Daypack with improved comfort shoulder straps
A daypack has a body portion having a pouch and a pair of straps attached to the body portion. Each of the straps has a first, outer side and a second, inner side. Between the first and second sides are a comfort strip and a pad. The comfort strip is positioned between the first and second sides and has a plurality of protuberances formed thereon. The protuberances extend outwardly from the comfort strip in the direction of the first side. The pad is located between the comfort strip and the second, inner side such that the protuberances extend into the pad.
A. Field of the invention
The invention relates to the field of body-worn baggage. More specifically, the invention relates to a daypack having shoulder straps with improved comfort.
B. Description of Related Art
In the past, multiple attempts have been made at daypacks with improved comfort shoulder straps. VICTORINOX branded daypacks having included a shoulder comfort system called the Z-FORCE comfort strap system. Referring to
Another prior art system intended to increase the comfort of daypack shoulder straps is the AIRLIFT system used in JANSPORT branded daypacks. Referring to
In spite of these efforts, prior art daypack shoulder strap systems do not provide sufficient comfort. Therefore, there is a need for an improved shoulder strap comfort system for a daypack.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA daypack comprising a body portion comprising a pouch and a pair of straps attached to the body portion. Each of the straps comprises a first, outer side and a second, inner side. Between the first and second sides are a comfort strip and a pad. The comfort strip is positioned between the first and second sides and has a plurality of protuberances formed thereon. The protuberances extend outwardly from the comfort strip in a direction toward the second, inner side. The pad is located between the comfort strip and the second, inner side such that the protuberances extend into the pad.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail preferred embodiments of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodiments illustrated.
In
Referring to
As shown in
Referring to
The rows and columns of protuberances 40 are arranged such that distances A and B between adjacent protuberances 40 are substantially larger than the distances between the nodules of known prior art daypacks. Additionally, the diameters (or widths) C and D of the large and small protuberances, respectively, are substantially larger than the nodules of known prior art daypacks.
In a preferred embodiment, the distances A and B in
In
In view of the above, it will be seen that several advantages of the present invention have been achieved and other advantageous results have been obtained.
Claims
1. A daypack comprising:
- a body portion having a pouch; and
- a pair of straps attached to the body portion, each of the straps comprising: a first, outer side; a second, inner side; a comfort strip positioned between the first and second sides having a plurality of protuberances formed thereon, the protuberances extending outwardly from the comfort strip in a direction of the second side; and a pad located between the comfort strip and the second, inner side such that the protuberances extend into the pad when the comfort strip and the pad are assembled against one another.
2. The daypack of claim 1 wherein the pad has a plurality of holes therein located in generally the same positions as the protuberances of the comfort strip and wherein the protuberances extend into the holes of the pad when the comfort strip and the pad are assembled against one another.
3. The daypack of claim 1 wherein the second, inner side comprises a mesh panel located over at least some of the protuberances of the comfort strip.
4. The daypack of claim 3 wherein the second inner side further comprises an upper inner panel attached to the mesh panel and a lower inner panel attached to the mesh panel.
5. The daypack of claim 1 wherein the comfort strip comprises three rows of protuberances distributed evenly across a width of the strap.
6. The daypack of claim 5 wherein a center row of protuberances has a height greater than other rows of protuberances.
7. The daypack of claim 1 wherein a ratio of a distance between adjacent protuberances to a height of the protuberances is between about 0.6:1 to about 3:1.
8. The daypack of claim 7 wherein the ratio of the distance between adjacent protuberances and the height of the protuberances is between about 1.25:1.
9. The daypack of claim 1 wherein the protuberances have a tapered profile such that the protuberances have a greater diameter at their base than at their peak.
10. A daypack comprising:
- a body portion having a pouch; and
- a pair of straps attached to the body portion, each of the straps comprising: a first, outer side; a second, inner side; a comfort strip positioned between the first and second sides having a plurality of protuberances formed thereon, the protuberances extending outwardly from the comfort strip in a direction of the second side, wherein a ratio of a distance between adjacent protuberances and a height of the protuberances is between about 0.6:1 to about 3:1.; and a pad located between the comfort strip and the second, inner side such that the protuberances extend into the pad when the comfort strip and the pad are assembled against one another and wherein the pad has a plurality of holes located therein in generally the same positions as the protuberances of the comfort strip and wherein the protuberances extend into the holes of the pad.
11. The daypack of claim 10 wherein the second, inner side comprises a mesh panel located over at least some of the protuberances of the comfort strip.
12. The daypack of claim 11 wherein the second inner side further comprises an upper inner panel attached to the mesh panel and a lower inner panel attached to the mesh panel.
13. The daypack of claim 10 wherein the comfort strip comprises three rows of protuberances distributed evenly across the width of the strap.
14. The daypack of claim 13 wherein a center row of protuberances has a height greater than the other rows of protuberances.
15. The daypack of claim 10 wherein the ratio of the distance between adjacent protuberances and the height of the protuberances is between about 1.25:1.
16. The daypack of claim 10 wherein the protuberances have a tapered profile such that the protuberances have a greater diameter at their base than at their peak.
17. A daypack comprising:
- a body portion having a pouch; and
- a pair of straps attached to the body portion, each of the straps comprising: a first, outer side; a second, inner side; a comfort strip positioned between the first and second sides having a plurality of protuberances formed thereon, the protuberances extending outwardly from the comfort strip in a direction of the second side, the protuberances arranged in at least three rows across the width of the strap, wherein a center row of protuberances has a height greater than the outer rows of protuberances, wherein a ratio of a distance between adjacent protuberances to a height of the protuberances is between about 0.6:1 to about 3:1; and a pad located between the comfort strip and the second, inner side such that the protuberances extend into the pad when the comfort strip and the pad are assembled against one another, wherein the pad has a plurality of holes therein located in generally the same positions as the protuberances of the comfort strip and wherein the protuberances extend into the holes of the pad.
18. The daypack of claim 17 wherein the second, inner side comprises a mesh panel located over at least some of the protuberances of the comfort strip.
19. The daypack of claim 18 wherein the second inner side further comprises an upper inner panel attached to the mesh panel and a lower inner panel attached to the mesh panel.
20. The daypack of claim 17 wherein the comfort strip comprises three rows of protuberances distributed evenly across the width of the strap.
21. The daypack of claim 17 wherein the ratio of the height of the protuberances to the distance between adjacent protuberances is about 1.25:1.
22. The daypack of claim 17 wherein the protuberances have a tapered profile such that the protuberances have a greater diameter at their base than at their peak.
Type: Application
Filed: May 17, 2004
Publication Date: Nov 17, 2005
Inventor: Cory Nykoluk (Ballwin, MO)
Application Number: 10/847,512