AU2024100015A4

AU2024100015A4 - Storage bags

Info

Publication number: AU2024100015A4
Application number: AU2024100015A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Shane Miles
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2020-12-15
Filing date: 2024-03-06
Publication date: 2024-04-04
Anticipated expiration: 2029-03-09
Also published as: AU2021101225A4; AU2021200654A1; AU2021105239A4

Abstract

A storage bag assembly for external use comprising a harness component adapted to be mounted to the spare wheel or other suitable component of a vehicle and a bag component, the harness component and the bag component having complementary connection means for connecting the bag component to the harness component, the connection means being arranged such that the harness component can be mounted to the spare wheel (or other vehicle component) and subsequently the bag component can be connected to the harness for travel and removed from the harness after travel. 1/10 22f 13 10 22a 12 -G FIG. 1

Description

1/10

22f 13

10

22a

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FIG. 1

STORAGE BAGS

This invention relates to storage bags and storage bag

assemblies. The invention has application to storage bags of the

type which are externally mounted to four-wheel-drive vehicles

for storage of camping or travelling equipment and necessities

during travel or at camp. However, the invention could have

application in other circumstances and for other items.

Externally mounted storage bags for four-wheel-drive vehicles

are typically used by four-wheel-drive enthusiasts with vehicles

which have rear mounted spare wheels or spare tyres and the bags

are mounted to those spare wheels and extend rearward therefrom.

Generally, the bags have one or more walls defining a storage

chamber, the walls being soft or semisoft and made predominantly

of synthetic woven fabric which allows the bags to be squashed

to a relatively flat disposition for storage when not in use and

opened to form a storage chamber for use. Four-wheel-drive

enthusiasts typically use such bags for carrying items such as

firewood or other gear which does not need to be kept dry on the

way to the campsite, and rubbish on the return trip.

Such known bags typically incorporate a plurality of straps or

ropes which are permanently secured to the walls forming the

storage chamber by stitching, the straps or ropes being of a

suitable length which allows them to extend around the spare

wheel and sometimes the mount to which the spare wheel is secured

and to be tied to hold the bag in place against the spare wheel.

It will be appreciated that the storage chamber of such storage

bags is typically much the same size as the torso of an average man when filled although bags with smaller or larger storage chambers could be available.

While such bags are generally mounted to the spare wheel while

in an empty state, it often is the case that two people are

required to mount the bag. Typically, one person holds the bag

against the spare wheel while a second person positions the

straps or ropes and secures them to the wheel or the wheel mount.

Another difficulty with known external storage bags is that they

often need to be emptied in order to be remounted and then the

contents have to be returned to the storage chamber once the bag

has been remounted.

The present invention is aimed at providing an externally

mounted storage bag or storage bag assembly which can be more

easily mounted to the spare wheel or some other suitable mount

such as the bull bar of a vehicle, and more easily released from

the spare wheel or other mount.

With the foregoing in view, the invention in one aspect resides

broadly in a storage bag assembly for external use comprising a

harness component adapted to be mounted to the spare wheel or

other suitable component of a vehicle and a bag component, the

harness component and the bag component having complementary

connection means for connecting the bag component to the harness

component, the connection means being arranged such that the

harness component can be mounted to the spare wheel (or other

vehicle component) and subsequently the bag component can be

connected to the harness for travel and removed from the harness

after travel.

In another aspect, the invention resides broadly in a bag adapted

to be connected to a harness, the bag having one or more walls

defining a storage chamber, and connection means connected to

at least one of said one or more walls for connecting the bag

to a harness.

In another aspect, the invention resides broadly in a harness

adapted to be mounted to the spare wheel or other suitable

component of a vehicle, the harness including connection means

for connecting a storage bag thereto.

Preferably, the bag component is releasably connected to the

harness component by a plurality of releasable connectors. In

one such form, two spaced apart connectors connect the bag to

the harness towards the lower end of the bag and similarly two

spaced apart connectors connect the bag component to the harness

towards the top end of the bag component. In one preferred form,

the releasable connectors are mounted to the rear wall of the

bag (the wall abutting the spare wheel) which allows a person

to lay the bag on its front to gain access for connecting the

lower connectors and then to lift and rotate the bag about those

lower connectors into the vertical position where the person can

reach behind the bag component from one side to connect one top

connector and then the other side to connect the second

connector.

It is also preferred that the releasable connectors be arranged

relatively close to the side edges of the bag component so that

access to the releasable connectors can be gained from the sides of the bag component for connecting and disconnecting the connectors. However, if desired a third bottom connector could be provided between the first two and similarly a third top connector could be provided between the first two, with access to the third bottom connector being gained when the bag component is in the laid down position and access to the third top connector being gained from above, although that may require the person to stand on the vehicle rear bumper.

Preferably, the harness component is constructed predominantly

of straps with the straps being manufactured of a flexible

material such as woven synthetic straps, which are suitably

arranged to combine with the bag component to inhibit sliding

around the spare wheel.

Preferably, the harness includes two spaced apart "vertical"

straps which when mounted loop around the spare wheel on opposite

sides of a vertical line though the centre of the wheel, one run

of each strap extending from the upper region of the tread face

-0 of the spare wheel down across the outer side face of the spare

wheel and up the inner face and being connected at the top of

the wheel to the down run. In such form of the invention, it is

preferred that the two vertical straps be connected to each

other along the tread at the top of the tyre by a side to side

(or lateral) strap and similarly at the bottom by a side to side

strap.

Advantageously, in one such preferred form, the top side to side

strap is shorter than the bottom side to side strap which tends

to make the vertical straps hold the bag component harder against the tyre at the top than at the bottom which when connected to top connectors and bottom connectors on the bag component which are equally spaced apart in turn tends to inhibit rotation of the bag component relative to the tyre.

Preferably, the harness includes a safety strap connected

directly to the vertical straps and/or the side to side straps

which is adapted to be looped around the spare wheel mount to

secure the harness thereto for additional safety.

Preferably, at least one of said one or more walls is flexible

and constructed of a soft or semisoft material. In a preferred

form said one or flexible walls are made predominantly of

synthetic woven fabric which allows the bags to be squashed to

a relatively flat disposition for storage when not in use and

opened to form a storage chamber when connected to the harness.

In yet another aspect, the invention resides broadly in a

method of mounting a storage bag to the spare wheel of a

vehicle, the method including:

providing a harness adapted to be mounted to the spare wheel

of a 4WD vehicle and a storage bag, the harness and the bag

having complementary releasable connection means for

releasably connecting the bag to the harness; and

mounting the harness to the spare wheel and subsequently

connecting the complementary connection means of the harness

and the bag to releasably secure the bag to the harness.

Other steps of the method will be apparent from the broad

description of the invention and the description of the

preferred embodiment of the invention.

In order that the invention may be more easily understood and

put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the

accompanying representations wherein:

Fig. 1 is a pictorial representation of a storage bag assembly

according to the invention mounted to the spare wheel of a 4WD

vehicle as seen from behind the vehicle;

Fig. 2 is a pictorial representation of the storage bag

assembly of Fig. 1 mounted to the spare wheel as in Fig. 1 and

as seen from above;

Fig. 3a is a pictorial representation of the harness component

of the storage bag assembly of Fig. 1 mounted to the spare

wheel of the 4WD vehicle as seen from behind the spare wheel;

Fig. 3b is a pictorial representation of the lower part of the

harness component of the storage bag assembly of Fig. 1

mounted to the spare wheel of the 4WD vehicle seen from above;

Fig. 4 is a pictorial representation of the harness component

of the storage bag assembly of Fig. 1 mounted to the spare

wheel of the 4WD vehicle as seen from above;

Fig. 5 is a pictorial representation of the bag component of

the storage bag assembly of Fig. 1 resting on the rear bumper

of the 4WD vehicle and showing the back of the bag component;

Fig. 6a is a pictorial representation of the storage bag of

FIG 2 with the bag component partially connected to the

harness component;

Fig. 6b. is a pictorial representation of part of the bag

component and part of the harness component of the storage bag

assembly of Fig. 1 in close up view showing the bottom

connections more clearly;

Fig. 6c is a pictorial representation of the storage bag

assembly of Fig. 1 from above with one of the top connectors

connected and one ready to be connected; and

Fig. 7 is a pictorial representation of part of the storage

bag assembly of Fig. 1 from above showing the padlock strap

partly in position for padlocking the bag component to the

harness component.

The storage bag assembly 10 illustrated in the drawings or

photos is mounted to the spare wheel (or spare tyre) 11 of a

Toyota land cruiser four-wheel-drive vehicle 13. The spare

tyre in turn is mounted to the rear door 12 of the vehicle. In

this specification the terms spare wheel and spare tyre are

used interchangeably.

The storage bag assembly 10 includes a harness component 21

and a bag component 22 as can be more clearly seen in Fig 2.

The harness component includes two straps 23 and 24 which loop

around the spare wheel 11 on opposite sides of a vertical line

25, one run of each strap extending from the upper region 27

of the tread face 28 of the spare tyre downward across the

outer side face 29 (and its wheel rim cover 30) and then up

the inner face of the spare wheel to the upper region 27 of

the tread face where it is buckled to the downward run of the

strap by respective buckles 28 and 29 on the respective straps

23 and 24. The straps 23 and 24 are referred to herein as

"vertical" straps for the sake of easy description although

they are not strictly vertical and in fact diverge downwardly

away from the upper region 27 of the spare tyre.

The two vertical straps are connected to each other near

buckles 28 and 29 by an upper strap 31 which extends side to

side along the tyre tread. Similarly, the two vertical straps

are connected at the lower portion of the spare tyre by a

similar lower strap 32 which extends side to side along the

tyre tread at the bottom of the tyre and has been brought

forward slightly in the example from the tread to give better

visibility. Advantageously, the lower strap 32 is longer than

the upper strap 31 which allows the vertical straps to diverge

thereby forcing the upper portion of the storage bag into

better engagement with the rubber sidewall of the tyre.

The bag component 22 is substantially a rectangular prism in

shape having a front wall 22a facing rearward when the bag is

mounted to the vehicle, a rear wall 22b adjacent the spare

-0 wheel of the vehicle, two opposed side walls 22c and 22d, a

bottom wall 22e and an upper releasable lid 22f which is held

closed by a zipper.

As can be seen in Fig. 2 the bag component 22 is connected

near its top to the harness component 21 by two spaced apart

side release buckles 41 and 42, the female half of each buckle

being secured to the rear wall 22b of the bag component and

the male half being secured to the vertical straps 23 and 24

of the harness component respectively by short strap loops.

Similarly, as can be seen in Fig. 6a, the bag component 22 is

connected near the bottom to the harness component 21 by two

similar spaced apart side release buckles 43 and 44, the

female half of each buckle being secured to the rear wall 22b

of the bag component and the male half being secured to the

vertical straps of the harness component 21 respectively by

short strap loops.

Additionally, the harness component includes a safety strap 51

having one run which extends forward and downwards from

vertical strap 23 adjacent buckle 41 and loops around the

spare tyre mount between the spare tyre 11 and the rear door

12 of the vehicle and is buckled to a second run 52 extending

from the other vertical strap 24 in a similar manner by buckle

56.

The bag component 11 also includes another strap 61 which is

stitched to the rear wall 22b of the bag, the strap having an

eyelet therein near each end, the eyelets being arranged to

-0 receive the shackle of a padlock whereby the strap can be used

to lock the bag to the harness or to the rim of the spare

wheel or the spare wheel mount as desired. Similarly, eyelets

66 and 67 are provided in short straps 68 and 69 which are

stitched to the upper releasable lid 22f to allow it to be

easily padlocked.

In order to mount the storage bag assembly 10 to a vehicle,

the harness is firstly fitted to the spare wheel with the

respective male halves of upper buckles 41 and 42 adjacent the

outer edge of the spare wheel 11 at the top and the male halves of the lower buckles 43 and 44 adjacent the outer edge of the spare wheel 11 at the bottom of the wheel. The long run of safety strap 51 is then looped around the spare wheel mount and buckled to the short run by buckle 56. At that stage, the harness component vertical straps are tightened by way of tri slides which are provided at all buckles. At this stage the harness component is ready to have the bag component mounted to it.

The next step is to hold the bag component in a semi-inverted

or lying down attitude and to connect the two halves of side

release buckles 43 and 44 as can be seen in Figs. 6a and 6b.

Once those buckles have been connected, the bag component is

rotated upwards into the desired position with the back of the

bag against the spare wheel and then the two halves of top

side release buckles 41 and 42 can be connected. The hook and

loop fastener wraps (such as "Velcro" wraps) 71 and 72 can be

wrapped around the vertical straps to stabilise the bag

component and keep it in a more rectangular form.

