US20040020958A1

US20040020958A1 - Backpack

Info

Publication number: US20040020958A1
Application number: US10/279,821
Authority: US
Inventors: I-Hsiung Lin
Original assignee: Gallant Ind Co Ltd
Current assignee: GALLANT INDUSTRIAL Co Ltd; Gallant Ind Co Ltd
Priority date: 2002-07-31
Filing date: 2002-10-25
Publication date: 2004-02-05
Also published as: TW589959U

Abstract

The present invention is to provide a backpack including a backpack body defining a storage chamber for holding things, shoulder strap means provided on the outside of the backpack body for carrying on the user's shoulders, and a support member fixedly located on the backpack body at the back and adapted to support the backpack body on the small of a user's back. The support member includes a supporting face with longitudinally extended convex portion and transversely extended concave portion fitting the curvature of the small of the user's back and two side guards with longitudinally extended convex portion and transversely extended concave portion located on at two opposite lateral sides of the supporting face.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to bags for carrying on the user's back and, more particularly, to a backpack that has a support member for supporting the backpack body comfortably and positively on the user's back.

2. Description of the Related Art

Regular shoulder strap provided bags, either for carrying on the two shoulders or only one single shoulder, have a contacting side disposed in direct contact with the user's back when carried on the user's shoulders. Because the contacting side is closed attached to the user's back when the bag carried on the user's shoulders, the user may feel uncomfortable due to poor ventilation. Further, when the user carried a heavy load in the bag on the back, the lumbar spondyle bears much pressure from the load, and the user's back may ache within a short length of time. In order to eliminate this problem, a bag for carrying on the back may be equipped with a back support that brings comfort to the user's back.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is therefore the main object of the present invention to provide a backpack, which is in compliance with human factor engineering to bring comfort to the user when carried on the user's back.

To achieve this object of the present invention, the backpack comprises a backpack body, shoulder strap means, and a support member. The backpack body includes a storage chamber for holding things and a contacting side for supporting on the user's back. The shoulder strap means is provided on the outside of the backpack body for enabling the backpack body to be carried on the user's shoulders and supported on the user's back. The support member is fixedly located on the contacting side of the backpack body and adapted to support the backpack body on the small of the user's back. The support member includes a supporting face fitting the small of the user's back and two side guards at two opposite lateral sides of the supporting face. The supporting face includes a convex portion longitudinally extended and fitting the small of the user's back along the direction of the user's spondyle and a concave portion transversely extended across the convex portion of the supporting face and fitting the transversely extended curvature of the small of the user's back. The side guards each has a convex portion extended in the longitudinal direction and a concave portion extended in the transverse direction across the convex portion of the respective side guard.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a backpack constructed according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention. [0007]
FIG. 2 is a side view of the present invention showing the backpack carried on the user's shoulders. [0008]
FIG. 3 is a sectional view, in an enlarged scale, of a part of FIG. 2. [0009]
FIG. 4 is a top view of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention when carried on the user's shoulders. [0010]
FIG. 5 is a front view of the backpack according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention. [0011]
FIG. 6 is a top view of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention when carried on the user's shoulders. [0012]
FIG. 7 is similar to FIG. 6 but showing the side guards adjusted.[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 15, a backpack in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown comprised of a [0014] backpack body 10, a shoulder strap means 20, and a support member 30.
The [0015] backpack body 10 can be made of cloth, non-woven fabric, plastic sheet material, etc., having a storage chamber 11 for holding things, and a contacting side 12 for supporting on the back of the user b.
The shoulder strap means [0016] 20 is provided on the outside of the backpack body 10 for enabling the backpack body 10 to be carried on the user's shoulders and supported on the back of the user b. The shoulder strap means 20 can be formed of a single shoulder strap having two ends respectively fastened to two opposite lateral sides of the backpack body 10, a slanting shoulder strap having two ends respectively fastened to two diagonal corners of the contacting side of the backpack body 10, an adjustable shoulder strap, or two symmetrical shoulder straps. According to this embodiment, the shoulder strap means 20 is formed of two symmetrical shoulder straps for carrying the backpack body 10 evenly on the two shoulders of the user b.
The [0017] support member 30 is a cushion of soft material fixedly fastened to the contacting side of the backpack body 10 at a lower side and adapted to support the backpack body 10 on the lumbar spondyle of the user b between the third lumbar vertebra and the fifth lumber vertebra. The support member 30 has a supporting face 31 fitting the small of the back, and two side guards 32 at two opposite lateral sides of the supporting face 31. The supporting face 31 has a convex portion 311 longitudinally extended on the middle (see the imaginary line shown in FIG. 1) and fitting the small of the back corresponding to the area between the third lumbar vertebra and the fifth lumber vertebra of the lumbar spondyle (see FIG. 3), and a concave portion 312 transversely extended across the convex portion 311 and fitting the transversely extended curvature of the small of the back. Similar to the curvature of the supporting face 31, the side guards 32 each have a convex portion extended in longitudinal direction and a concave portion extended in transverse direction across the convex portion of the respective side guard. When the user carried the backpack on the shoulders, the supporting face 31 supports the backpack body 10 on the small of the user's back comfortably, and the side guards 32 stop the backpack body 10 from oscillating between two sides.
FIGS. 6 and 7 show the second preferred embodiment of the present invention. According to this embodiment, the backpack comprises a [0018] backpack body 40, shoulder strap means (not shown), and a support structure formed of a support member 421, two side guards 422, and two hinges 423. Similar to the supporting surface of the support member of the aforesaid first embodiment of the present invention, the support member 421 has a supporting face with a convex portion longitudinally extended on the middle and fitting the small of the back corresponding to the area between the third lumbar vertebra and the fifth lumber vertebra of the lumbar spondyle and a concave portion transversely extended across the convex portion and fitting the transversely extended curvature of the small of the back. The hinges 423 are respectively bilaterally connected between the support member 421 and the side guards 422 to secure the side guards 422 to two opposite lateral sides of the support member 421, enabling the side guards 422 to be turned relative to the support member 421 within a limited angle to fit different users.

