket on a chair ski lift which includes at
least one sight blocking panel disposed on the front and/or
rear walls) of the basket to help preclude possible vertigo
of skiers sitting in the ski lift chairs.
Various other objects, advantages, and features of the
invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art
from the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the
appended drawings and claims.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention accomplishes the above stated
objectives, as well as others, as may be determined by a fair
reading and interpretation of the entire specification.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present
invention, there is provided a ski paraphernalia basket for
secure mounting to a substantially horizontally disposed
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elongate safety bar of a chair ski lift. In accordance with
a second aspect of the invention, the basket includes one or
more surfaces on which can be placed indicia that may be in
the form of advertising. These surfaces will preferably be
one or more sight blocking panels included to help avoid
skier vertigo and the front sight blocking panel cover
portion. For purposes of this invention, "indicia" refers to
any means of communicating information, whether written,
printed, visible, audible, etc. and not just solicitations to
buy products or services. Further, the advertising may be of
a type that is removable and replaceable, making the basket
a site for third party paid advertising exposed to a captive
audience that produces a continuing revenue source.
The ski paraphernalia basket is securely mounted on the
safety bar of a chair ski lift. The safety bar is
selectively moveable in an arcuate path between a passenger
safety position whereat the safety bar is disposed forwardly
of an apex balance point in blocking relation directly in
front of the chair portion of the chair ski lift, and an
entry-exit position whereat the safety bar is disposed above
and rearwardly of the chair portion of the chair ski lift and
rearwardly of the apex balance point. The basket comprises
a floor suitable for receiving ski paraphernalia, and front,
rear, left side, and right side walls extending upwardly from
the floor about its periphery. The rear wall is sloped to
face a skier seated in the chair lift. Mounting means are
provided for securely mounting the basket to the
substantially horizontally disposed elongate safety bar of
the ski lift in non-rotatable relation about the safety bar.
When the safety bar is in its passenger safety position, the
basket is positioned so as to be readily accessible yet in
non-blocking relation to passengers in the chair portion of
the chair ski lift, and the floor and walls of the basket are
in a ski paraphernalia supporting orientation. When the
safety bar moves in the arcuate path from the passenger
safety position toward its entry-exit position, past the apex
balance point, the basket reaches a dumping position whereat
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the floor and walls of the basket are removed from their ski
paraphernalia supporting orientation; and whereat the floor
of the basket is substantially inverted, thus causing any ski
paraphernalia inadvertently remaining within the basket, to
be dumped from the basket.
With regard to the indicia, this is typically
advertising copy, the preferred form being prepared for
placement on a sight blocking panel. It may also be placed
on the cover portion of the front sight blocking panel. The
indicia is preferably computer generated advertising
laminates printed and produced using high resolution laser
output on 10 point opaque polyolefin plastic film and bonded
to a transparent 30 point polycarbonate protective plate
using clear double-sided permanent adhesive tape and a heat
laminating unit. Placement on the sight blocking panel,
preferably the rear one, is done using typical fastening
means such as rivets through holes in register with each
other drilled through the sight blocking panel, advertising
laminate, and sight blocking panel end cap.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The novel features which are believed to be
characteristic of the present invention, as to its structure,
organization, and use, together with further objectives and
advantages thereof, will be better understood from the
following drawings in which a presently preferred embodiment
of the advertising ski paraphernalia basket invention will
now be illustrated by way of example. It is expressly
understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of
illustration and description only and are not intended as a
definition of the limits of the invention. Embodiments of
this invention will now be described by way of example in
association with the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment
of the advertising ski paraphernalia basket according to the
present invention, installed on a chair ski lift;
Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the advertising
ski paraphernalia basket of figure 1 as seen from a skier in
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the floor and walls of the basket are removed from their ski
paraphernalia supporting orientation, and whereat the floor
of the basket is substantially inverted, thus causing any ski
paraphernalia inadvertently remaining within the basket, to
be dumped from the basket.
