Ventilation device for an equipment bag

Abstract

An equipment bag has one or more sidewalls configured to define an interior space adapted to receive equipment. A manifold is positioned within the interior space and has an air inlet. The manifold is adapted to distribute forced air received by the air inlet within the interior space. A source of forced air is selectively connected to supply forced air to the air inlet of the manifold.

Description

VENTILATION DEVICE FOR AN EQUIPMENT BAGTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] This relates to a ventilation device, and in particular, a ventilation device for a sports bag.BACKGROUND

[0002] Personal sports equipment is often transported and stored in an equipment bag. After a game or practice, the equipment is returned to the bag, often before it has had an opportunity to fully dry. This moisture allows the growth of odour-causing bacteria. To help dry equipment, drying stands or racks are sometimes used, however this is not always convenient, such as when travelling, and requires additional unpacking and packing steps. Other bags have mesh panels to allow for passive air movement, while some have forced air fans, an example of which is described in U.S. pregrant pub. no. 2007 / 0227922 (Chappell et al) entitled “Ventilated portable locker for hockey or other sports equipment”.SUMMARY

[0003] According to an aspect, there is provided an equipment bag, comprising one or more sidewalls configured to define an interior space adapted to receive equipment, a manifold positioned within the interior space and having an air inlet, the manifold being adapted to distribute forced air received by the air inlet within the interior space, and a source of forced air that is connected to supply forced air to the air inlet of the manifold.

[0004] According to other aspects, the equipment bag may include one or more of the following features, alone or in combination: the manifold may be positioned along at least a portion of the one or more sidewalls, the manifold having an array of apertures, the array of apertures being adapted to distribute air within the interior space; the manifold may be made from a conformable material that conforms to the at least the portion of theone or more sidewalls; the manifold may be made from a bottom layer and a top layer, the top layer comprising the array of apertures, the bottom layer and the top layer being sealed together along a periphery of the manifold; the array of apertures may be configured such that the forced air is distributed substantially equally within the interior space; the one or more sidewalls may comprise a bottom panel, and the manifold is positioned along, and is substantially the same size as, the bottom panel; the equipment bag may further comprise vaporizable components positioned within the manifold and adjacent to the air inlet; the vaporizable components may be carried by an absorbent material; the vaporizable components may be aligned with a flow path of the air inlet; the source of forced air may comprise an air hose, the air hose having a remote end that carries a first part of a releasable connector that connects to a second part of the releasable connector that is carried by the air inlet of the manifold, such that the source of forced air is removable from the manifold; the equipment bag may comprise a releasable flap that selectively covers the air inlet, the releasable flap comprising a storage pouch; the equipment bag may be rigid or semi rigid, and may comprises a hanger adapted to hang equipment within the interior space.

[0005] According to an aspect, there is provided a ventilation device, comprising a manifold having an air inlet, and a top surface that defines an array of apertures, wherein the manifold is adapted such that that, in use, are adapted to circulate air within an interior space of an equipment bag; a manifold adapted to be positioned within an interior space of an equipment bag, the manifold having an air inlet, and an array of apertures distributed along a top surface of the manifold; and a source of forced air that is releasably connected to the air inlet of the manifold.

[0006] According to other aspects, the ventilated device may include one or more of the following features, alone or in combination: the manifold may be made from a material that is sufficiently conformable to conform to an inner surface of the equipment bag; the manifold may be made from a bottom layer and a top layer, the top layer comprising the array of apertures, the bottom layer and the top layer being sealed together along aperiphery of the manifold; the array of apertures may be configured such that the forced air is distributed substantially equally along the array within the interior space; the ventilated device may further comprise vaporizable components positioned within the manifold and adjacent to the air inlet; the vaporizable components may be carried by an absorbent material; the vaporizable components may be aligned with a flow path of the air inlet; the source of forced air may comprise an air hose, the air hose having a remote end that carries a first part of a releasable connector, and the air inlet comprising a second part of the releasable connector, the releasable connector being selectively released to allow the source of forced air to be removable from the manifold.

