FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to bags and more specifically to a knapsack carried on a person's back and suitable for carrying and conve¬ nient storage of articles or, as another example, to golf bags which are suitable for easy and safe carrying of golf equipment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Knapsacks of the kind specified are widely used among travellers and campers who wish to carry many articles, e.g. clothing, camping equipment, personal items, etc.

A variety of large knapsacks for carrying on a person's back are known. However, such knapsacks are typically made of a flexible material, e.g. fabric, wherein the articles are merely piled in layers rather than stored in a "cupboard-like" manner, e.g. a manner in which the stored articles are fairly arranged and accessed.

Another drawback of such knapsacks is that if a camper wishes to carry only part of his belongings (e.g. while going on a day hike), the remaining articles should be removed from the knapsack and transferred to another bag or storage arrangement, and at a later stage they should be returned to the knapsack.

A further disadvantage of the typical knapsacks made of flexible material is that they do not provide any protection to fragile items carried or stored in such a knapsack.

Referπng to golf bags, typically these are made of soft mateπal e.g. fabric leather or leather imitations and are used both for storing and for carrying the valuable golf clubs and accessories. The golf bags are carried on a persons back or by a golf cart. A disadvantage of such golf bags is that they do not provide any protection for the valuable golf equipment within the bag e.g, when sent as cargo in a transportation means or even when carried by a golf cart. Furthermore they are inconvement for carrying the essentially heavy equipment on a persons back for long distances at a golf course.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel knapsack in which the above-referred to disadvantages are significantly reduced or overcome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a knapsack to be carried on a person's back comprising a shell-like storage compart- ment and a carrying umt; the storage compartment comprising a bottom wall, a back wall facing the person, a front wall and side wall portions adjacent the back wall; the walls of the storage compartment comprise one or more opemngs; the carrying unit being releasably attached to said back wall and comprises carrying straps. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the carrying umt is formed with a collapsible rucksack which is collapsed when the carrying unit is attached to the storage compartment and may be expanded into a rucksack shape when the carrying umt is detached from the storage compartment.

The arrangement according to the present invention is such that said collapsible rucksack forms a padding between the person's back and said back wall of the storage compartment. By specific embodiments of the invention, the carrying unit comprises at least one closable compartment for receiving the carrying straps and the collapsible rucksack in its collapsed position.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the bottom wall comprises a pair of wheels. By still a preferred embodiment, the bottom wall is designed so as to stably support the knapsack in an upright position. In a preferred configuration of the invention the bottom wall has three resting points for stably supporting the knapsack when placed on the bottom wall, two of the resting points being said wheels.

In accordance with one application of the present invention the wheels are at the intersection between the back wall and the bottom wall. The openings of the storage compartment may be provided at any one or more of the walls of the storage compartment and the one or more openings of the storage compartment may be closable by rigid doors hinged and lockable to rigid portions of the storage compartment. Alternatively, said one or more openings may be made of a flexible material, with one or more openings being in said material. The openings may also be closed by a combination of rigid and flexible doors.

In still another embodiment of the invention the storage compartment comprises a rigid top portion comprising a closable compart¬ ment, which storage compartment may comprise an opening of said storage compartment or may be an independent compartment. The independent compartment may be a liquid container or comprise a removable liquid container, or a detachable pouch.

In still a preferred embodiment, the storage compartment comprises modular partitions for dividing the storage compartment's interior. By one application of the invention, the storage compartment

comprises a detachable removable compartment comprising independent carrying means

According to a modification of the present mvention, the storage compartment is essentially waterproof and it comprises a water-tight closure withm said closable compartment

By a specific application of the present invention, the knapsack is a golf bag having essentially wide wheels BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For better understanding, the invention will now be described in a non-hmiting way, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a knapsack according to the present invention with the carrying umt attached to the storage compartment;

Fig. 2(A) is the knapsack of Fig 1 shown with the carrying umt detached from the storage compartment; Fig. 2(B) illustrates the carrying umt of Fig 2(A) expanded into an independent rucksack;

Fig. 3 is a partially cross-sectioned rear view of a knapsack according to the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a partial side view of the knapsack according to the present invention,

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a knapsack according to the present invention,

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of a knapsack according to the present invention; Fig. 7(A) is a perspective view of a top portion of a knapsack according to the present invention comprising an independent closable compartment;

Fig. 7(B) is a perspective view of a top portion of a knapsack according to the present invention comprising a liquid container withm an independent compartment,

Fig. 7(C) is a perspective view of a top portion of a knapsack according to the present invention comprising a detachable pouch within an independent compartment;

Fig. 8 is a rear view illustrating a modification of the knapsack according to the present invention, with the carrying umt removed and with a detachable top portion;

Fig. 9(A) is a perspective view of a further application of a knapsack in accordance with the present application;

Fig. 9(B) is a perspective view of only the top portion of the embodi- ment illustrated in Fig. 9(A), with the top cover open;

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a carrying unit used with a rucksack according to the present invention, wherein the shoulder straps are accommodated within a closable compartment; and

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a rucksack according to the present invention useful as a golf bag.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referπng first to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, there is seen a knapsack consisting of a storage compartment generally designated 2 and a carrying umt generally designated 4. The storage compartment 2 comprises a bottom wall 6, a back wall 8 facing a person carrying the knapsack, side wall portions 10 adjacent the back wall 8 and a front wall 12 with openings 14. The bottom wall 6, the back wall 8 and portions of the side walls 10 adjacent the back wall 8 are made of a rigid material, e.g. a rigid polymer or complex material, thus forming a shell-like construction.

