AIR-CUSHION BACKPACK AND LAPTOP SLEEVE
A backpack has a front pocket containing a plate and a pair of shoulder straps for holding the plate against the back of a user. A pressurizable, flexible and elastic bladder covers the plate and has inside surfaces with an embossed pattern for preventing sticking together of facing walls of the bladder to facilitating an initial inflation of the bladder. A pair of tubular extensions extend from the bladder and into the shoulder straps, one of the tubular extensions being for inflating and deflating the bladder. A mouth-inflatable check valve connected to extension is location so as to be accessible to the user for inflating the bladder and a valve cover is detachably connected over the entire mouth engageable perimeter of the check valve for keeping it clear. Semi-rigid liners in the shoulder straps near the bladder form channels for facilitating inflating and deflating of the bladder. A pair of cushion panels in, or separate from the backpack, include pluralities of offset parallel, partially filled air tubes spaced by webs for minimizing volume when there is nothing between the cushion panels.
The present invention relates in general to article carriers, and in particular to an new and useful backpack and laptop sleeve having air cushion features for increased comfort and for protection of a laptop computer carried by the backpack or sleeve.
U.S. Patent Application US2007/0215662, published Sep. 20, 2007, on U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/377,008, filed Mar. 16, 2006, that shares at least one inventor with the current application and which is incorporated here by reference, teaches a backpack with a generally rigid plate having a front face, a back face and shoulder straps for holding it against a back of a user. An inflatable, non-elastic and smooth surfaced bladder covers generally all of the front face of the plate and has a closable fill opening so that the bladder can be inflated for added comfort and load distribution.
Although the backpack of the above-identified application has been extremely successful because of its variety of advantages, there are certain areas of improvement which the present application addresses. One of these areas involves the use of vinyl as the material for the bladder which while being flexible was less elastic then was found to be ultimately advantageous and also importantly because it was made to have smooth inner and outer surfaces. After manufacture and in the deflated condition, the inside facing walls tended to stick to each other because of these smooth surfaces. This made it very difficult to inflate the bladder the first time since in addition to over coming the internal pressure to inflate the bladder to a comfortable level, the stuck together walls had to be separated by the blown in air pressure alone. This proved to be very difficult.
Another perceived difficulty with the prior backpack was that since only one tube extended along the shoulder strap for inflation according to the preferred embodiment of the invention, when the backpack and its one tube were inflated it was perceived to be asymmetric because the other strap was not inflated, or even perhaps defective because of this asymmetry. The present invention overcomes this difficulty as well.
Another area of improvement addressed by the present application is the presence of a check valve cover that covers the mouth inflatable check valve of the prior backpack and thus improves sanitation and cleanliness of the mouth inflated check valve and its surrounding areas.
The use of flexible but non-elastic material for the bladder was also found to be less desirable so that bladder material that is both flexible and elastic is now used in the approved backpack.
Another problem with the prior art is the protection of laptop computers which are small and easily portable but likewise, easily dropped and damaged. Although padded sleeves are known, the need remains for an improved padding arrangement for a laptop sleeve alone, or within a backpack.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is an object of the present invention to provide backpack having a first front wall, a second front wall spaced forwardly of the first front wall and defining a front pocket with the first front wall, a generally rigid plate having a front face and a back face, the plate being in the front pocket with the back face of the plate being adjacent the first front wall, a pair of shoulder straps operatively connected to at least one of the front walls for holding the plate against a back of a user with the second front wall being between the plate and the back of the user, load bearing means connected to at least one of the front walls for holding an object, and a pressurizable, flexible and elastic bladder covering generally all of the front face of the plate. The bladder is provided in the front pocket between the front face of the plate and the second front wall and at least the entire inside surfaces of the bladder have a non-smooth texture thereon for preventing sticking together of facing walls of the bladder to facilitating an initial inflation of the bladder. A pair of tubular extensions or tubes extend from the bladder and respectively into each of the shoulder straps, one of the tubular extensions being for inflating and deflating the bladder. A mouth-inflatable, normally closed check valve is connected to the one tubular extension at a location that is spaced from the bladder and positioned so as to be accessible to a user for inflating the bladder by blowing into the check valve while the shoulder strap is on a shoulder of the user, the check valve having a mouth engageable perimeter. A valve cover is detachably connected over the entire mouth engageable perimeter of the check valve for covering the check valve and keeping it clear. A pair of semi-rigid liners are respectively in the shoulder straps near the bladder to form a pair or semi-rigid channels for the tubular extensions near the bladder to facilitate inflating and deflating of the bladder through the one tubular extension.
