Paintball pod harness with internal pouch

Abstract

A paintball pod harness having a central body having a concealable pouch to allow for expanded capacity off of the paintball field with a compacted arrangement for play on the field. The central body supports exterior pod sleeves for carrying paintball pods and has an internal core accessible by a body opening for concealing the expanding capacity pouch.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application hereby claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/035,675, filed on Jan. 14, 2005, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/536,873, filed on Jan. 16, 2004, which are hereby incorporated by reference.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not Applicable.

RESERVATION OF RIGHTS

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to intellectual property rights such as but not limited to copyright, trademark, and/or trade dress protection. The owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records but otherwise reserves all rights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of paintball pod harnesses. In particular, the present invention relates specifically to a pod harness having a concealable pouch adapted to carry an expanded load of additional gear or pods during transportation to the playing field while still maintaining a low profile design for use on the actual playing field. Particularly, the invention relates to a harness having a pouch which can be concealed or exposed, and may be used with particular application in the paint ball industry.

2. Description of the Known Art.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, various types of harnesses are known, and these may comprise containers, closable or otherwise, for accommodating objects to be carried by a user. In many instances, the harness may attach around the waist, such as by a belt, for easy portability and access to objects contained within the harness.

United States patents showing paintball pods or harnesses include: U.S. Pat. No. D460,502, issued to Traum et al. on Jul. 16, 2002 entitled Paintball Tube; U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,642, issued to Herbage on Dec. 12, 2000 entitled Modular Carrier Assembly Adapted For Paintball; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2004/0031836, filed by Garcia having a publication date of Feb. 19, 2004 entitled Paintball Storage Tube Carrier. Each of these patents and application publication references are hereby expressly incorporated by reference.

Thus, it may be seen that these prior art patents are very limited in their teaching and utilization, and an improved harness is needed to overcome these limitations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to an improved paintball harness having a collapsible expanded carrying that collapses into the interior volume of the harness such that the expandable pouch does not interfere with normal operation of the harness during the extensive activities required on the field of play.

In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a harness 10 with a pouch comprising a body or container portion for holding objects, and a pouch portion, the pouch portion being moveable between a first position wherein it is concealed, and second position wherein it is exposed.

Preferably, the body or container portion may be mounted on a belt or similar structure which can be attached to the waist of a user. The body or container portion may be divided into two or more compartments, each of which may have closure means, such as flaps or covers, for closing off the space.

Preferably, the body or container portion is attached to a belt which may be worn by the user.

Preferably, the harness has a body or container portion which comprises a pair of side panels either overlapping or substantially co-planar with each other, sealed or partially sealed to define a space for the storage of items. The side panels may be provided with access means, such as a slot, and the pouch can either be stored within the space, or removed therefrom, by moving it back and forth through the access means or slot.

The access means or slot may be closable, such as by a zipper, buttons, press studs, hook and loop fastener, or any other means, to ensure that it remains closed, preferably to protect any contents stored in the body or container portion.

Preferably, the pouch portion is of generally square, rectangular, or rounded shape, and may be formed by a pair of substantially co-planar side panels stitched together at or near their edges, to form a pouch space, and pouch access means for opening the pouch portion to place objects into the pouch space. The pouch access means, which may be in the form of a slot, may be selectively openable and closable by means of a zipper, hook and loop fastener, or any other mechanism for releasably sealing the pouch side panels to each other.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention, along with features of novelty appurtenant thereto, will appear or become apparent by reviewing the following detailed description of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following drawings, which form a part of the specification and which are to be construed in conjunction therewith, and in which like reference numerals have been employed throughout wherever possible to indicate like parts in the various views:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the harness 10 with pouch of the invention showing the interior side wall with the pouch concealed;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the harness shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings with the pouch exposed;

FIG. 3 is a back view of the harness shown in FIG. 1 with the pouch concealed; and

FIG. 4 is a back view of the harness shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings with the pouch exposed.

FIG. 5 is a cutaway view showing the pouch inserted into the interior space of the central body.

FIG. 6 is a cutaway view showing the pouch in the exterior position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIGS. 1 through 6 of the drawings, one exemplary embodiment of the present invention is generally shown as a harness 10 of the invention, comprising a container 12 with pouch 60, and a belt 14. The container 12 has side walls 16 and 18, a bottom wall 20, and a top wall 22.

The belt 14 comprises two lateral components 24 and 26. Each lateral component 24 and 26 comprises a connector portion 28 and a belt portion 30. One side of the connector portion 28 connects to a side wall 16 or 18 of the container 12, while the other side of the connector portion 28 connects to the belt component 30. In conventional fashion, the lateral components 24 and 26 may be located around, for example, the waist of a wearer/user, and the ends 32 of the lateral components 24 and 26 adapted secure to each other in any one of a number of manners to keep the harness 10 attached to the wearer.

The container 12 comprises a back wall 40 and a front wall 42, the back 40 and front wall 42 being of substantially the same shape, arranged in a coplanar manner with respect to each other, and connected to each other along edges which form the side walls 16 and 18, top wall 22 and bottom wall 20. The back wall 40 and front wall 42 define an open space therebetween, generally indicated by the reference numeral 46. A slot 48, which may be closed by a zipper 50, or any other mechanism for closing the slot 48, is provided. When the zipper 50 is pulled to one side, the slot 48 will open, and when pulled to the other side, the slot 48 will be closed.

It will be seen that the front wall 42 has a number of compartments 54a,54b, 54c and 54d, each of which is able to receive an object, generally indicated by the reference numeral 56. In the embodiment shown in the present illustrations, there are four compartments, but any number of compartments, having any desirable shape and/or size, can be formed.

