A Sports Bag

Abstract

A sports bag including an electronic display screen carried on an outwardly facing surface of the bag, a power source located within the bag, and a controller which controls the images displayed on the screen.

Claims

1. A sports bag including an electronic display screen carried on an outwardly facing surface of the bag, a power source electrically connected to the display screen, and a controller which controls the images displayed on the screen.

2. A sports bag according to claim 1, wherein the power source is rechargeable, is removeable from the sports bag, and the sports bag includes a housing which releasably retains the rechargeable power source within the bag.

3. A sports bag according to claim 1, wherein the controller includes a memory storage component and a processor, wherein the memory storage component stores images to be displayed on the display screen and the processor accesses the images from the memory storage component.

4. A sports bag according to claim 1, wherein the controller includes a clock and the processor changes the image displayed on the screen at a pre-determined time or after a pre-determined interval.

5. A sports bag according to claim 1, wherein the controller further includes a receiver which receives wireless signals from a remote base station.

6. A sports bag according to claim 1, wherein the controller further includes a GPS location sensor which senses the location of the bag.

7. A sports bag according to claim 6, wherein the controller further includes a transmitter which transmits to a remote base station the location of the bag.

8. A sports bag according to claim 1, wherein the display screen is selected from a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a light emitting diode display (LED).

9. A sports bag according to claim 1, wherein the display screen is flexible.

10. A sports bag according to claim 1, wherein the display screen is secured to an externally facing surface of the bag.

11. A sports bag according to claim 1, wherein the bag comprises a panel, the panel defines an aperture therein, and the display screen is located within the aperture such that the display screen forms part of the panel.

12. A sports bag according to claim 1, wherein the display screen is detachable from the bag; and the sports bag includes a display screen retaining apparatus configured to receive the display screen.

13. A sports bag according to claim 12, wherein the display screen retaining apparatus includes a transparent window.

14. A sports bag according to claim 12, wherein the display screen retaining apparatus includes a closable opening.

15. An advertising system comprising a sports bag according to claim 1 and a remote base station, wherein the sports bag controller includes a wireless signal receiver, the remote base station includes a wireless transmitter, the wireless signal receiver receives wireless signals transmitted by the wireless transmitter, and the images displayed on the display screen are controlled by the wireless signals received by the wireless signal receiver.

16. An advertising system according to claim 15, wherein the sports bag controller further includes a GPS location sensor and a transmitter, the remote base station includes a receiver, the sports bag transmits data relating its location via the transmitter, the remote base station receives the data relating to the location of the sports bag via its receiver, and the base station transmits the wireless signals to the sports bag according to its position.

Description

[0033] Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0034] FIG. 1 is a side view of a golf bag according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the invention; and

[0035] FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a base station and the controller according to an embodiment of the second aspect of the invention.

[0036] FIG. 1 shows a golf bag 2 which comprises a conventional golf bag body 4 and a flexible colour LCD display screen 6. The LCD display screen 6 includes around its periphery a polymeric skirt 8 which is stitched to the outer surface of the golf bag body in a conventional manner.

[0037] The display screen 6 is connected via an electrical cable 10 to a controller 12, which in turn is electrically connected to a rechargeable battery power source 14 via a second cable 16. The controller 12 is also electrically connected to a charging port 18 secured to a base portion of the golf bag body 4.

[0038] The controller 12 includes power conditioning components which condition the electrical energy received via the recharging port 18 and transmit this energy to the rechargeable battery power source 14.

[0039] In an alternative embodiment, the rechargeable battery power source 14 is removeable from the golf bag 2 for recharging outside of the bag 2. In such embodiments, the rechargeable battery power source 14 is located within a padded compartment within the golf bag 2 such that the battery 14 is not damaged by any of the golf clubs within the bag 2 and the battery 14 does not damage any of the clubs.

[0040] The controller 12 further includes a wireless signal receiver 22, a wireless signal transmitter 24, a memory storage component 26, a processor 28 and a GPS position sensor 30 (all of which are shown schematically in FIG. 2), all of which are conventional components.

[0041] The controller 12 is wirelessly connected to a remote base station (20) via a wireless network. The GPS position sensor 30 senses the geographic location of the golf bag and transmits this data to the remote base station 20 via the wireless signal transmitter 24. The remote base station 20 receives the positional data and determines the image that should be displayed on the display screen 6 at that location accordingly to pre-determined algorithm. The remote base station 20 then transmits signals to the controller 12 relating to required image. The wireless signal receiver 22 of the controller 12 receives the transmitted signal and the processor 28 selects the required image from the images stored in the memory storage component 26 and displays that image on the display screen 6.

[0042] This process is repeated each time the position of the golf bag changes.

[0043] In accordance with the invention, multiple different images may be displayed separately on the display screen as the golf bag 2 is moved around a golf course.

[0044] In a further embodiment, the remote base station 20 transmits signals which encode the images to be displayed on the display screen 6. In this way, data encoding the images to be displayed is sent directly to the controller 12 from the remote base station 20.

[0045] The remote base station 20 may control a plurality of golf bags 2 such that they all display the same images at any given time, or the remote base station 20 may control each golf bag 2 individually, such that the images displayed on the display screen 6 of each golf bag 2 are different or unique to that bag.

[0046] It will be appreciated that while the display screen 6 is shown having a specific configuration in FIG. 1, it could instead have any suitable configuration.

[0047] Similarly, while the processor 12 and the rechargeable power source 14 are shown as separate components, one or both of these could form a part of the display screen 6.

[0048] Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the rechargeable power source 14 is charged via the port 18. However, the skilled person will appreciate that a wireless (induction) charging system could be used to recharge the power source 14.