A further object of the present invention is to provide, either as part of the backpack, or as a stand-alone item, a laptop sleeve including a pair of cushion panels connected in a rear pocket of the backpack or as a stand-alone sleeve, each cushion panel comprising a plurality of spaced apart, parallel, permanently sealed and partially filled air tubes made of flexible elastic material with webs between the air tubes in each cushion panel, the air tubes of one cushion panel each facing the webs of the other cushion panel for minimizing a volume occupied by the cushion panels when there is nothing in a space between the cushion panels, and for cushioning a laptop computer placed between the cushion panels.
Another object of the invention includes providing the check valve to have a flapper that is normally closed to prevent air from escaping from the bladder and including a push button on the flapper that is manually depressed to move the flapper and allow air to escape from the bladder to adjust the amount of air in the bladder for improved comfort.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated.
In the drawings:
Referring now to the drawings, in which like reference numerals are used to refer to the same or functionally similar elements,
With reference to
Load bearing means, such as a main and additional backpack pockets formed by a rear wall 12 and an interior partition wall 14 also of the same fabric as one or the other front walls, and connected to at least one of the front walls, are provided for holding an object or load. A rear pocket between walls 12 and 14 is closed by a further zipper 16. As shown in
As best shown in
For both flexible and elastic properties it has been found advantageous to form the bladder of plastic like PU (polyurethane) or PVC (polyvinyl chloride) that stretch when impacted thus absorbing energy and not transferring the energy. Flexible but non-elastic vinyl may also be used, however. As will be explained later, cushion panels forming a laptop sleeve that are each made of a plurality of spaced apart, parallel, permanently sealed and partially filled air tubes, are also made of flexible elastic material such as PU or PVC so that they too can stretch when impacted and absorb and transfer energy to protect the laptop computer in the sleeve.
To make sure that backpack appears perfectly symmetrical, a pair of tubular extensions or tubes 32, 33 shown in
A valve cover 35 having a rim around its perimeter is detachably connected over the entire mouth engageable perimeter of the check valve 34 for covering the check valve 34 and keeping it clear. To keep the cover from being lost it is permanently held to the valve perimeter by a tab 35a. The check valve 34 has an inwardly pushable flapper that is normally closed around and against the inner surface of the valve perimeter and held in place be internal air pressure in the bladder 28 and tube 32 to prevent air from escaping from the bladder. The flapper includes a central raised push button 39 on the flapper that can be manually depressed by the user to move the flapper inwardly away from the valve perimeter and allow some or all of the air to escape from the bladder to adjust the firmness and comfort of the bladder against the user's back.
As shown in
As noted above, the material of the bladder can be of flexible but non-elastic vinyl or other plastic, but is preferably an elastic plastic like PU (polyurethane) or PVC (polyvinyl chloride) that stretch when impacted thus absorbing energy and not transferring the energy.
As shown in
As shown in
The front pocket 24 can alternatively be downwardly open and the backpack further can comprise a releasable fastener like a hook and loop tape at a lower edge of the front panel as shown in
As shown in
As noted above, the cushion panels are made of an elastic plastic like PU or PVC that stretch when impacted thus absorbing energy and not transferring the energy to the laptop.
As shown in
Referring now to
Here too a pair of cushion panels each comprise a plurality of spaced apart, parallel, permanently sealed and partially filled air tubes 40 made of flexible elastic material with webs 48 between the air tubes 40 in each cushion panel. The front and rear cushion panels are inserted through the top zippers into the respective front and rear cover panels 54 and 55 in the direction of the arrows in
As shown in
It has been found that even with no way to refill the tubes 40, 42, 44 and 46, the plastic material is sufficiently impervious so that the tubes will retain their cushioning effect for a period of years. The partial filling is also essential, e.g. each tube is only filled to about 60 to 90 percent of its full volume with air. This provides sufficient cushioning as the air moves around in each cushion to absorb an impact, but without excessive bouncing or rebound of the sleeve after a first impact, which violent bouncing would be counterproductive to protecting the laptop.
The backpack 10 according to the invention could be used to carry any load in, on or around the bag, such as a musical instrument, pieces of equipment, or virtually anything typically carried on the back.
The bladder 28 has the lower region 268a that is substantially thicker than its upper region 28b when fully inflated as shown in
As noted above, to prevent the flexible tubular extensions or tubes 32 and 33 from being pinched closed where they pass over the user's shoulder, the straps 30 are provided internally with U-section semi-rigid liners 36 and 37 having foam edges 38 and stitched in place so that in these regions where the strap 30 is normally compressed by the weight of the pack 10 the tubes 32, 33 are held open at semi-rigid channels formed under liners 36, 37.