With regard to the indicia, this is typically
advertising copy, the preferred form being prepared for
placement on a sight blocking panel. It may also be placed
on the cover portion of the front sight blocking panel. The
indicia is preferably computer generated advertising
laminates printed and produced using high resolution laser
output on 10 point opaque polyolefin plastic film and bonded
to a transparent 30 point polycarbonate protective plate
using clear double-sided permanent adhesive tape and a heat
laminating unit. Placement on the sight blocking panel,
preferably the rear one, is done using typical fastening
means such as rivets through holes in register with each
other drilled through the sight blocking panel, advertising
laminate, and sight blocking panel end cap.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The novel features which are believed to be
characteristic of the present invention, as to its structure,
organization, and use, together with further objectives and
advantages thereof, will be better understood from the
following drawings in which a presently preferred embodiment
of the advertising ski paraphernalia basket invention will
now be illustrated by way of example. It is expressly
understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of
illustration and description only and are not intended as a
definition of the limits of the invention. Embodiments of
this invention will now be described by way of example in
association with the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment
of the advertising ski paraphernalia basket according to the
present invention, installed on a chair ski lift;
Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the advertising
ski paraphernalia basket of figure 1 as seen from a skier in
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the chair ski lift;
Figure 3 is a rear elevational view of the advertising
ski paraphernalia basket of figure 1;
Figure 4 is a top plan view of the advertising ski
paraphernalia basket of figure 1;
Figure 5 is a left end elevational view of the ski
paraphernalia basket of figure 1;
Figure 6 is a left end elevational view of the ski
paraphernalia basket of figure 1, installed on a chair ski
lift, with the safety bar in its passenger safety position:
and
Figure 7 is a left end elevational view similar to
figure 6, with the safety bar in its entry-exit position.
Figure 8 is an exploded view of the third party paid
advertising laminate prior to lamination.
Figure 9 is an exploded view of the laminated
advertising prior to assembly to the sight blocking panel.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS:
Ref erence will now be made to f figures 1 through 9 , which
show an advertising ski paraphernalia basket for carrying ski
gloves, goggles, hats and so on, while ascending a ski hill
in a chair ski lift, as indicated by the general reference
numeral 22. The chair ski lift 22 as shown in figures 1, 6,
and 7 is part of an overall ski lift apparatus (not shown).
Chair ski lifts vary in design, but not significantly.
Accordingly, the present discussion is applicable to
virtually all chair ski lifts, no matter what specific
features of design and geometry they may have.
The ski paraphernalia basket 20 is securely mounted onto
a substantially horizontally disposed elongate safety bar 30
of a chair ski lift 22, as can be best seen in figures 1,6
and 7. The safety bar 30 of the chair ski lift 22 is mounted
on the chair portion 32 of the chair ski lift 22 for pivotal
movement about a substantially horizontal pivot axis "P" and
is selectively manually moveable about the pivot axis "P", as
is indicated by arrows"X" and "Y", by manipulation of
elongate handle 24, in an arcuate path "A" between a
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passenger safety position, as illustrated by solid lining in
figure 6 and by ghost outline in figure 7, and an entry-exit
position, as illustrated by solid .lining in figure 7.
In the passenger safety position, the safety bar 30 of
the chair lift 22 is disposed forwardly of an apex balance
point "B", as can be best seen in figure 7, so as to remain
in the passenger safety position without having to be latched
in position. Also, the safety bar 30 is disposed in blocking
relation directly in front of the chair portion 32 of the
chair ski lift 22 so as to preclude skiers sitting in the
chair portion 32 of the chair ski lift 22 so as to preclude
skiers sitting in the chair portion 32 of the chair ski lift
22 from falling out while ascending a ski hill, before
reaching the designated exit point. Typically, when the
safety bar 30 is in its passenger safety position, it is also
disposed substantially directly in front of its pivot axis
"P" so as to permit initial vertical movement and subsequent
vertical and rearward movement of the safety bar 30, to
thereby not interfere with skiers in the chair lift 22.
In the entry exit position, the safety bar 30 is
disposed above and rearwardly of the chair portion 32 of the
chair ski lift 22, so as to be out of the way of skiers
entering the chair ski lift 22 at the designated entry point
at the bottom of the ski run or exiting the chair ski lift 22
at the designated exit point at the top if the ski run. In
use, at the bottom of the ski run, the safety bar 30 is in
its entry-exit position as it receives skiers for the ascent
up the ski run. Once the skiers are seated in the chair
portion 32 of the chair ski lift 22, the safety bar 30 is
manually moved by a skier from its entry-exit position to its
passenger safety position generally, by manipulating the
elongate handle bar 24 and remains in the passenger safety
position while the chair lift 22 is ascending the ski run.
Once at the top of the ski run, the safety bar 30 is manually
moved by a skier from its passenger safety position to its
entry-exit position again, by manipulating the elongate
handle bar 24 and remains in the entry-exit position while
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the chair lift 22 is descending the ski run.
