Patent Application
20230389678
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The disclosure relates to work belt devices and more particularly pertains to a new work belt device for facilitating manual transport of a load. The present invention discloses a work belt device comprising a harness that incorporates a padded back brace and a plurality of hinged prongs in its belt portion.
The prior art relates to work belt devices. Prior art work belt devices may comprise harnesses with attachable or hingedly attached trays, belts with hingedly attached plates, belt and suspender combinations supporting a plate, and lift assist devices that are configured for attachment to belts. What is lacking in the prior art is a work belt device comprising a harness that incorporates a padded back brace and a plurality of hinged prongs in its belt portion.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a work belt, which comprises a back portion and a front portion. The back portion and the front portion are selectively mutually engageable to secure the work belt around a waist of a user. A pad, which is attached to an inner surface of the back portion, is configured to cushion a back of the user and to enhance support to the back that is provided by the work belt. A pair of prongs is attached to the front portion and protrudes outwardly from the work belt upon donning of the work belt by the user. The prongs are configured to engage a lower surface of a load carried by the user to shift a center of gravity of the load toward the user.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
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:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The second fastener 22 and the associated first fastener 18 may comprises a hook and loop fastener 26, or other fastening means, such as, but not limited to, side release buckles and the like. As shown in
A pad 30, which is attached to an inner surface 32 of the back portion 14, is configured to cushion a back of the user and to enhance support to the back that is provided by the work belt 12. A pair of prongs 34 is attached to the front portion 16 and protrudes outwardly from the work belt 12 upon donning of the work belt 12 by the user. The prongs 34 are configured to engage a lower surface 36 of a load 38 that is being carried by the user to shift a center of gravity of the load 38 toward the user, which makes it easier for the user to bear the load 38.
Each prong 34 is hingedly attached to the front portion 16 so that the prong 34 is selectively positionable in a stowed configuration, as shown in
A coating 40, which is resiliently compressible, is attached to the pair of prongs 34 and is configured to frictionally engage the lower surface 36 of the load 38 and to reduce damage, such as scratching, to the load 38. The coating 40 comprises rubber, silicone, elastomer, or the like.
A pair of straps 42 is attached to and extends between the back portion 14 and the front portion 16 of the work belt 12. The straps 42 are configured to be positioned on shoulders of the user to distribute a weight of the load 38 between the shoulders and the back of the user. The straps 42 are mutually attached and cross proximate to the back portion 14, as shown in
In use, lift assist work belt device 10 is donned by the user by positioning the straps 42 over their shoulders and the back portion 14 and the front portion 16 of the work belt 12 around their waist. The work belt 12 is secured in place using the hook and loop fasteners 26. The user then can hinge the prongs 34 to the deployed configuration. Upon lifting a load 38, the user can rest the load 38 on the prongs 34 to shift a center of gravity of the load 38 toward the user.
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.
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.
