GB2395423A

GB2395423A - A back carrier with detachable straps

Info

Publication number: GB2395423A
Application number: GB0223488A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Greg Vanhinsbergh
Original assignee: GROGZ Ltd
Current assignee: GROGZ Ltd
Priority date: 2002-10-10
Filing date: 2002-10-10
Publication date: 2004-05-26
Also published as: GB0223488D0

Abstract

A back carrier comprises a frame 4 having a plurality of attachment points 45,46,47,48,49 thereon and a plurality of straps 2,3 allowing the back carrier to be worn by a user, the straps being separable from the frame. The back carrier may have a waist strap which may be secured to the frame at a plurality of locations by clips, brackets, hooks, buckles or the like and may have shoulder straps, the lower ends of which may be secured to the frame at a location spaced upwardly from the waist strap. The frame may be unitary, may have the form of a contoured plate and may taper upwardly. One or more support elements 48 may be provided in the frame and securing ties 51 may be provided to allow articles to be secured to the frame. The frame may be connected to a rucksack or backpack style bag or may be used to transport bulky sporting items such as skis, skateboards, snowboards and the like. Alternatively, modular elements 6 may be connected to the support elements allowing the frame to be used to transport specialist gardening, farming, medical or military equipment.

Description

BACK CARRIERS

This patent application has to do with arrangements for carrying loads on the human back after the fashion of 5 a rucksack, but without a bag or container necessarily being involved.

Particular aspects of our new proposals involve, variously, providing a modular carrier construction enabling greater versatility, providing carriers which 10 take the weight more at waist level than on the shoulders, reducing spinal compression, and providing carriers adaptable to carry secured loads externally i.e. without containment, and optionally adaptable to carry a variety of different such loads. These different aspects 15 may be taken independently or combined in various ways.

A first proposal is for a "modular" back carrier, which may be a rucksack in the conventional sense or may be a carrier according to one or more of the novel aspects described below, in which the connection between 20 the carrier construction and one or more straps for holding it on the wearer (shoulder straps and/or waist strap(s)) is releasable. This releasable connection may be e.g. by means of clips, brackets, hooks or buckles.

It contrasts with conventional rucksacks in which straps 25 are generally stitched integrally to the carrier. This modular construction enables the detachable strap(s) or waist band, as the case may be, to be used with more than one carrier.

A detachable waist band may be arranged by having one or more releasable connection points between a back portion (typically the centre) of the waist band and a lower part of the carrier structure, typically a lower 5 part of a frame or support part of the structure. This lower part of the carrier structure may have openings to take rigid or flexible (e.g. strap) securing elements of the waist band. Or, the waist band may have a structure with openings for connecting to corresponding elements on 10 the carrier structure. Since the waist band may be a substantial, padded multi-component element this option for diverse uses is valuable.

Another proposal relates to a support frame for a back carrier. Prior art rucksack frames have typically

15 been tall structures onto which the bag of the rucksack is hung, to help keep its shape and distribute its load over the wearer's back. One proposal here is a support frame structure to be carried on the back which has support elements (such as hooks, brackets, shelves, eyes, 20 straps etc.) on which loads to be carried can be secured directly, i.e. without a containing bag as a necessary element. Thus, objects too long or awkwardly shaped for carrying in a bag could nevertheless be carried on the back provided that suitable mountings for them are 25 provided on the support frame. We particularly envisage use of this idea with bulky sporting articles such as skateboards, mountain boards, skis and so forth. However the concept goes far wider than that because by providing

suitable mounting elements on the support frame, then an enormous variety of loads - single or multi-article could be secured and carried. This might be for example other kinds of sporting equipment, gardening or farming 5 implements and equipment, medical or military gear and supplies or even people, e.g. injured or dead people.

Useful features for a support frame of this kind may be selected from the following proposals.

The support frame is desirably a good compressive 10 load bearer, so that loads supported behind the wearer's back can be transmitted downwardly onto a waist band or waist strap of the carrier. Preferably, most or substantially all of the load is borne at the waist in this fashion. This has advantages over the conventional 15 shoulder-borne loads. It relieves the spine of compression and thereby reduces stiffness and fatigue in the upper body and neck. With the load borne downwardly, upper body straps e. g. shoulder straps can be much less restrictive. For example shoulder straps may pass over 20 the respective shoulders and immediately back under the arms to a lower securement spaced upwardly from the waist region, rather than extending down the front of the body and down round to the waist as in conventional rucksacks.