[0007] Other features and aspects will be apparent from the description and claims.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] These and other features will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to be in any way limiting, wherein:FIG. 1 is a side elevation view in section of an equipment bag with a ventilation device.FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an air supply and air manifold.FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an equipment bag.FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a control panel of an air supply.FIG. 5 is an exploded, side elevation view of an air manifold and hose connection.FIG. 6 is a side elevation view in section of an alternative equipment bag with ventilation device.FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a further alternative equipment bag with ventilation device.FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a further alternative equipment bag with ventilation device.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Referring to FIG. 1 , an equipment bag 100 is shown with an air manifold 10 and an air supply 12. Equipment bag 100 is intended to carry sports equipment 102. Referring to FIG. 3, equipment bags 100 are generally made from durable, flexible material that may have stiffeners or wear resistant sections for ease of use and durability, but the actual design may depend on the intended use. Referring to FIG. 8, equipment bag 100 may have a “hard shell” design, similar to a suitcase, made from rigid or semirigid material. In the depicted example, equipment bag 100 has sidewalls 104 defining an interior space 106. Sidewalls 104 may include a bottom, which may be define by a panel 108 depending on the construction of equipment bag 100. Equipment bag 100 may have a closure, such as a zipper 110, and carrying straps or handles 112. In other examples, equipment bag 100 may take other forms, and may be made from compliant material, stiff material, resilient material, molded material, or combinations thereof. Equipment bag 100 may be an existing, commercially available equipment bag, or may be custom made. Referring to FIG. 1 , equipment 102 within equipment bag 100 is intended to be personal protective gear, shoes, clothing, and other objects that may benefit from air circulation either after use or prior to use. This may include, for example, equipment used for hockey, lacrosse, football, and the like, where the equipment is not easily or not normally washed between uses. Referring to FIG. 8, equipment bag 100 may be purpose-built for a specific type of equipment, such as for hanging and storing jerseys or uniforms.

[0010] Referring to FIG. 2, an example of an air manifold 10 is shown. As shown, air manifold 10 is generally rectangular in shape, although air manifold 10 may have different dimension and shapes to suit a particular equipment bag 100 in which it is to be used. Air manifold 10 may be supplied separately from equipment bag 100 and installed by the user, or may be pre-installed in equipment bag 100 during the manufacturing phase. Referring to FIG. 1 , air manifold 10 may be placed loosely in equipment bag 100, or may be secured in place, either removably or permanently, such as by adhesive, hook and loop fasteners, snap fasteners, rivets, zippers, or the like. Air manifold 10 may besubstantially the same size as the surface against which it is installed, such as a bottom panel 108 of equipment bag 100 as shown. The area of air manifold 10 may be considered substantially the same as the area of the surface against which it is installed if it is within 80% of the comparative area, or 90% of the comparative area. In other examples, air manifold may be a diffuser or a tube with apertures that extends along a length, width, or height of equipment bag 100 (not shown). This may be useful, for example, for rigid or semi-rigid equipment bags 100, such as is shown in FIG. 8, where a space between sidewalls 104 and equipment 102 may be maintained, which allows for better circulation within equipment bag 100.

[0011] Referring to FIG. 2, air manifold 10 has a forced air inlet 14 that connects to air supply 12 and has an array of apertures 16 that distribute air. Array of apertures 16 may be designed to achieve an even distribution of air, such as by properly designing the size and spacing of the apertures, including the size and spacing relative to other apertures and within array 16, and taking into account flow area of air inlet 14 and the volume of air provided by air supply 12.

[0012] Referring to FIG. 1 , air manifold 10 may have a sealed bottom surface 18 and a top surface 20 perforated with array of apertures 16. For example, air manifold 10 may be made by sealing bottom layer 24 and top layer 26 together around a periphery 28 of air manifold 10 to form bottom surface 18, top surface 20, and an inner air cavity 22. Air manifold 10 may have structural elements, such as quilting between apertures within array 16, to maintain a relatively constant height of air cavity 22 when forced air is applied therein. As used herein, a layer may be identified as the top or bottom layer based on the function and independent of the actual orientation. In particular, top surface 20 is the surface from which air exits manifold 10 and faces toward the interior of equipment bag 100, while bottom surface 18 is placed against an inner surface of equipment bag 100. For example, if equipment bag 100 is designed as a tower that is designed to lay down or be placed on-end, manifold 10 may have different orientations. Alternatively, manifold 10 may be installed on the side rather than the bottom of equipment bag 100. It willtherefore be understood that referring to manifold 10 as being on the bottom is suggestive of a preferred position that is opposite the opening of equipment bag 100 to ensure air that is introduced via manifold 10 circulates past equipment 102 to be being dried or treated with circulating air. In some examples, equipment bag 100 may be designed with a vent, such as a mesh panel (not shown), and the manifold 10 may preferably be placed opposite, or spaced from, the vent.

[0013] Air manifold 10 may be made from flexible or conformable material, or sufficiently conformable to permit it to substantially conform to the surfaces and loads encountered in a typical equipment bag 100. In this manner, when not in use, air manifold 10 may be designed such that it does not noticeably reduce the volume or function of equipment bag 100. Referring to FIG. 2, array of apertures 16 in top surface 20 may be in a regular pattern as shown, or may be irregularly spaced to achieve a desired flow distribution. For example, the size of apertures in array 16 may vary from relatively small perforations to larger perforations, such as to achieve a desired rate of flow throughout array 16. For example, the total flow area of the array of apertures may be small enough to ensure constant pressure throughout the air manifold to help provide even airflow throughout the manifold.

