Pickleball Warming Device

Abstract

A pickleball warming device generally includes a housing, a heating assembly, and a power source. The housing includes a chamber designed to temporarily hold a plurality of pickleballs therein and a cover assembly to open and close the chamber. The heating assembly is positioned in the housing and adjacent the chamber to heat pickleballs in the chamber to a temperature sufficient to minimize damage to pickleballs when playing in colder temperatures. The power source is positioned in the housing and operatively connected to the heating assembly to supply electricity to the heating assembly.

Claims

1. A pickleball warming device comprising: a housing comprising a chamber configured to temporarily hold a plurality of pickleballs therein and a cover assembly to open and close said chamber; a heating assembly disposed in said housing and adjacent said chamber to heat pickleballs in said chamber to a temperature sufficient to minimize damage to pickleballs when playing in colder temperatures; and a power source disposed in said housing and operatively connected to said heating assembly to supply electricity to said heating assembly.

2. The pickleball warming device of claim 1, wherein said housing is elongated and comprises a side wall and two end walls.

3. The pickleball warming device of claim 2, wherein said chamber is cylindrical and has a diameter substantially similar to a diameter of a standard pickleball.

4. The pickleball warming device of claim 2, wherein said cover assembly comprises a cap removably attached to and forming one of said two end walls.

5. The pickleball warming device of claim 2, wherein said cover assembly comprises a slidable door forming a portion of said side wall, wherein said slidable door is slidable in a telescoping manner into and out of an adjacent portion of said side wall.

6. The pickleball warming device of claim 2, wherein said side wall comprises an outer side wall portion and an inner side wall portion disposed within and spaced apart from said outer side wall portion, wherein said heating assembly is disposed in the space between said outer side wall portion and said inner side wall portion.

7. The pickleball warming device of claim 6, wherein said outer side wall portion comprises an insulating material to retain heat within said housing and said inner side wall portion comprises a thermally conductive material to transfer heat to pickleballs in said chamber.

8. The pickleball warming device of claim 1, wherein said heating assembly comprises a plurality of radiant heating elements.

9. The pickleball warming device of claim 8, wherein said heating elements comprise coils surrounding said chamber.

10. The pickleball warming device of claim 1, wherein said power source comprises a rechargeable battery and a charging port.

11. The pickleball warming device of claim 1, wherein said power source comprises a switch disposed on an exterior surface of said housing to turn said power source on and off.

12. The pickleball warming device of claim 1, wherein further comprising a support ring pivotably attached to an outer surface of said housing.

13. The pickleball warming device of claim 2, wherein said cover assembly comprises: a cap removably attached to and forming one of said two end walls; and a slidable door forming a portion of said side wall, wherein said slidable door is slidable in a telescoping manner into and out of an adjacent portion of said side wall.

14. A pickleball warming device comprising: a housing comprising a chamber configured to temporarily hold a plurality of pickleballs therein and a cover assembly to open and close said chamber, wherein: said housing is elongated and comprises a side wall and two end walls, said chamber is cylindrical and has a diameter substantially similar to a diameter of a standard pickleball, said cover assembly comprises a cap removably attached to and forming one of said two end walls, said cover assembly comprises a slidable door forming a portion of said side wall, wherein said slidable door is slidable in a telescoping manner into and out of an adjacent portion of said side wall, said side wall comprises an outer side wall portion and an inner side wall portion disposed within and spaced apart from said outer side wall portion, wherein said heating assembly is disposed in the space between said outer side wall portion and said inner side wall portion, and said outer side wall portion comprises an insulating material to retain heat within said housing and said inner side wall portion comprises a thermally conductive material to transfer heat to pickleballs in said chamber; a heating assembly disposed in said housing and adjacent said chamber to heat pickleballs in said chamber to a temperature sufficient to minimize damage to pickleballs when playing in colder temperatures, wherein: said heating assembly comprises a plurality of radiant heating elements, said heating elements comprise coils surrounding said chamber; a power source disposed in said housing and operatively connected to said heating assembly to supply electricity to said heating assembly, wherein: said power source comprises a rechargeable battery and a charging port, said power source comprises a switch disposed on an exterior surface of said housing to turn said power source on and off; and a support ring pivotably attached to an outer surface of said housing.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

