MODULAR DECORABLE TOY BAG

Abstract

An apparel accessory such as a bag, a backpack or a case, in particular for children or young people, consists of a containing body (11), an outer wall (14) which has at least one decorated outer surface (15) and arranged therein a foil made of decorative magnetic or ferromagnetic material (18) and a plurality of magnetic or ferromagnetic elements (20) associable with the decorated outer surface (15) in a removable and movable manner. The decorative elements (20) are in relation of style and/or subject with the setting graphic (16) reproduced on the outer surface (15) and thus allow an interactive and highly customizable decoration mode of the bag, backpack or case.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a bag, backpack, case or other similar accessory to contain and transport personal items.

STATE OF THE ART

Bags, backpacks and cases are extremely widespread apparel accessories as they allow more or less orderly to contain and transport personal items of all kinds. In fact, these accessories exist in different types, since both the purposes of use and therefore the type of objects to be contained and the target consumer are very variable. Just to mention a few examples, there exist bags for women being more or less spacious and having any shape, or being of a soft or rigid type, baby carriers, rigid or envelope-type cases, work, hiking, school backpacks, etc. These accessories, as any piece of apparel, are not only chosen for their technical characteristics, but also and above all for their appearance. Moreover, very often there is the will by the user to further customize the backpack or bag thereof. Just think, for example, of the habit of applying brooches, pins, decorative patches to the outer surface of sport-style bags, or the even more common habit of applying such decorative elements and others to accessories for children and young people, such as school backpacks, handbags, cases. Among children and young people, the need to express the personality also through the customization of their accessories is particularly felt and it is recognized that allowing such forms of expression has an educational value. It is for the aforementioned reasons that it often happens to see school backpacks, cases and handbags whose surface is not only decorated by applying the most different accessories but also by creating graphics such as drawings or texts written directly on the surface of the accessory. Very often, moreover, the young person studies an integrated solution composed of a graphic drawn directly on the surface of the backpack and accessories applied to the drawing itself.

For younger children, the educational need for the possibility of allowing certain forms of expression is also satisfied by marketing specific interactive games such as books or tablets whose pages or surfaces have drawings representing specific environments on which the child is required to apply additional decorative elements. The application modes can be more or less stable and removable since adhesive, Velcro, magnetic, button, etc. systems are known.

These interactive games that allow the guided development of the child expressive abilities are extremely widespread and yet exist only in the form of books and graphic tables exclusively dedicated to this purpose, while it would be desirable to integrate them into backpacks, bags or cases for children or young people wherein, as already seen above, the need to have customizable accessories as freely as possible is evident.

Backpacks or other personal items are known which have interchangeable decorative elements on the outer surface. For example, a backpack is described in US 2013/0032502 A1 wherein decorative elements consisting of patches of various styles are removably associable with the outer surface by means of a Velcro fixing system wherein large portions of the outer surface of the backpack are provided with micro-hooks and patches of various sizes are provided with micro-rings so that they can be fixed in variable positions on the outer surface. The document also describes the possibility of replacing the Velcro system with other systems, for example a magnetic system wherein a magnetic plate is sandwiched between the layers of fabric that compose the outer surface of the backpack and magnets are attached to the patches which in this way can removably adhere to the magnetic plate. However, this document does not provide that the surface on which the decorative patches may adhere is in turn decorated with drawings or ornamental motifs, and in particular does not provide for it to be decorated with drawings or ornamental motifs which are coordinated with the decorative patches provided to be removably affixed therein. Furthermore, the document does not show that the outer surfaces of the backpack on which the decorative elements are fixed may in turn be removable and replaceable with others.

Also the document US 2017/0196344 describes a wearable item, which can be a backpack, a shoe or the like which provides decorative elements having a decorative surface and a suitable opposite coupling surface and coupling with an outer surface of the wearable article similarly provided with appropriate coupling elements. The coupling elements described are for example clips and appropriate insertion slots or buttons and relative holes or press-buttons and relative housings. This document shows that in addition to single patches, an entire decorated outer surface can be removably associated with the wearable element. However, this document does not anticipate either the possibility of applying the decorative elements with magnetic systems, or the possibility of applying the decorative elements on a surface already decorated with drawings or ornamental motifs, and in particular does not provide for it to be decorated with drawings or ornamental motifs that are coordinated with the decorative patches that are provided to be removably affixed to them. Finally, it does not even show the possibility of removably affixing decorative patches to decorative surfaces which are themselves removable from the rest of the wearable element.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is therefore to propose an accessory such as a handbag, a backpack or a case, in particular for children or young people, which is extremely customizable.

The object of the present invention is also to propose an accessory such as a handbag, a backpack or a case, in particular for children or young people, which surfaces can be decorated.

Another object of the present invention is to propose a wearable accessory which can have playful purposes thanks to the presence of decorated surfaces on which further themed decorative elements can be variously disposed in a removable and repositionable manner.

Still another object of the present invention is to propose a wearable accessory wherein decorative assemblies of decorated surfaces and related themed decorative elements removably applied can be removable and interchangeable with other similar decorative assemblies.

The aforementioned objects are achieved by means of a bag, backpack or case, of the type used for the containment and transport of personal or school items in particular for children or young people, including a containing body, at least one decorated outer wall comprising one outer surface made of a fluting coating material on which certain setting graphics are reproduced, and a magnetic or ferromagnetic foil arranged internally with respect to said outer surface and associated thereto; a plurality of decorative magnetic or ferromagnetic elements removably associable from the exterior to said outer surface by means of the magnetic interaction with said magnetic or ferromagnetic foil, said magnetic or ferromagnetic elements are in relation of style and/or subject with the setting graphics reproduced on said outer surface.

The presence of the magnetic or ferromagnetic foil inside an outer surface decorated with a setting graphic allows the application from the exterior on the decorated surface of magnetic or ferromagnetic elements that are related to the setting graphics and that can be associated in a movable and removable way in any position on the setting graphics, thus allowing the user to express its personality and creativity by associating or not the decorative elements in the desired position.

Advantageously, the outer wall containing the magnetic or ferromagnetic foil and the surface with the setting graphic is a flap removably associated with the backpack, bag or case. In this way the possibilities for customizing the accessory expand considerably as the decorated outer wall and relative decorative magnetic or ferromagnetic elements removably associable form an interactive decorative support which can be easily replaced with another having a different setting graphic with relative different set of decorative magnetic or ferromagnetic elements in relation of style and/or subject with the specific setting graphic.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments thereof, given as a not limiting example, according to what is stated in the claims and with the aid of the attached drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of an accessory according to the present invention, in particular a backpack;

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the backpack of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a detail of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows a front perspective view of a second embodiment of an accessory according to the present invention, in particular a rigid bag;

FIG. 5 shows a rear perspective view of the bag of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a third embodiment of an accessory according to the present invention, in particular a soft bag with an outer pocket;

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of an accessory according to the present invention, in particular a soft bag with a flap.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to the figures, some embodiments of an accessory of the present invention are described below. Functionally identical elements of the various embodiments are indicated with the same identification numbers. Moreover, it is to be understood that characteristics of a given embodiment can also be applied to the other embodiments, where two characteristics are not obviously mutually exclusive. Finally, the embodiments represented and described must be considered exclusively as a non-limiting example.

With reference to FIGS. from 1 to 3, in a first embodiment an accessory according to the present invention is a backpack, 10, which comprises a containing body, 11, of the semi-rigid type, which in this embodiment is divided by a vertical dividing wall (not visible) in two separate compartments, a rear one and a smaller, front one, which can be accessed by means of two hinges, 12, 13, placed to cross the upper part of the backpack 10 from one side to the other. A handle, 21, is present to protrude above from the rear side of the backpack 10 while two laces, 22, are anchored to the rear side to wear the backpack 10 according to known modes on the shoulders.

An outer wall, 14, in particular the front wall, comprises an outer surface, 15, made of a fluting coating material on which certain setting graphics, 16 are reproduced. As can be seen in the detail view in partial section of FIG. 3, the outer wall 14 also comprises a magnetic or ferromagnetic foil 18, arranged internally with respect to the outer surface 15 and associated therewith. In the represented embodiment, the outerwall 14 comprises a fluting inner surface, 19, sewn to the outer surface 15, so that the magnetic or ferromagnetic foil 18 remains comprised within the sack consisting of the outer surface 15 and the inner surface 19.

A plurality of decorative magnetic or ferromagnetic elements 20 are removably associable from the exterior to the outer surface 15, movable on the outer surface 15 and freely rotatable thereon by means of the magnetic interaction with the magnetic or ferromagnetic foil 18. The decorative magnetic or ferromagnetic elements 20 are also in relation of style and/or subject with the setting graphic reproduced on the outer surface 15. For example, the embodiment represented shows a setting with sea and sky and the decorative magnetic or ferromagnetic elements 20 are a boat and a cloud.

In case the foil 18 is magnetic, the decorative elements 20 are advantageously made of ferromagnetic material, while in case the foil 18 is made of ferromagnetic material the decorative elements 20 are magnets, advantageously of the flexible type.

The outer wall 14 completed with the relative decorative elements 20 constitutes an interactive decorated support through which it is a real game that allows to express the personality and creativity of the user. Interactive decorative supports can relate to the most varied subjects such as for example more or less famous fictional characters for children (Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Peppa Pig, Masha and the Bear, etc., or even others of original conception) wherein the setting graphic is one of those typical of that character.

