Login| Sign Up| Help| Contact|

Patent Searching and Data


Title:
STRAP
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO/2000/013546
Kind Code:
A1
Abstract:
A strap including a looped strap (S) body having a sufficient length for hanging the strap body on two shoulders of a human being, and a pair of hooking members (2 and 2') which are movably mounted at two sites of a loop of the strap body for hooking an article so that the article may be held by the shoulders by hanging two portions of the strap body, which are located between the two sites of the strap body, respectively on the two shoulders with the two sites serving as lower supporting points.

Inventors:
YAMAMOTO JUNJI (JP)
MINAMINO KAZUNORI (JP)
Application Number:
PCT/JP1999/004829
Publication Date:
March 16, 2000
Filing Date:
September 06, 1999
Export Citation:
Click for automatic bibliography generation   Help
Assignee:
UNOFUKU & CO LTD (JP)
YAMAMOTO JUNJI (JP)
MINAMINO KAZUNORI (JP)
International Classes:
A45C3/00; A45C13/26; A45C13/30; A45F3/02; A45F3/04; (IPC1-7): A45F3/02; A45F3/04
Foreign References:
US4768689A1988-09-06
US4827578A1989-05-09
US5603545A1997-02-18
US5630536A1997-05-20
DE19641181A11998-04-16
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
Nogawa, Shintaro (Nishitenma 5-chome Kita-ku, Osaka-shi Osaka, JP)
VENNER, SHIPLEY & CO. (20 Little Britain London EC1A 7DH, GB)
Download PDF:
Claims:
Claims
1. A strap comprising a looped strap body having a sufficient length for hanging the strap body on two shoulders of a human being, and a pair of hooking members which are movably mounted at two sites of a loop of the strap body for hooking an article so that the article may be held by the shoulders by hanging two portions of the strap body, which are located between the two sites of the strap body, respectively on the two shoulders with the two sites serving as lower supporting points.
2. A strap according to claim 1, wherein each of the hooking members includes a short strap piece, a mounting piece for mounting one end of the short strap piece to the strap body movably along the loop, and a hooking piece mounted on the other end of the short strap piece for hooking the article to be held by the shoulders.
3. A strap according to claim 1, wherein the strap body includes an adjusting piece for adjusting the length of the loop.
4. A strap according to claim 2, wherein the short strap piece in each of the hooking members includes an adjusting piece for adjusting a distance between the mounting piece and the hooking piece.
5. A strap according to claim 1, wherein the strap body includes one long strap piece and a connecting piece for releasably connecting two ends of the long strap piece into a loop.
6. A strap according to claim 1, wherein the strap body includes two shoulder pads which are movably to the two portions of the strap body hung on the two shoulders.
7. A strap according to claim 6, wherein the strap body includes a superposing piece for releasably superposing one portion of the strap body on the other portion of the strap body.
8. An article to be hung on shoulders, including (i) an article having a pair of hookers and (ii) a strap comprising a looped strap body having a sufficient length for hanging the strap body on two shoulders of a human being, and a pair of hooking members which are movably mounted at two sites of a loop of the strap body for hooking the article so that the article may be held by the shoulders by hanging two portions of the strap body, which are located between the two sites of the strap body, respectively on the two shoulders with the two sites serving as lower supporting points.
9. An article to be hung on shoulders according to claim 8, wherein the article is a bag or a musical instrument.
Description:
DESCRiPTJ. ON STRAP Technical Field The present invention relates to a strap, and more particularly to a strap for a bag, a musical instrument or the like, in which a shoulder-hanging portion of a strap body is conveniently made to be of two-shoulder type.

Background Art A conventional strap, for example, a strap for a bag such as a sport bag or a travel bag, a strap for a musical instrument, or a strap for a rifle, is used basically by hanging it on either a left shoulder or a right shoulder of a human being.

Therefore, a burden may be only on the shoulder on which the strap was hung, so that the shoulder was liable to suffer from fatigue. Also, the strap may slip off from the shoulder by movement of a strap user. These may lead to considerably limited freedom and stability of hands and arms.

For this reason, a strap having a two-forked shape (or a"Y"shape) is known as a strap which is stable and safe and which imposes divided forces on two shoulders (See, for example, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. HEI 06 (1994)-68093).

