Traditionally, equipment carriers are attached to the handlebars of bicycles and motorcycles and have been used for storage of different supplies and for carrying large articles which could not be carried in the pockets of the bicycle or motorcycle operator. Recently, with the popularity of Walkman-style radios (Walkman is Registered Trademark of Sony Corporation), bicycle and motorcycle operators have wanted to listen to music from these Walkman-type radios, compact disc players and televisions. In the past, because there has been no place on a bicycle for carrying the bulk of the stereo equipment, the bicycle operator has attached the radio to his body, and wears the headphone set to receive the audio signals from the stereo. Problems have been experienced with this method, however, because the radio itself is too bulky to be easily attached to the body of the operator.
Consequently, people have attempted to strap the radio or other audio equipment to the front of the bicycle, without much success. These conventional devices have experienced problems due to turning corners, hitting bumps in the road, and being poorly attached to the vehicle. Carrying devices produced by such prior art methods are inherently unstable due to the manner in which they attach to the bicycle.
Conventional carrying devices are limited in that they are not useful for holding the new, Walkman-style audio equipment onto the bicycle during operation. Attempts in the past to produce carrying articles have met with a certain degree of failure because the carrying article was not specifically designed to contain the recently popularized Walkman-style stereos and other audio equipment.
Radio carriers which enable a bicycle or motorcycle operator to use a personal transistor radio are known, but they are not specific for the popular radios which are utilized by many of today's cyclists. Certain carriers which have met with success incorporate built-in speaker carrier units attached to the bicycle or motorcycle and have been disclosed in various other patents. Examples of previous attempts to provide a adequate carrying system for a radio or the like are described in the following patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,547 issued May 5, 1987 to Villanueva et al. discloses an audio equipment carrier having built-in speakers. The speakers project rearward from the handlebars and are on opposite sides of a front fork control arm. The carrier has a flat top and the audio equipment is held thereon by a releasable strap. A plug and leads provide electrical communication between the audio equipment and the two built-in speakers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,454 issued July 12, 1988 to Villanueva et al. is a continuation-in-part of the above-mentioned '547 patent, and discloses, besides the audio equipment carrier with built-in speakers, equipment to carry a battery and audio amplifiers to enhance the sound produced by the audio equipment. A novel strap and buckle combination is also disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,901 issued July 5, 1988 issued to Villanueva et al. is a division of the '454 patent mentioned above. An audio equipment carrier is again disclosed, and another embodiment of the strap and buckle apparatus is disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,318 issued Jan. 17, 1989 to Cannondale Corporation discloses a bicycle handlebar carrier bag comprising a bracket adapted to be fastened immovably to the bicycle handlebars. Further included is a bag of durable flexible material and a substantially rigid unitary three dimensional frame received within the frame. It does not appear from the disclosure that the carrier bag assembly is designed to carry radios, but rather other stored items.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,380,698 issued Apr. 30, 1968 to Goldberg et al. discloses a bicycle holder for transistor radios having two pairs of superimposed brackets structured for relative longitudinal shifting within predetermined limits to embracively support a small sized radio.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,193,232 issued July 6, 1965 to Hatcher discloses a radio bracket or holder for a small self-contained transistor radio in which the holder or bracket is easily attached to the handlebar of a bicycle, motorcycle or other like vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,588,671 issued Mar. 11, 1952 to Tringali discloses a holder for a radio on vehicle handlebars including a flat plate adapted to be secured to a radio and means for attaching it to the handlebars.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an audio equipment carrier device in accordance with the present invention which will carry a personal Walkman-style stereo or radio system in a location on the handlebars of a bicycle or the like such that the headphones may easily be worn by the bicycle operator.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an audio equipment carrier device which is easily removable from the bicycle to prevent theft.