PAD FOR SHOULDER STRAP

Abstract

A webbed shoulder pad is for use with a shoulder carrying strap. The pad has opposing ends which, in use, attach to a shoulder strap, and a plurality of tendon bands having opposing ends, and at least two nodes. Each tendon band extends between a pair of nodes, and each tendon band is spaced apart and disconnected from other said tendon bands between said nodes. The tendon bands thereby form a web arrangement which extends between the opposing ends of said pad.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to shoulder straps for bags such as laptop bags which enable such bags to be carried over the shoulder, and more particularly to pads for use with such straps to make their use more comfortable to the user.

2. The Prior Art

Shoulder straps are very commonly provided on bags such as sports bags, hand bags, laptop bags and the like so as to enable the bag to be carried by the user on their shoulder, thereby freeing their hands. Often, such bags can be heavy, and a simply shoulder strap can cut into the wearer's shoulder, causing discomfort. Also, the material of the typical strap does not grip very well to typical textile material of a top or coat of the user on which the strap engages. This can lead to the strap continually slipping off the shoulder, which causes annoyance to the user.

In order to overcome these problems, it is known to provide a pad on the shoulder strap which engages between the strap and the shoulder of the wearer. The pad has a larger surface area than the strap so as to spread the load over a larger area on the shoulder of the wearer and is also padded with foam or the like. Both of these elements are aimed at increasing comfort to the wearer. The surface of the pad which, in use, is directed towards the users shoulder is also commonly coated. with a material and/or finished in a manner which increases grip so as try to prevent the problem of the strap slipping off the shoulder of the wearer.

Whilst these provisions are an improvement over the use of a simple strap, in practice the problems still exist, and there is, therefore, a need for an improved shoulder pad which overcomes these and other problems known with existing shoulder carry straps,

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a webbed shoulder pad for use with a shoulder carrying strap, the pad having a lower engagement surface which, in use, engages against the shoulder, of a user, an upper surface which, in use, faces away from the shoulder of the user, opposing ends which, in use, attach to a shoulder strap, a plurality of tendon bands having opposing ends, and at least two nodes, each tendon band extending between a pair of nodes, each tendon band being spaced apart and disconnected from other said tendon bands between said nodes at least at the lower surface of the pad., whereby said tendon bands form a web arrangement which extends between the opposing ends of said pad.

A shoulder pad in accordance with the invention has the advantage that the webbed configuration has a larger number of edges to the pad as compared with prior art designs. As a result, the lateral grip of the pad is improved which gives improved resistance to slipping down. Furthermore, the distribution of the edges across the pad means that the pad is better able to grip in the natural creases and contours of a wears body and clothing, further improving the resistance to slipping down the shoulder. The webbed design also means that the pad better moulds to fit the contours of the wearer's shoulder meaning that the whole surface of the pad will fully engage against the wearer's shoulder. This increases comfort as compared with the prior art, even for designs where the actual surface area of the lower surface if less than that of a conventional solid design, and also further improves grip, The openings also act as vents which help to circulate air creating less sweat.

The pad of the invention may be permanently fastened to a shoulder strap but is preferably removably attached thereto so as to enable retro fitting to existing straps. To that end, fastening means may be provided on each end for releasably attaching the pad to a strap. Such fastening means may enable attachment between ends of a strap but preferably enable the pad to be secured to a middle section of an unbroken strap. For example, loops may be provided on each end of the pad through which a strap is fed, the loops being configured such that the strap extends cross the upper side of the pad which, in use. will face away from the wearer's shoulder.

Preferably, the pad includes padding material such as foam or the like to further improve comfort to the wearer. The engagement surface which, in use, faces the wearer's shoulder may also be coated with a gripping material and/or be finished in a manner to improve grip, for example by roughening or the like as is known in the art.

In one embodiment, the pad includes just two nodes one at each end of the pad, each tendon band extending the full length of pad and connecting to each tendon. Preferably, however, the pad includes a plurality of nodes distributed between the ends, at least sonic of said tendon bands extending only partially the length of the pad. In this case, the ends of the pad still form starting/ending nodes for the web configuration of the bands.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, at least two bands, located on opposing sides of the band, extend the full length of the pad between the opposed. ends.

In some embodiments the tendon bands may be of uniform width and/or shape, but with width of the bands may differ between different bands within the web and may also vary along the length of the band itself, either in a regularly or irregular pattern.

The spaces between the tendon bands may be through openings so that each band is disconnected from the other tendon bands across its entire thickness. However, in an alternative embodiment, the tendon bands may be joined together across the upper surface of the pad and disconnected from each other, between the nodes, at the engagement surface and for a thickness extending therefrom towards the upper surface. In this case, the separation between the bands is formed by recesses in the lower surface rather than by through openings.

In an alternative aspect of the present invention, there is provided a shoulder pad for use with a shoulder carrying strap, the pad having a lower engagement surface which, in use, engages against the shoulder of a user, an upper surface which, in use, faces away from the shoulder of the user, opposing ends which, in use, attach to a shoulder strap, an a plurality of recesses formed in the engagement surface so as to form a plurality of edges on the engagement surface, which edges, in use, engage with the shoulder of a wearer to prevent the pad from sliding down the shoulder.

