Luggage/backpack carrier device

Abstract

A luggage/backpack carrier system is a product and process for carrying luggage or a backpack by using a handled, lightweight carrier that may come equipped with or without wheels.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/273,688 filed on Mar. 6, 2001 incorporated herein by reference.

WRITTEN DESCRIPTION

[0002] The luggage/backpack carrier system is a product and process for carrying luggage or a backpack by using a handled, lightweight carrier that may come equipped with or without wheels. The product's advantages over products now available on the market is the product's appeal to kids, its ergonomic efficiency, and its easy use and storage.

[0003] There is a real need for a luggage/backpack device that solves the problem of excess weight that travelers and students incur by carrying around backpacks. Orthopedists and chiropractors now see twice as many school age patients for scoliosis (curvature of the spine), muscle fatigue, and spinal inflammation. They say these problems may eventually self-correct, but the long-term effects are unknown.

[0004] For school age children carrying backpacks, the weight of the backpack can be significant. For example, a child weighing 85 pounds and carrying a loaded backpack weighing 25 pounds is carrying approximately thirty percent of his body weight. Doctors recommend carrying at the most fifteen percent of your body weight. Parents, teachers, principals, and administrators are seeking solutions to this problem. Some suggested solutions are:

[0005] 1. Two sets of books, one for the classroom and one for home. Problem: Too expensive for many schools.

[0006] 2. Teachers volunteered to stagger homework. Problem: May start out as a good idea, but probably won't last.

[0007] 3. Ergonomically correct backpacks have been introduced to students, but have not been accepted by students.

[0008] 4. Ultimate solution is rolling backpacks. The students feel they are “uncool” and they become a tough sell to them. The other reasons that affect the salability of the current rolling backpacks are: most are too big to fit in the standard sized school locker; if they do fit, with twenty pounds of books, plus the extra weight of the rolling mechanism that is built into the bag, students can't lift them off the ground; some have been built with the possibility of wearing it on your back, but the built-in rolling mechanism adds weight and is not comfortable.

[0009] The product described herein was designed to solve these problems and be acceptable to students.

[0010] In one embodiment of the invention, the backpack comes in two parts, the backpack and the carrier. The backpack will have four-inch silicon (or other suitable material) wheels attached to it. The wheels can snap off and be placed in a pocket when the student arrives at school. In most cases, the student will roll their backpack to and from school. When they arrive, they will collapse the carrier, which will fit in a locker as small as eighteen inches. They will then store the wheels and take the backpack from class to class.

[0011] The carrier will be made out of aluminum (or other suitable material) with a telescopic handle. In a preferred embodiment, the backpack attaches or is secured to the carrier handle or carrier with a Velcro encasement and/or two elastic cords attached from the axel to the carrier. Other materials may also be utilized to attach the backpack to the carrier. In a preferred embodiment, the maximum amount of weight the backpack should hold would be about sixty pounds. The carrier itself should weigh no more than four pounds.

[0012] The “trend right” aspects of the rolling backpack are the large wheels that snap off when not in use, the lightweight, yet sturdy fabrication, the telescopic handle, the clamp and hinge on the carrier, and the fact that it comes in two pieces, both able to fit into an eighteen inch locker. An alternate design for the product might include the placement of the wheels on the carrier itself so that any standard-sized backpack or piece of luggage may be placed on and secured to the carrier.

[0013] In another embodiment of the invention, the wheels on the carrier are partially covered by a nostalgic “40's” style fender. The backpack attaches to the base of the carrier with Velcro or other materials in a trendy fashion. In a preferred embodiment, there is Velcro on the backpack base and Velcro on the carrier. There is also Velcro casing on the back, which attaches to the handle. This embodiment of the backpack, as well as the carrier, will fit into a standard eighteen-inch locker.

Claims

1. A carrier device, comprising:

at least two wheels;

a base;

attachment means;

a telescoping handle; and

means to collapse the carrier.