However, this strap having a two-forked shape has a predetermined (fixed) division of the length of the strap body on the two shoulders, although an appropriate division of the length may vary finely depending on the size of the object to be hung on the shoulders or a body dimension of the user. Therefore, a length adjusting section must be provided on each of the forked portions of the strap body.

If the strap is to be used on only one of the two shoulders, the construction of the strap may have a duplicated or complicated portion and, further, the adjustment of the length must be carried out for each of the forked portions of the strap body. This may involve a considerably cumbersome labor.

Disclosure of the Invention The present invention provides a strap comprising a looped strap body having a sufficient length for hanging the strap body on two shoulders of a human being, and a pair of hooking members which are movably mounted at two sites of a loop of the strap body for hooking an article so that the article may be held by the shoulders by hanging two portions of the strap body, which are located between the two sites of the strap body, respectively on the two shoulders with the two sites serving as lower supporting points.

In other words, according to the present invention, the strap body is made into a loop shape and a pair of hooking members are movably mounted to two sites on the strap body, whereby the division (ratio) of the length of the strap body on the two shoulders is facilitated and also, even if an absolute amount of the length of the strap body is to be increased or decreased, the length adjustment of the strap body can be carried out simply at a single site of the strap body. This reduces the number of components in the strap.

In the present invention, the sufficient length for hanging on the two shoulders of a human being means that the loop of the strap body has a length sufficient to be hung on the two shoulders irrespective of the difference in the body dimension of the human being or the kind of the article. Specifically, the strap may be adapted to

meet the difference in the individual body dimension of the human being or the kind of the article by setting the total length of the loop to be 1800 to 2400 mm or, alternatively, by making a loop of a fixed dimension such as 2200 mm and mounting to the loop an adjusting piece for adjusting the length of the loop.

Here, if the length adjusting piece is not provided in the strap body, a strap piece may be used as the hooking member and the length adjusting piece may be mounted on the strap piece.

The article that can be held by the shoulders using the strap of the present invention may be, for example, a bag such as a sport bag, a travel bag, or a school bag, a musical instrument such as a guitar, a rifle, or the like According to another aspect, the present invention provides an article to be hung on shoulders, including (i) an article having a pair of hookers and (ii) a strap comprising a looped strap body having a sufficient length for hanging the strap body on two shoulders of a human being, and a pair of hooking members which are movably mounted at two sites of a loop of the strap body for hooking the article so that the article may be held by the shoulders by hanging two portions of the strap body, which are located between the two sites of the strap body, respectively on the two shoulders with the two sites serving as lower supporting points.

Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a strap according to the present invention ; Fig. 2 is an explanatory view showing a state of use in the embodiment of Fig. 1 ; Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view showing a hooking member, a mounting piece, and their peripheries

of Fig. 1 ; Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing a length adjusting piece and its peripheries of Fig. 1 ; Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the length adjusting piece and its peripheries of Fig. 4 ; Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view showing a connecting piece and its peripheries of Fig. 1 ; Fig. 7 is an enlarged exploded perspective view showing the connecting piece of Fig.6; Fig. 8 is an explanatory view showing a state of use of a superposing piece ; Fig. 9 is a schematic structural view showing another embodiment of the present invention ; Fig. 10 is a view corresponding to Fig. 8 and showing still another embodiment of the present invention ; Fig. 11 is a view corresponding to Fig. 8 and showing still another embodiment of the present invention ; and Fig. 12 is a view corresponding to Fig. 8 and showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

Best Modes for Reducing the Invention into Practice Hereafter, the present invention will be explained with reference to the embodiments thereof shown in the attached drawings. However, the present invention is not limited by these embodiments and drawings.

Embodiment 1 Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment 1 of a strap according to the present invention. Fig. 2 is an explanatory view showing a state of use in the embodiment 1.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, a strap S for a bag includes one closed strap loop body 1 as a strap body expandable and contractible (length-adjustable) around two shoulder regions, hooking members 2 and 2'to be connected to a bag

(article to be supported) B, and mounting pieces (branching tools) 3 and 3'for movably mounting these hooking members 2 and 2'to two sites on the strap loop body 1 so as to allow the strap loop body 1 to be hung on the two shoulders with the two mounting sites serving as lower supporting points.

Since the strap S of the present invention is constructed as shown above, the bag B can be held by the two shoulders if the strap S is mounted to the bag B, as shown in Fig. 2.

