Pet Leash Extender

Abstract

A leash extender with a larger round wrist loop and a smaller round handle loop connected by an extension. A user will wrap the leash extender around the handle of a pet leash and pass the wrist loop through the handle loop and pull securely. The leash extender is made of a soft, flexible material and has no edges, so is very comfortable around the user's wrist.

Claims

1. A leash extender comprising: a substantially round wrist loop; a substantially round handle loop; and an extension extending between said wrist loop and said handle loop; wherein: said wrist loop is bigger than said handle loop; said leash extender is made of a flexible material; said wrist loop comprises a rounded wrist cross section; said handle loop comprises a rounded handle cross section; and said extension comprises a rounded extension cross section.

2. The leash extender as claimed in claim 1, wherein said flexible material is polychloropene.

3. The leash extender as claimed in claim 2, wherein said wrist loop comprises wrist padding made of elastane disposed within said polychloropene.

4. The leash extender as claimed in claim 2, wherein said handle loop comprises handle padding made of elastane disposed within said polychloropene.

5. The leash extender as claimed in claim 3, wherein said handle loop comprises handle padding made of elastane disposed within said polychloropene.

6. The leash extender as claimed in claim 1, wherein said extension comprises extension padding made of elastane disposed within said polychloropene.

7. The leash extender as claimed in claim 5, wherein said extension comprises extension padding made of elastane disposed within said polychloropene.

8. The leash extender as claimed in claim 1, wherein: said rounded wrist cross section is an oblong cross section comprising a wrist major axis and a wrist minor axis; said rounded handle cross section is an oblong cross section comprising a handle major axis and a handle minor axis; said wrist major axis is greater than said handle major axis; and said wrist minor axis is equal to said handle minor.

9. The leash extender as claimed in claim 8, wherein: said rounded extension cross section is an oblong cross section comprising an extension major axis and an extension minor axis; said extension major axis is equal to said wrist major axis; and said extension minor axis is equal to said wrist minor axis.

10. The leash extender as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a wrist farthest point disposed on said wrist loop as far away from said handle loop as possible; a handle farthest point disposed on said handle loop as far away from said wrist loop as possible; a total length extending between said wrist farthest point and said handle farthest point; a wrist nearest point disposed on said wrist loop as close to said handle loop as possible; a handle nearest point disposed on said handle loop as close to said wrist loop as possible; and an extension length extending between said wrist nearest point and said handle nearest point; wherein said extension length is 45-55% of said total length.

11. The leash extender as claimed in claim 1, wherein said wrist loop comprises wrist padding.

12. The leash extender as claimed in claim 11, wherein said wrist padding is elastane.

13. The leash extender as claimed in claim 12, wherein said elastane wrist padding is attached to said wrist loop with wrist padding stitching.

14. The leash extender as claimed in claim 11, wherein said handle loop comprises handle padding.

15. The leash extender as claimed in claim 14, wherein said handle padding is elastane.

16. The leash extender as claimed in claim 15, wherein said elastane handle padding is attached to said handle loop with handle padding stitching.

17. The leash extender as claimed in claim 1, wherein said handle loop comprises handle padding.

18. The leash extender as claimed in claim 1, wherein said extension comprises extension padding.

19. The leash extender as claimed in claim 14, wherein said extension comprises extension padding.

20. The leash extender as claimed in claim 1, wherein said wrist loop, said handle loop, and said extension are integrated.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] FIG. 1A is a top down view of the leash extender of the present invention.

[0015] FIG. 1B is a side view of the leash extender shown in FIG. 1A.

[0016] FIGS. 2A-C are cross sections of the wrist loop, extension, and handle loop, respectively.

[0017] FIGS. 3A and 3B are top down views of the leash extender of the present invention with padding.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] Referring first to FIG. 1A, a top down view of leash extender 10 of the present invention is provided. Leash extender 10 of the present invention includes a substantially round wrist loop 12; a substantially round handle loop 14; and an extension 16 between the wrist and handle loops 12, 14. Wrist loop 12 is bigger than handle loop 14, as considering their respective radii. Wrist loop 12, extension 16, and handle loop 14 of leash extender 10 are integrated. “Integrated” means that these components are formed from a single piece of material, which is preferably polychloropene. The polychloroprene or other material is preferably die cut into the designed shape. As shown, the integrated leash extender 10 is a single piece with no seams. It is understood, however, that the single piece may have attachments to itself. Wrist loop 12 and/or handle loop 14 may loop around and attach to extension 16 through stitching, gluing, or any other means commonly used in the art.

