PERSONAL ARTICLE HOLDER FOR MOBILE DEVICES
20220080899 · 2022-03-17
Inventors
Cpc classification
A47G29/08
HUMAN NECESSITIES
G08B3/10
PHYSICS
B62B3/1472
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B60R2011/005
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B62B3/146
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B62B9/26
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
G06K7/10366
PHYSICS
G01S1/68
PHYSICS
B62B9/147
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B60R11/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
International classification
B60R11/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
G01S1/68
PHYSICS
G06K7/10
PHYSICS
Abstract
One or more personal article holders and/or mobile structures to which personal article holders can be attached or are integrated into are provided. A personal article holder comprises an elongated body comprising a hollow interior and a first open end configured for allowing a personal article to be inserted into the hollow interior. The personal article holder comprises an attachment means configured to attach the personal article holder to a mobile device.
Claims
1. A personal article holder comprising: an elongated body comprising a hollow interior and a first open end configured for allowing a personal article to be inserted into the hollow interior; and an attachment means configured to removably attach the personal article holder to luggage by attaching to an attachment structure of the luggage.
2. The personal article holder of claim 1, wherein the attachment means comprises a button and the attachment structure comprises a hole within a side of the luggage.
3. The personal article holder of claim 1, wherein the attachment means comprises a looping structure and the attachment structure comprises a hole within a side of the luggage.
4. The personal article holder of claim 3, wherein the looping structure comprises at least one of a zip tie, rope, or string.
5. The personal article holder of claim 1, wherein the attachment means comprises a button snap and the attachment structure comprises a snap fastener attached to a side of the luggage.
6. The personal article holder of claim 1, comprising: an RFID tag used to track a location of the luggage by communicating with one or more RFID sensors.
7. The personal article holder of claim 6, wherein the one or more RFID sensors form a geofence within an airport for tracking the location of the luggage.
8. The personal article holder of claim 6, wherein the RFID tag is formed inside a sidewall of the elongated body of the personal article holder.
9. The personal article holder of claim 1, comprising: a tracking beacon device configured to transmit signals to a mobile computing device for communicating locations of the luggage tracked by the tracking beacon device.
10. The personal article holder of claim 9, wherein the tracking beacon device is configured to transmit instructions to an application executing on the mobile computing device to cause the application to display the locations of the luggage on a map, wherein the locations comprise at least one of a current location or historic locations of the luggage.
11. The personal article holder of claim 9, wherein the tracking beacon device is configured to transmit instructions to an application executing on the mobile computing device to cause the application to emit audible signals at varying loudness and frequency to indicate locational proximity of the mobile computing device to the luggage.
12. The personal article holder of claim 9, wherein the tracking beacon device is formed as part of the elongated body of the personal article holder.
13. The personal article holder of claim 9, wherein the tracking beacon device is formed inside a sidewall of the elongated body of the personal article holder.
14. A personal article holder comprising: an elongated body comprising a hollow interior and a first open end configured for allowing a personal article to be inserted into the hollow interior, wherein the elongated body is integrated into and formed of a mold including material of luggage to which the personal article holder is attached.
15. A personal article holder comprising: an elongated body comprising a hollow interior and a first open end configured for allowing a personal article to be inserted into the hollow interior; and an attachment means configured to removably attach the personal article holder to a mobile device by attaching to an attachment structure of the mobile device.
16. The personal article holder of claim 15, wherein the attachment means comprises a button and the attachment structure comprises a hole within a side of the mobile device.
17. The personal article holder of claim 15, wherein the attachment means comprises a looping structure and the attachment structure comprises a hole within a side of the mobile device.
18. The personal article holder of claim 17, wherein the looping structure comprises at least one of a zip tie, rope, or string.
19. The personal article holder of claim 15, wherein the attachment means comprises a button snap and the attachment structure comprises a snap fastener attached to a side of the mobile device.
20. The personal article holder of claim 15, comprising: an RFID tag used to track a location of the mobile device by communicating with one or more RFID sensors.
