Patent Grant
10775142
Any and all applications for which a foreign or domestic priority claim is identified in the Application Data Sheet as filed with the present application are hereby incorporated by reference under 37 CFR 1.57.
The present invention is directed to paintball pod harness, and more particularly to a modular paintball pod harness with removable pod holders and double lumbar straps.
Paintball is a popular team sport in which competitors shoot paintballs at each other using a paintball marker or gun, while players move over a field of play (e.g., a wooded or natural environment). Paintballs are loaded into a hopper attached to the marker, such that the hopper feeds paintballs into the marker during use. It is often necessary to reload the hopper with paintballs during a competition, and players usually carry a harness around their waist with pods housing paintballs, allowing them to refill the hopper with paintballs by removing a pod from the harness and engaging it with the hopper to transfer the paintballs from the pod to the hopper.
In accordance with on aspect of the invention, an improved paintball pod harness is provided that allows for adjustment in tension of a belt of the harness, providing improved lumbar support during use and inhibiting (e.g., preventing) shifting, bouncing or movement of the harness on the player's back during use. Such inhibiting (e.g., preventing) of shifting, bouncing or movement of the harness on the player's body during use can reduce noise generated by such movement of the harness, and therefore facilitating the player's ability to move through a field of play without being heard (e.g., move surreptitiously).
In one implementation, the paintball pod harness has a main belt with a pair of primary straps attached to a backplate of the harness, the primary straps coupleable to each other to couple the harness about the player's waist. The harness also has a secondary belt with a pair of secondary straps attached to the backplate of the harness, the secondary straps configured to extend through openings in the harness (e.g., the backplate of the harness) and to removably couple to an outer surface of the primary straps. The secondary straps are elastic and configured to be stretched relative to the primary straps to tighten the backplate onto the player's back.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, an improved paintball pod harness is provided with removable paintball pod holders, each holder removably coupleable to a backplate of the harness, and adjustable to adjust a tension provided by the pod holder to the pod that is inserted in it.
In accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, a paintball pod harness is provided. The harness comprises a support plate having a rear surface configured to face a user's lower back when the harness is worn by the user. The harness also comprises a pair of primary straps extending from opposite ends of the back plate and configured to extend about the user's waist and removably couple to each other when the harness is worn by the user. The harness also comprises a pair of secondary straps attached to the rear surface of the support plate and configured to extend through a pair of openings in the support plate. At least a portion of the pair of secondary straps are elastic, the pair of secondary straps configured to releasably couple to a front surface of the pair of primary straps. A plurality of holsters is attached to the support plate, the holsters defining a channel extending from an opening configured to resiliently receive at least a portion of a pod of paintballs therein. The pair of secondary straps are configured to be stretched while detached from the pair of primary straps to adjust a tension of the harness on the user and configured to be coupled pair of primary straps in the stretched position. Increasing the stretching of the secondary straps is configured to further pull the support plate against the user's back when the harness is worn by the user.
In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a paintball pod harness is provided. The harness comprises a support plate having a rear surface configured to face a user's lower back when the harness is worn by the user. The harness also comprises a pair of primary straps extending from opposite ends of the back plate and configured to extend about the user's waist and removably couple to each other when the harness is worn by the user. The harness also comprises a pair of secondary straps attached to the rear surface of the support plate and configured to extend through a pair of openings in the support plate. At least a portion of the pair of secondary straps is elastic, the pair of secondary straps configured to releasably couple to a front surface of the pair of primary straps. The harness also comprises a plurality of holsters removably attached to the support plate, the holsters defining a channel configured to resiliently receive at least a portion of a pod of paintballs therein. The pair of secondary straps are configured to be stretched while detached from the pair of primary straps to adjust a tension of the harness on the user and configured to be coupled pair of primary straps in the stretched position. Increasing the stretching of the secondary straps is configured to further pull the support plate against the user's back when the harness is worn by the user.
In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a paintball pod harness is provided. The harness comprises a support plate having a rear surface configured to face a user's lower back when the harness is worn by the user. The harness also comprises a pair of straps extending from opposite ends of the back plate and configured to extend about the user's waist and removably couple to each other when the harness is worn by the user. The harness also comprises a plurality of holsters removably attached to the support plate, the holsters defining a channel configured to resiliently receive at least a portion of a pod of paintballs therein. A tension provided by each of the plurality of holsters is adjustable by detaching the first and second elastic material portions from each other and reattaching the first and second material portions to each other so that their fasteners overlap relative to each other by a different amount.
The harness 100 has a support plate (e.g., a back plate) 30 with one or more (e.g., a plurality, multiple) holsters 20, each sized to at least partially receive pod of paintballs. In one implementation, as further discussed below, the one or more holsters 20 are removable and adjustable relative to the back plate 30.