In this alternative aspect of the invention, recesses are formed in the lower surface, the edges of which recesses act in the same way as the sides of the tendon bands of the first aspect of the invention to increase the edge engagement of the pad with the shoulder and hence help prevent the pad slipping off the shoulder.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the invention may be well understood, there will now be described some embodiments thereof, given by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1a is a plan view of a webbed shoulder pad according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 1b is a side view of the pad of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the pad of FIG. 1 connected to a shoulder strap;

FIG. 3 a is a plan view of a webbed shoulder pad according to a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3b is a plan view of a webbed shoulder pad according to a third embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3c is a plan view of a webbed shoulder pad according to a fourth embodiment of the invention; and FIG. 3d is a plan view of a webbed shoulder pad according to a fifth embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown a shoulder pad 1 for use with a shoulder strap of a laptop bag or the like. The pad 1 has opposing ends 2, 3 which includes suitable attachment means (not shown) for securing the pad 1 to a strap of a bag (not shown) so that the pad 1 can locate on the shoulder of a user with the bag handing down for comfortable carrying. Suitable means for such fastening are well know to the skilled person in the art and will not be described in detail here. They may comprise either systems in which the pad is fastened in line, i.e. in series with the strap so as to form a space in the material of the strap, as is the case with the example illustrated, in FIG. 1a, or may be fastened in parallel with the strap so as to overlie a portion thereof. In the latter case, it is important that the fastening means be configured such that the strap extends across a side of the pad 1 which, in use, faces away from the users shoulder.

A number of bands 4 extend between the ends 2, 3 so as to form the body of the pad 1. A plurality of nodes 5 are formed by junctions between bands 4, each band 4 extending between a pair of nodes 5. The bands accordingly form a web configuration which defines a number of through openings 6 in the pad formed by the spaces between neighbouring bands. In this way, the pad provides a large edge engagement length with which it engages with the contours of a wearers shoulder.

Each band 4 is preferably formed at least partial of a padded material as to improve comfort, The shoulder engagement surface may also be finished in a manner designed to further increase grip, such as by roughening or the like. Suitable materials and surface finishes are well known to the skilled person in the art and will not be described any further. FIG. 2 shows the pad 1 connected in line with a shoulder strap 7. As illustrated, the intermediate ends 8, 9 of the strap 7 are riveted to the ends 2, 3 of the pad, although it will be understood that other attachments systems may be used either for inline or parallel attachment of the pad to a strap, including attachment systems to enable retro-fitting of the pad to replace a conventional pad used on an existing shoulder strap.

FIGS. 3a to 3d show alternative embodiments of the invention which are functionally the same but which achieve different visual effects which improve the aesthetic attraction whilst maintaining the functional advantages of the invention. From this, it will be clear that in addition to offering functional advantages, the pads of the invention offer significant scope for aesthetic variation to the design, enabling the pad to be developed as a fashion accessory.

Claims

1-13. (canceled)

14. A webbed shoulder pad for use with a shoulder carrying strap, the pad having a lower engagement surface which, in use, engages against the shoulder of a user, an upper surface which, in use, faces away from the shoulder of the user, opposing ends which, in use, attach to a shoulder strap, a plurality of tendon bands having opposing ends, and at least two nodes, each tendon band extending between a pair of nodes, each tendon band being spaced apart and disconnected from other said tendon bands between said nodes at least at the lower surface of the pad, whereby said tendon bands form a web arrangement which extends between the opposing ends of said pad.

15. The webbed shoulder pad according to claim 1, wherein the opposing ends of the pad include fastening means for releasably attaching the pad to a strap.

16. The webbed shoulder pad according to claim 2, wherein the fastening means are engageable with ends of a strap such that the pad extends between ends of the strap.

17. The webbed shoulder pad according to claim 2, wherein the fastening means are configured to enable the pad to be secured to a middle section of an unbroken strap.

18. The webbed shoulder pad according to claim 4, wherein the fastening means comprises loops provided on each end of the pad through which a strap is fed, the loops being configured such that the strap extends cross the upper side of the pad which, in use, will face away from the wearer's shoulder.

19. The webbed shoulder pad according to claim 1, wherein the pad includes padding material such as foam or the like to further improve comfort to the wearer.

20. The webbed shoulder pad according to claim 1, wherein said engagement surface is coated with a gripping material and/or is finished in a manner to improve grip.

21. The webbed shoulder pad according to claim 1, wherein the pad includes just two nodes—one at each end of the pad, each tendon band extending the full length of pad and connecting to each tendon.

22. The webbed shoulder pad according to claim 1, wherein the pad includes a plurality of nodes distributed between the ends, at least some of said tendon bands extending along only part of the length of the pad.

23. The webbed shoulder pad according to claim 9, wherein at least two bands, located on opposing sides of the band, extend the full length of the pad between the opposed ends.

24. The webbed shoulder pad according to claim 1, wherein the tendon bands are of uniform width and/or shape, and wherein the width of the bands differ between different bands within the web and/or vary along the length of the band itself, either in a regular or irregular pattern.

25. The webbed shoulder pad according to claim 1, wherein each tendon band is disconnected from said other tendon bands between said nodes across the whole thickness of the pad.

26. The webbed shoulder pad according to claim 1, wherein the upper surface of the pad is continuous across its whole area such that the tendon bands are joined together at the upper surface but disconnected at the engagement surface between the nodes.