Description
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0037] The claimed subject matter is now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are generally used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide an understanding of the claimed subject matter. It may be evident, however, that the claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, structures and devices are illustrated in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing the claimed subject matter.
[0038] A mobile device may comprise a shopping cart, a car, a truck, a walker or stroller (e.g., a walker with a seat), a baby stroller, a bike, or any other type of device that may be mobile, such as where a user or motor may displace the device. In an example, a business or organization may provide shopping carts for users to carry items around, such as items for purchase within a grocery store or other type of store. This allows the users to transport more items than what the users would otherwise be able to carry in their hands or with a carry along basket. Users may bring personal articles, such as a cane, an umbrella, a purse, a diaper bag, a coat, etc., with them into a location where shopping carts are available to use for carrying items. It may be cumbersome for the user to use and/or carry a personal item, such as carrying an umbrella, while operating a shopping cart (e.g., the user's hands may be busy steering and pushing the shopping cart). If the user attempts to store the personal article within the shopping cart, the personal article may roll around, bump around, jostle around, and/or fall out because the shopping cart may lack a means to securely hold the personal article. Furthermore, storing the personal article within the shopping cart consumes valuable space that could otherwise be used to store and transport items.
[0039] Accordingly, as provided herein, a personal article holder is provided for a shopping cart. The personal article holder comprises an elongated body (e.g., a cylindrical tube, a rectangular tube, etc.) having one or more sides defining a hollow interior. The elongated body comprises an open end configured to allow a personal article, such as a cane, an umbrella, or other types of objects, to be inserted into and/or secured within the hollow interior. In an embodiment, the personal article holder comprises an attachment means configured to attach, such as removably attach, the personal article holder to a shopping cart. In another embodiment, the personal article holder is integrated into and is a part of the shopping cart (e.g., the personal article holder is part of a basket, such as welded onto the basket or formed from a same plastic mold as a plastic basket). Accordingly, a user may insert the personal article, such as a cane, through the open end of the elongated body and into the hollow interior. In this way, the personal article is securely held by the personal article holder attached to the shopping cart.
[0040] The personal article holder may be attached to a variety of mobile devices, such as attached to an inside of a vehicle (e.g., a car, a bus, a truck, etc.), outside the vehicle, a walker/stroller, a baby stroller, a bike, a scooter, or other mobile device. One or more attachment means may be used to attach the personal article holder to a mobile device, or the personal article holder may be integrated into and is a part of the mobile device.
[0041]
[0042] In an embodiment, the elongated body 101 has a thickness represented by a second dashed line 114. In an example, the thickness is between about one-tenth of an inch and about 3 inches. In an example, the thickness is about a half of an inch. It may be appreciated that the elongated body 101 may have any thickness for securely holding a personal article. The outside sidewall 104 may have a diameter represented by a third dashed line 108. In an example, the diameter of the outside sidewall 104 may be between about 1 inch and 7 inches. In another example, the diameter of the outside sidewall 104 may be about 2.5 inches. It may be appreciated that the outside sidewall 104 of the elongated body 101 may have any diameter length. The inside sidewall 102 may have a diameter represented by a fourth dashed line 106. In an example, the diameter of the inside sidewall 102 may be between about 1 inch and 7 inches. In another example, the diameter of the inside sidewall 102 may be about half an inch. It may be appreciated that the inside sidewall 102 of the elongated body 101 may have any diameter suitable for defining a hollow interior 116 into which a personal article could be received.
[0043] The elongated body 101 may be comprised of various types of materials, such as a rigid material, a flexible material, etc. In an example, the elongated body 101 may be comprised of plastic, wood, metal such as aluminum, rubber, or any other material or combination thereof. In an embodiment, a label may be affixed to the elongated body 101, such as the entire elongated body 101 or a portion thereof. The label may be part of the elongated body 101 or may be affixed to the elongated body 101 by an adhesive or other means. The label may comprise a logo and/or other information, such as a name of a store, a QR code that can be scanned using a mobile device to open an application associated with the store, a phone number of the store, a website address of the store, ink whose color changes based upon temperature to indicate a current temperature, and/or a wide variety of other information and/or imagery.