[0014] Referring to FIG. 1 , an example of a forced air supply 12 is shown. Forced air supply 12 has a forced air inlet 30 and a forced air outlet 32 that supplies air to air inlet 14 of air manifold 10. Where forced air supply 12 is a fan, forced air inlet 30 may be a vent or grate, and may include a filter sheet (not shown) that filters particulates from entering the fan. Forced air outlet 32 may be configured as a hose connector, which allows an air hose 34 to be connected between forced air supply 12 and air manifold 10. Forced air supply 12 may be adjustable or controllable. For example, forced air supply 12 may be capable of providing different volumes of air flow, may be provided with a heater to heat the air, may be provided with a timer to provide air for a predetermined period of time, and / or may infuse the air with vaporizable components (not shown), which may be loaded on a replaceable insert, or may be added to a refillable compartment inhousing 36 of air supply 12. Forced air supply 12 may take any suitable form, and may be powered by a replaceable battery, a rechargeable battery, a power cord that connected to an electrical outlet, such as to an AC residential power supply and / or a DC power supply such as may be found in a vehicle, or combinations. In this way, forced air supply 12 may be stored at home or in a vehicle and may be turned on after a practice or game, either after returning home or while driving. The forced air supply may also be sufficiently portable to be carried in equipment bag 100, if desired.

[0015] Referring to FIG. 4, an example of a control panel 50 that may be carried by forced air supply 12 is shown, which may include timer controls 52, fan speed controls 54, a power button 56, a light control 58, and a display 60, which may be used to display the status of forced air supply 12.

[0016] Referring to FIG. 5, there may be vaporizable components, such as may be carried by an absorbent material or layer 40 within air manifold. Vaporizable components may include essential oils selected for particular properties, deodorants, scent neutralizers, antiseptic, antibacterial, antifungal, or other functional liquid, gels, etc. that may help kill or control odor-causing bacteria in the equipment bag as air is circulated through the bag. The vaporizable components may be applied through air inlet 14 of air manifold 10 to recharge absorbent material 40, or air manifold 10 may be designed to allow absorbent material 40 to be replaced. Absorbent material 40 may be a wicking material, microfiber cloth, sponge material, or the like. Absorbent material 40 may extend through a portion of, or substantially all of air manifold 10. Referring to FIG. 1 , absorbent material 40 is relatively small and positioned adjacent to, and in line with, the airflow path through air inlet 14 such that the air impinges upon the absorbent material 40 allowing the vaporizable components to be carried through air manifold 10 and into equipment bag 100 via array of apertures 16.

[0017] Referring to FIG. 1 and 6, implementation example are shown in. Air manifold 10 is positioned within the inner cavity of equipment bag 100, and is connected to forced air supply 12 that provides forced air via air hose 34 to air manifold 10. Air hose 34 maybe disconnectable from forced air supply 12 and / or air manifold 10. By making air hose 34 disconnectable from air manifold 10, air hose 34 may be entirely removable from equipment bag 100, while allowing air manifold 10 to remain within equipment bag 100, such that equipment bag 100 is only minimally interfered when not actively drying equipment 102 in equipment bag 100. When it is desired to flow air through the equipment bag, air hose 34 may be connected to air manifold 10, and forced air supply 12 is activated to blow air into equipment bag via array of apertures 16. Referring to FIG. 1 , this may require equipment bag 100 to be opened slightly to allow equipment hose 34 to be connected to air manifold. In an alternative embodiment, referring to FIG. 6, air inlet 14 may be accessible on an external surface of equipment bag 100 so that the connection may be made without accessing the interior of equipment bag 100. This may be particularly useful where the air manifold is included as part of the manufacturing process. In another embodiment, air hose 34 may remain connected to air manifold 10 and may be extended to connect to forced air supply 12.

[0018] Where air hose 34 connects to air manifold 10, referring to FIG. 5, a two-part connector 42 may be used, where a first part 44 is carried by air hose 34 and a second part 46 is carried by air manifold 10. Connector 42 may be friction fit, threaded, or have a locking profile. Connector 42, whether internal or external, may be sufficiently strong or protected by a cover to prevent damage from equipment in the bag. Second part 46 of connector 42 may include a protective cover 48 as shown in FIG. 6. Equipment bag 100 may require some adjustment to ensure air that is introduced via air manifold 10 is able to circulate out of equipment bag 100 without undue back pressure.