By keeping shoulders back without heavy load on them, 25 this may be beneficial from the posture point of view.

The support frame may be in plate form, e.g. a single one-piece plate. This facilitates manufacture. A preferred construction has a lower end terminating

adjacent or above the lumbar region and an upper end terminating at or below shoulder level. The width of the plate may decrease towards the shoulder region, improving freedom of movement for the shoulders. The plate may be 5 flat or may be contoured in three dimensions to fit over the back. Preferably the frame does not project sideways or upwards beyond the body. The plate may be of metal or stiff plastics material; clearly the latter is preferred if three-dimensional shaping is used.

10 Various support elements as mentioned above may be fixedly provided as permanent formations of or on the support frame. This will restrict the kinds of articles to be carried, although nevertheless providing a useful new product. A further proposal is to give versatility 15 by providing the support frame with connection points and having discrete support elements which can be releasably joined on at these connection locations. This provides for changing one kind of support element for another, e.g. a hook for a shelf or strap, and/or providing 20 support elements at different positions on the support structure e.g. to take articles of different sizes. In a preferred embodiment the connection locations include or are simple apertures e.g. slots or keyholes in the support structure. Where the structure is a plate these 25 are easily made. The support elements can then have connection formations dimensioned and shaped to locate in these apertures and hold the support element in place on the support structure in a stable, load-bearing

configuration. Additionally or alternatively, supplementary locking means or retainers such as screws or straps may be provided as part of the connection locations to determine or lock the position or condition 5 of a supporting element mounted thereon.

The carrier preferably also includes securing ties (e.g. straps) secured or securable to the support structure. The benefit of ties is of course their versatility as regards shape and size, because they are 10 flexible and can be tied at various points or secured via length-adjustable buckles and sliders. Where the support structure e.g. plate has apertures, these may be adapted to take straps in addition to or as an alternative to rigid supporting elements of the kinds discussed above.

15 While load bearing via a waist band or waist strap is preferred in this aspect of the proposals, the reader will appreciate that more conventional support entirely or solely through shoulder straps may also be used. In this case the support frame need not necessarily be 20 adapted to withstand compressive forces because it will to some extent be hanging. However for obvious reasons a structurally simple support frame such as a stiff plate (as suggested above) is still preferred.

In view of the above points, one preferred 25 embodiment of our proposals is a back carrier having a carrier plate with a lower lumbar end secured (preferably releasably) to a load-bearing waist band and a shoulder end (preferably narrower than the lumbar end) secured,

again preferably releasably, to shoulder straps. The support plate, preferably a one-piece unit, has an array of connector openings e.g. in keyhole or slot form.

These connector openings may include any one or more of 5 the following types: one or a set of upper side openings, at each of the right and left side edges of the plate; one or a vertically-distributed set of central openings up the median line of the plate; 10 one or a set of lower side openings at each of the right and left sides of the plate; one or a set of lower edge openings along the bottom edge of the plate, e.g. for securing the waist band.

These may variously be used for rigid support 15 elements, which may be provided with the carrier as part of a kit, or may be provided separately. The support elements include respective connector portions shaped and dimensioned to connect through the mentioned apertures in the plate. The support elements may be any of brackets, 20 hooks, shelves, bolts, clamps or other fittings appropriate to the loads to be borne. It will be understood that such rigid fittings are best used in tandem with flexible securing ties or straps to give the best support. An alternative embodiment is as described 25 above, but the securing formations as described are fixed mounted on the support plate, e.g. as integral projections thereof formed by bending, welding or other technique appropriate to the material used.

Embodiments of our proposals are now described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a back view of a back carrier embodying 5 our proposals; Fig. 2 is a front view showing a waist band pad portion of the carrier; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a frame plate of the carrier; 10 Fig. 4 is a different version of frame plate; Fig. 5 shows the Fig. 4 frame plate with two different modes of attaching support elements; Fig. 6 is a rear oblique view of the Fig. 5 plate showing one of the modes of connection, and 15 Fig. 7 is another rear oblique view showing the other mode of connection.

