GB2194434A

GB2194434A - Improvements relating to bags

Info

Publication number: GB2194434A
Application number: GB08720246A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Champa Namgyal; Robert Weinreb
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1986-08-28
Filing date: 1987-08-27
Publication date: 1988-03-09
Anticipated expiration: 2007-08-27
Also published as: GB8720246D0; IE862299L; BE905697A; GB2230941A; GB2230941B; GB9011746D0; GB2194434B

Abstract

A bag, Fig. 1, particularly for photographic and/or video equipment, having a hollow body 1 which is generally rectangular in cross-section and a zip fastener extending around at least one corner 2, 3 of the body 1, has a flap 24 of fabric adapted to cover the zip fastener, wherein the flap 24 is formed of separate pieces 25, 26, 27 Fig. 10 of fabric with bias-cut edges 32, 28, 29, 33 joined by seams 34, 35 at the said corners 2, 3 such that the flap can roll away from the path of the slider 36 of the zip fastener 20 as it passes around the corners 2, 3. The bag has a second flap of similar construction covering a second zip-fastener. The bag, which is predominantly made or covered with fabric of tangulated multifilament yarn has a back panel made of smooth-filament non-abrasive cloth. The bag has a shoulder strap 60 which is convertible to a hand strap by means of a clip connection 66, 68 adapted to bridge two lower portions of the shoulder strap. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements relating to bags This invention relates to bags, particularly bags for photographic and/or video equipment.

Various bags for these purposes are commercially available. The known type of bag has a body which is generally rectangular in horizontal cross section (with or without additional pockets attached on the outside of the rectangular body). It is desirable to provide zip-fasteners extending horizontally around the bag for closing the top cover and/or for closing other openable portions of the bag. Such a horizontally extending zip-fastener must pass around at least two right-angled corners of the body of the bag. It is desirable also to provide a flap which covers the zip-fastener when it is closed. However, the slider cannot easily be moved along the zip-fastener without lifting of the flap, and when the slider reaches one of the corners the flap tends to turn up, leaving the zip exposed if the user forgets or neglects to turn it down again.

It has been known hitherto to form such a flap from a single strip of fabric extending around two sides and the front of the bag.

The present invention provides a bag having a hollow body which is generally rectangular in cross-section and at least one zip-fastener extending around at least one corner of the rectangular body of the bag, and a flap of fabric adapted to cover the zip-fastener, wherein the flap is formed of separate pieces of fabric joined by a seam at the said corner such that the flap can roll away from the path of a slider component of the zip fastener as it passes around the corner.

Preferably the flap js formed of strip pieces of fabric whose terminal edges to be joined at the said seam are cut at least partially on a bias at an angle of 10-15" to the transverse direction of the strip.

According to another feature of the present invention, a bag whose body is predominantly made or covered with fabric of tangulated multi-filament yarn also has a back panel of smooth-filament non-abrasive cloth, preferably of nylon of at least 200 Denier.

According to a further feature of the present invention, a bag has a shoulder strap which is convertible to a hand strap by means of a clip connection which is adapted to bridge two lower portions of the shoulder strap.

One embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a projection from one front corner of a closed bag with shoulder strap extended.

Figure 2 is a projection from the other front corner of the bag with the shoulder strap converted to a hand strap.

Figure 3 is a front view of the closed bag.

Figure 4 is a rear view of the closed bag.

Figure 5 is a projection of the bag with the top compartment open.

Figure 6 is a projection of the bag with the lower compartment open.

Figure 7 is a detail of one front corner of the top of the bag, when the zip fastener is closed.

Figure 8 is a view similar to figure 7, showing the zip-fastener partially opened.

Figure 9 is a view similar to figure 8 but with the flap which covers the zip turned up.

Figure 10 is a diagram of 3 pieces of fabric for making the top flap of the bag of figures 1-9.

Figure 11 is a diagram of 3 pieces of fabric for making the wall of the top compartment and the lower flap of the bag of figures 1-9.

As shown in the drawings, a bag particularly for photographic equipment has a hollow body 1 which is generally rectangular in horizontal cross section and therefore has four right-angled corners 2, 3, 4, 5. Outside the rectangular configuration the bag has added pockets 7, 8, 9.