With this system it is therefore possible to inflate the bladder 28 from the relatively flat and flaccid condition shown in
Use of the backpacks with the embossed bladders 28′ and 28″ is the same as that with the bladder 28, that is the bladder is blown up hard to start with and then deflated partially for comfortable use.
While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.
Claims
1. A backpack comprising:
- a first front wall (20);
- a second front wall (22) spaced forwardly of the first front wall and defining a front pocket (24) with the first front wall;
- a generally rigid plate (26) having a front face and a back face, the plate being in the front pocket (24) with the back face of the plate being adjacent the first front wall (20);
- a pair of shoulder straps (30) operatively connected to at least one of the front walls for holding the plate against a back of a user with the second front wall (22) being between the plate and the back of the user;
- load bearing means connected to at least one of the front walls for holding an object;
- a pressurizable, flexible and elastic bladder (28) covering generally all of the front face of the plate, the bladder being in the front pocket between the front face of the plate and the second front wall, at least the entire inside surfaces of the bladder having a non-smooth texture (29) thereon for preventing sticking together of facing walls of the bladder to facilitating an initial inflation of the bladder;
- a pair of tubular extensions (32, 33) extending from the bladder (28) and respectively into each of the shoulder straps (30), one of the tubular extensions being for inflating and deflating the bladder;
- a mouth-inflatable, normally closed check valve (34) connected to the one tubular extension at a location that is spaced from the bladder and positioned so as to be accessible to a user for inflating the bladder by blowing into the check valve while the shoulder strap is on a shoulder of the user, the check valve having a mouth engageable perimeter;
- a valve cover (35) detachably connected over the entire mouth engageable perimeter of the check valve for covering the check valve (34) and keeping it clear; and
- a pair of semi-rigid liners (36, 37) respectively in the shoulder straps (30) near the bladder to form a pair or semi-rigid channels for the tubular extensions (32, 33) near the bladder to facilitate inflating and deflating of the bladder through the one tubular extension (32).
2. The backpack defined in claim 1 wherein the non-smooth texture (29) is an embossed pattern (29) on at least the entire inside surfaces of the bladder.
3. The backpack defined in claim 1 wherein the non-smooth texture (29) is an embossed pattern (29) of concentric circles at least the entire inside surfaces of the bladder.
4. The backpack defined in claim 1 wherein the load bearing means is a bag fixed to at least one of the first and second front walls behind the back face and having an openable closure.
5. The backpack defined in claim 1 wherein the plate is an imperforate semirigid plastic plate.
6. The backpack defined in claim 1 wherein at least one front wall of the front pocket is made of mesh.
7. The backpack defined in claim 1 wherein the check valve (34) has a flapper that is normally closed to prevent air from escaping from the bladder and includes a push button (39) on the flapper that is manually depressed to move the flapper and allow air to escape from the bladder.
8. The backpack defined in claim 1 wherein the second front wall (22) is a stretchable textile front panel forming the front pocket holding the bladder.
9. The backpack defined in claim 8 wherein the load bearing means includes a textile rear panel forming a rear pocket with the first front panel.
10. The backpack defined in claim 9, further comprising a first slide fastener closing an end of the rear pocket and a second slide fastener closing an end of the front pocket.
11. The backpack defined in claim 10 wherein the second front panel is a mesh.
12. The backpack defined in claim 11 herein the bladder is subdivided into a plurality of interconnected compartments.
13. The backpack defined in claim 1 wherein the bladder is subdivided into a plurality of interconnected compartments and the compartments include a relatively large lower compartment and a plurality of relatively small upper compartments.
14. The backpack defined in claim 8 wherein the front pocket is downwardly open and the backpack further comprises a releasable fastener at a lower edge of the front panel.
15. The backpack defined in claim 1 wherein the bladder is formed with a forwardly open central recess for avoiding pressure on the spine of a user.
16. The backpack defined in claim 1 wherein the load bearing means includes a textile rear panel forming a rear pocket with the first front panel, and including a pair of cushion panels connect in the rear pocket and behind the first front wall (20), each cushion panel comprising a plurality of spaced apart, parallel, permanently sealed and partially filled air tubes made of flexible elastic material with webs between the air tubes in each cushion panel, the air tubes of one cushion panel each facing the webs of the other cushion panel for minimizing a volume occupied by the cushion panels when there is nothing in a space between the cushion panels, and for cushioning a laptop computer placed between the cushion panels.