A strengthening πgid rib 16 bridges the rigid top portion 20 and the rigid bottom portion 22 with a carrying handle 24 attached to the rib 16. Another carrying handle 25 is located at the top portion 20 of the storage compartment.

The opemngs 14 are closable by covers 26 made of a flexible material, e g fabric closable by zippers 28. The covers 26 comprise several closable external pockets 30

Two wheels 32 (only one of which is seen) are attached near the rear end of the bottom wall 6

The carrying unit 4 is a collapsible rucksack 40 (seen in it's expanded form in Fig. 2(B)) comprising a pair of adjustable padded shoulder straps 41, an adjustable padded waist belt 42 and a padded back wall 44. The carrying unit 4 is attached to the storage compartment by a plurality of straps 46 and fasteners 48 The collapsible rucksack comprises closing means, e.g a zipper 49 as known per se

Before attaching the carrying unit 4 to the storage compartment 2, the rucksack is collapsed to the position shown in Fig. 2 and is maintained in this position by a lace 48 fastened between the plurality of loops 50 When the carrying unit 4 is removed from the storage compartment 2, the lace 48 is released and the carrying umt 4 may be expanded to the position shown in Fig. 2(A), serving as an independent rucksack, with the storage compartment resting m an upright position (as will hereinafter be explained) and serving as a storage umt. Attention is now directed to Figs 3 and 4 of the drawings in which it can be seen that the bottom wall 6 of the storage compartment 2 comprises a portion 52 which together with the wheels 32 forms three resting points for supporting the knapsack in an essentially upright position (regardless of whether the carrying umt 4 is attached to the storage compartment 2 or not).

In Fig. 3, it can further be seen that the inteπor space of the storage compartment 2 is divided by modular partitions 54 which enable arrangement of the shelf-like partitions at different positions. The partitions may be releasably attached by pile and hook fasteners. The partitions may also comprise pockets 56 suitable for storing various items The space 57

at the bottom of the storage compartment may be kept for essentially large articles 60, e.g. a sleeping bag, etc.

Fig. 5 of the drawings illustrates another embodiment of the invention in which the front wall 58 is entirely made of a flexible material attached to the rigid side walls 10' closable by a zipper 61 and comprising a plurality of closable external pockets 62. A top portion 64 of the storage compartment 2 is essentially flat and comprises straps 66 for attaching camping equipment 68 such as a mattress, a sleeping bag or a tent.

Attention is now directed to Fig. 6 in which the opemngs 70 of the storage compartment are closed by two doors 72 made of rigid material and hinged to the strengthemng rib 16' by hinges 73 and lockable by snap- lock-type fasteners 74. According to the embodiment of Fig. 7, the entire storage compartment is made of rigid material.

As further seen in Fig. 7, the top portion 78 of the storage compartment comprises an independent closable compartment 80 hinged at the back side by hinges 82 (seen in Figs. 7(B) and 7(C)) and closable by closure 84 provided with a combination-type lock.

As seen in Fig. 7(A), the closable compartment 80 may be according to one embodiment of the invention, a chamber 86 with a closable cover 88, suitable for storing small personal items.

Fig. 7(B) is another embodiment of the invention in which the closable compartment 80 accommodates a liquid container 90 which may be removably attached to the top portion 78. The liquid container comprises a filling opemng 92 and a drinking spout 94 extendable through a suitable opemng 96 in the cover 88.

In Fig. 7(C) the closable compartment 80 accommodates a pouch 98 removably attached by a hook and pile fastener 100 to the top portion 78, the pouch suitable for carrying personal items, e.g. a wallet, glasses, etc.

In Fig. 8, the carrying unit 4 has been removed an the back wall 8 comprises an opening 101 which may be closed by a zipper 102 or a similar closure arrangement. It is further seen in this Figure that there is provided a detachable compartment 103 detached from a top wall 78" of the storage compartment 2 and useful, for example, as an aircraft boarding bag. The detachable compartment is attached to the storage compartment by means of fasteners 104 at the top wall 78" of the storage compartment 2 and corresponding latches 105. The carrying handle 25 is integral with the detachable compartment 103, and accordingly there are provided additional handles 106 integral with the storage compartment 2.

It should be obvious to a skilled person that such carrying handles may be provided in any embodiment of a bag according to invention.

Fig. 9(A) and 9(B) of the drawings illustrate another application of the knapsack according to the present application according to which the entire storage compartment 2 is made of a rigid material with an opemng provided at the top wall 78' thereof, under the closable cover. The opening of the storage compartment being closable by a water tight closure, whereby the storage compartment is waterproof. This arrangement is useful for example, for persons experiencing various water activities. Attention is now directed to Fig. 10 of the drawings in which the carrying unit 4 is seen with the shoulder straps 41 (partially seen) and wrist belt 42 (not seen) received within a compartment 107 closable, for example, by a zipper 108 for preventing the straps and belt from getting entangled when the rucksack is not carried on a persons back. Fig. 11 of the drawings illustrates a modification of the invention useful as a golf bag having a rigid storage compartment with a top wall 110 (seen partially open) hinged to the compartment at 111 and provided with a suitable closing fastener 112. The golf bag further comprises side pockets 113 for accessories. An important character of the golf bag is essentially

wide wheels 114 and the carrying handle 25 useful for carrying the golf ba° also along a grass golf course.