The bag component is then ready to be filled with items such

as firewood, rubbish, kitchen utensils and the like which do

not need to be out of the weather. The bag component can be

released from the harness component by simply carrying out the

aforementioned steps in reverse and once released, the bag

component can be placed in any suitable part of the campsite

and be used to store accruing rubbish and then be easily

connected to the harness for a return trip.

While the storage bag assembly is intended primarily for use

by four-wheel-drive enthusiast and camping people, it is

suitable for many other uses.

The foregoing description has been given by way of

illustrative example of the invention and any modifications

and variations which will be apparent to a person skilled in

the art may be made without departing from the spirit and

scope of the invention has hereinbefore described.

Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. A storage bag assembly for external use comprising a

harness component adapted to be mounted to the spare wheel or

other suitable component of a vehicle and a bag component, the

harness component and the bag component having complementary

connection means for connecting the bag component to the harness

component, the connection means being arranged such that the

harness component can be mounted to the spare wheel (or other

vehicle component) and subsequently the bag component can be

connected to the harness for travel and removed from the harness

after travel.

2. A storage bag assembly according to Claim 1 wherein, the

bag component is releasably connected to the harness component

by a plurality of releasable connectors.

3. A storage bag assembly according to any one of the preceding

claims wherein said connection means includes two spaced apart

connectors arranged to connect the bag to the harness towards

the lower end of the bag and two spaced apart connectors arranged

to connect the bag component to the harness towards the top end

of the bag component.

4. A storage bag assembly according to Claim 3, wherein, the

releasable connectors are mounted to the rear wall of the bag

component.

5. A storage bag assembly according to Claim 3 or Claim 4

wherein the releasable connectors are arranged relatively close

to the side edges of the bag component so that access to the

releasable connectors can be gained from the sides of the bag

component for connecting and disconnecting the connectors.

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6. A storage bag assembly according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the harness component is constructed predominantly of straps which are arranged to combine with the bag component to inhibit sliding around the spare wheel.

7. A storage bag assembly according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the harness includes two spaced apart vertical straps (as hereinbefore defined) which when mounted loop around the spare wheel on opposite sides of a vertical line though the centre of the wheel, one run of each strap extending from the upper region of the tread face of the spare wheel across the outer side face of the spare wheel and up the inner face and being connected at the top of the wheel to the down run.

8. A storage bag assembly according to Claim 7 wherein the two vertical straps are connected to each other by a side to side strap in a location whereby in use the side to side strap runs along the tread at the top of the tyre.

9. A storage bag assembly according to Claim 7 wherein the two vertical straps are connected to each other by two side to side straps one being in a location whereby in use it runs along the tread at the top of the tyre and the other being in a location whereby in use it runs along the tread at the bottom of the tyre.

10. A storage bag assembly according to Claim 7 wherein the top side to side strap is shorter than the bottom side to side strap.

11. A storage bag assembly according to Claim 7 further including a safety strap connected directly to the vertical straps and/or the side to side straps, the safety strap being

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12. A storage bag assembly according to any one of the preceding

claims wherein the bag component includes one or more walls

defining a storage chamber, and the complementary connection

means of the bag component are connected to at least one of said

one or more walls.

13. A storage bag assembly according to Claim 12 wherein at

least one of said one or more walls is flexible and constructed

of a soft or semisoft material.

14. A storage bag assembly according to Claim 13 wherein said

one or flexible walls are made predominantly of synthetic woven

fabric selected to allow the bag component to be squashed to a

relatively flat disposition for storage when not in use and

opened to form a storage chamber when connected to the harness.

15. A bag adapted to be connected to a harness, the bag having

one or more walls defining a storage chamber, and connection

means connected to at least one of said one or more walls for

connecting the bag to a harness.

16. A harness adapted to be mounted to the spare wheel or other

suitable component of a vehicle, the harness including

connection means for connecting a storage bag thereto.

17. A method of mounting a storage bag to the spare wheel of

a vehicle, including:

providing a harness adapted to be mounted to the spare

wheel of a 4WD vehicle and a storage bag, the harness and the bag having complementary connection means for connecting the bag to the harness; and mounting the harness to the spare wheel and subsequently connecting the complementary connection means of the harness and the bag to mount the bag to the harness.

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