With reference to Fig. 1, a back carrier consists of a rigid support plate 4 with a waist band 3 connected across its lower edge and a pair of shoulder straps 2 20 connected to its top edge. This is an outside view; when the waist band 3 is wrapped around the wearer's waist and buckled, the plate 4 is on the outside.

The waist band has a wide oval cushioning pad 33, consisting of a foam pad in a fabric envelope, and a 25 nylon webbing strap 31 sewn along the middle on the outside, with conventional quick-release push-buckles 33 at its ends, also with length adjustment. The lower edge of the plate 4 has a series of spaced vertical slots 45.

A pair of securing straps 35 is fixed to the back of the waist webbing strap 31, passing up through respective ones of the securing holes 45 and joined together e.g. by ,nt a conventional Velcro (hook and loop fastener) join. The 5 waist band 3 is thus readily detachable from the plate 4.

The plate 4 is a flat stainless steel plate, broadest at its foot with upwardly convergent straight side edges 41. At the top edge are two shoulder strap slots 47 (see Fig. 3) each of which takes a permanently 10 sewn (or releasable) loop of a respective one of the shoulder straps 2. In the arrangement shown the shoulder strap slots 47 are tilted to face the opposite side, and the top webbing portions 21 of the shoulder straps cross over - preferably being sewn together at the crossover 15 point 25 behind the wearer's neck.

Each shoulder strap has a central pad portion 23 and a lower webbing portion 24 with a length adjustable buckle 22. The lower webbing portions 24 pass as a free bight through one of three upper side holes 46 20 distributed along the converging edge 41 of the plate 4.

Because the point of attachment of the lower strap end 24 is spaced up from the waist band, the shoulder strap 2 passes close under the armpit unlike a conventional rucksack strap.

25 When worn, the narrower top end of the plate 4 lies comfortably between the shoulder blades. Weight borne on the plate 4 is transmitted down by the stiffness of the plate 4 - which may alternatively be made of a stiff

plastics material such as polypropylene - and through the securing straps 35 onto the waist band 3, which may take substantially all of the weight with the shoulder straps 2 acting primarily to stabilise the load. Also, because 5 the straps 2 pass close under the armpits they are not restrained by the body and can act to hold the wearer's shoulders back in a good posture. By changing the one of the upper side slots 46a,b,c onto which the strap is joined, this effect can be adjusted. Ways of carrying 10 the load on the plate 4 are described later.

Firstly, refer to Fig. 2 which shows a refinement of the waist band 3. The fabric envelope has overlapping free edges 34 on its inner side which can be separated to remove the pad inside, e.g. for replacement with a fresh 15 one, or with a pad of different consistency.

Discussing now the support plate 4 and the manner of carrying of loads on it, it will first be noted that all of the slot openings through the plate are of the same simple shape (elongate with rounded ends) so that they 20 may equally well take the passage of a webbing strap or of a locking element (of predetermined form) on a load support member to be mounted on the plate.

A flat plate is shown, but it could be contoured (e.g. by vacuum forming, for a plastic plate) to fit on 25 the body.

Fig. 5 shows two shelf elements 6, 6', which fix onto the plate 4 in different ways. Each shelf element has a flat transverse floor 62 to extend horizontally

across the plate, a front upward retaining lip 61 to help retain a load, and locking elements at the back. In the lower member 6, these locking elements are designed to engage in horizontal mounting slots 48' of the plate.

5 Referring also to Fig. 6, they are vertical tabs with a front lower part 63 and a rear upper part 66, both vertical with a horizontal stagger portion 64 in between.

The upper portions 66 are inserted through the slots 48' up to the stagger, and then the shelf 6 tilted down into 10 place so that the forward engagement of the upper portion 66 against the rear plate and the rearward engagement of the lower portion 63 against the front of the plate, combined with the vertical engagement of the staggered portion 64 in the slot, fix both the position and 15 orientation of the shelf so that it can bear load. This load might be for example a large board held transversely across the plate. The upper tab portion 66 have respective slots so that if wished they can be strapped together to avoid any possibility of the shelf coming 20 loose e.g. under heavy shaking.