17. The backpack defined in claim 15 including a top permanently sealed and partially filled air tube made of flexible elastic material with top web connected between one of the cushion panels and the top air tube for covering and cushioning the space between the cushion panels, and a pair of side and a bottom permanently sealed and partially filled air tubes made of flexible elastic material connected respectively at the sides and the bottom of the space between the cushion panels for further cushioning the space.
18. The laptop computer sleeve comprising:
- a pair of cushion panels comprising a plurality of spaced apart, parallel permanently sealed and partially filled air tubes made of flexible elastic material with webs between the air tubes in each cushion panel, the air tubes of one cushion panel each facing the webs of the other cushion panel for minimizing a volume occupied by the cushion panels when there is nothing in a space between the cushion panels, and for cushioning a laptop computer placed between the cushion panels.
19. The laptop sleeve defined in claim 18 including a top permanently sealed and partially filled air tube made of flexible elastic material with top web connected between one of the cushion panels and the top air tube for covering and cushioning the space between the cushion panels, and a pair of side and a bottom permanently sealed and partially filled air tubes made of flexible elastic material connected respectively at the sides and the bottom of the space between the cushion panels for further cushioning the space.
20. A backpack comprising:
- a first front wall;
- a second front wall spaced forwardly of the first front wall and defining a front pocket with the first front wall;
- a generally rigid plate having a front face and a back face, the plate being in the front pocket with the back face of the plate being adjacent the first front wall, the plate being an imperforate semirigid plastic plate;
- a pair of shoulder straps operatively connected to at least one of the front walls for holding the plate against a back of a user with the second front wall being between the plate and the back of the user;
- load bearing means connected to at least one of the front walls for holding an object;
- a pressurizable, flexible and elastic bladder covering generally all of the front face of the plate, the bladder being in the front pocket between the front face of the plate and the second front wall, at least the entire inside surfaces of the bladder having a non-smooth texture thereon for preventing sticking together of facing walls of the bladder to facilitating an initial inflation of the bladder, the non-smooth texture being created by an embossed pattern on at least the entire inside surfaces of the bladder;
- a pair of tubular extensions extending from the bladder and respectively into each of the shoulder straps, one of the tubular extensions being for inflating and deflating the bladder;
- a mouth-inflatable, normally closed check valve connected to the one tubular extension at a location that is spaced from the bladder and positioned so as to be accessible to a user for inflating the bladder by blowing into the check valve while the shoulder strap is on a shoulder of the user, the check valve having a mouth engageable perimeter;
- a valve cover detachably connected over the entire mouth engageable perimeter of the check valve for covering the check valve and keeping it clear; and
- a pair of semi-rigid liners respectively in the shoulder straps near the bladder to form a pair or semi-rigid channels for the tubular extensions near the bladder to facilitate inflating and deflating of the bladder through the one tubular extension;
- the load bearing means being a bag fixed to at least one of the first and second front walls behind the back face and having an openable closure;
- the check valve having a flapper that is normally closed to prevent air from escaping from the bladder and includes a push button on the flapper that is manually depressed to move the flapper and allow air to escape from the bladder;
- the bladder being subdivided into a plurality of interconnected compartments and the compartments include a relatively large lower compartment and a plurality of relatively small upper compartments;
- the load bearing means including a textile rear panel forming a rear pocket with the first front panel; and
- a pair of cushion panels connect in the rear pocket and behind the first front wall (20), each cushion panel comprising a plurality of spaced apart, parallel, permanently sealed and partially filled air tubes made of flexible elastic material with webs between the air tubes in each cushion panel, the air tubes of one cushion panel each facing the webs of the other cushion panel for minimizing a volume occupied by the cushion panels when there is nothing in a space between the cushion panels, and for cushioning a laptop computer placed between the cushion panels.
21. The backpack defined in claim 20 including a top permanently sealed and partially filled air tube made of flexible elastic material with top web connected between one of the cushion panels and the top air tube for covering and cushioning the space between the cushion panels, and a pair of side and a bottom permanently sealed and partially filled air tubes made of flexible elastic material connected respectively at the sides and the bottom of the space between the cushion panels for further cushioning the space.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 20, 2009
Publication Date: May 26, 2011
Inventors: Richard J. Rekuc (Asbury, NJ), Lawrence W. Zalinsky (Woodstock, NY)
Application Number: 12/622,756
International Classification: B65D 85/00 (20060101); A45F 3/04 (20060101);