Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6808099
-
Patent Number
6,808,099
-
Date Filed
Wednesday, January 29, 200322 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, October 26, 200420 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
- Polster, Lieder, Woodruff & Lucchesi, L.C.
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 224 637
- 224 638
- 224 639
- 224 262
- 224 578
-
International Classifications
-
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)