GB2324715A - Suit carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

A suit carrier is provided with shoulder straps M1, M2 so that it may be carried in a hands free manner. The suit or other clothing is held horizontally on a hanger within the carrier using straps attached to the ends of the hanger, and running through the sleeves and the body of the suit jackets and shirts being carried to the sides of the carrier bag, in order to hold the suit jackets and shirts flat within the carrier, whilst being carried horizontally. The bag is preferably folded in three and retained in this state by strips K1-K3. Additional pockets may be provided on the front and/or side walls of the carrier.

Description

HANDS FREE SUIT CARRIER Technical field This invention relates to a suit carrier in the form of a backpack.

Background Suit carriers are well known pieces of luggage which comprise a long (say one and a half metres in length) bag, approximately sixty centimetres wide and approximately ten centimetres in depth. They are designed to be able to carry suits and they are therefore provided with one side which opens out widely to allow suits to be placed into the bag flat.

They also have a means to allow the suits, mounted on specially provided clothes hangers to be hung inside the bag. This means often takes the form of a small rail running the depth of the back onto which the clothes hangers are placed. The hangers are secured in place by means of a locking mechanism on the clothes hanger which locks the hanger to the rail.

Usually a strap is provided which goes across the body of the suits at some point in order to press them flat within the bag.

The bags are designed so they can be folded in half, the halves being secured together usually by clips at the extreme ends and a carrying handle is affixed to the centre of the side opposite to that which opens to allow for the carrying of the bag. When the bag is being carried, the suit within it therefore hangs vertically, folded once in the middle. Suit carriers are often also supplied with a shoulder strap.

Usually, being designed to be capable of taking a number of suits at a time such bags are often relatively bulky. Being designed to fold over once for use, they are also relatively large in size whilst being carried. They are therefore impractical for use where individuals wish to be able to carry a suit whilst undertaking a more energetic activity such as walking, running or cycling.

Essential technical features According to the present invention there is provided a suit carrier designed to allow the carrier to have hands free in order to facilitate walking, running or cycling while carrying the carrier.

The carrier is fashioned to be worn in the manner of a backpack and is therefore equipped with shoulder straps to allow it to be so worn.

It is made out of waterproof material so as to be suitable for use in a variety of weather conditions.

In order to be a suitable size for use as a backpack, the carrier is designed so that the bag and its contents are folded twice before being secured in position rather than once as in the case of a normal suit carrier. Also, while in use, the carrier is fashioned so that the contents hang in a horizontal position rather than vertically.

In order to ensure that the bag's contents remains in position once hung horizontally, a mechanism is provided to ensure that they do so.

The carrier is designed with pockets to take ancillary items of apparel such as appropriate shoes, socks, tie, etc.

Example A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings describing an application of the invention to carry a single suit, shirt and ancillary apparel.

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention.

The invention comprises a rectangular shallow bag. One of the two larger faces of the bag has a zippered opening running just around the inside of the outer edge of the side for the greater proportion of three of its sides so as to allow a panel to be folded open permitting easy access to the interior of the bag.

An alternative embodiment of the invention could have a more limited opening, for example by way of a simple zip running down the middle of one of the flat sides from point A to point B as illustrated in Figure 2.

Another embodiment would be for the zip to run along three of the shallow sides of the bag, for example from point C to point D as indicated by the arrows as illustrated in Figure 2.

Within the bag, attached at point E is a "coat hanger" to be manufactured from metal or plastic or wood. The hanger has the shape described which includes a lower bar (F) close to the main lower bar of the hanger so as to provide a means for hanging trousers.

The hanger incorporates hooks to allow for the hanging of a skirt illustrated for example, at G1 and G2.

Alternative versions of the invention could forego either the hooks G1 and G2 or the lower bar F, or both.

In this embodiment of the invention the hanger is attached to the body of the bag as illustrated in Figure 3.

Alternative embodiments of the invention could involve affixing the hanger directly to the body of the bag or use of existing forms of arrangements of detachable hangers as presently used on suit carriers.

In this embodiment of the invention, attached to either end of the hanger at points H1 and H2 are a pair of straps. Each pair consists of a shorter and a longer strap. Towards the distal end of each strap there is attached to one side a length of "velcro" material.

