ELECTRONIC BACKPACK

Abstract

An illustrated view of an exemplary backpack for providing alerts and notification of specific events and information. The backpack is useful for providing an alert or notification to a user of the backpack of important items to remember to take at the end of a day. The backpack is also useful for reminders to eat, hydrate and directions for hikers and/or backpackers. Further the backpack is useful setting reminders for various events and thus removing the need for an additional reminder device. The backpack has an electronic system that can alert the user of the various events and activities further, the electronic system is coupled to an external light to visibly alert the user. The electronic system may further alert the user by audio voice or sounds.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to backpacks. More particularly, it relates to electronic notification systems for backpacks.

BACKGROUND

A backpack, also called knapsack, rucksack, rucksack, pack, sack pack, or back sack, is, in its simplest frameless form, a cloth sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders, but it can have an external frame, internal frame, and there are bodypacks.

Backpacks are commonly used by hikers and students, and are often preferred to handbags for carrying heavy loads or carrying any sort of equipment, because of the limited capacity to carry heavy weights for long periods of time in the hands.

Large backpacks, used to carry loads over 10 kilograms (22 lb.), as well as smaller sports backpacks (e.g. running, cycling, hiking and hydration), usually offload the largest part (up to about 90%) of their weight onto padded hip belts, leaving the shoulder straps mainly for stabilizing the load. This improves the potential to carry heavy loads, as the hips are stronger than the shoulders, and also increases agility and balance, since the load rides nearer the wearer's own center of mass.

Backpacks are heavily identified with students, and are a primary means of transporting educational materials to and from school. In this context they are sometimes known as bookbags or schoolbags. The purchase of a suitably fashionable, attractive, and useful backpack is a crucial back-to-school ritual for many students.

Typical school backpacks generally lack the rigid frame of an outdoor-style backpack and include only a few pockets in the front in addition to the main storage compartment. While traditionally very simple in design, school backpacks are often made with padded shoulder straps and backs as well as additional reinforcement to hold large numbers of heavy textbooks, as well as safety features such as reflective panels to make the wearer of the pack more visible at night.

A backpack has become a valuable accessory for school children and adults everywhere. The backpack is currently designed to only carry papers, books, computers, computer accessories, etc. If a person needs to have a reminder of what is in the backpack, items to remember to take, homework or work assignments coming due, water bottles, etc. a separate device is required to keep track of those reminders.

In light of the foregoing, there is a need for a backpack to have capabilities to remind a user of the backpack of specific events that are approaching, items to remember to take, when to rehydrate, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is an illustrated view of an exemplary backpack.

FIG. 1B is an illustrated view of an exemplary display of the exemplary backpack shown in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 1C is an illustrated view of display icons for the exemplary display shown in FIG. 1B.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The phrases “in one embodiment,” “in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” and the like are used repeatedly. Such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. The terms “comprising,” “having,” and “including” are synonymous, unless the context dictates otherwise. Such terms do not generally signify a closed list.

“Above,” “adhesive,” “affixing,” “any,” “around,” “both,” “bottom,” “by,” “comprising,” “consistent,” “customized,” “enclosing,” “friction,” “in,” “labeled,” “lower,” “magnetic,” “marked,” “new,” “nominal,” “not,” “of,” “other,” “outside,” “outwardly,” “particular,” “permanently,” “preventing,” “raised,” “respectively,” “reversibly,” “round,” “square,” “substantial,” “supporting,” “surrounded,” “surrounding,” “threaded,” “to,” “top,” “using,” “wherein,” “with,” or other such descriptors herein are used in their normal yes-or-no sense, not as terms of degree, unless context dictates otherwise.

Reference is now made in detail to the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the drawings. While embodiments are described in connection with the drawings and related descriptions, there is no intent to limit the scope to the embodiments disclosed herein. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents. In alternate embodiments, additional devices, or combinations of illustrated devices, may be added to, or combined, without limiting the scope to the embodiments disclosed herein.