The body 1 houses two compartments, which contain suitable divider units for holding photographic equipment. The lower compartment 10 is the main compartment of the bag and is defined by a wall 11 comprising pads of flexible plastics padding material covered on both faces with fabric. The top compartment 12 is defined by a wall 13 composed of 3 strips of fabric 44, 45, 46 (see figure 11) joined by seams at the corners 2,3, together with a downwardly-extending rear portion of a lid 1-9, also formed as a composite of padding and fabric and hinged by stitching at the back of the bag. The fabric of the wall 13 extends downwardly below a seam 14 (see fig 5) to form a lower flap which covers a zip 16 which is used to close the lower compartment 10.Stitched in at the seam 14 is a fabric skirt which supports the base 17 of the upper compartment; the base 17 is a composite of padding material covered by fabric and has a document pocket closed by a zip 18 in its lower face.

The upper compartment is closed by a zip 20, the lower tape 21 of which is sewn along the top of the wall 13 and the upper tape 22 of which is sewn to the edge of the lid 19 along a seam 23. It will be appreciated that although the bag is generally rectangular, the corners are sufficiently rounded to permit the zip fastener to follow a curved path.

Also attached to the edge of the lid 19 by seam 23 is an upper flap 24 which covers the zip 20. The upper flap is composed of 3 strips of fabric 25, 26, 27 (see figure 10) joined by seams at the corners 2, 3. The strips are of a uniform width, suitably 45 50mm.

Strip 26, which forms the front of the flap, has 2 end edges 28, 29 which are cut on a bias of about 12" to the transverse direction (i.e. about 78 to the longitudinal edge of the strip). The edges 28, 29 diverge downwardly.

Each of the side strips 25, 27 has a rear end edge 30, 31 which is cut at right angles to the longitudinal edge, and a front end edge 32, 33 which is cut on a bias of about 12" to the transverse direction. Strips 25 and 26 are brought together with the regions adjacent to end edges 32 and 28 turned in face-to-face and with edge 28 aligned with edge 32. Likewise strips 26 and 27 are brought together with the regions adjacent to end edges 29 and 33 turned in face-to-face and with edge 29 aligned with edge 33. The strips are then joined by seams on lines 34, 35 (indicated by dotted lines) to form a flap which flares downwardly. The top edge of the flap is stitched into the seam 23 at the perimeter of the lid 19. The flap 24 is then turned down over the zip (from the position of figure 9 to that of figure 7) so that it has a rolled top edge.At the corners 2, 3, the right-angled corner of the top fabric of the lid 19 is trapped in the seam 23 and the corner adopts a rounded configuration. A braid 39 is provided on the bottom edge of the flap for strengthening and protective purposes.

The flap 24 covers the zip 20 but flares slightly away from it. When a slider 36 is moved by normal manual guidance along the zip, the flap 24 rides up over the slider and even when the slider is passing around one of the corners 2, 3 there is sufficient play in the flap for it to permit the slider to pass without the flap turning up at the bottom. Figure 8 shows the position as the slider passes around a corner; figure 9 is included merely for clarity as it shows the flap turned up in the manner of a prior art flap. This is not necessary in normal pse of the arrangement of the present invention.

The lower flap 15 operates in a similar fashion. As shown in figure 10, the strips 44, 45 and 46 of fabric which form the lower flap 15 also have an upper portion which forms the wall 13 of the upper'compartrnent. Therefore the end edges are cut at right angles in the upper part 37 (which- will be above seam 14) and are cut at a bias of about 12" in the lower part 38, which will form the flap 15.

The three pieces are joined with their end regions face-to-face and the end edges aligned in the manner already described for the top flap. The top portion, when stitched into the bag, forms a vertical wall for the top compartment while the lower portion forms a flared flap to cover the zip 16.

The invention thus provides a flap arrangement which enables the zip fasteners for both the upper and lower compartments to be opened and closed without turning up the flaps.

Another inventive feature of the bag is found in the back wall shown in figure 4. It has been the practice in recent years to make such bags with a tough exterior fabric of tangulated multi-filament nylon yarn such as is sold under the Trade Mark CORDURA. However such fabric has a rough surface and it tends to abrade the surface of a garment (particularly in the hip region) against which the bag rubs when it is being carried by a shoulder strap.