[0019] Each of wrist loop 12 and handle loop 14 are substantially round, as noted above. “Substantially round” includes, non-exclusively, circles, ellipses, egg-shapes, ovals, and importantly, any of the foregoing where the shape may appear slightly stretched toward a certain point. “Substantially round” does not include any straight edges or hard points and angles. In the embodiment shown, the substantial roundness of each is not perfect roundness, but appears to be slightly pulled toward extension 16. Even with this variation from perfect roundness, the substantial roundness includes no sharp edges or angles.

[0020] The leash extender 10 is made of a flexible material. The flexible material allows the leash extender of the present invention to stretch but not break upon stretching. It is preferred that the flexible material out of which the leash extender 10 is made is polychloropene, commonly known by the tradename NEOPRENE. It is an inherent characteristic of polychloropene that it will maintain its shape or bounce back into its shape after being manipulated.

[0021] Leash extender 10 has total length 50 as measured between wrist farthest point 52 and handle farthest point 54. Leash extender 10 also has extension length 30 as measured between wrist nearest point 56 and handle nearest point 58. Extension length 30 is a portion of total length 50, preferably 45-55%. While the dimensions of the various components of leash extender 10 may vary, one set of preferred dimensions has total length 50 at 9.96″ and extension length 30 at 4.78″.

[0022] Now referring to FIGS. 1B and 2A-2C, a side view and cross sections of wrist loop 12, extension 16, and handle loop 14 are provided, respectively. As shown most clearly in FIG. 1B, leash extender 10 has a fairly uniform height (shown as wrist, extension, and handle minor axes 34, 44, 38, as explained below), even if its various components may have different widths (shown in FIGS. 2A-2C as wrist, extension, and handle major axes 32, 42, 36). The wrist cross section 22, extension cross section 60, and handle cross section 24 are rounded and preferably oblong, as shown. “Rounded” means having no sharp edges. The oblong wrist cross section 22 has wrist major axis 32 and wrist minor axis 34. The oblong extension cross section 60 has extension major axis 42 and extension minor axis 44. The oblong handle cross section 24 has handle major axis 36 and handle minor axis 38. It is preferred that wrist minor axis 34, extension minor axis 44, and handle minor axis 38 all be equal, creating the uniform height of leash extender 10 as viewed from the side and as seen in FIG. 1B. It is further preferred that wrist major axis 32 and extension major axis 42 be equal and that handle major axis 36 be less than each. While the dimensions of the various components of leash extender 10 may vary, one set of preferred dimensions has wrist major axis 32 and extension major axis 42 at 0.75″; handle major axis 36 at 0.38″; and wrist minor axis 34, extension minor axis 44, and handle minor axis 38 all at 0.2″.

[0023] Now referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, top down views of leash extender 10 including wrist padding 40 are provided. Wrist padding 40 is an extra layer disposed around wrist loop 12. This provides extra cushion for the user's wrist and also decreases wear and tear on the wrist loop 12. Wrist padding 40 is preferably made of elastane and is stitched within the polychloropene of wrist loop 12 with wrist padding stitching 26. It is understood that wrist padding stitching 26 is not necessarily disposed as shown around the outer perimeter of wrist loop 12, but shown as such merely as an exemplary illustration of where wrist padding stitching 26 could be. It is further understood that the line shown generally between wrist loop 12 and extension 16 may not be visible and is included to indicate where wrist padding 40 may be positioned within wrist loop 12 and where it might end with relation to extension 16. As shown, handle loop 14 may also include handle padding 41 with handle padding stitching 27. As shown in FIG. 3B, extension 16 may also include extension padding 43 with extension padding stitching 29. In such an embodiment, the respective paddings 40, 41, 43 are not necessarily separate components but may be a continuous piece of elastane, for example, that is incorporated into leash extender 10. Although stitching 26, 27, 29 is shown as the preferred means for incorporating the padding 40, 41, 43 into leash extender 10, it is understood that other means for such incorporation commonly used in the art, such as gluing, may also be utilized.

[0024] The leash extender 10 is wrapped around the handle of the leash and attached thereto by passing the wrist loop 12 through the handle loop 14. The leash extender 10 is then pulled tight for secure attachment to the leash handle. Once the wrist loop 12 is passed through the handle loop 14, it will bounce back to its soft, roundness, as discussed above. The wrist loop 12 will go around the walker's wrist. Its soft, rounded structure will be comfortable against the walker's skin and will not chafe if pulled tight, such as by a yanking dog.

[0025] Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions would be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the description should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein.