US37936A - Improvement in knapsacks - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEO AUGUSTUS N. CLARK, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO RUBBER lLOTHING COMPANY.

IMPROVEMENT IN KNAPSACKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 37,936, dated March 17, 1863.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, A. N. CLARK, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, ha-ve invented certain new and useful Improvements in Knapsacks; and I do hereby declare that the following description, takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, hereinafter referred to, forms a full and exact specification of the same, wherein I have set forth the nature and principles of my said improvements by which my invention may be distinguished from all others of a similar class, together with such parts as I claim and desire to' have secured to me by Letters Patent.

One very serious disalvantage arising from the use of knapsacks for soldiers, with the mode of attachment as now arranged, and which conduces very much to the inconvenience and discomfort of the soldier wearing the same, is that the straps or other means employed for the securing of the knaps'ack to the back would not admit of beingso adjusted or arranged as to conform, or be easily adapted to the varying sizes and dimensions of theback, shoulders, &c. The most common way of arranging these straps has been to permanently fasten at one end, to the center, or the upper edge of the knapsack, two straps, to the other ends of each ot' which two other straps were jointed so as to freely turn. Thus, when the knapsack was placed upon the back and the straps thrown over the shoulders7 one ot' the jointed straps in each case was hooked to the body-belt, and the other passed directly under the armpit and hooked or buckled to the lower edge of the knapsack. Now, it is evident from the above description that as no mode was provided for altering or adjusting the lengths of the straps permanently secured to the knapsack, the point of the said straps at which the fastening-straps were attached would vary in its relative position upon the chest ofthe person wearing the knapsack, according as he was full-chested and stout, or narrow-chested and slim, thereby producing in some cases, when the said point was too high or near the shoulders, a very unpleasant and uneasy feeling, and a slight binding or chaiing of the arm-pit, 85e.

The object aimed at and secured by the present invention is to so arrange the means employed for securing the kuapsack to the back of persons as to permit of its being altered or adjusted in such a manner as to be easily adapted to the back of any person, whether stout or slim. I accomplish this result by attaching to the lower edge of the knapsack at its center, by means of a buckle or other suitable device, a strap, to the other end of which, near the center of the knapsack, two radiating-straps are permanently fastened at an angle to the same, and then passed through guides upon the top portion ot` the knapsack, over the shoulders ot the person wearing the knapsack. Two swinging-straps are then attached to the end of the angular straps resting upon the chest, one of which straps in each case is hooked to the body-belt, and the other passed under the armpit to the lower edge ot' the knapsack. The length ofl the strap attached to the lower edge of the knapsack at its center, by means of the buckle or other suitable device, is thus susceptible of being regulated at pleasure, so as to vary the position ofthe point upon the chest of persons, from which the fastening-straps are respectively passed to the body-belt and the lower edge of the knapsack, thereby permitting the same to be always placed at its most advantageous position, and the one most adapted to the comfort of the person wearing the knapsack.

Another great advantage secured by my improvements over all others is the obviating in a great measure of the unpleasant and burdensome strain upon the shoulders, caused by the weight of the knapsack and its contents, which has been greatly increased by the 1nanner in which the attach ment-straps have been heretofore secured to the knapsack, the .tendency of the knapsack and its contents being to pull oft' from the shoulders, and thus cause the person to bend forward in order to keep the knapsack in proper position, whereas my improvements produce an opposite result, the top ot' the knapsack being held up to the back, and the lower portion being allowed to swing off, the benecial results of which are appar ent without further explanation.

In the accompanying plate of drawn gs, Figurel is a front view of a knapsack with my im proved mode of attachment applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a central vertical transverse section of same.

a a in the accompanying drawings represent the box-portion of a knapsaok that is covered with rubber cloth, leather, or any other suitable material, and arranged in the ordinary nainer. To the lower edge, b,of the knapsack a, and in'its center, a buckle, c, is permanently secured, through which a strap, d, is passed and buckled.

f f are straps sewed or otherwise fastened to the end g of the strap d, and which pass upward at an angle to the said strap d, and through guides h h of the'top surface, j, of the knapsack and near each end of the same,

lm and Z m areY the fastening-'straps attached to the end n of the straps ff, so as to turn loose'y thereon, one of which Z, l', in each case hooks to the body-belt, and the other, m m', to the lower edge of the knapsack.

By means of the buckle c, above referred to, it is evident that the length of the portion n of the strap g above the same can be adjusted at Vpleasure by simply moving the strap through the buckle in the ordinary manner, and consequently the turning-point n of the i a tenin gstraps can be varied in position upon the chest of the person wearing the knapsack, and thus be made to suit the varying dimensions of the chest, Snc., in different persons, and to always allow the said turningpoint to be placed in the position most suitable and most adapted to the comfort and ease of the person.

From the above description it will be seen that by hanging theknapsack in the manner described-that is, at the upper edge--instead of the common way, at the center, the knapsack is prevented from pulling off from the shoulders and back, and is also firmly and securely held up to the same, the advantages of which are'readily apparent.

Having thus described my improvements,

what I claim as my invention, and desire to have secured to me by Letters Patent, is-

The combination, with shoulder-straps radi ating from an adjustable center-strap, as described, of guides or loops Xed to the upper side of the lrnapsack, the whole being arranged together, and operating substantially as described, and for the purposes specified.

AUGUSTUS N. CLARK. Witnesses:

J osEPH GAVETT. ALBERT W. BROWN. Y

Images