Referring to FIG. 1, an illustrated view of an exemplary backpack 100 for providing alerts and notification of specific events and information. The backpack 100 is useful for providing an alert or notification to a user of the backpack of important items to remember to take at the end of a day. The backpack 100 is also useful for reminders to eat, hydrate and directions for hikers and/or backpackers. Further the backpack 100 is useful setting reminders for various events and thus removing the need for an additional reminder device.

The backpack 100 has an electronic system 200 and a light 300.

The backpack 100 has a body 101. The body 101 has a front 102, a middle 103 and a back 104. The body 101 of the backpack 100 is preferably made of a waterproof material, but may be non-waterproof. The body 101 of the backpack 100 is preferably made of a fabric material, such as cloth, rayon, nylon, etc. but other materials are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, plastic, poly-vinyl chloride (PVC), etc.

The front 102 of the body 101 of the backpack 100 has a first pocket 105, a second pocket 106 and a first compartment 107. The first pocket 105 and the second pocket 106 are useful for storing smaller items such as pens, pencils, paperclips, etc.

The first compartment 107 of the body 101 of the backpack 100 has a closure 108 and an interior 109. The closure 108 of the first compartment 107 of the body 101 of the backpack 100 is preferably a zipper, but other closures are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, Velcro, snaps, etc.

The interior 109 of the first compartment 107 of the body 101 of the backpack 100 is preferably has a lining 110. The lining 110 of the interior 109 of the first compartment 107 of the body 101 of the backpack 100 has a first side 111 and a second side (not shown).

The electronic system 200 is coupled to the interior 109 of the first compartment 107 of the body 101 of the backpack 100. The electronic system 200 has a display 201, a computing device 202 and a power supply 203.

The power supply 203 is preferably a rechargeable battery but other types of power supplies are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, disposable battery, solar, ac/dc, etc. The power supply 203 is electrically coupled to the computing device 202 of the electronic system 200, the display 201 of the electronic system 200 and the light 300.

The computing device 202 is coupled to the display 201 of the electronic system 200. The computing device 202 is useful to store information/data for the user, contain software to activate and provide alerts to the user and optionally to communicate with external devices. The external devices are preferably applications on computing devices, but other devices are hereby contemplated. The protocol to communicate between the electronic system 200 and the external devices is preferably IEEE 802.11 (WiFi), but other protocols are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, IEEE 802.15 (Bluetooth), 3GPP, 3GPP2, Wireless 4G, Wireless 5G, etc.

The display 201 of the electronic system 200 displays information pertinent to the user communicated by the computing device 202. The display 201 is described in further detail in FIG. 1B.

The light 300 is coupled to the back 104 of the backpack 100 substantially near the middle 103 of the backpack 100. The light 300 is preferably a light emitting diode (LED) lamp, but other types of lamps are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, liquid crystal display, etc. The light 300 preferably is illuminated in a color depending on an event determined at the computing device 202 of the electronic system 200.

Moving now to FIG. 1B, an illustrated view of the display 201 of the electronic system 200 shown in FIG. 1A is presented.

The display 201 has a first side 204 and a second side 205. The second side 201 of the display 201 preferably has a YES section 206 and a NO section 207. The YES section 206 and the NO section 207 are useful for requesting acknowledgement of the completion of an alerted condition.

The display 201 is preferably a light emitting diode (LED) display, but other types of displays are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, liquid crystal display, etc.

The first side 204 of the display 201 displays information/data and alert information determined by the computing device 202 of the electronic system 200 (shown in FIG. 1A). The first side 204 of the display 201 preferably has a current time 208, one or more current alerts or information 209 and one or more icons 210.

The computing device 202 of FIG. 1A determines the alert or condition to display at the display 202. The display 202 indicates the determined alert or information 208. The current alert or information 208 displayed is presently “COAT” 211 and an icon 213. The display of the “COAT” 211 may trigger an alert sound or may trigger the light 300 to become lit or blinking. The icon 212 displayed to represent the COAT 211 alert is a coat 213.