A pair of primary straps 12A, 12B attach (e.g., are sewn) to opposite ends (e.g., left portion, right portion) of the back plate 30 (e.g., via a seam 13). The pair of primary straps 12A, 12B define a main belt portion of the harness 100 that can be wrapped around the user's waist to attach the harness 100 to the user by attaching the primary straps 12A, 12B to each other so that a rear surface of the primary straps 12A, 12B face the user's body. In one implementation, the primary straps 12A, 12B releasably attach to each other with hoop-and-loop fasteners, such as VELCRO®. However, other coupling mechanisms (e.g., belt and belt-buckle) can be used to releasably attach the primary straps 12A, 12B together. In one implementation, at least a portion of each of the primary straps 12A, 12B is elastic (e.g., can resiliently stretch). For example, the primary straps 12A, 12B have a portion made of a stretchable material (e.g. a 2-way stretch material), such as elastane, Spandex or Lycra. Other suitable stretchable materials can be used.
The harness 100 has a pair of secondary straps 14A, 14B attached (e.g., sewn) to a rear surface of the back plate 30 (e.g., via a seam 36). In one implementation, the pair of secondary straps 14A, 14B are attached (e.g., sewn) approximately along a center axis of the back plate 30. The secondary straps 14A, 14B, can extend (e.g., movably or slidably pass) through openings 32 in the back plate 30 onto a front side of the primary straps 12A, 12B. The secondary straps 14A, 14B can releasably attach (e.g., with hoop-and-loop fasteners, such as VELCRO®) to a front surface of the primary straps 12A, 12B.
In one implementation, at least a portion of each of the secondary straps 14A, 14B is elastic (e.g., can resiliently stretch). In one implementation, the secondary straps 14A, 14B are more elastic (e.g., can stretch more) than the primary straps 12A, 12B. In another implementation, the secondary straps 14A, 14B are less elastic than the primary straps 12A, 12B. In another implementation, the secondary straps 14A, 14B are approximately as elastic as the primary straps 12A, 12B. For example, the secondary straps 14A, 14B have a portion made of a stretchable material (e.g. a 2-way stretch material), such as elastane, Spandex or Lycra. Other suitable stretchable materials can be used. The secondary straps 14A, 14B advantageously allow a user to adjust the tension of the harness 100 on the user's body. For example, the user can pull on the secondary straps 14A, 14B, as further discussed below, and attach the stretched secondary straps 14A, 14B to the primary straps 12A, 12B to thereby bring the back plate 30 (e.g. a rear surface of the back plate 30) closer to the user's body. The user can adjust the level of tension via the amount the secondary straps 14A, 14B are stretched before they are attached to the primary straps 12A, 12B.
With reference to
Detaching the flap 34 from the rear surface of the back plate 30 allows access to the location of the back plate 30 that each holster 20 attaches to, as further discussed below. As shown in
With reference to
While certain embodiments of the inventions have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. Indeed, the novel methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the systems and methods described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the present inventions is defined only by reference to the appended claims.
Features, materials, characteristics, or groups described in conjunction with a particular aspect, embodiment, or example are to be understood to be applicable to any other aspect, embodiment or example described in this section or elsewhere in this specification unless incompatible therewith. All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive. The protection is not restricted to the details of any foregoing embodiments. The protection extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.
Furthermore, certain features that are described in this disclosure in the context of separate implementations can also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation can also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations, one or more features from a claimed combination can, in some cases, be excised from the combination, and the combination may be claimed as a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.
Moreover, while operations may be depicted in the drawings or described in the specification in a particular order, such operations need not be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. Other operations that are not depicted or described can be incorporated in the example methods and processes. For example, one or more additional operations can be performed before, after, simultaneously, or between any of the described operations. Further, the operations may be rearranged or reordered in other implementations. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in some embodiments, the actual steps taken in the processes illustrated and/or disclosed may differ from those shown in the figures. Depending on the embodiment, certain of the steps described above may be removed, others may be added. Furthermore, the features and attributes of the specific embodiments disclosed above may be combined in different ways to form additional embodiments, all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Also, the separation of various system components in the implementations described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and it should be understood that the described components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single product or packaged into multiple products.
For purposes of this disclosure, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features are described herein. Not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment. Thus, for example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves one advantage or a group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.
Conditional language, such as “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements, and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements, and/or steps are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features, elements, and/or steps are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.
Conjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y, and Z,” unless specifically stated otherwise, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to convey that an item, term, etc. may be either X, Y, or Z. Thus, such conjunctive language is not generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require the presence of at least one of X, at least one of Y, and at least one of Z.
Language of degree used herein, such as the terms “approximately,” “about,” “generally,” and “substantially” as used herein represent a value, amount, or characteristic close to the stated value, amount, or characteristic that still performs a desired function or achieves a desired result. For example, the terms “approximately”, “about”, “generally,” and “substantially” may refer to an amount that is within less than 10% of, within less than 5% of, within less than 1% of, within less than 0.1% of, and within less than 0.01% of the stated amount. As another example, in certain embodiments, the terms “generally parallel” and “substantially parallel” refer to a value, amount, or characteristic that departs from exactly parallel by less than or equal to 15 degrees, 10 degrees, 5 degrees, 3 degrees, 1 degree, or 0.1 degree.
The scope of the present disclosure is not intended to be limited by the specific disclosures of preferred embodiments in this section or elsewhere in this specification, and may be defined by claims as presented in this section or elsewhere in this specification or as presented in the future. The language of the claims is to be interpreted broadly based on the language employed in the claims and not limited to the examples described in the present specification or during the prosecution of the application, which examples are to be construed as non-exclusive.
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