In FIGS. 4 and 5 a second embodiment of the accessory of the invention is shown which is a semi-rigid box-shaped bag 10′, which provides a box-shaped containing body 11, which in this exemplary embodiment comprises a single inner compartment accessed by means of a hinge, 13, placed to cross three sides of the bag near the front area of the latter. A handle, 21, is present to protrude above from the upper side of the bag 10′ while a lace, 22, is anchored with its own ends to the two sides of the bag to constitute a shoulder bag.

An outer wall, 14, in particular the front wall, comprises an outer surface, 15, made of a fluting coating material on which certain setting graphics, 16 are reproduced. The wall 14 comprises, behind the outer surface 15, a metal foil, according to construction modes similar to those shown in FIG. 3.

A plurality of decorative magnetic or ferromagnetic elements 20 are removably associable from the exterior to the outer surface 15, movable on the outer surface 15 and freely rotatable thereon by means of the magnetic interaction with the magnetic or ferromagnetic foil present in the outer wall 14. The decorative magnetic or ferromagnetic elements 20 are also in relation of style and/or subject with the setting graphic 16 reproduced on the outer surface 15.

With reference to FIG. 6, a third embodiment of an accessory according to the present invention is constituted by a soft shoulder bag, 10″, which provides a sack-shaped containing body 11, which in this exemplary embodiment comprises a single inner compartment accessed by means of a hinge, 13, placed to cross the narrow upper side. At the ends of the aforementioned upper side there are two tapes, 23, which have an annular opening 24 for anchoring the shoulder bag, not represented.

An outer wall, 14, in particular the front wall, comprises an outer surface, 15, made of a fluting coating material on which certain setting graphics, 16 are reproduced. The wall 14 consist of two layers of a covering material, of which the outer one consisting of the outer surface 15, sewn together perimetrically and between which the magnetic or ferromagnetic foil, not visible, is interposed. The outer wall (14) is provided on three sides, with the exception of the upper side, with a connecting element 25a, of the hinged-type, which is arranged to couple with a corresponding connecting element 25b, of hinged-type, similarly arranged along an edge of the containing body 11, so as to form hinged-connecting members 25 between the containing body 11 and the outer wall 14, which is therefore removably associable with the containing body 11 so as to form an outer pocket accessible from the upper side of the bag 10″.

A plurality of decorative magnetic or ferromagnetic elements 20 are removably associable from the exterior to the outer surface 15, movable on the outer surface 15 and freely rotatable thereon by means of the magnetic interaction with the magnetic or ferromagnetic foil present in the outer wall 14. The decorative magnetic or ferromagnetic elements 20 are also in relation of style and/or subject with the setting graphic 16 reproduced on the outer surface 15.

The embodiment described above allows evident further possibilities of customization in that the outer wall 14 is removably associated with the container body 11 thus allowing the creation of specific kits of interactive decorative supports consisting of an outer wall 14 and a relative set of decorative elements 20 which can be associated alternately with a same containing body 11.

For example, an interactive decorative support can consist of an outer wall 14 on the outer surface of which is drawn the house of Peppa Pig and by a series of decorative magnetic or ferromagnetic elements 20 comprising characters from the animated series Peppa Pig. A different interactive decorative support can provide as decorative elements 20 the same characters of the animated series Peppa Pig and an outer wall 14 wherein the outer surface 15 has a different design, for example the playground of Peppa Pig. In this way, in a bag or other accessory for the containment of personal items of the invention, the wall 14 can be replaced with one showing a different setting graphic but having the same general theme so that the same themed decorative elements 20 can be affixed thereon interactively. Moreover, it is also possible to replace the interactive decorative support with one of a completely different theme and wherein the setting graphics of the outer surface 15 and the decorative magnetic or ferromagnetic elements are therefore different but coordinated therewith. For example, a backpack wherein there is a first interactive decorative support consisting of a wall 14 with a setting graphic consisting of Peppa Pig's house and decorative elements 20 consisting of characters from the Peppa Pig series can be completely transformed from an aesthetic point of view by replacing the first interactive decorative support with a second interactive decorative support consisting of a wall 14 with setting graphics consisting of the house of Bear from the Masha and the Bear series and from decorative elements 20 consisting of characters from the Masha and the Bear series.

With reference to FIG. 7, a fourth embodiment of an accessory according to the present invention is constituted by a soft shoulder bag, 10″, which provides a sack-shaped containing body 11, with a single inner compartment which is accessed by means of a hinge, 13, placed to cross the narrow upper side. At the ends of the aforementioned upper side there are two tapes, 23, which have an annular opening 24 for anchoring the shoulder bag, not represented.

