This invention relates to a pack having a yoke with front and back pouches. By loading items to be carried into the front and back pouches, the load to be carried can be substantially balanced.
Backpacks are in widespread use by children to transport books and other heavy objects, as well as their lunches and other supplies, to and from school. These backpacks generally have a pouch or sack which rests on the child's back, and straps fitting around the child's shoulders. The newest generation of packs provides lumbar support with hip straps, sternum safety with chest straps, and upper body protection with padded, contoured shoulder straps. The weight of the pack is distributed over the user's back to capitalize on the strength of that part of the body. However, the student or the parent must adjust the straps for varying daily loads to ensure proper usage of the equipment and to ensure overall back health. This is beyond the capability of young children. Defense Department studies have shown that proper distribution of packed weight is critical to a soldier's health, and recent child studies have criticized the preset assortment of packs used to carry school supplies, especially for younger children. Concentrating the weight on the child's back can cause lumbar strain and other back injuries, as well as making the backpack unwieldy to handle.
To overcome these problems, it has been proposed that the backpack load be divided by providing a pack with pockets or compartments at the front and back, so that the load will be distributed between the front and back of the wearer. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,397,392 B1 to Wooley et al. discloses a pack with pockets at the front and back. The pack is in the form of a vest, with the front portion divided at the center. U.S. Pat. No. 6,402,003 B1 to Jackson discloses a pack having front and back compartments which are joined by straps across the shoulders and at the sides. Neither of these patents discloses a pack which can be quickly and easily put on by a child without having to manipulate buckles, zippers, or other such fasteners.
In the present invention, the pack includes a yoke having front, back and center portions. There is an aperture through the central portion for the head of a child or other wearer of the pack. A pouch is located on each of the front and back portions, so that school books and other items can be inserted into the front and back pouches, substantially balancing the load. Flaps extend from the sides of the back portion of the yoke and are attachable to the front portion by hook-and-loop fasteners. This allows the wearer, particularly a younger child, to easily attach the front and back portions together at the wearer's front or sides, while at the same time snugly fitting the pack to the wearer's torso and transferring some of the load from the wearer's shoulders to the torso and hip bones, without having to adjust straps or other devices to compensate for varying loads.
Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide a pack for carrying various items, particularly books and school supplies, in which the items are carried in pouches at the front and back of the wearer, thereby allowing the load to be substantially balanced, as compared to carrying the entire load on the wearer's back.
A further object of the invention is to provide a pack in the form of a yoke having front and back pouches which can be easily put on by a child or other wearer.
A further object of the invention is to provide a pack having front and back pouches in which the front and back portions of the pack are releasably attachable together at the sides by flaps which can be easily fastened and unfastened by the wearer and fit snugly around the torso of the wearer.
Referring to
An opening 16, shown as oval shaped in
On the front portion 10 of the yoke is a front pouch 18, and on the back portion 11 of the yoke is a back pouch 19. Each of these pouches extends across the width of the portion of the yoke on which it is located, from one side to the other. Preferably, as shown in the drawings, each pouch is coextensive, in width and height, with the respective portion of the yoke on which it is located. In order to allow adequate room within each pouch for carrying school books and other bulky items, the pouches 18 and 19 are gusseted, that is, they each have a top panel 20, bottom panel 21 and side panels 22 to provide an adequate interior space The upper end of each pouch is open to allow access to its interior, the openings extending across the top panel 20 of each pouch and partly down each side panel 22 of the pouch. These openings are each closed by a zipper 23, or other suitable means, and the zipper is covered by a flap 24, to provide protection from the weather.
A pocket 25, also closed by a zipper 26 or other suitable fastener, may be provided on the outside of the front and back pouches 18, 19 for holding small objects. Other pockets may be provided inside or outside the pouches, as desired. Also, a padded insert 27 (
In order to join together the sides of the front and back portions of the yoke when the pack is in use, a back flap 28 extends from each side of the back portion. Each back flap is relatively wide at its proximal end where it is joined to the side of the back portion, and tapers to a narrower width at its free distal end 29. As shown, each back flap 28 is located intermediate the bottom edge of the back portion 11 of the yoke and the upper edge of the back pouch 19. Adjacent the distal end of each flap on its interior surface there is attached a piece 30 of hook-and-loop fastener material, such as Velcro®. A corresponding strip 31 of hook-and-loop fastener material extends across the front surface of front pouch 18, so that the flaps may be releasably attached to the front portion of the yoke by attaching pieces 30 to strip 31. Preferably, the pieces 30 are the “hook” pieces of the hook-and-loop fastener and strip 31 is the “loop” material, so that foreign objects and clothing will have less of a tendency to stick to strip 31.
An auxiliary bag 32 may be carried on the back pouch 19. As best shown in
A D-ring 39 may be attached to the central portion 12 of the yoke, preferably midway between the front and back portions, to allow the pack to be hung up when not in use.
One or more strips 40, 41 of reflective material may be provided on the exterior of the front and back pouches, and on the auxiliary bag 32, as desired, in order to make the wearer more visible, particularly at night or in inclement weather.
Alternatively, the front and back portions of the yoke may be joined by providing an additional pair of flaps on the sides of the front pouch, although the single pair of back flaps 28 arrangement shown in
In use of the preferred embodiment, the child or other wearer dons the pack of the invention by inserting his or her head through the opening 16 in the central portion 12 of the yoke. The front and back pouches 18, 19 hang down from the portion of the yoke situated on the wearer's shoulders, and books, school supplies and other items may be placed in the pouches 18, 19 and in the various other pockets, such as 23, provided on the pack. By providing pouches at the front and back of the wearer, the load can be substantially balanced, as compared to a conventional backpack. The width of the parts of the central portion on each side of the opening 16 spreads the load on the shoulders, and the padding 14 in the three portions of the yoke makes the pack more comfortable for the wearer.
After the pack is in place on the wearer's shoulders, the sides of the front and back portions 10, 11 of the yoke are joined by grasping the back flaps 28, pulling them around the waist, and attaching the hook-and-loop pieces 30 to the strip 31 on the front pouch 18. This arrangement allows the pack to be quickly and easily secured around the wearer's body, while simultaneously allowing a snug fit regardless of the size of the wearer's torso. This snug fit tends to transfer some of the load from the wearer's shoulders to the torso and hip bones. Children in particular are able to easily fasten and unfasten the back flaps 28 around their waists without having to manipulate buckles or similar fasteners on straps in order to fasten the straps or adjust their length to fit the wearer and/or compensate for varying loads.
A child's lunch may be carried in the auxiliary bag 32, and pencils, crayons and other items to be used during the school day may be placed in the mesh pocket 37. When the child reaches school, the pack may be hung up by D-ring 39 and the auxiliary bag 32 detached from the pack by undoing the snap hooks on straps 33. The child can then carry around the auxiliary bag during the school day, rather than the entire pack.
While the pack has been described generally with respect to its use by smaller children, it will be apparent that packs of suitably larger sizes may be advantageously used by teenagers and adults.
Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, it is recognized that various modifications and changes may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly the invention is not limited to the precise construction and operation shown and described, but rather encompasses any and all embodiments, and their equivalents, within the scope of the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 60/414,240, filed Sep. 27, 2002.
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