[0019] Referring to FIG. 7, manifold 10 may be formed into the bottom panel 108 of equipment bag 100. In this example, bottom surface 18 of air manifold 10 Equipment bag 100 may be provided with a releasable flap 114 that covers second part 46. This may be used to protect second part 46 when not in use. Releasable flap 114 may include a storage pocket or pouch 116. Storage pocket 116 may be secured and / or closed using hook and loop fasteners, releasable clips, zippers, or the like. Storage pocket 116 maybe useful to store heat-sensitive items where forced air supply 12 has a heating element that heats the air. Heat-sensitive items may include wax, tape, mouth guards, toiletries, etc. and may be stored in storage pocket 116 such that they are kept isolated from the heated air that is supplied to interior space 106 of equipment bag 100 when releasable flap 114 is opened to provide access to second part 46. In some examples, air hose (not shown) may be coiled within releasable flap 114 when closed and the forced air supply is not in use. Equipment bag 100 may also be provided with vent holes 118 to allow air to escape and reduce back pressure during use.

[0020] Referring to FIG. 8, equipment bag 100 may be rigid or semi-rigid, which may be useful for hanging equipment from hangers 120 on a hanging rod 122, such as jerseys, unforms, or other equipment that may benefit from being hung. Equipment bag 100 may include wheels 124 for ease of transport. Equipment bag 100 in FIG. 8 is shown with force air supply 12, but without an air manifold.

[0021] In this patent document, the word "comprising" is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article "a" does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the elements is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements.

[0022] The scope of the following claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments set forth in the examples above and in the drawings, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.

Claims

What is Claimed is:1 . An equipment bag, comprising: one or more sidewalls configured to define an interior space adapted to receive equipment; a manifold positioned within the interior space and having an air inlet, the manifold being adapted to distribute forced air received by the air inlet within the interior space; and a source of forced air that is connected to supply forced air to the air inlet of the manifold.

2. The equipment bag of claim 1 , wherein the manifold is positioned along at least a portion of the one or more sidewalls, the manifold having an array of apertures, the array of apertures being adapted to distribute air within the interior space.

3. The equipment bag of claim 2, wherein the manifold is made from a conformable material that conforms to the at least the portion of the one or more sidewalls.

4. The equipment bag of claim 2, wherein the manifold is made from a bottom layer and a top layer, the top layer comprising the array of apertures, the bottom layer and the top layer being sealed together along a periphery of the manifold.

5. The equipment bag of claim 2, wherein the array of apertures is configured such that the forced air is distributed substantially equally within the interior space.

6. The equipment bag of claim 2, wherein the one or more sidewalls comprises a bottom panel, and the manifold is positioned along, and is substantially the same size as, the bottom panel.

7. The equipment bag of claim 1 , further comprising vaporizable components positioned within the manifold and adjacent to the air inlet.

8. The equipment bag of claim 7, wherein the vaporizable components are carried by an absorbent material.

9. The equipment bag of claim 7, wherein the vaporizable components are aligned with a flow path of the air inlet.

10. The equipment bag of claim 1 , wherein the source of forced air comprises an air hose, the air hose having a remote end that carries a first part of a releasable connector that connects to a second part of the releasable connector that is carried by the air inlet of the manifold, such that the source of forced air is removable from the manifold.11 . The equipment bag of claim 1 , wherein the equipment bag comprises a releasable flap that selectively covers the air inlet, the releasable flap comprising a storage pouch.

12. The equipment bag of claim 1 , wherein the equipment bag is rigid or semi rigid, and comprises a hanger adapted to hang equipment within the interior space.

13. A ventilation device, comprising: a manifold having an air inlet, and a top surface that defines an array of apertures, wherein the manifold is adapted such that that, in use, are adapted to circulate air within an interior space of an equipment bag; and a manifold adapted to be positioned within an interior space of an equipment bag, the manifold having an air inlet, and an array of apertures distributed along a top surface of the manifold; and a source of forced air that is releasably connected to the air inlet of the manifold.

14. The ventilated device of claim 13, wherein the manifold is made from a material that is sufficiently conformable to conform to an inner surface of the equipment bag.

15. The ventilated device of claim 13, wherein the manifold is made from a bottom layer and a top layer, the top layer comprising the array of apertures, the bottom layer and the top layer being sealed together along a periphery of the manifold.

16. The ventilated device of claim 13, wherein the array of apertures is configured such that the forced air is distributed substantially equally along the array within the interior space.

17. The ventilated device of claim 13, further comprising vaporizable componentspositioned within the manifold and adjacent to the air inlet.

18. The ventilated device of claim 17, wherein the vaporizable components are carried by an absorbent material.

19. The ventilated device of claim 17, wherein the vaporizable components are aligned with a flow path of the air inlet.

20. The ventilated device of claim 13, wherein the source of forced air comprises an air hose, the air hose having a remote end that carries a first part of a releasable connector, and the air inlet comprising a second part of the releasable connector, the releasable connector being selectively released to allow the source of forced air to be removable from the manifold.

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