The bag of the invention has a back panel 50 of smooth filament non-abrasive cloth of 400 denier nylon. The back panel 50 is added outside the back wall which is made of COR DURA (Trade Mark) fabric. The lower part 51 of the back panel defines a document pocket which is accessible by means of a zip fastener 52.

Thus the bag has a non-abrasive surface where it bears against the carrier's clothing.

Such bags are generally worn with a fully extended shoulder strap as shown in figure 1.

However, it is advantageous to be able to convert the strap to a handle in minimum time and with minimum difficulty.

The shoulder strap 60 of webbing extends between two attachment straps 61, 62 which are each secured to a side of the body 1 of the bag. Each attachment strap has a closed loop at its top end and an attachment buckle 63, 64 held in the closed loop. One end of the shoulder strap 60 passes through attachment buckle 63, and doubles back to a sliding buckle 65 which can be used to adjust the operative length of the shoulder strap 60. The other end of the shoulder strap is formed as a closed loop on the other attachment buckle 64.

Spaced above the non-adjustable end of the shoulder strap, on the inside face thereof, is a D-shaped metal ring 66 which is secured by a tab 67 of webbing sewn to the shoulder strap. On the opposite side of the bag, snaphook 68 is mounted on a rectangular frame 69, one limb of which is held in the closed loop at the top of attachment strap 61. The snap-hook comprises a rigid hook whose mouth is closed by a spring plate fixed at the base of the hook and urged against the inside face of the end of the hook, such that the spring plate can be pushed back to allow the ring 66 to be inserted into or removed from engagement with the hook.

When it is desired to convert the shoulder strap to a carrying handle, the ring 66 is inserted into the snap-hook 68 so that the portion of the strap between attachment buckle 64 and ring 66 forms a bridge between the two sides of the bag. The remainder of the shoulder strap can then be folded over as shown in fig 2. In order to re-convert the handle to a shoulder strap, the spring element closing the mouth of the snap-hook 68 is depressed and the ring 66 is released from the hook. This ease of conversion of the strap to handle and vice versa adds a novel and advantageous feature to the bag.

Claims

1. A bag having a hollow body which is generally rectangular in cross-section and at least one zip-fastener extending around at least one corner of the rectangular body of the bag, and a flap of fabric adapted to cover the zip-fastener, wherein the flap is formed of separate pieces of fabric joined by a seam at the said corner such that the flap can roll away from the path of a slider component of the zip fastener as it passes around the corner.

2. A bag according to claim 1 wherein the flap is formed of strip pieces of fabric whose terminal edges to be joined at the said seam are cut at least partially on a bias at an angle of 10-15 to the transverse direction of the strip.

3. A bag according to claim 2 wherein the said pieces of fabric are joined with an end region of one piece overlapping a corresponding end region of the adjacent piece and with their corresponding bias-cut edges aligned, so that the pieces of fabric form a flap which flares downwardly.

4. A bag according to claim 2 or 3 wherein the said pieces of fabric comprise an upper portion whose edges are cut in the transverse direction and a lower portion whose edges are cut on a bias at an angle of 10-15 to the transverse direction.

5. A bag, according to any of the preceding claims having a body predominantly made or covered with fabric of tangulated multifilament yarn, wherein the back panel is made of smooth-filament non-abrasive cloth.

6. A bag according to claim 5 wherein the back panel is made of nylon of at least 200 denier.

7. A bag according to any of the preceding claims having a shoulder strap which is convertible to a hand strap by means of a clip connection which is adapted to bridge two lower portions of the shoulder strap.

8. A bag according to claim 7 wherein the clip connection comprises a ring on one lower portion of the shoulder strap and a snap-hook on the opposite lower portion.

9. A bag substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10. A bag having a body predominantly made or covered with fabric of tangulated multifilament yarn but having a back panel made of smooth-filament non-abrasive cloth.

11. A bag according to claim 10 wherein the back panel is made of nylon of at !east 200 denier.

12. A bag having a shoulder strap which is convertible to a hand strap by means of a clip connection which is adapted to bridge two lower portions of the shoulder strap.

13. A bag according to claim 12 wherein the clip connection comprises a ring on one lower portion of the shoulder strap and a snap-hook on the opposite lower portion.