(R iT.M ) The shorter strap is of a length such that the portion of strap with the velcro attachment L extends beyond the length of the sleeve when a suit and shirt is placed upon the hanger and the shorter strap is drawn through the sleeve of the shirt. Similarly, the length of the longer strap is such that the portion with the velcro attachment extends below the body of a shirt and suit jacket when the shirt and the suit jacket are placed upon the hanger and the strap drawn down through the body of the suit.

Attached to the inside of the shallower side of the bag towards the end opposite the hanger attachment are strips of velcro material illustrated at point 11 to I2 and I3 to I4 such that when a suit jacket and shirt are placed upon the hanger, the shorter straps may be drawn through the arms of the shirt and jacket and affixed using the velcro to the sides of the bag whilst the longer straps can be drawn through the body and similarly affixed to the sides of the bag using the velcro material such that the suit jacket and shirt are held firmly in place across the width of the bag.

An alternative embodiment of this invention could involve a long strap attached at one end to the body of the bag (for illustrative purposes at say point J1 or J2). If attached at point J1, the strap could be fed through the body of the jacket and shirt to the hanger with the distal end being then drawn out through the sleeve in this example and affixed to the side of the bag using velcro on the strap and around point J2 as above to achieve the same purpose. If the fixed end were attached at point J2, the direction of insertion would be opposite that described above and the distal end would be affixed as required at or around point J, Alternative embodiments of this invention could substitute poppers or buckles as an alternative mechanism for fastening the distal end(s) of the straps to the body of the bag and could utilise mechanisms for adjusting the lengths of the straps as required in order to ensure the suit jacket and shirt are held in place.

Once a suit jacket, shirt and trousers have been placed upon the hanger and secured in place, the opening panel may be closed and as illustrated in Figure 4, the bag folded.

In this embodiment of the invention, once folded the bag is held folded by means of four clips, two at positions K1 and K2 which will now form the top of the closed bag and two similar clips at the bottom indicated by K3 and K4.

Alternative embodiments of the invention might use clips at the centre of the top, bottom and each "side" of the folded bag as illustrated by L1 through L4 in Figure 4 or at the top and bottom of each side as illustrated by L5 through L8 in Figure 4.

The closing clip may operate in a number of manners to achieve secure closure, including poppers, buckles, interference locks of a variety of types.

Attached to the front of the bag are two shoulder straps to allow the closed bag to be carried on the bag. As illustrated in Figure 5, which is a view of the bag from the top, the shoulder straps (M1 and M2) are affixed to the front of the bag but are held away from it by an intervening spacer on either side (, and +. The purpose of this is to avoid contact between the person carrying the bag who may be engaged in energetic physical activity, and the bag, in order to minimise the risk of any contamination through dampness.

Attached to the back of the bag as illustrated in Figure 4, but omitted for clarity in earlier diagrams, are a number of pockets to allow the carrying of a pair of shoes, socks and underwear, tie, small items ofjewellery (eg cufflinks) and a small wash bag or toiletries. In the present embodiment of the invention these take the form of four pockets running horizontally across the back of the folded bag as illustrated as items N1 through N4.

Alternative embodiments of the invention may configure pockets attached to either the back or the sides of the invention in a variety of configurations, an example of which is illustrated in Figure 6 where two side pockets 01 and 02 are used for shoe carrying and affixed to the side of the back on top ofthe closing straps which are in positions Q1 through Q4.

Claims (4)

1 A means for carrying suits, shirts and related items of apparel in a hands free manner by use of a backpack arrangement whereby the suits and shirts are held securely within a suit carrier by an arrangement of straps whereby the suit carried may be held horizontally within the bag without fear of the clothing becoming crumpled and the whole carrying bag may be folded and secured such that it may be carried by means of shoulder straps in the form of a backpack.

2 Means according to claim 1 wherein shoulder straps are affixed to a suit carrier for the purposes of transporting it.

3 Means according to claim 1 where straps are attached to the coat hangers used in the body of the carrier where by means of attachment of the distal end(s) of the straps to the body of the bag, the clothing being carried within may be held in place with respect to the sides of the carrying bag.

4 Means according to claim 1 and claim 3 whereby the length of the straps may be adjusted.