초록 ▼

A portable sports equipment rack is provided with two relatively foldable sections. Each section has a top wall and a bottom wall below the top wall. End walls and a rear wall hold the top and bottom walls vertically spaced. Along the front edge of at least one of the bottom walls are located a numb

A portable sports equipment rack is provided with two relatively foldable sections. Each section has a top wall and a bottom wall below the top wall. End walls and a rear wall hold the top and bottom walls vertically spaced. Along the front edge of at least one of the bottom walls are located a number of handle receiving structures. At least one hinge joins adjacent end edges of the bottom walls. When the portable sports equipment rack is suspended, chiefly by its ends, the weight of the rack will tend to keep it in an open deployed configuration. The sections can be folded against one another, and held together by a latch. A handle on one of the top walls facilitates carrying of the rack when it is folded. A further embodiment of the sports equipment rack is formed from an assembly of modules, each containing a top wall, bottom wall, sidewalls, rear wall, and handle receiving structures.

대표청구항 ▼

The invention claimed is: 1. A portable equipment rack supporting and organizing sports equipment, comprising: first and second equipment supporting sections, each equipment supporting section including a top wall, a bottom wall vertically spaced from the top wall, and a rear wall extending between

The invention claimed is: 1. A portable equipment rack supporting and organizing sports equipment, comprising: first and second equipment supporting sections, each equipment supporting section including a top wall, a bottom wall vertically spaced from the top wall, and a rear wall extending between the top and bottom walls, the top and bottom walls each having rear and end edges, respectively; the rear wall having top, bottom and end edges; the rear wall further being connected to the rear edges of the top and bottom walls; each equipment supporting section further including two end walls extending between the top and bottom walls and along the end edges of the rear wall and connected to respective ones of the end edges of the top and bottom walls; at least one of the bottom walls of the first and second equipment supporting sections having at least one handle receiving structure disposed along a front edge region thereof, the at least one of the bottom walls further having an equipment receiving surface disposed between the handle receiving structure, and the rear edge of the at least one of the bottom walls; wherein the end walls of each of said first and second equipment supporting sections are affixed to and support the respective top wall of each of said first and second equipment supporting sections, in vertically spaced relation to the respective bottom wall of each of said first and second equipment supporting sections; a hinge, mounted to adjacent end edge regions of the respective bottom walls of the first and second equipment supporting sections, so that an end wall of each equipment supporting section is disposed proximate the hinge and the other end wall of each supporting section is disposed distal to the hinge, the hinge further having an axis of pivoting that extends parallel to adjacent ones of the end edges of the respective bottom walls of the first and second equipment supporting sections, for enabling the first and second equipment supporting sections to be pivoted between a deployed configuration, in which the first and second equipment supporting sections are disposed end-to-end, and a stowed configuration, in which the first and second equipment supporting sections are pivoted such that the respective bottom walls are juxtaposed parallel and adjacent one another, the positioning of the hinge being such that when the equipment rack is supported by its ends in the deployed configuration, the weight of the respective first and second equipment supporting sections will tend to prompt the first and second equipment supporting sections toward pivoting upwardly relative to one another, prompting adjacent ones of the end edges of the top walls toward one another, into abutment, without attachment therebetween, to maintain the equipment rack in its deployed configuration. 2. The equipment rack of claim 1, wherein the at least one handle receiving structure comprises a baseball bat handle receiving notch formed in a front edge region of the at least one bottom wall of the first and second equipment supporting sections, the equipment receiving surface being disposed between an innermost extremity of the bat handle receiving notch and the rear edge of the at least one bottom wall. 3. The equipment rack of claim 1, wherein the at least one handle receiving structure comprises at least one resilient biased structure, disposed along the front edge region of the at least one bottom wall of the first and second equipment supporting sections, and operably configured to resistively yield and resiliently, yet releasably retain, a sports equipment handle, when the sports equipment handle is forcibly inserted into the at least one resilient biased structure. 4. The equipment rack of claim 1, further comprising: latching structures, disposed on the end walls of the first and second equipment supporting sections distal to the hinge, for releasably maintaining the first and second equipment supporting sections in the stowed configuration, for facilitating transportation of the equipment rack between uses. 5. The equipment rack of claim 1, further comprising: a handle disposed on an outer surface of one of the top walls of the first and second equipment supporting sections, for facilitating carrying of the equipment rack when in its stowed configuration. 6. The equipment rack of claim 1, further comprising: at least one hanging device for enabling the equipment rack to be suspended from a vertical support structure. 7. The equipment rack of claim 1, wherein the top wall of one of the first and second equipment supporting sections has a depth at least equal to the depth of the corresponding bottom wall. 8. The equipment rack of claim 1, wherein the first and second equipment supporting sections are fabricated from at least one of plastic, wood, metal.