[0044] The personal article holder 100 comprises one or more attachment means, such as a first attachment means 118 and a second attachment means 120. It may be appreciated that the personal article holder 100 may comprise a single attachment means or any other number of attachment means. A wide variety of attachment means may be utilized, such as a zip tie as illustrated by
[0045] The first attachment means 118 may be secured to the elongated body 101 using a first opening 126 and a second opening 128 through the elongated body 101. For example, the first attachment means 118 may loop through the first opening 126, through the inside of the elongated body 101, and out through the second opening 128. It may be appreciated that an attachment means may be secured to and/or built into the elongated body 101 through a variety of means, such as glue, bolts, screws, looping through holes, an adhesive, a magnet, etc. The second attachment means 120 may be secured to the elongated body 101 using a third opening 122 and a fourth opening 124 through the elongated body 101. For example, the second attachment means 120 may loop through the third opening 122, through the inside of the elongated body 101, and out through the fourth opening 124. The first attachment means 118 and/or the second attachment means 120 may wrap around a portion of the shopping cart (e.g., wrap around vertical bars of a basket of the shopping cart) and secure the personal article holder 100 to the shopping cart (e.g., a zip tie may be zipped and tied around the vertical bars; a chain or rope may be wrapped and tied around the vertical bars; etc.). In an embodiment of attaching the personal article holder 100 to a shopping cart, the personal article holder 100 may be attached to or integrated into a plastic housing (e.g., a plastic housing shaped as a police car, a fire truck, a race car, etc.) comprising one or more seats within which children may be seated (e.g., the personal article holder 100 may be attached to or formed from a same plastic mold as the plastic housing).
[0046] The personal article holder 100 may be attached to a variety of mobile devices, such as attached to an inside of a vehicle (e.g., a car), outside the vehicle, a walker/stroller, a baby stroller, a bike, a scooter, or other mobile device. One or more attachment means may be used to attach the personal article holder 100 to a mobile device, or the personal article holder 100 may be integrated into and is a part of the mobile device.
[0047]
[0048] The elongated body 201 is defined one or more outside sidewalls (e.g., 4 outside sidewalls including a first outside sidewall 202, a second outside sidewall 204, a third outside sidewall, and a fourth outside sidewall). In this way, the elongated body 201 has a square or rectangular tube shape. A hollow interior 210 of the elongated body 201 is defined by one or more inside sidewalls (e.g., 4 inside sidewalls including a first inside sidewall 208, a second inside sidewall 206, a third inside sidewall, and a fourth inside sidewall). The elongated body 201 comprises an open end 203 configured for allowing a personal article to be inserted into the hollow interior 210.
[0049] The personal article holder 200 comprises an attachment means 216. The attachment means 216 is secured to the elongated body 201 by looping through a first opening 220, through the hollow interior 210, and out through a second opening 218. The first opening 220 and the second opening 218 may be located on the same sidewall or different sidewalls (e.g., opposite sidewalls as depicted by
[0050] The personal article holder 200 may be attached to a variety of mobile devices, such as attached to an inside of a vehicle (e.g., a car, a truck, a bus, etc.), outside the vehicle, a walker/stroller, a baby stroller, a bike, a scooter, or other mobile device. One or more attachment means may be used to attach the personal article holder 200 to a mobile device, or the personal article holder 200 may be integrated into and is a part of the mobile device.
[0051]
[0052] The personal article holder 302 may be attached to the shopping cart 300 at various locations, such as inside the basket 304, outside the basket 304, to the handle structure 312, to the basket support structure 310, and/or a combination thereof. For example, the personal article holder 302 is attached to the first side basket frame 306 and/or the rear basket frame 314 using a first attachment means 320 (e.g., a first strap that is secured by snaps) and/or a second attachment means 318 (e.g., a second strap that is secured by snaps or a different type of attachment means than the first attachment means such as Velcro). It may be appreciated that any number of attachment means and/or types or combination of types of attachment means (e.g., a strap and a zip tie; an adhesive and a magnet; etc.) may be utilized.
