US20110309124A1

US20110309124A1 - Backpack comprising device for variable attachment of shoulder belts

Info

Publication number: US20110309124A1
Application number: US13/108,542
Authority: US
Inventors: Pierre Dubois; Sem Hediger
Original assignee: Mammut Sports Group AG
Current assignee: Mammut Sports Group AG
Priority date: 2010-05-14
Filing date: 2011-05-16
Publication date: 2011-12-22
Also published as: EP2386222B1; CH701182B1; EP2386222A1; DE202010011418U1

Abstract

The invention relates to a backpack having shoulder straps and an adjustment plate for attaching the shoulder straps so as to be adjustable in the horizontal and vertical directions; the adjusting plate is fitted on a network, which network is spaced apart from a rear wall of the backpack by a rear-ventilated climate zone.

Description

The invention relates to a backpack according to the preamble of the independent patent claim.
As is well known, a backpack is carried on the back of a person, wherein the load of the backpack is received by the upright person via two shoulder straps and one hip belt. For the wearing comfort of a backpack it is important to individually adjust the shoulder straps via an adjusting system in the horizontal and vertical directions to the back anatomy of the person. In this manner, on the one hand, the backpack is positioned as close as possible to the back and, on the other, the load of the backpack is introduced as uniformly as possible into the shoulders of the person.
The document DE 19 803 729 A1 shows an adjusting system having an adjusting plate which is fixed on a rear wall of the backpack and which has a height adjustment groove and a plurality of width adjustment grooves. Shoulder-side ends of the two shoulder straps each have one attachment plate with latching head. The two latching heads are secured in the adjusting plate; however, they can be moved in the height adjustment groove and width adjustment grooves and can be fixed in place by elastic deformation in an individually desired latching position.
For the wearing comfort of the backpack it is also important to rear-ventilate the back of the person when carrying the backpack so that perspiration water generated due to physical exertion is transported away from the back.
The document EPO 158 154 A1 shows a rear-ventilated backpack having an A-shaped, concave spacer which pretensions a network which keeps the rear side of the backpack spaced apart from the back of the person so as to form a climate zone transporting perspiration water.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a backpack which allows a horizontal and a vertical adjustment of the shoulder straps to the length of the back of the person as well as a rear-ventilation of the backpack.
This object is solved by the invention according to the characterizing features of the independent patent claim.
The backpack according to the invention has shoulder straps and an adjustment plate for attaching the shoulder straps so as to be adjustable in the horizontal and vertical directions; the adjusting plate is fixed on a network, which network is spaced apart from a rear wall of the backpack by a rear-ventilated climate zone.
Surprisingly, it was found that the adjusting plate which introduces a portion of the load of the backpack via shoulder straps into the shoulders of the person can be fixed on a network which is attached via edges to the backpack, whereby a region enclosed by the network and the rear wall of the backpack forms a rear-ventilated climate zone. Since in case of proper use of the backpack, the adjusting plate is subjected only to tensile load, the rear-ventilated climate zone is additionally stabilized by the load of the backpack.
Advantageous further developments of the invention are described in the dependent claims.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are illustrated in detail by means of the figures. In the figures, partially schematized:

FIG. 1 shows a portion of the first exemplary embodiment of a backpack having an adjusting system;

FIG. 2 shows a portion of a second exemplary embodiment of a backpack having an adjusting system; and

FIG. 3 shows a side view of the backpack having an adjusting system according to FIG. 1 or FIG. 2.

