The present invention relates to a cycle poncho for providing protection against rain by means of a textile to a body of a person on a cycle while riding the cycle.

A known drawback of travel by cycle is getting wet in the case of rain. There are a wide variety of solutions to this, such as raincoats, rain suits and ponchos. The in ^¬ vention relates to an improvement of this latter solution.

An advantage of the poncho compared to a raincoat is that a covering is formed over the legs. A drawback of a known poncho compared to the raincoat is that the poncho is an unwieldy object when it is not being used. The known poncho also requires a high degree of manual skill during use .

It is an object of the present invention to reduce or obviate the drawbacks of the per se already known poncho. The present invention provides for this purpose a cycle poncho for providing protection against rain by means of a textile to a body of a person on a cycle while riding the cycle, the cycle poncho comprising:

- a fold-away body protection assembly for protecting the body against the rain, preferably comprising protec ^¬ tion against rain for the head, back and torso,

- a spanning part extending from the body protection assembly for bridging to a manipulating part,

- a fold-away manipulating part for arranging at the position of the handlebar during cycling, the manipulating part comprising:

- a fold-away stabilizing loop for holding the manip- ulating part at the position of the handlebar, wherein

- the stabilizing loop has a folded-out state with an operational circumference for application during cycling, and - the stabilizing loop has a folded-away state with a storage circumference of a maximum of half the operational circumference .

An important advantage of a cycle poncho according to the present invention is that, by applying the stabilizing loop in the manipulating part, manipulability is improved to significant extent compared to a known cycle poncho without such a stabilizing loop. The stabilizing loop imparts stability during manipulation while cycling. The stabilizing loop also imparts stability in folded-away state of the poncho. The textile of the body protection assembly and the spanning part are arrangeable here in the folded-away stabilizing loop, and a stable, easily manage ^¬ able package is provided. A further advantage of the pre- sent invention is that in folded-away state the package is highly compact compared to the poncho when in use and com ^¬ pared to the prior art poncho, and remains of its own ac ^¬ cord in this compact state.

According to a first preferred embodiment, the stabi- lizing loop in the cycle poncho is manufactured from a flexible metal wire, such as a flexible and/or resilient, windable steel wire. An easily manageable and highly func ^¬ tional operation of the manipulating part is hereby pro ^¬ vided in both the folded-out state and the folded-away state. In the folded-out state there is a high measure of stability for use at the position of the handlebar of the cycle. Created in the folded-up state is a stable disc ^¬ like structure, which disc-like structure preferably has in one view a circular form.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the sta ^¬ bilizing loop is manufactured from a plastic, preferably fibre-reinforced plastic. Similar advantages as those of the previous embodiment can be realized in suitable manner by the skilled person with a choice of material deriving from this description.

The cycle poncho more preferably comprises gripping means for gripping by at least one hand during cycling for the purpose of holding fast at the position of the handle ^¬ bar by means of manual force. The manipulating part can hereby be arranged and manipulated in simple manner at the position of the cycle handlebar. The stabilizing action of the poncho imparted by the stabilizing loop at the posi- tion of the handlebar of the cycle realizes a further high degree of user-friendliness here.

In alternative manner a further embodiment provides attaching means for attaching the manipulating part to the handlebar. Through use of this preferred embodiment the user need put in less effort to hold the manipulating part at the position of the handlebar. The stabilizing action of the stabilizing loop here also contributes toward good operation during cycling. The attaching means preferably comprise for this purpose a hook and loop fastening means or press-studs.

For the purpose of practical handling of the cycle poncho when not cycling, the body protection assembly and the spanning part are suitable for being folded into the manipulating part during folding-away thereof. Being thus arrangeable in the manipulating part provides for easy handling when not cycling, and is for instance also real ^¬ ized by applying a suitable material for the textile with properties such as being thin, light, easily foldable and the like. The body protection assembly more preferably comprises a hood.

For the purpose of realizing advantageous properties the body protection assembly and/or the spanning part and/or the manipulating part comprises a textile meeting a specification of 50-120 denier, preferably 60-110 denier, more preferably 70-100 denier, more preferably 80-90 deni ^¬ er, more preferably 70-85 denier, more preferably 85-100. A material which meets this requirement is for instance a form of pongee. Further examples of materials for the tex ^¬ tile comprise a plastic such as a polyester or nylon.