[0053] The first attachment means 320 may loop around one or more portions of the basket 304, such as a vertical bar 324, in order to attach the personal article holder 302 to the shopping cart 300 (e.g., the first strap may be secured around the vertical bar 324 using snaps or other affixation means, such as Velcro, a button, a knot, an adhesive, etc.). Similarly, the second attachment means 318 may loop around one or more portions of the basket 304, such as the vertical bar 324, in order to attach the personal article holder 302 to the shopping cart 300. In an embodiment, the personal article holder 302 may be removably attached to the shopping cart 300, such that the personal article holder 302 may be removed/detached from the shopping cart 300. In another embodiment, the personal article holder 302 may be integrated into the shopping cart 300, such as welded onto the basket 304 such that the attachment means of the personal article holder 302 are part of the shopping cart 300. In this way, a user of the shopping cart 300 may insert a personal article 316, such as an umbrella or cane, through an open end and into a hollow interior of the personal article holder 302.
[0054] It may be appreciated that the personal article holder 302 may be attached to the shopping cart 300 at various locations and/or angles. For example, the personal article holder 302 may be attached to the shopping cart 300 at an angle to allow for easier insertion and extraction of the personal article 316, as illustrated by
[0055] In another example, the personal article holder 302 may be attached to the front basket frame 308 of the basket 304 using a single attachment means 350, as illustrated by
[0056]
[0057] The personal article holder 418 may comprise an elongated body having a square/rectangular tubular shape with a lip 422 overhanging the elongated body, such that the handle of a cane or umbrella may rest on the lip 422. The personal article holder 418 may be attached to the shopping cart 400 at various locations, such as inside the basket 402, outside the basket 402, to the handle structure 406, to the basket support structure 404, and/or a combination thereof. For example, the personal article holder 418 is attached to the first side basket frame 414 by a single attachment means 416 (e.g., a zip tie). It may be appreciated that any number of attachment means and/or types or combination of types of attachment means (e.g., a strap and a zip tie; an adhesive and a magnet; etc.) may be utilized. The single attachment means 416 may loop around one or more portions of the basket 402, such as one or more horizontal and/or vertical bars, in order to attach the personal article holder 418 to the shopping cart 400. In this way, a user of the shopping cart 400 may insert a personal article, such as an umbrella or cane, through an open end and into a hollow interior defined within the lip 422 and elongated body of the personal article holder 418. It may be appreciated that the personal article holder 418 may be attached to the shopping cart 400 at various locations and/or angles. For example, the personal article holder 418 may be attached to the front basket frame 412 of the shopping cart 400, as illustrated by
[0058]
[0059] The personal article holder 501 may be attached to the motorized shopping cart 500 at various locations, such as inside the basket 504, outside the basket 504, to the seat 502, to the body 520, and/or a combination thereof. For example, the personal article holder 501 is attached to the front basket frame 508 using an attachment means 506 (e.g., an adhesive strip, a magnetic strip, Velcro, a clamp/clasp that is attached to the personal article holder 501 and clamps/clasps around the basket 504, etc.). It may be appreciated that the personal article holder 501 may be attached to the motorized shopping cart 500 at various locations and/or angles. For example, the personal article holder 501 may be attached to the seat 502, an arm of the seat 502, and/or the body 520 of the motorized shopping cart 500, as illustrated by
[0060]
[0061]
[0062] It may be appreciated that a personal article holder may be attached to a variety of mobile devices, such as inside a vehicle (e.g., attached to a door, seat, frame, or other portions inside a vehicle), outside the vehicle (e.g., magnetically attached to the outside of a bus), a walker/stroller, a baby stroller, a bike, a scooter, or other mobile device. One or more attachment means may be used to attach the personal article holder to a mobile device, or the personal article holder may be integrated into and is a part of the mobile device.
[0063] In an embodiment, the personal article holder may be integrated into a mold that is part of an interior of a vehicle, such as a car, van, truck, SUV, etc. (e.g., formed from the same mold of a vehicle door or console). For example, the personal article holder may be an elongated mold or shaft that is part of a door, a console, or other portion of an interior of the vehicle.