Further, in the entry-exit position, the safety bar 30
is disposed rearwardly of the apex balance point "B" in order
to create a moment about the substantially horizontal pivot
axis "P", thus causing the safety bar 30 to be retained by
gravity in its entry-exit position, without being latched in
position, until it is purposefully moved to its passenger
safety position. Preferably, the ski paraphernalia basket 20
is also disposed rearwardly of the apex balance point "B" , to
augment the moment of the safety bar 30 about the
substantially horizontal pivot axis"P", thus assisting the
safety bar 30 to remain in its entry-exit position. As can
be seen in figures 1, 6, and 7, the ski paraphernalia basket
20 is mounted so as to be disposed forwardly of the safety
bar 30 when the safety bar 30 is in its passenger safety
position, and is therefore disposed rearwardly of the safety
bar 30 when the safety bar 30 is in its entry-exit position,
thus further augmenting the moment arm. Accordingly, the
safety bar 30 is inherently more stable in its entry-exit
position, and is less likely to unwantedly or unexpectedly
flip to its passenger safety position during the during the
descent of the chair lift 22 to the elongate handle bar 24,
tends to counterbalance the footrests) 25 and the support
bars) 27 therefor, at least a portion of which may be
disposed forwardly of the substantially horizontal pivot axis
"P" as the chair lift 22 descends the hill.
The basket 20 comprises a substantially flat floor 40
suitable for receiving ski paraphernalia, a front wall 42, a
rear wall 44 which is sloped to squarely face a skier in the
chair lift, a left side wall 46, and a right side wall 48.
The front, rear, left side, and right side walls 42, 44, 46,
48 are joined one to another and extend upwardly about the
periphery of the floor 40. In the preferred embodiment, the
front wall 42 is shorter than the rear wall 44 to permit
ready access to ski paraphernalia retained in the basket 20
and to facilitate viewing by skiers in the chair lift of the
advertising or other indicia 52 on the sloped rear wall 44.
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The top edge of left and right side walls 46, 48 are
accordingly also sloped downwardly from rear to front.
In the preferred embodiment as. illustrated, the floor 40
and the front, rear, left side, and right side walls 42, 44,
46, 48 are made from wire mesh coated with a suitable plastic
or synthetic rubber material. In this manner, the floor 40
and the front, rear, left side, and right side walls 42, 44,
46, 48 each have a plurality of openings therein to
accommodate snow and water drainage therethrough. Also wind
resistance is minimized, so as to substantially preclude the
possibility of the wind blowing against the basket 20
strongly enough to unexpectedly move the safety bar 30 from
either of its passenger safety position or its entry-exit
position.
The front wall 42 and the sloped rear wall 44 each
include a substantially opaque sight blocking portion 43, 45
respectively, to preclude viewing therethrough. In the
preferred embodiment, the substantially opaque sight blocking
43, 45 comprise a substantially solid front sight blocking
panel 43 disposed on the front wall 42 and a substantially
solid rear sight blocking panel 45 disposed on the rear wall
44. In regard to the rear sight blocking panel 45, the same
may act as a mounting surface for the advertising or other
indicia 52, or it may be integral therewith. The solid front
sight blocking panel 43 helps to preclude the unintentional
or unwanted passage of fingers through the openings in the
front wall 42, thus avoiding possible injury. The
substantially solid front sight blocking panel 43 and the
substantially solid rear sight blocking panel 45 may be
formed from sheet metal for the sake of toughness and
resistance to cold temperatures, and may be secured to the
front wall 42 and the rear wall 44 respectively, by means of
welding, before the plastic or synthetic rubber material is
applied. Generally, the substantially solid front sight
blocking panel 43 is stepped for receiving the nut portion of
size-adjustable metal strap clamps 50, or other suitable
clamping devices, between a lower protrusion 43p and the
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front wall 42, as seen in figure 6. More usually, however,
the front sight blocking panel 43 is formed with a cover
portion 43c which overlies the metal strap clamps 50, and
which provided for a smooth upper edge for the front wall 42,
as shown in figure 5. The substantially solid rear sight
blocking panel 45 generally is formed to have upper and lower
lips 45u, 451 for receiving and retaining indicia inserts on
the rear sight blocking panel 45. These indicia inserts will
be described hereinafter in connection with figures 8 and 9.
Additionally, the cover portion 43c of the front sight
blocking panel 43 has further indicia which may be removable
as well.
It has been found during testing of the present
invention that a wire mesh basket without front and rear
sight blocking portions, and mounted on a chair ski lift 22,
may tend to cause vertigo for skiers sitting in the chair
portion 32 of the chair ski lift 22, since the basket 20 is
mounted directly in the line of sight of a skier sitting in
the chair portion 32. Accordingly, the substantially solid
front and rear sight blocking panels 43, 45 disposed on the
front and rear walls 42, 43 respectively help preclude
possible vertigo of skiers sitting in the chair portion 32 of
the chair lift 22.
