Sternum strap attachment

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6808099
  • Patent Number
    6,808,099
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, January 29, 2003
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, October 26, 2004
    20 years ago
Abstract
The present disclosure provides a backpack comprising a pair of shoulder straps, a plurality of attachment loops attached to at least a peripheral edge of the shoulder straps and a sternum strap removably attached to the attachment loops.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




In the past, sternum straps for backpacks have been known. Generally, sternum straps are used to attach the two shoulder straps of a backpack across the sternum of the wearer and prevent the straps from sliding off the shoulders of the wearer or to an uncomfortable or unsafe position.




Referring to

FIG. 5

, prior art sternum straps generally comprise a length of material


100


sewn to a face


102


of backpack shoulder straps


104


at opposite ends A and B thereof. A sternum strap


106


then attaches to each length of material


100


by looping around the length of material


100


and being sewn to itself. In this manner the sternum strap


106


slides between point A and B and cannot be held in any single position along the length of material


100


. The sternum strap


106


further includes a buckle


108


. As can be see from the

FIG. 5

, the sternum strap


106


of the prior art attaches to the face


102


of the shoulder strap


104


. This causes the sternum strap to provide a rotating force to shoulder strap


104


such that the shoulder strap


102


no longer lies flat on the chest and shoulders of the wearer. In turn this causes the backpack wearer to suffer discomfort as well as causing the back pack to have a poor appearance.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




In its most broad aspect the present invention comprises a backpack comprising a pair of shoulder straps, a plurality of attachment loops attached to at least a peripheral edge of the shoulder straps and a sternum strap removably attached to the attachment loops.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a plan view of shoulder straps and sternum strap according to an embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a plan view of a shoulder strap according to another embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 3

is a plan view of a shoulder strap according to another embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 4

is a plan view of attachment loops used with the shoulder strap embodiment of

FIG. 3

;





FIGS. 5A and 5B

are a side and top plan views of a sternum, strap used in accordance with the present invention; and





FIG. 6

is a plan view of shoulder straps and a sternum strap according to the prior art.











DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




While the invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and described in detail preferred embodiments of the invention. It is to be understood that the present disclosure is to be considered only as an example of the principles of the invention. This disclosure is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the illustrated embodiments. The scope of protection should only be limited by the claims.




Referring to

FIG. 1

, there is shown a pair of shoulders straps


10


,


11


for use with a backpack. Attached to the straps


10


,


11


are a plurality of sternum strap attachment loops


12


and


12


′. The shoulder straps


10


,


11


are constructed by sewing or otherwise attaching two pieces of material at the outer periphery of the shoulder straps


10


,


11


of FIG.


1


. For the purposes of the patent application, it shall be understood the term peripheral edge or periphery of the shoulder straps shall be defined as the general outer periphery of the shoulder straps as viewed in FIG.


1


. The sternum strap attachment loops


12


are attached by placing the loops


12


between the pieces of material of the shoulder straps


10


,


11


before they are sewn together. The loops


12


are then placed between the pieces of material when sewing the two halves of the shoulder straps


10


,


11


together.




Referring to

FIGS. 5A and 5B

, a sternum strap


20


according to the present invention is shown. The sternum strap


20


comprises a first C-clip


22


attached to a length of material


24


forming a first strap


24


. The strap


24


is threaded through the C-clip


22


and sewn to itself at location C. The strap


24


is further threaded through a first buckle portion


26


and sewn to itself at a location D. Also attached to the strap


24


is an elastic portion


28


. The elastic portion


28


is attached to the strap


24


at the locations C and D and, in its unstretched length, is shorter than a length of the strap


24


. A second buckle portion


30


is attached to a length of material forming a second strap


32


that threaded through it. The strap


32


is further threaded through a second C-clip


34


and sewn to itself at a location E. The strap


32


threads through the second buckle portion


30


such that the maximum distance between the buckle


30


and C-clip


34


may be adjusted, as is known in the art. The first buckle portion


26


and second buckle portion


30


are removably attachable, as is also known in the art. The strap


24


and the elastic portion


28


are sewn together to provide an expanding tensioning portion such that the sternum strap


20


will not fit loosely across the wearer's chest but will expand to allow movement of the wearer without excessive tightness of the straps


24


,


32


.




Referring back to

FIG. 1

, the sternum strap


20


is attachable to the attachment loops


12


by inserting the attachment loop into the opening formed by the C-clips


22


or


34


. In this manner the sternum strap pulls only upon the edge the shoulder strap


10


and does not provide a rotating force to the shoulder strap


10


.




The attachment loops


12


may also be attached to the shoulder strap


10


as shown in conjunction with shoulder strap


11


. As with shoulder strap


11


, the attachment loops


12


′ are attached by sewing one end of the attachment loop into the seam of the shoulder strap as with shoulder strap


10


and sewing a second end of the shoulder strap to a face


13


of the shoulder strap


11


. In this manner the attachment loops


12


′ are more tightly conform to the profile of the shoulder strap and may provide an appearance that is more pleasing to some wearers. The C-clips


22


,


34


are attached to the attachment loops


12


′ in the same manner as the attachment loops


12


.