An outer wall, 14, in particular the front wall, comprises an outer surface, 15, made of a fluting coating material on which certain setting graphics, 16 are reproduced. The wall 14 consists of two layers of a covering material, one of which consist of the outer surface 15, while the other, visible in the overturned view in broken line, has a corresponding second outer surface, 15b, on which there is a second setting graphic, 16b. The two covering layers are sewn together perimetrically and the magnetic or ferromagnetic foil is interposed between them, not visible. The outer wall 14 is provided along the upper edge with a Velcro connecting tape 27a, with connecting elements on both sides, suitable for coupling with a corresponding Velcro connecting element, 27b, similarly arranged horizontally elongated on the front wall, 28, of the bag 10′″ near the upper end. The Velcro tape 27a and the corresponding Velcro connecting element 27b constitute a removable connection between the outer wall 14 and the containing body 11 arranged so that once connected to the containing body 11 the wall 14 constitutes a flap of the bag 10′″ which can assume an open position wherein it rests lying on the front wall 28 of the bag 10′″ with the outer surface 15 which is in view, and a closed position wherein it is overturned passing over the hinge 13 and laying on the opposite wall of the bag 10′″, with the second outer surface 15b which is in view. Moreover, thanks to the fact that the Velcro connecting tape 27a is provided with connecting elements on both sides, the wall 14 can be associated with the containing body 11 rotated by 180° so that the positions wherein the outer surfaces 15 and 15b are respectively in view are inverted.

A plurality of decorative magnetic or ferromagnetic elements 20 are removably associable from the exterior to the outer surface 15 and/or to the second outer surface 15b, movable thereon and freely rotatable, by means of the magnetic interaction with the magnetic or ferromagnetic foil present inside the outer wall 14. The decorative magnetic or ferromagnetic elements 20 are also in relation of style and/or subject with the setting graphic 16 reproduced on the outer surface 15.

The embodiment described above has the same advantages previously highlighted relative to the third embodiment consisting in the possibility of creating decorative kits to be associated alternately with a same containing body 11, but allowing an even greater customization and flexibility of use since, for each wall 14 and therefore for each decorative kit, there are two distinct decorated surfaces 15, 15b.

Certainly, further embodiment variants can be provided, for example relative to the shape of the containing body 11 and of the outer walls 14, as well as in the typology and position of the connecting members 25, 27 between the outer wall 14 and the containing body 11, without departing from the inventive concept of the present invention and from the scope of protection provided by the following claims.

Claims

1.-8. (canceled)

9. An apparel accessory for use as a bag, backpack or case, comprising:

a containing body;

at least one outer wall comprising at least one outer surface made of a fluting coating material on which setting graphics are reproduced, and a magnetic or ferromagnetic foil arranged internally with respect to the outer surface and associated thereto;

a plurality of decorative magnetic or ferromagnetic elements removably associable from the exterior to the outer surface by means of the magnetic interaction with the magnetic or ferromagnetic foil, the magnetic or ferromagnetic elements being in relation of style or subject with the setting graphics reproduced on the outer surface.

10. The apparel accessory according to claim 9, wherein the foil is magnetic and the decorative elements are made of ferromagnetic material.

11. The apparel accessory according to claim 9, wherein the foil is made of ferromagnetic material and the decorative elements are magnetic.

12. The apparel accessory according to claim 9, wherein the outer wall is removably associated with the containing body, so that the outer wall and decorative magnetic or ferromagnetic elements consist of a removably interactive decorative support associated with the apparel accessory.

13. The apparel accessory according to claim 12, wherein the outer wall consists of two layers of a covering material, of which an external layer comprising the outer surface, the covering layers being sewn together perimetrically, the magnetic or ferromagnetic foil being interposed between them.

14. The apparel accessory according to claim 13, wherein the outer wall is provided on three sides, with the exception of the upper side, of a connecting element, which is arranged to couple with a corresponding connecting element, similarly arranged along an edge of the containing body, so as to form connecting members between the containing body and the outer wall, which is therefore removably associable with the containing body so as to form an outer pocket accessible from the upper side of the bag.

15. The apparel accessory according to claim 13, wherein the outer wall is provided along an upper edge of a connecting tape suitable for coupling with a corresponding connecting element similarly arranged horizontally elongated on a front wall of the bag near an upper end, the connecting tape and the corresponding connecting element forming removable connecting members between the outer wall and the containing body arranged in such a way that once connected to the containing body, the wall constitutes a flap of the bag.

16. The apparel accessory according to claim 12, wherein the outer wall consists of two layers of a covering material, one layer of which provides the outer surface while the other layer provides a corresponding second outer surface on which there is a second setting graphic.