The COAT 211 indicates that the user should remember to bring their coat with them. The YES section 206 and NO section 207 may become lit and/or blinking such that the user records their adherence to the alert or lack of adherence to the alert. The YES section 206 and NO section 207 may further request feedback from the user when the user has failed to indicate adherence or if the user had selected the NO section 207 of the display 201.

The computing device 202 further communicates to the display 201 to display an event of “HOMEWORK” 214. The HOMEWORK 214 indicates that the user has homework due in the near term. The YES section 206 and NO section 207 may become lit and/or blinking such that the user records their adherence to the alert or lack of adherence to the alert. The YES section 206 and NO section 207 may further request feedback from the user when the user has failed to indicate adherence or if the user had selected the NO section 207 of the display 201. The icon 215 displayed to represent the HOMEWORK 214 alert is a book 215.

FIG. 1C illustrates a subset of the icons 20 representing the alerts or information that may be any of the following, though the icons 202 is not limited to those discussed below or anywhere within this application. The icons 202 are a water bottle 216, a book 215 and a jacket or coat 213. Other icons may be added and/or deleted and associated at the computing device 202 with an event or information that may be communicated to be displayed and alerted at the display 201.

In the numbered clauses below, specific combinations of aspects and embodiments are articulated in a shorthand form such that (1) according to respective embodiments, for each instance in which a “component” or other such identifiers appear to be introduced (with “a” or “an,” e.g.) more than once in a given chain of clauses, such designations may either identify the same entity or distinct entities; and (2) what might be called “dependent” clauses below may or may not incorporate, in respective embodiments, the features of “independent” clauses to which they refer or other features described above.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary processes and/or devices and/or technologies are representative of more general processes and/or devices and/or technologies taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application.

The features described with respect to one embodiment may be applied to other embodiments or combined with or interchanged with the features of other embodiments, as appropriate, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.

Claims

1. A backpack for display and alerting of events, the backpack comprising:

a body, the body comprising: a front, the front having a first compartment;

an electronic system, the system comprising: a power source; a computing device, the computing device being electrically coupled to the power source; and a display, the display being communicatively coupled to the computing device; and wherein the display being electrically coupled to the power source; and

a light, wherein the light being communicatively coupled to the computing device, wherein the light being electrically coupled to the power source, wherein the light being coupled to the back of the backpack substantially near the middle of the backpack, and wherein the light emitting a light when a communication from the computing device indicates to light the light.

2. The backpack of claim 1, wherein the backpack being made of a fabric material.

3. The backpack of claim 2, wherein the fabric material being nylon.

4. The backpack of claim 2, wherein the material being waterproof.

5. The backpack of claim 1, wherein first compartment further comprising an interior and a closure;

the interior having a lining, the lining having a first side and a second side.

6. The backpack of claim 5, wherein the closure being a zipper.

7. The backpack of claim 5, wherein the display being coupled to the first side of the lining.

8. The backpack of claim 5, wherein the computing device being coupled to the second side of the lining.

9. The backpack of claim 5, wherein the power source being coupled to the second side of the lining.

10. The backpack of claim 1, wherein the power source being a rechargeable battery.

11. The backpack of claim 1, wherein display being a light emitting diode (LED) display.

12. The backpack of claim 1, wherein the light being a light emitting diode (LED) lamp.

13. The backpack of claim 1, wherein the display further comprising:

a first section, wherein the first section displays a list of events and a list of icons representing each of the events; and

a second section, the second section having a YES section and a NO section, wherein the YES section being for acknowledging of the alerted event and the NO section being for disavowing the alerted event.

14. The backpack of claim 13, wherein the selection of the NO section causing the display to request acknowledgment of the completion of the event.

15. The backpack of claim 13, wherein the lamp being light when the list of events is displayed.

16. The backpack of claim 14, wherein the lamp being lit a determined color depending on the event.

17. The backpack of claim 14, wherein the light indicating the alert by blinking.