Claims

What the invention claimed is:

1. A backpack comprising

a backpack body having a storage chamber and a contacting side for supporting on a user's back;

shoulder strap means provided on the outside of said backpack body for enabling said backpack body to be carried on the user's shoulders and supported on the user's back; and

a support member fixedly located on the contacting side of said backpack body and adapted to support said backpack body on the small of the user's back, said support member having a supporting face and two side guards at two opposite lateral sides of said supporting face, said supporting face having a convex portion longitudinally extended and fitting the small of user's back along the direction of the user's spondyle and a concave portion transversely extended across the convex portion of said supporting face and fitting the transversely extended curvature of the small of the user's back, said side guards each having a convex portion extended in the longitudinal direction and a concave portion extended in the transverse direction across the convex portion of the respective side guard.

2. The backpack as claimed in claim 1, wherein said support member is fixedly provided at a lower portion of said contacting side of said backpack body.

3. The backpack as claimed in claim 1, wherein said shoulder strap means is comprised of two symmetrical shoulder straps adapted for carrying said backpack body on the user's two shoulders.

4. The backpack as claimed in claim 1, wherein said shoulder strap means is comprised of a slanting shoulder strap.

5. The backpack as claimed in claim 1, wherein said shoulder strap means is comprised of a single shoulder strap.

6. A backpack comprising:

a support structure fixedly located on the contacting side of said backpack body and adapted to support said backpack body on the small of the user's back, said support structure comprising a support member having a supporting face fitting the small of the user's back, said supporting face having a convex portion longitudinally extended and fitting the small of the user's back along the direction of the user's spondyle and a concave portion transversely extended across the convex portion of said supporting face and fitting the transversely extended curvature of the small of the user's back, two side guards located on two opposite lateral sides of said supporting face, said side guards each having a convex portion extended in the longitudinal direction and a concave portion extended in the transverse direction across the convex portion of the respective side guard, and two hinges respectively connected between said side guards and said support member for enabling said side guards to be turned relative to said support member within an angle.

7. The backpack as claimed in claim 6, wherein said support member is fixedly provided at a lower portion of said contacting side of said backpack body.

8. The backpack as claimed in claim 6, wherein said shoulder strap means is comprised of two symmetrical shoulder straps adapted for carrying said backpack body on the user's two shoulders.

9. The backpack as claimed in claim 6, wherein said shoulder strap means is comprised of a slanting shoulder strap.

10. The backpack as claimed in claim 6, wherein said shoulder strap means is comprised of a single shoulder strap.