Next, details of the strap S having the above- mentioned construction, especially the components constituting the strap S and their functions, will be explained.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view showing a hooking member, a mounting piece, and their peripheries of Fig. 1 ; Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing a length adjusting piece and its peripheries of Fig. 1 ; Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the length adjusting piece and its peripheries of Fig. 4 ; Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view showing a connecting piece and its peripheries of Fig. 1 ; Fig. 7 is an enlarged exploded perspective view showing the connecting piece of Fig. 6 ; and Fig. 8 is an explanatory view showing a state of use of a superposing piece.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3, the strap loop body 1 includes a one long strap piece 11 (for example, 2200 mm) made of a nylon resin band-shaped woven fabric and a connecting piece 5 made of a polyacetal resin for releasably connecting two ends of the strap piece 11 to form a loop. This connecting piece is usually referred to as"attaching/detaching buckle"and its details will be explained later.

The hooking member 2 includes a short strap piece 21 (for example, 100 mm) made of a nylon resin band-shaped woven fabric whose one end is mounted to the mounting piece 3 and a hooking piece 6 made of a polyacetal resin for releasably mounting the other end of the strap piece 21 to a hooker K of the bag B. This hooking piece 6 includes a hooked portion 7 and a connecting portion 8 for folding the other end of the strap piece 21 back to connect the strap piece 21 to the hooked portion 7, where the reference numeral 9 represents a connecting axle and the reference numeral 10 represents a stopping piece of the hooked portion 7.

The hooking member 2'has the same structure as the hooking member 2, so that its explanation will be omitted here.

Referring to Fig. 3, the mounting piece 3 is formed of a polyacetal resin in an elongated ring shape, in which one long side 31 folds the strap loop body 1 back and the other long side 32 folds one end of the strap piece 21 of the hooking member 2 back in an opposite direction.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, the adjusting piece 4 of the strap loop body 1 is made by bending and combining metal wires. The adjusting piece 4 includes an elongated ring 41 and a crossing piece 44 for connecting two short sides 42, 43 of the elongated ring 41. The length of the whole loop of the strap loop body 1 is made adjustable (for example, the length can be shortened from 2200 mm to about 1900 mm) by folding one end of the strap loop body 1 back at the crossing piece 44 to fix the end by superposition and by bending and passing the other end of the strap loop body 1 through the two long sides 45, 46 of the elongated ring 41 and the folded portion at the end of the strap loop body 1.

Referring to Figs. 6 and 7, the connecting piece 5 includes an insertion section 53 having a pair of hooked sections 51, 52 and a casing section 54 for engaging and stopping the insertion section 53. The reference numerals 55, 56 represent openings of the casing section 54. The engagement of the casing section 54 with the insertion section 53 can be released by pressing the hooked sections 51, 52 from the outside via these openings 55, 56 into the inside of the casing section 54.

Further, the connecting piece 5 includes a length adjusting section 57 integrally formed with the insertion section 53 and having a stopping section 58 in the outside and a folding axis section 59 in the inside. The length adjusting section 57 engages and stops the strap loop body 1 by folding the strap loop body 1 at the folding axis section 59 and tensioning it along the stopping section 58. The length of the strap loop body 1 can be adjusted by releasing the tension of the strap loop body 1 and moving the folding axis section 59 and the stopping section 58 along the strap loop body 1. Here, the reference numeral 60 represents a folding axis section for folding and fixing the other end of the strap loop body 1.

First, referring to Figs. 1 and 2, a strap S for a bag according to an embodiment 1 of the present invention includes hooking members 2 and 2'. The hooking member 2 is disposed at a front portion of a closed strap loop body 1 having a length adjusting section 4 and is connected to a bag B (article to be supported). The hooking member 2' is disposed at a rear portion of the closed strap loop body 1 and is also connected to the bag B. Here, the loop body 1 is connected to the hooking member 2 at the front and the hooking member 2'at the rear by means of mounting pieces (branching tools) 3 and 3', respectively, thereby

allowing the strap loop body 1 to freely move forwards and backwards.

In the embodiment 1, a connecting piece (attaching/detaching buckle) 5 and hooking pieces (fixing pieces) 6 and 6'are provided so that the strap loop body 1 can be released from the bag B by a single operation.

Since the strap S of the present invention has the above-mentioned structure, the strap loop body 1 itself can be freely moved forward and backward at the mounting pieces 3 and 3'when the strap S is hung on two shoulders.