[0064]
[0065] The personal article holder 1308 may comprise one or more attachment means, such as a first attachment means 1310, a second attachment means 1312, and/or other attachment means not illustrates. The attachment means may be used to secure the personal article holder 1308 to the luggage 1302 may attaching to the one or more attachment structures of the luggage 1302. For example, the first attachment means 1310 may comprise a button snap attachment means that may snap into the first attachment structure 1304 (a first snap fastener). The second attachment means 1312 may comprise a button snap attachment means that may snap into the second attachment structure 1306 (a second snap fastener). The personal article holder 1308 may comprise other features such as an RFID tag that may be configured to communicate with RFID sensors, such as RFID sensors configured as geo-fences within an airport used to track the location of luggage. In this way, the RFID tag attached to the personal article holder 1308 may be used to locate a position of the luggage 1302 such as in the event the luggage is lost. The personal article holder 1308 may comprise a tracking beacon device, such as a Bluetooth device, that can be used to track the location of the luggage 1302. For example, the tracking beacon device of the personal article holder 1308 may be paired with a mobile device of a user. An application executing on the mobile device may be used to track the location of the luggage 1302 based upon signals received by the mobile device from the tracking beacon device. The personal article holder 1308 may comprise a label with a scan code that is encoded with information about the user, such as an email address, name, and/or phone number. The scan code may be scanned by a scanning device such as a camera of a mobile device in order to identify the owner of the luggage 1302.
[0066] It may be appreciated that the one or more attachment structures on the luggage 1302 may be oriented and positioned in various locations, such as inside an interior of the luggage 1302, outside on an exterior of the luggage 1302, etc. For example, the one or more attachment structures may be positioned at an inclined angle, as illustrated by
[0067] It may be appreciated that other types of attachment structures and/or attachment means may be used to attach the personal article holder 1308 to the luggage 1302. For example, a first looping structure attachment means 1326 (e.g., a zip tie, rope, string, etc.) may loop through a first opening 1324 and a second opening 1334 of the personal article holder 1308 in order to attach to the personal article holder 1308, as illustrated by
[0068] In some embodiments, the personal article holder 1308 may be formed as a molding that is part of the luggage 1302, as illustrated by
[0069]
[0070]
[0071]
[0072] The personal article holder 1602 and/or any of the previously described personal article holders may comprise other shapes, structures, and/or configurations for securing a personal article, such as a cane. For example, the personal article holder 1602 may comprise 1614 a body structure 1614 upon which an attachment means such as the clip attachment means or any other attachment means may attach. One or more clipping structures 1630 may be attached to the body structure 1614 such that a cane or other personal article may clip into and be held by the one or more clipping structures 1630.
[0073] It may be appreciated that the features, such as the attachment means, tracking beacon devices, RFID tags, interactions with applications hosting on mobile computing devices, configuration, shape, attaching to mobile devices, luggage, shopping carts, walkers, etc., integration of a personal article holder into a mobile device or luggage (e.g., personal article holder formed as a mold as part of luggage), and/or other features of the personal article holders described in relation any of the
Further, unless specified otherwise, “first,” “second,” and/or the like are not intended to imply a temporal aspect, a spatial aspect, an ordering, etc. Rather, such terms are merely used as identifiers, names, etc. for features, elements, items, etc. For example, a first object and a second object generally correspond to object A and object B or two different or two identical objects or the same object.
[0074] Moreover, “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, illustration, etc., and not necessarily as advantageous. As used herein, “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or”. In addition, “a” and “an” as used in this application are generally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form. Also, at least one of A and B and/or the like generally means A or B and/or both A and B. Furthermore, to the extent that “includes”, “having”, “has”, “with”, and/or variants thereof are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising”.
[0075] Also, although the disclosure has been shown and described with respect to one or more implementations, equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art based upon a reading and understanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. The disclosure includes all such modifications and alterations and is limited only by the scope of the following claims. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described components (e.g., elements, resources, etc.), the terms used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component which performs the specified function of the described component (e.g., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure. In addition, while a particular feature of the disclosure may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.