[0011] The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

[0012] FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a pickleball warming device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0013] FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0014] FIG. 3 is a top cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0015] FIG. 4 is a bottom view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0016] FIG. 5 is a diagram of components of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0017] FIG. 6 is a top perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the disclosure.

[0018] FIG. 7 is a bottom perspective view of the alternative embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 7 thereof, a new pickleball warming device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

[0020] As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 7, the pickleball warming device 10 generally comprises a housing 12, a heating assembly 14, and a power source 16. The housing 12 includes a chamber 18 designed to temporarily hold a plurality of pickleballs 70 therein and a cover assembly 20 to open and close the chamber 18. The heating assembly 14 is positioned in the housing 12 and adjacent the chamber 18 to heat pickleballs 70 in the chamber 18 to a temperature sufficient to minimize damage to pickleballs 70 when playing in colder temperatures. The power source 16 is positioned in the housing 12 and operatively connected to the heating assembly 14 to supply electricity to the heating assembly 14.

[0021] The housing 12 is elongated and includes a side wall 22 and two end walls 24. The chamber 18 is cylindrical and has a diameter substantially similar to a diameter of a standard pickleball. The cover assembly 20 includes a cap 26 removably attached to and forming one of the two end walls 24. The cap 26 is attachable to the side wall 22 by friction fit or screw threads or similar. The cover assembly 20 also includes a slidable door 28 forming a portion of the side wall 22, wherein the slidable door 28 is slidable in a telescoping manner into and out of an adjacent portion of the side wall 22. The cover assembly 20 can include only the cap 26, only the slidable door 28, or both the cap 26 and the slidable door 28 as shown in FIG. 1.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 3, the side wall 22 includes an outer side wall portion 30 and an inner side wall portion 32 positioned within and spaced apart from the outer side wall portion 30, wherein the heating assembly 14 is positioned in the space between the outer side wall portion 30 and the inner side wall portion 32. The outer side wall portion 30 includes an insulating material to retain heat within the housing 12 and the inner side wall portion 32 includes a thermally conductive material to transfer heat to pickleballs 70 in the chamber 18.

[0023] The heating assembly 14 includes a plurality of radiant heating elements 34. The heating elements 34 are in the form of coils surrounding the chamber 18, or possibly elongated wires running along the length of the chamber 18.

[0024] The power source 16 includes a rechargeable battery 36 and a charging port or power port 38, as well as a switch 40 positioned on an exterior surface of the housing 12 to turn the power source 16 on and off. FIG. 5 shows a diagram of the relationship between these components. A power cord can be inserted into the charging port 38 for charging the battery 36.

[0025] FIG. 6 shows an alternative embodiment in which the pickleball warming device 10 further includes a support ring 42 pivotably attached to an outer surface of the housing 12.

[0026] The pickleball warming device 10 is used when playing pickleball in colder temperatures. Cold or colder temperatures can make a pickleball brittle and susceptible to cracking or breaking during play. In order to minimize or prevent such damage, the user inserts one or more pickleballs 70 into the chamber 18. The user can access the chamber 18 by removing the cap 26 or sliding the slidable door 28, depending on the design of the housing 12. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the user can remove the cap 26 and drop or insert pickleballs 70 into the chamber 18. The slidable door 28 allows the user to easily gain access to the pickleballs 70 to remove them from the chamber 18. While the pickleballs 70 are stored, the user presses the switch and turns on the power source 16, which in turn causes the heating elements 34 to heat up and warm the pickleballs 70 to a temperature suitable for play.

[0027] With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0028] Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. 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 element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.