Further, since the strap loop body 1 itself has a single closed loop structure, the balance of the strap loop body 1 on the right and left shoulders can be easily adjusted in accordance with the side (right side or left side) for holding the bag B, the size and weight of the bag B, the breadth of the shoulders of the user and the like.

For example, if the length of the strap loop body 1 on the right shoulder side is too long, the strap loop body 1 may be shifted to the left shoulder side in accordance therewith to automatically ensure a good balance of the lengths of the two portions of the strap loop body 1 on the right and left shoulder sides.

In addition, even if this strap loop body 1 is to be hung on only one shoulder of the user (a strap for only one side), duplicating components can be omitted and the number of components can be reduced as compared with a conventional two-shoulder-type strap. This leads to simplification of the structure, reduction of the costs and facility of the fabrication.

Here, the strap loop body 1 and the strap pieces of the hooking members 2, 2'may be made of any material selected from leather, band-shaped woven fabric, synthetic resin and the like as long as the material can

hold an article. However, it is preferable to use a band-shaped woven fabric made of nylon resin, polypropylene resin or the like.

Of course, the length and the width of the strap loop body 1 may be suitably determined in accordance with the intended use and purpose of the article to be held by the shoulders. Also, the color, design and the like of the strap loop body 1 are not specifically limited. Further, a superposing member 18 such as shown in Fig. 8 may be provided beforehand at a shoulder-contacting portion of the strap loop body 1 in view of using the strap by superposing the shoulder-contacting portions of the strap loop body 1 one on the other (a strap for only one side).

Here, the reference numerals 12, 13 represent shoulder pads which are movably mounted (7) to the two portions of the strap loop body 1 hung on the two shoulders, and the reference numerals 14, 15 represent superposing pieces for superposing and fixing the shoulder pad 13 onto the shoulder pad 12. Connecting cloth pieces 16, 17, which are generally referred to as"magic tapes", are provided on the front side of one superposing piece and on the back side of the other superposing piece. The pair of connecting cloth pieces 16, 17 may be replaced with a pair of snap-type connecting members, a combination of S and N poles of magnets, a combination of a magnet and a magnetic substance, or the like.

Embodiment 2 As a modification to the Embodiment 1, the length adjusting piece 4 of the Embodiment 1 may be omitted.

Namely, referring to Fig. 9, a strap loop body 61 includes a length adjusting section 67 joined to a connecting piece (attaching/detaching buckle) 65 for adjustment of the length of the strap loop body 61. As

described intheEmbodimentl, thelengthadjustingsection 57 is joined to the connecting piece 5 to enable adjustment of the length of the strap loop body 61, so that other length adjusting pieces may be omitted. Further, the reference numerals 68, 68'represent rings for superposing and pressing a portion of the strap loop body 61 folded at the mounting pieces 63, 63'su as to stabilize the length of the strap loop body 61. The reference numerals 69, 69' represent shoulder pads which are movably mounted to the two portions of the strap loop body 61.

The features in the Embodiment 2 other than the omission of the length adjusting piece and the attachment of the rings are the same as those of the Embodiment 1, so that an explanation thereof will be omitted.

Embodiment 3 Referring to Fig. 10, the connecting piece (attaching/detaching buckle) 65 and the length adjusting section 67 of the Embodiment 2 may be omitted and, instead, connecting pieces (attaching/detaching buckles) 75, 75' and length adjusting sections 77, 77'may be provided in the hooking members 62, 62'. In this case, although the length of the strap loop body 71 cannot be adjusted, the lengths of the hooking members 72, 72'can be adjusted instead. The other features of the Embodiment 3 are the same as those of Fig. 8, so that an explanation thereof will be omitted.

Embodiment 4 Referring to Fig. 11, the connecting piece (attaching/detaching buckle) 65 and the length adjusting section 67 of the Embodiment 2 can be replaced with a length adjusting piece 84 having the same construction as the length adjusting piece 4 of the Embodiment 1.

The other features of the Embodiment 4 are the same

as those of the Embodiment 2, so that an explanation thereof will be omitted.

Embodiment 5 Referring to Fig. 12, the connecting pieces (attaching/detaching buckles) 75, 75'and the length adjusting sections 77, 77'of the Embodiment 3 can be replaced with length adjusting pieces 94, 94'having the same construction as the length adjusting piece 4 of the Embodiment 1.

The other features of the Embodiment 5 are the same as those of the Embodiment 3, so that an explanation thereof will be omitted.