WO2005110148A1

WO2005110148A1 - Travel pack

Info

Publication number: WO2005110148A1
Application number: PCT/AU2005/000680
Authority: WO
Inventors: Andrew Montgomery
Original assignee: Mont Adventure Equipment Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2004-05-13
Filing date: 2005-05-13
Publication date: 2005-11-24

Abstract

A soft travel pack (10) of the type constructed from fabric and having straps (12, 14) for mounting the travel pack on the back of a person carrying the travel pack, the travel pack having a hinge (28) in a wall (18) thereof such that the pack can open about the hinge (28) to define a pair of luggage-storing compartments located on opposite sides of the hinge (28). In a preferred embodiment, the travel pack includes a removable travel pod (32) which can be converted into a separate carry bag.

Description

TRAVEL PACK

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a travel pack, and more particularly to a novel opening configuration which facilitates greater accessibility to the contents of the travel pack when open The preferred embodiment of the invention also provides a novel removable travel pod

BACKGROUND ART

Top-loading backpacks having a top-opening flap are well known for trekking activities A major ergonomic disadvantage of top-loading backpacks is the fact that it is very difficult to access the contents It is not unusual to have to totally empty a top-loading backpack in order to access an object at the bottom of the pack Notwithstanding these ergonomic disadvantages, top-loading backpacks are still the highly preferred style of pack for serious trekking In this regard, top loading backpacks have superior weather resistance, particularly resistance to water ingress during ram

Less serious trekkers, who want a more ergonomically friendly design and who are perhaps less worried about weather proofing may favour a style of backpack known as a travel pack Like top-loading backpacks, travel packs are soft skinned and constructed of a robust fabric Like top-loading back packs, travel packs will typically include an internal frame for mounting the shoulder straps and waist straps However, unlike top-loading backpacks which open to the top, travel packs open to the rear of the pack Known travel pack designs include a zipper which extends around three sides of the rear wall of the travel pack so that, when open, the rear wall of the travel pack can fold open in a flap- like manner about the fourth side of the rear wall of the travel pack in order to reveal the contents thereof

Whilst travel packs allow superior access relative to a top-loading backpack, they still require a certain amount of removal of contents and/or digging through the contents in order to access objects packed close to the front of the travel pack

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention provides a travel pack according to the following claims which allows superior accessibility to the contents of the travel pack relative to known designs The present invention provides a novel hinge arrangement in order to achieve this Preferred features of the invention will be apparent from the dependant claims and from the following description of the preferred embodiment

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in a non-limiting manner with respect to a preferred embodiment in which - FIG 1 is a rear perspective view of a closed travel pack according to the present invention,

FIG 2 is an underside perspective view of the closed travel pack of FIG 1 ,

FIG 3 is a rear perspective view of the partially-open travel pack of FIG 1 ,

FIG 4 is a further rear perspective view of the fully-open travel pack of FIG 1 ,

FIG 5 is a reverse perspective view of the partially-open travel pack of FIG 1 ,

FIG 6 is a side perspective view of a fully-open and filled travel pack,

FIG 7 is a rear perspective view of a second embodiment of a fully-open travel pack,

FIG 8 is the fully-open travel pack of FIG 7 with a travel pod in situ,

FIG 9 is a perspective view of the travel pod of FIG 8 when removed from the travel pack, and

FIG 10 shows the travel pod of FIG 9 folded into a carry bag configuration

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to FIG 1 , there is shown a travel pack according to the present invention The travel pack 10 is constructed of robust fabric such as a woven nylon and includes padded shoulder straps 12 and a padded waist strap 14

The travel pack 10 includes a front wall (not visible in FIG 1 ), top wall 16, rear wall 18, side walls 20 and rear wall 22 It will be appreciated that due to the curved construction of the travel pack, the walls tend to merge into each other Thus, side wall 20 merges into top wall 16 at a rounded upper corner of the travel pack

Referring now to FIGS 1 and 2, it will be seen that the travel pack is held closed, at least in part, by straps and buckles 24 which extend from wing-like extensions of side walls 20 Once buckles 24 are released and the wing-like extensions of side walls 20 are thus released, a zipper which extends along the sides and top of the travel pack can be undone in order to open the travel pack into two compartments as shown in FIGS 3 to 5, for example

Still referring to FIG 2, it will be noted that the bottom wall 18 consists of a forward portion 18F and rearward portion 18R which are separated by a transverse hinge 28 Each of forward portion 18F and rearward portion 18R contain a generally rectangular section of high-density, closed-cell foam stitched within a complementary-shaped pocket of the bottom wall in order to give forward portion 18F and rearward portion 18R an amount of structural rigidity such that they readily fold about hinge line 28 Referring now to FIG 3, the travel pack has been opened and un-folded about hinge line 28 in order to reveal the interior of the travel pack As can be seen, zipper 26 has been opened in order to divide the travel pack into a rearward compartment which is defined by rear wall 22 together with rear sections of top wall 16R bottom wall 18R and side walls 20R Similarly, a forward compartment is defined by front wall 30 together with front sections of top wall 16F bottom wall 1 8F (not visible in FIG 3) and side walls 20F

Whilst not illustrated in FIGS 3 to 5, each compartment may optionally include a cargo net or other fabric for covering each compartment In this regard, it will be appreciated that a cargo net will prevent objects from spilling out of the forward and rearward compartments during opening and closing of the travel pack In an alternative embodiment, the compartments may include straps for locating and retaining objects within the compartments Such straps are provided in the forward compartment as can be best seen in FIGS 3 and 5

