Patent Application
20240147956
The technical field of the disclosed embodiments relate to personal pet carriers. More particularly, the disclosed embodiments relate to pet carriers with a backpack or front pack harness system.
Pet owners may enjoy engaging in activities with their pets, such as travel, hiking, or other activities that require extended periods of walking which their pets may not be capable of due to the pet's size, age, or various health issues. Such pet owners may seek a solution that allows them to participate in activities they find enjoyable and include their pet companion with which they may not otherwise be capable of enjoying with them.
One possible solution is the use of a pet carrying harness system, or pet carrier. Various types of pet carriers are available, some of which enable the pet owner to secure the pet to their person in a backpack or front pack configuration.
Typically, these types of pet carriers require the user to insert the pet's hind legs through holes in the lower portion of the pet carrier or place the pet's lower body in an open bag-like structure, which may then be zipped up to secure the pet. However, in either case, the pet may buck and kick during the procedure, which may be frustrating for both the pet owner and the pet, and increase the time and difficulty of securing the pet in the carrier.
Disclosed are various embodiments of a personal pet carrier. The personal pet carrier may include a bag portion to house the lower body of a pet. The sides of the bag may include open slits to facilitate scooping the pet's hind quarters and lower body into the bag. Side adjustment straps are provided near the top of the slits. The side adjustment straps may be attached to one side of the slit and include buckles on the other end to enable adjustment of the straps and to connect with a receiving piece on the other side of the slit.
A pair of shoulder straps may include a bottom portion attached to the bottom of the bag and a top portion with a hook piece. The bag may include loops on both the front and back sides of the bag to accept the hook piece in either a backpack configuration or a front pack configuration, respectively.
A molle harness system may be attached to the back of the bag on each side adjacent to a corresponding slit. A molle adjustment piece may be inserted into a molle appropriate for the size of the pet, and may include the side strap buckle receiving piece.
A collar strap may be connected adjacent to a top side of the back side of the bag portion. The collar strap may be attached near the top side of the bag portion at one end, and include a releasable connector at the other end. The connector may be a buckle system or hook-and-loop connector.
A choke prevention strap may be connected between the collar strap and the front side of the bag portion to prevent the pet from lifting its neck or climbing on the user's shoulders and possibly choking.
In an embodiment, a personal pet carrier 100 may be configurable in a backpack configuration or a front pack configuration.
The bag portion 102 may be made available in different sizes for different sized pets. Side adjustment straps 106 may be provided near the top of each slit to further accommodate different sized pets. A ladder-style, or molle, harness system 108 may be provided on each side of the back side of the bag portion 102 to even further accommodate different sized pets. Each side of the strap system may include a number of molles 110. A T-shaped molle adjustment piece 112 may be placed in a desired molle for connection to the associated adjustment strap. The adjustment straps may include snap buckles 114. The snap buckles may include a male portion, e.g., a stud, (not shown) that snaps into a socket 116 in the associated molle adjustment piece.
A pair of shoulder straps 118 may be provided for carrying the bag. The shoulder straps may include buckles 120 for adjusting the length of the straps to fit a user. A bottom portion 122 of each of a pair of should straps 118 may be attached near the bottom of the bag portion 102, e.g., by stitching. In the backpack configuration, a top portion 124 of each shoulder strap 118 may be connected to the front side of the bag portion 102, as shown in
A collar strap 130 to be fit around the pet's throat region may be connected near the top of the front side of bag portion 102. One end of the collar strap 130 may be attached to the bag portion 102, e.g, by stitching, and the other end may be connected to another position on the front side of the bag portion by a locking buckle 132, e.g., a side release clip. The collar strap 130 may be adjusted, for example, via the buckle 132, to accommodate the size of the pet's neck. A choke prevention strap 134 may be connected at one end near the center of the collar strap 130 and at the other end to the front side of the bag portion using an adjustment buckle 136. The choke prevention strap 134 may prevent the pet from a possible choking situation by limiting the upward movement of the pet's head and neck.
Once the pet is secured in the bag portion 102 and the belts and buckles secured, the user may secure the pet to their person using the shoulder straps.
The foregoing method descriptions and diagrams/figures are provided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that the operations of various aspects must be performed in the order presented. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the order of operations in the aspects described herein may be performed in any order. Words such as “thereafter,” “then,” “next,” etc. are not intended to limit the order of the operations; such words are used to guide the reader through the description of the methods and systems described herein. Further, any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles “a,” “an,” or “the,” is not to be construed as limiting the element to the singular.
The preceding description of the disclosed aspects is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make, implement, or use the claims. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects without departing from the scope of the claims. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the aspects illustrated herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the claims disclosed herein.
