BACKPACK OR OTHER WEARABLE OBJECT WITH DEPLOYABLE APPENDAGES
A backpack or other wearable object is comprised of a body, shoulder straps attached in a conventional manner to the rear of the body, deployable/stowable appendages or wings, and deploy/stow mechanism. In operation, the wings may be deployed and stowed via the user operated deploy/stow mechanism.
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Play is an integral part of child development. One genre of play includes the use of the child's imagination. There are many types of items created to aid a child's imagination, including costumes that allow children to fantasize or imagine they are something other than human, such as insects, birds, planes, etc. One popular costume includes decorative wing assemblies that may be attached to a user so as to extend away from the wearer's back in order to resemble a butterfly or other insect wings, bat or bird wings, fanciful wings such a fairy wings, angel wings, etc.
SUMMARYThis summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
In accordance with aspects of the present invention, an apparatus is provided, which comprises an apparatus body having a front and a back, at least one strap mounted to the back of the apparatus body, and first and second movable appendages. The first and second appendages are movable between a stowed position wherein the appendages are located inside or along side the apparatus body and a deployed position wherein the appendages extend outwardly of the apparatus body. The apparatus further includes a deploy/stow mechanism that includes an actuating device mounted to the strap and a transmission member interfaced with the movable appendages and the actuating device. The appendages are automatically moved from the stowed position to the deployed position upon actuation of the actuating device.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a backpack is provided. The backpack a backpack body having a front and a back, at least one shoulder strap mounted to the back of the apparatus body, and a pair of wings operatively associated with the backpack body. The pair of wings are movable between stowed and deployed positions. The backpack further comprises a tension transmission member that interfaces with the pair of wings for effecting movement of the wings between the stowed and deployed positions and a deploy/stow device mounted on the shoulder strap, the actuation of which automatically moves the wings from the stowed position to the deployed position.
The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the figures where like numerals represent like elements. The following description provides examples of backpacks with deployable wings that may be carried on the back of a child. However, it should be readily apparent that aspects of the present invention may be utilized with other wearable objects, garments, etc., as well as utilizing deployable appendages other than wings. It should therefore be apparent that the examples described below are only illustrative in nature and, therefore, such examples should not be considered as limiting the scope of the present invention, as claimed.
Referring to
As best shown in
In several embodiments, the inner cavity may be partitioned or compartmentalized to include smaller areas for storing articles of the user separate from the wing assembly 40. Further, in several embodiments, the backpack may include a hydration section similar to those sold under the trademark Camelbak®.
The backpack 20 also includes a pair of shoulder straps 28. The pair of shoulder straps 28 are symmetrically spaced apart and extend from the upper section of the back of the backpack body 24 to the lower section of the backpack body 24. Each shoulder strap 28 is additionally provided with a buckle 34 or other known adjustment means.
The backpack 20 further includes a pair of deployable/stowable wings 26. Turning now to
As best shown in
Returning to
The ends 80 of the lever arms 78 are securely linked to the secondary appendage members 68 via linkage members 84. The secondary appendage members 68 are also aligned with the slots 60 when secured to the primary appendage members 64 so that the secondary appendage members 68 deploy/stow through the slots 60 upon movement of the primary appendage members 64 (See
The assembly 40 further includes the deploy/stow actuator 52. Turning now to
As was described briefly above, the pins 88 of the primary appendage member lever arms 78 (See
Referring now to
Turning now to
The lever 128 is pivotably mounted on pivot structure 158 integrally formed by the housing 122. The lever 128 includes a forward section 162 that tilts upwardly toward the top housing section 134 and engages the lower portion of the push button protrusion 144. The lever 128 further includes a rearward section 166 that defines a bore on its top surface and a latch 170 on its bottom surface. The latch 170 interacts with the shoulder 152 of the slide 126 during use. A spring 178 is contained between the bore of the rearward lever section 166 and spring retaining structure 180 integrally formed in the inner surface of the top housing section 134. The spring 178 biases the rearward portion 166 downward against the slide 126, which in turn, forces the forward section 162 against the push button 124.
The operation of the backpack 20 will now be described in detail with reference to
To move the wings 26 from the deployed position to the stowed position, the user pulls the pull 120 in a downward motion, away from the deploy/stow device housing 122, as shown best by the arrows in
To return the wings 26 to the deployed position, the following actions occur: 1) the push button 124 of the deploy/stow mechanism 32 is depressed by the user, which in turn, removes the latch 170 from engagement with the shoulder 152 of the slide 12, as best shown in
While examples of a backpack having deployable wings with the appearance of a lady bug were described above and illustrated herein, embodiments of the present invention should not be so limited. For example, backpacks or other wearable garments within the scope of the present invention may have may different appearances or themes, such as a rocket or airplane with deployable wings, flower buds with deployable petals, appendages that deploy into a cape, butterflies or other insects with deployable wings, arachnids with deployable arms, fanciful characters such as angels or fairy with deployable wings, etc.
While illustrative embodiments have been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
1. An apparatus, comprising:
- an apparatus body having a front and a back;
- at least one strap mounted to the back of the apparatus body;
- first and second movable appendages, wherein the first and second appendages are movable between a stowed position wherein the appendages are located inside or along side the apparatus body and a deployed position wherein the appendages extend outwardly of the apparatus body; and
- a deploy/stow mechanism including an actuating device mounted to the strap and a transmission member interfaced with the movable appendages and the actuating device, wherein the appendages are automatically moved from the stowed position to the deployed position upon actuation of the actuating device.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmission member is a flexible tension transmission member.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the flexible tension transmission member is selected from a group consisting of a cord, a chain, a cable, and a string.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the appendages are wings.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the appendages include primary and secondary appendage members and a wing panel disposed therebetween.
6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the actuating device includes a depressible button that is movable between a depressed position wherein the flexible tension transmission member is permitted to translate in a first direction and a non-depressed position, wherein the flexible tension transmission member is prohibited from moving in the first direction.
7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a frame plate to which the first and second movable appendages are pivotably mounted, an appendage actuator that is operatively mounted to the frame plate and movable along a path of travel and connected to the flexible tension transmission member, wherein movement of the appendage actuator along the path of travel causes the appendages to move from the stowed position to the deployed position.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the appendages are biased to the deployed position.
9. A backpack, comprising:
- a backpack body having a front and a back;
- at least one shoulder strap mounted to the back of the apparatus body;
- a pair of wings operatively associated with the backpack body, wherein the pair of wings are movable between stowed and deployed positions;
- a tension transmission member that interfaces with the pair of wings for effecting movement of the wings between the stowed and deployed positions; and
- a deploy/stow device mounted on the shoulder strap, the actuation of which automatically moves the wings from the stowed position to the deployed position.
10. The backpack of claim 9, wherein the wings are biased to the deployed position.
11. The backpack of claim 9, wherein the tension transmission member is selected from a group consisting of a cord, a chain, a cable, and a string.
12. The backpack of claim 9, wherein the wings are moved from the deployed position to the stowed position by translation of the tension transmission member.
13. The backpack of claim 9, further comprising a frame member to which the wings are hingedly mounted.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 23, 2007
Publication Date: Jul 24, 2008
Applicant: CRANIUM, INC. (Seattle, WA)
Inventor: Colleen T. Kennedy (Seattle, WA)
Application Number: 11/626,235
International Classification: A45F 3/00 (20060101); A63H 33/00 (20060101);