Referring to

FIG. 2

, the attachment loops


12


may also be attached to the shoulder strap


10


′ as shown with respect to attachment loops


12


″. With shoulder strap


10


′ a front portion


42


of the shoulder strap


10


′ is sewn to a second front portion


44


. The attachment loops


12


″ are attached to the shoulder strap


10


′ by sewing one end of the attachment loops


12


″ into the seam between the front and back portions of the shoulder strap


10


′ as with the shoulder strap


10


of FIG.


1


and sewing the second end of the attachment loop


12


″ into the seam where the front portion


42


and the second front portion


44


are sewn together. In this manner the tight conformity of the attachment loop


12


″ to the periphery of the shoulder strap


10


′ is maintained and while adding the benefit of hiding the ends of the attachment loops


12


″ from view.




Referring to

FIGS. 3 and 4

, an alternative method of providing the attachment loops


12


is provided. In

FIGS. 3 and 4

, attachment loops


12


′″ are provided by single a single piece of material


50


. The material has one or more holes


52


cut within it. When a right side


54


of the material


50


is folded over onto a left side


56


of the material and sewn between the seam attaching the front portion


42


of the shoulder strap


10


and the rear portion of the shoulder strap


10


, attachment loops


12


′″ are formed.




While it is shown and described that a front and a back portion of the shoulder straps comprises two pieces of material sewn together is should further be understood the front and the back portion of the shoulder strap could comprise a single piece of material folded over upon itself and sewn along a portion of the periphery of the shoulder strap nearest the opposite shoulder strap without departing from the scope of the present invention.




While the specific embodiments have been illustrated and described, numerous modifications come to mind without significantly departing from the spirit of the invention, and the scope of protection is only limited by the scope of the accompanying claims.



Claims
  • 1. A backpack comprising:a pair of shoulder straps; a plurality of attachment loops attached to at least a peripheral edge of the shoulder straps; and a sternum strap removably attached to the attachment loops.
  • 2. The backpack of claim 1 wherein the shoulder straps each comprise two pieces of material sewn together at the peripheral edge of each shoulder strap and the attachment loops are attached to each shoulder strap by sewing them between the two pieces of material.
  • 3. The backpack of claim 2 wherein the sternum strap is attached to the attachment loops to each shoulder strap by the use of C-clips.
  • 4. The backpack of claim 1 wherein the shoulder straps each comprise two pieces of material sewn together at the peripheral edge of each shoulder strap and the attachment loops are attached to each shoulder strap by sewing a first end of the attachment loop between the two pieces of material and sewing a second end of the attachment loop to a face of the shoulder strap.
  • 5. The backpack of claim 4 wherein the sternum strap is attached to the attachment loops to each shoulder strap by the use of C-clips.
  • 6. The backpack of claim 1wherein the shoulder straps each comprise three pieces of material wherein the two of the pieces are sewn together to form a front portion of the shoulder strap and the third piece of material form a back portion of the shoulder strap wherein the front piece of material is sewn to the back piece of material to form the shoulder strap and wherein the attachment loops are sewn at one end between the front and back pieces of material and sewn at another end between the two piece that form the front portion of the shoulder strap.
  • 7. The backpack of claim 6 wherein the sternum strap is attached to the attachment loops to each shoulder strap by the use of C-clips.
  • 8. The backpack of claim 1 wherein the shoulder straps each comprise two pieces of material sewn together at the peripheral edge of each shoulder strap and the attachment loops comprise a piece of material having at least one cutout portion in a central region thereof and wherein the material is doubled over upon itself and sewn between the front and back portions of the shoulder strap.
  • 9. The backpack of claim 8 wherein the sternum strap is attached to the attachment loops to each shoulder strap by the use of C-clips.
  • 10. A backpack comprising:a first shoulder strap having a plurality of attachment loops having at least one end attached directly to a periphery of the first shoulder strap; a second shoulder strap having a plurality of attachment loops having at least one end attached directly to a periphery of the second shoulder strap; and a sternum strap removably attached to one of the attachment loops of the first shoulder strap and removably attached to one of the attachment loops of the second shoulder strap.
  • 11. The backpack of claim 10 wherein the attachment of the sternum strap to the attachment loops of the first and second shoulder straps is accomplished by a “C” clip.
  • 12. The backpack of claim 10 wherein the sternum strap further comprises a buckle.
  • 13. The backpack of claim 10 wherein the attachment loops are attached to the shoulder strap by sewing first and second ends of the attachment loop between front and rear pieces of material forming the shoulder strap.
  • 14. The back of claim 10 wherein the attachment loops are attached to the shoulder strap by sewing first ends between front and rear pieces of material forming the shoulder strap and a second end of the attachment loop.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Number Name Date Kind
268932 Poirier Dec 1882 A
5961014 Knerr Oct 1999 A
6179175 Painter Jan 2001 B1
6607107 Dexheimer Aug 2003 B2