For the purpose of applying the cycle poncho in rain and during cycling the textile more preferably comprises water-repellent properties.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the ma ^¬ nipulating part in the cycle poncho forms an elongate shape in folded-out state. This achieves that a suitable width of the manipulating part helps to protect the legs to sufficient extent in stable manner. A suitable arrange- ment at the position of the handlebar is likewise realized here. The average skilled person is provided with a suffi ^¬ cient degree of insight within the present disclosure to adapt the dimensions to a specific case of use, such as the size of a person or the size of a cycle handlebar. This applies to all described preferred embodiments. The manipulating part more preferably forms substantially an ellipse here in folded-out state. The manipulating part still more preferably takes up a curved position in the folded-out state for at least partial arrangement round the handlebar.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the ma ^¬ nipulating part is fixable and/or closable in the folded- away state thereof by means of fixation means and/or clos ^¬ ing means. The poncho is hereby secured in the folded state. This also contributes toward keeping the rest of the textile of the cycle poncho confined in the manipulat ^¬ ing part. Fixation means and/or closing means more preferably comprise for this purpose a zip or a hook and loop fastening .

According to a further preferred embodiment, the tex ^¬ tile in the cycle poncho comprises elastic properties, such as a stretch property. The stabilization of the ma- nipulating part can hereby be further improved in a state of use. The stability of the poncho between the handlebar and the person cycling can also be improved.

Further advantages, features and details of the pre ^¬ sent invention will be described in greater detail herein- below on the basis of one or more preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying figures. Similar, though not necessarily identical components of different preferred embodiments are designated with the same refer ^¬ ence numerals.

Fig. 1 and 2 show two schematic views of a first pre ^¬ ferred embodiment according to the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic view of a further preferred embodiment according to the present invention.

Fig. 4 and 5 show a view of a preferred embodiment in folded-away state.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic view of a further preferred embodiment according to the present invention.

A first preferred embodiment (Fig. 1) according to the present invention relates to a cycle poncho 1. The cy- cle poncho comprises a body-covering part 4 having arranged thereon a hood 5, a spanning part 3 and a manipu ^¬ lating part (extended part) 2. Each of these parts makes a contribution toward protecting the cyclist from the rain. A textile is arranged for this purpose in each of these parts. This textile can be the same textile for the whole cycle poncho, but can also comprise different textiles or different types of material. The material is preferably strong and flexible as defined in this document. The body-covering part 4, the hood and the spanning part substantially provide the function of protecting against rain. The manipulating part likewise provides this protection against rain but also provides further func- tionalities according to the invention and embodiments thereof .

A first functionality provided by the manipulating part is that the manipulating part provides a shape at the position of the handlebar with a certain degree of stabil- ity. This shape provides a width which protects the legs of the cyclist. Also realized is that the arrangement at the location of the handlebar can be easily held in posi ^¬ tion .

A further functionality provided by the manipulating part is that the cycle poncho can be brought into and held in a storage state in compact manner. The manipulating part is for this purpose foldable to a folded-away state. Particularly advantageous is when the textile of the body protection part 4, the hood and the spanning part is ar- ranged in this folded-away state within the textile of the manipulating part. A highly compact folded-away cycle pon ^¬ cho is in this case realized and is easy to store and car ^¬ ry .

The manipulating part is provided for this purpose with a windable steel wire 6 or, in alternative manner, optionally a windable synthetic wire. This wire provides a degree of pre-tensioning in both the folded-out and fold ^¬ ed-away states for the purpose of imparting stability to the manipulating part in both states.

In the folded-away state (Fig. 4, 5) a zip fastener

7 is more preferably arranged at the position of the pe ^¬ riphery of the manipulating part. After the rest of the textile of the cycle poncho has been placed within the textile of the manipulating part in the folded-away state, this zip fastener is closable for the purpose of confining the textile. A hook and loop fastening is alternatively provided for this purpose.

As can be seen in Fig. 3, the manipulating part according to a preferred embodiment is curved in the folded- out state that it is arrangeable round the handlebar. This provides for a further protection against the rain.

This embodiment is provided with attaching means 8' for attachment to the handlebar or to the cycle. Provided in alternative manner (Fig. 6) is a grip loop 8 for hold ^¬ ing fast with the hand when the hand is holding the han ^¬ dlebar. This grip loop can be released and gripped again in simple manner, for instance for the purpose of indicat- ing with the hand.

Also shown in Fig. 6 is how the manipulating part is arranged releasably on the spanning part. Provided for this purpose for instance is a zip fastening 9, or this connection is embodied as a hook and loop fastening.

Particularly the spanning part is preferably embod ^¬ ied as a textile with elastic properties. The body protec ^¬ tion assembly 4 is hereby connectable in elastic manner to the manipulating part, whereby the fit' of the cycle pon ^¬ cho is further stabilized.

The present invention has been described in the foregoing on the basis of several preferred embodiments. Different aspects of different embodiments are deemed de ^¬ scribed in combination with each other, wherein all combinations which can be deemed by a skilled person in the field as falling within the scope of the invention on the basis of reading of this document are included. These pre ^¬ ferred embodiments are not limitative for the scope of protection of this document. The rights sought are defined the appended claims.