A pouch 60 forms part of the harness 10 of the invention. The pouch 60 generally comprises a square, rectangular, or other shaped bag 62 which is dimensioned so that it can be inserted through the slot 48. The bag 62 has an upper edge 64 which is preferably secured within the space 46, such that the remainder of the bag 62 can either be placed within the space 46, or allowed to project or hang outwardly from the space 46 through the slot 48 when the zipper 50 or other type of fastening is open. This is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 of the drawings. The bag 62 also comprises an access opening 66 in one of the walls of the bag 62, the access opening 66 being openable and closable so that objects can be inserted into, and removed from, the bag 62. Preferably, the bag 62 is dimensioned and configured so as to hold relatively flat or smaller items, but this can, of course, change, depending upon the dimensions selected for the container 12. Thus, the container 12 may be expandable in some way, so that larger items inserted into the bag 62 can be properly accommodated in the container 12, which will expand commensurately in order to receive the specific objects in the pouch bag 62.

In place of an access 66, the bag 62 may comprise a fold back portion, movable between a closed and an open position, and which can be appropriately folded back to an open position to gain access to the bag 62. The fold back portion can thereafter be returned to its original position to effect closure of the bag 62.

The harness 10 of the invention thus provides for the accommodation of larger items, to be placed in the compartments 54, and other items which should be concealed or protected from the exterior, to be accommodated in the bag 62. Once placed in the bag 62, the pouch 60 can be pushed into the space 46 through the slot, which can then be closed by the zipper 50, essentially protectively sealing the contents of the bag 62 from the exterior.

A significant number of modifications to the invention are feasible, and are within the scope of the invention. Thus, the pouch 60, while shown as being released from the container 12 from the bottom, may extend through an access opening which may be located at any other position on the container 12. Further, there may be alternative or additional pouches in the connector portion 28 of the belt 14, or even in the lateral components 24 and 26 of the belt 14.

The bag 62 of the pouch 60 may he of any convenient shape, size or configuration, and be specially adapted to accommodate either flat articles or three dimensional articles. The bag 62 may itself have compartments or discrete sections so as to separate any objects placed therein from each other. The compartments 54 themselves may, as already mentioned, vary both in number and size and configuration, as well as in shape, so that a particular compartment or compartments may be specially formed and configured for receiving equipment of predetermined dimensions.

Reference numerals used throughout the detailed description and the drawings correspond to the following elements:

• • harness 10
  • container 12
  • belt 14
  • second side wall 16
  • first side wall 18
  • bottom wall 20
  • top wall 22
  • first lateral components 24
  • second lateral component 26
  • connector portion 28
  • belt portion 30
  • end 32
  • back wall 40
  • front wall 42
  • open space 46
  • slot 48
  • zipper 50
  • pod compartments 54a 54b 54c and 54d
  • pod object 56
  • pouch 60
  • shaped bag 62
  • upper edge 64
  • access opening 66

From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention well adapted to obtain all the ends and objects herein set forth, together with other advantages which are inherent to the structure. It will also be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims. Many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof. Therefore, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Claims

1. A harness apparatus adapted to be secured to a user for carrying paintball pods, the apparatus comprising:

a central body having an inner side and an outer side defining an internal core accessible by a body opening, the inner side of the central body having said body opening;

a carrying connector adapted to allow the central body to be secured to the user;

at least one pod sleeve connected to the outer side of the central body, the pod sleeve adapted to hold at least one paintball pod; and

a pouch connected to the central body, the pouch adapted to fit within the internal core, the pouch adjustable between a concealed position wherein said pouch is inside of said internal core and an exposed position wherein the pouch is substantially outside of said internal core.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a first resealable closure device adapted to secure the body opening.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, the first resealable closure device comprising a zipper.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, the first resealable closure device comprising a hook and loop fastener system.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the pod sleeve is releasably attached to the central body.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a securing lid adapted to secure a pod in the pod sleeve.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein at least one end of the securing lid is connected to the pod sleeve by a releasable connection.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, the pouch at least partially constructed from a waterproof material.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, the pouch at least partially constructed from a breathable material.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, the pouch at least partially constructed from a netting material.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, the pouch at least partially constructed from an elastic material.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, the pouch connected to the internal core of the central body.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, the central body further comprising a connector portion.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, the pouch defining a pouch opening.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising:

a second resealable closure device adapted to secure the pouch opening.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, the second resealable closure device comprising a zipper.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, the second resealable closure device comprising a hook and loop fastener system.

18. A harness apparatus adapted to be secured to a user for carrying paintball pods, the apparatus comprising:

a central body having an inner side and an outer side defining an internal core accessible by a body opening, the inner side of the central body having said body opening;

a carrying connector adapted to allow the central body to be secured to the user;

at least one pod sleeve connected to the outer side of the central body, the pod sleeve adapted to hold at least one paintball pod; and

a pouch connected to the internal core of the central body and adapted to fit within the internal core, the pouch adjustable between a concealed position wherein said pouch is inside of said internal core and an exposed position wherein the pouch is substantially outside of said internal core.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the pod sleeve is releasably attached to the central body.

20. A harness apparatus adapted to be secured to a user for carrying paintball pods, the apparatus comprising:

a central body having an inner side and an outer side defining an internal core accessible by a body opening, the inner side of the central body having said body opening;

a carrying connector adapted to allow the central body to be secured to the user;

at least one pod sleeve connected to the outer side of the central body, the pod sleeve adapted to hold at least one paintball pod; and

a pod pouch connected to the central body, the pod pouch adapted to fit within the internal core when not in use, the pouch adjustable between a concealed position wherein said pouch is inside of said internal core and an exposed position wherein the pouch is substantially outside of said internal core.