A typical mounting means for the basket 20 preferably
comprises a pair of size adjustable metal strap clamps 50
secured in spaced apart relation to the basket 20 and looped
around the safety bar 30 in frictionally engaging relation
thereto. The size adjustable metal strap clamps 50 securely
mount the basket 20 to the substantially horizontally
disposed elongate safety bar 30 of the chair lift 22 in non-
rotatable relation about the safety bar 30.
As can best be seen in figure 6, when the safety bar 30
is in its passenger safety positioned so as to be readily
accessible, yet in non-blocking relation to passengers in the
chair portion 32 of the chair ski lift 22, Also, the floor
40 and front, rear, left side , and right side walls 42, 44,
46, 48 of the basket 20 are in a ski paraphernalia supporting
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orientation, preferably substantially horizontally oriented,
thus permitting ski paraphernalia, such as ski gloves,
goggles, hats, and so on, to be retained therein during the
ride while a skier is ascending a ski hill in a chair ski
lift 22.
When the safety bar 30 moves in the arcuate path "A"
from the passenger safety position toward its entry-exit
position, as indicated by arrow "Y" in figure 7, past the
apex balance point "B", the basket 20 reaches a dumping
position, as indicated by arrow "D" in f figure 7 . The dumping
position "D" may be reached either before the entry-exit
position of the safety bar 30 or at the entry-exit position
of the safety bar 30. In the dumping position, the floor 40
and the front, rear, left side, and right side walls 42, 44,
46, 48 of the basket 20 are removed from their ski
paraphernalia supporting orientation. Further, the floor 40
of the basket 20 is substantially inverted, thus causing any
ski paraphernalia inadvertently remaining within the basket
20, to be dumped from basket 20 onto the ground below the
chair ski lift 22. In this manner, the dumped ski
paraphernalia may be immediately recovered, instead of being
retained in the basket and probably not recovered.
It is undesirable to dump any ski paraphernalia
inadvertently remaining within the basket 20 onto the skiers
in the chair portion 32 of the chair ski lift 22 as this
would be quite startling. Moreover, in the event that a hard
or somewhat heavy object remains in the basket 20, injury
could result.
It can be seen and understood by way of the above
description and accompanying drawings that the ski
paraphernalia basket 20 of the present invention provides a
ski paraphernalia basket 20 for use with a chair ski lift 22,
which basket 20 is connected to the safety bar 30 of a chair
ski lift 22 and is unobtrusive during use of a chair ski lift
22 , including during entry into and exit from a chair ski
lift 22. The ski paraphernalia basket 20 of the present
invention also effects dumping rearwardly of the chair
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portion 32 of the ski lift of any ski paraphernalia
inadvertently remaining within the baskets 20.
Turning to figure 8, there is. illustrated an exploded
perspective view of advertising laminate 66. It is composed
of three layers beginning with advertisement substrate 58 on
to which has been preferably placed anywhere from 1 to 4
advertisements. This is preferably done with computer
generated advertising plates which are printed and produced
using a high resolution laser output on 10 point opaque
polyolefin plastic film. The second layer is transparent two
sided adhesive film 62. The third layer is transparent
protective layer 64, which is preferably comprised of 30
point polycarbonate. These three layers are laminated
together by passing them through a conventional heat
laminating unit (not shown). The product is also die cut to
finished size (not shown) and drilled with fastener holes 56.
Figure 9 is an exploded perspective view illustrating
how the advertising laminate 66 is assembled to the rear
sight blocking panel 45. The rear sight blocking panel 45
includes an upper lip 45u, lower lip 451 and side lip 45s.
The advertising laminate is placed on the surface of sight
blocking panel 45 within the foregoing lips and with fastener
holes 56 in registration with similar fastener hole 56
previously placed in rear sight blocking panel 45. Then end
cap 54, which also has fastener holes 56 is attached to the
foregoing and conventional fasteners such as rivets or screws
(not shown) are used to connect to the entire assembly
together for placement in the basket.
It is apparent that the foregoing assembly can be
readily disassembled without even removing the sight blocking
panel 45 from the basket for the purpose of removing and
replacing the advertising copy 60 on a regular basis.
While the invention has been described, disclosed,
illustrated and shown in various terms or certain embodiments
or modifications which it has assumed in practice, the scope
of the invention is not intended to be, nor should it be
deemed to be, limited thereby and such other modifications or
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embodiments as may be suggested by the teachings herein are
particularly reserved especially as they fall within the
breadth and scope of the claims here appended.