The upper shelf 6' in Fig. 5 has a different mode of fixing, featuring a transverse rear plate 67 which goes right across the front of the plate 4 and has a central horizontal slot 66'. No portion goes through the plate 25 4, but side channel tabs 65' fit slidingly around the parallel edges of the plate. Note that the plate 4' being shown is a variant, shown also in Fig. 4 and differing from the Figs. 1,3 version in that its shape

features convergent upper side edges but parallel lower side edges.

Turning to Fig. 5 and Fig. 7, the tabs 65' and rear plate 67 of the shelf 6' prevent it from tipping back and 5 forward. The central slot 66' is aligned with a corresponding central slot 49' of the plate 4' (see Fig. 7) and can be held in place by a securing strap going through, to fix the vertical position.

It will be appreciated that for many objects, while 10 the shelves 6 provide a firm mechanical support, some form of tie is needed to hold the object in place. By exploiting the array of available slots, it is easy to provide sufficient ties to hold articles of various shapes in a variety of orientations and positions.

15 Thus, as shown in Fig. 1, left and right vertical tie pairs 53 are shown with quick release buckles 54 for holding articles up on the plate 4, with or without the assistance of a fitted support element such as a shelf.

The plurality of lower side slots 48 on the plate give a 20 choice of strap location. Also, a pair of lateral securing straps 51 with a buckle 52 are opposed across the upper region of the plate between selected ones of the upper side openings 46, and can be secured to hold loads against lateral movement.

25 The skilled reader will appreciate from the above description, particularly in the light of the general

introduction, that this mode of carrying can be adapted

in innumerable ways for carrying different kinds of

object. Because the support plate 4 can be detached from its straps, a variety of different support plates can be provided for different uses, e. g. with different dispositions of mounting openings, different types or 5 dispositions of permanently-fitted support elements, or different sizes shapes, contours or materials of the plate itself.

Claims

Claims

A back carrier comprising a frame having a plurality of attachment points thereon and a plurality of straps for holding the back carrier to a wearer, wherein the connection between the frame and at least one of the straps is releasable.
2. A back carrier as claimed in claim], wherein the carrier has a waist strap (waist band) and a connection between the frame and the waist band is made by one or more of clips, brackets, hooks and buckles.
3. A back carrier as claimed in claim 2, in which the waist band has a plurality of connection points with the frame.
4. A back carrier as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the back carrier has a plurality of detachable shoulder straps.
5. A back carrier as claimed in claim 4, in which each shoulder strap is secured to the frame spaced upwardly from a waist region.
6. A back carrier as claimed in claim 5, in which each of the shoulder straps has attachment points on a left hand side of the carrier and on the right hand side of the carrier.
7. A back carrier as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which, in use, a substantial portion of a load borne by the waist of a wearer.
8. A back carrier as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the frame is a unitary structure.
9. A back carrier as claimed in claim 8, in which the frame is in the form of a plate.
10. A back carrier as claimed in claim 9, in which the plate is contoured.
11. A back carrier as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the frame is tapered with an upper region being narrower than a lower region.
12. A back carrier as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the frame has one or more support elements formed thereon.
13. A back carrier as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the frame is provided with a plurality of connection locations for releasably engaging with support elements.
14. A back carrier as claimed in claim 13, in which the connection locations are apertures in the frame.
15. A back carrier as claimed in claim 14, in which the support elements have connection formations dimensioned and shaped to locate in the connection locations.
16. A back carrier as claimed in claim 15, in which at least one of the frame and the support elements include supplementary locking means to lock the position or condition of a support element.
17. A back carrier as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a plurality of securing ties for securing articles to the frame.
18. A back carrier as claimed in claim 14, in which the apertures comprise any one or more of the following: one or a set of upper side openings at each of the left and right hand side edges of the frame; one or a vertically distributed set of central openings up a median line of the frame; one or a set of lower side openings at each of the right and left sides of the frame; one of a set of lower edge openings at each of right and left sides of the frame.
19. A back carrier as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of figures I to 7 of the accompanying drawings.