While FIG 3 shows the pack open at approximately 90°, FIG 4 shows the travel pack fully open at 180° with both the forward compartment and rearward compartments laid flat

FIG 5 shows a reverse angle view with the travel pack open at approximately 90° Bottom wall 18F which was not visible in FIG 3, is visible in this view The forward wall 30 will typically include a rigid frame in order to provide a structural integrity to the front wall and provide a secure mounting point for the padded shoulder straps 12 and padded waist strap 14 Typically, there is no rigid frame in any of the bottom, top, rear or side walls However, as discussed above, the inclusion of the semi-πgtd rectangles of high-density, closed-cell foam in the bottom wall gives the bottom wall a certain amount of structural integrity and, more importantly, defines the hinge about which the travel pack opens in a "clam-shell" style The pack may also include a sheet of high density closed cell foam within the front wall which acts to maintain the shape of the forward compartment and to provide the forward compartment with a flat "floor"

The rear wall 22 may optionally include a pocket or locker for receiving a day pack or the like Alternatively, the day pack may be mounted on the exterior of the rear wall 22 as is well known in the art

The wing-like extensions of the front portions of the side walls 20F also include inserts of high-density closed cell foam in order to provide the wings with sufficient structural integrity to stand up as shown most clearly in FIG 6 However, it will be appreciated that the wing-like extensions are optional, and closure of the travel pack may be complete upon closing of the zipper 26

In the preferred embodiments the hinge 28 has been formed in the bottom wall of the pack However, it could also conceivably be formed in the top or side walls of the pack, or even in the front or rear wall although this would be far less preferred

The present invention is significant in that it provides superior accessibility to the contents of the travel pack In this regard, the provision of a hinge in the bottom wall of the pack allows the pack to open about that hinge in a clam-shell manner to define two distinct luggage containing compartments Thus, when open, double the surface area of the interior of the pack is exposed relative to the known design of travel pack

In the preferred embodiment, the luggage-containing compartments are of substantially identical depth That is, the zipper 26 is located such that it is approximately mid-way between the front wall 30 and rear wall 22 Put differently, the zipper 26 which of course aligns with the hinge 28, evenly divides the side walls 20 into a forward portion 20F and rearward portion 28R, and it also divides the top wall 16 into equal portions 16F and 16R In an alternative embodiment, the forward compartment may be of greater depth than the rearward compartment In one embodiment, the forward compartment is approximately double the depth of the rearward compartment

Referring now to FIGS 7 to 10, there is shown a highly preferred embodiment of the travel pack which includes a removable travel pod 32

Referring firstly to FIG 7 it will be noted that the rearward compartment includes an array of male and female buckles 34 distributed about the perimeter of the rearward compartment With reference to FIG 9, it will be noted that the travel pod 32 includes a complementary array of female and male buckles about its perimeter FIG 8 shows the travel pod 32 located within the rear compartment of the travel pack via the inter-engagement of the complementary arrays of buckles In an alternative arrangement shown in FIG 6, the travel pod is zipped into the rearward compartment of the travel pack It has been found that the zippered version provides a neater result and a better finish.

The provision of the travel pod 32 adds a number of advantages for the traveller Firstly, the pod makes unpacking of the travel pack easier It can simply be undipped or unzipped from the travel pack and then placed into a drawer, or hung from a hook on a wall When the time comes to move on, the traveller can simply re-clip or re-zip the travel pod into the travel pack.

Additionally, the travel pod provides the option of creating additional storage space Specifically, a traveller can leave the travel pod out of the travel pack and use it as a carry bag instead In this regard, the travel pod is designed to be folded into a convenient carry bag, as shown in FIG 10. A typical travel pack will have a capacity of 65-80 litres and a typical travel pod will have a capacity of 25-30 litres When the travel pod is used as a separate piece of luggage, the traveller has the original capacity of the travel pack, plus an additional 25-30 litres Whilst the invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many variants will fall within the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims

Claims

1 A soft travel pack of the type constructed from fabric and having straps for mounting the travel pack on the back of a person carrying the travel pack, the travel pack having a hinge in a wall thereof such that the pack can open about the hinge to define a pair of luggage-storing compartments located on opposite sides of the hinge, wherein the pack includes a front wall which in use is adjacent the person carrying the pack, a rear wall, a top wall, a bottom wall and a pair of side walls, and wherein one compartment is defined by the front wall together with portions of the bottom wall, top wall and side walls, and wherein the other compartment is defined by the rear wall together with portions of the bottom wall, top wall and side walls, and wherein the hinge is located in the bottom wall

2 A soft travel pack as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hinge is formed by a pair of adjacent high-density, closed-cell foam inserts located on either side of the hinge in the bottom wall

3 A soft travel pack as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the travel pack includes a removable travel pod

4 A soft travel pack as claimed in claim 3, wherein the removable travel pod can be converted into a separate carry bag 5 A soft travel pack as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a zipper extends from adjacent one end of the hinge to adjacent the other end of the hinge for closing the pack and abutting the pair of luggage-storing compartments together

6 A soft travel pack as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the luggage-storing compartments are of substantially identical depth

7 A soft travel pack as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the travel pack includes an internal frame within the front wall

8 A soft travel pack as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the rear wall includes an externally accessible pocket housing a day pack