In the embodiments according to FIGS. 1 to 3, the backpack 1 has two shoulder straps 2, one rear wall 3 with a stiffening frame integrated therein, and a network 5 arranged in the region of the rear wall 3 for providing a rear-ventilated climate zone 4 between the rear wall 3 and the back of a person, wherein the stiffening frame—viewed with the backpack 1 in upright position—has two longitudinal sections extending in the vertical direction which are aligned substantially parallel to each other and arranged near the side edges of the rear wall 3.
In one embodiment, the network 5 is directly attached with its shoulder-side end to the rear wall 3 of the backpack 1 and/or to sections of the stiffening frame which extend horizontally in the head region of the backpack 1, and is attached with its hip-side end to cushion elements and/or to sections of the stiffening frame which extend in the horizontal direction in the bottom region of the backpack 1. The shoulder straps 2 are attached with their shoulder-side end at a preselected distance from the shoulder-side end of the network 5 to the latter and are fixed in place with their hip-side end on the rear wall 3 to the stiffening frame and/or to the network 5 in the region of the network's hip-side end. The network 5, the shoulder straps 2 and the rear wall 3 are made of weatherproof and abrasion-resistant plastic and/or natural/plastic blended yarn, for example plastic such as polyamide, polyester, polyvinylchloride, polypropylene and/or natural/plastic blended yarn such as cotton/polyester blended yarn.
In case of backpack 1, the shoulder straps can be individually adjusted via an adjusting system in the horizontal and vertical directions to the back anatomy of the person wearing the backpack 1. In this manner, on the one hand, the backpack 1 is positioned as close as possible to the back and, on the other, the load of the backpack 1 is transferred as uniformly as possible onto the shoulders of the person. The adjusting system has an adjusting plate 15 and adjusting elements 16. The adjusting plate 15 is attached to the network 5. The adjusting plate 15 is fixed in place on the network's 5 side facing away from the rear wall 3 so that it is easily accessible for the person.
The adjusting plate 15 is made of metal and/or plastic and is connected to the network 5 in a mechanically secured manner by a form fit and/or adhesive bond. One adjusting element 16 is attached in each case to a shoulder-side end of the shoulder straps 2. The adjusting elements 16 are made of metal and/or plastic. Advantageously, the adjusting plate 15 and the adjusting elements 16 consist of weatherproof, abrasion-resistant and impact-resistant materials such as aluminum, polyamide, polyester, polyvinylchloride, polypropylene. The adjusting elements 16 are attached to the adjusting plate 15 so as to be adjustable in the horizontal and vertical directions. Attaching the adjusting elements 16 is carried out in a reversible manner by the person wearing the backpack 1.
In the embodiment according to FIG. 1, the adjusting element 16 is a clamp and the adjustment plate 15 is a base plate with a plurality of rods, preferably a matrix of two rod groups each with three sewed-in rods. For adjustably attaching the clamp, the clamp is forced open by hand, slid over one of the rods and by releasing the clamp, is attached in this attachment position.
In the embodiment according to FIG. 2, the adjusting element 16 is a buckle, preferably a three prong buckle and the adjusting plate 15 is a base plate having a plurality of slots, preferably a matrix of two slot groups each with three slots. The shoulder-side end of the shoulder strap 2 is fixed to the center prong of the three prong buckle. For adjustably attaching the three prong buckle, the same is inserted by hand into a slot and turned into an attachment position so that the two outer prongs of the three prong buckle come to rest behind the edge of the slot.
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, this embodiment allows the wearer to select for each adjusting element 16, three different attachment positions on the adjusting plate 15 which are vertically spaced apart from each other, namely one of three prongs or slots arranged one above the other. In one embodiment in which the prongs and slots are longer than the adjusting element 16, the wearer can displace the adjusting element 16 on the selected prong or slot in the horizontal direction and thus can select one of a plurality of attachment positions in the horizontal direction.
For example, the prongs or slots of the adjusting plate 15 are spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction by two or three centimeters and an adjusting element 16 can be displaced on a prong or in a slot in the horizontal direction by one or two centimeters. A particular advantage of the attachment of the adjusting plate 15 on the network 5 is the fact that in case of proper use of the backpack 1, the adjusting plate 15 is subjected only to tensile load so that the climate zone 4 is additionally stabilized by the load of the backpack 1. In this connection, FIG. 3 shows schematically how the load of the backpack 1 is transferred from the head region of the backpack 1 into the shoulder-side end of the network 5 and from there into the adjusting plate 15 and from the adjusting plate 15 via the adjusting element 16 into the shoulder straps 2 and from there into the body of the person wearing the backpack 1. The mechanical tension formed in this manner in the network 5 stabilizes the climate zone 4 and, to a large extent, keeps the rear wall 3 of the backpack 1 away from the body of the person.
Longitudinal sections of the stiffening frame and therefore the rear wall 3 of the backpack 1 are advantageously ergonomically shaped and are slightly curved in an s-shaped manner thereby following the shape of the spine. The ergonomically shaped rear wall 3 and the backpack 1 adjusted to the back anatomy of the person have the effect that the distance between network 5 and rear wall 3 remains largely unchanged over its entire extension and a rear-ventilated climate zone 6 having a largely constant layer thickness or depth is created allowing horizontal as well as vertical ventilation.

REFERENCE LIST

Backpack (1)
Shoulder straps (2)
Rear wall (3)
Climate zone (4)
Network (5)
Adjusting plate (15)
Adjusting element (16)

Claims

1. A backpack (1) having shoulder straps (2) and an adjusting plate for attaching the shoulder straps (2) so as to be adjustable in the horizontal and vertical directions, characterized in that the adjusting plate (15) is fitted on a network (5) which is spaced apart from a rear wall (3) of the backpack (1) by a rear-ventilated climate zone (4).

2. The backpack (1) according to patent claim 1, characterized in that on each shoulder-side end of the shoulder straps (2), an adjusting element (16) is fitted and that the adjusting elements (16) can be attached to the adjusting plate (15) so as to be adjustable in the horizontal and vertical directions.

3. The backpack (1) according to patent claim 2, characterized in that the adjusting element (16) is a clamp, that the adjusting plate (15) is a base plate having a plurality of rods aligned transverse to the longitudinal direction of the backpack and that the clamp, by tensioning, subsequent sliding over one of the rods and releasing, can be attached in an attachment position selectable in the horizontal and vertical direction.

4. The backpack (1) according to patent claim 2, characterized in that the adjusting element (16) is a buckle, that the adjusting plate (15) is a base plate having a plurality of slots and that the buckle fixed to the shoulder-side end of a shoulder strap, by turning and guiding through one of the slots and subsequent tilting up again on the rear side of the slot, can be attached in an attachment position selectable in the horizontal and vertical direction.

5. The backpack (1) according to any one of the patent claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the rear wall (3) of the backpack (1) is ergonomically shaped and is slightly curved in an s-shaped manner thereby following the shape of the spine and that the distance between network (5) and rear wall (3) remains largely unchanged over its entire extension and a rear-ventilated climate zone (4) having a largely constant depth is created.