BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There are many situations where persons desire, or indeed need to, carry objects when walking, e. g. to carry a golf bag for playing golf. Numerous different carrier arrangements are known. Most carrier arrangements use some kind of shoulder straps to facilitate comfortable carrying of objects during walking.

When carrying a bag or similar device having a pair of shoulder straps it is well known that it might be difficult to take off the first shoulder strap, to unload the bag from the body, especially if thick clothing is being used. The other way around it is also well known that it might be difficult during taking it on to place the second shoulder strap onto the shoulder, especially when thicker clothes are being used. The reason for this is that the shoulder straps may not be made sufficiently long to allow totally free movements of the arms of a person, since otherwise the bag carried/held by the straps would rest to far down from the shoulders. Hence, in order to achieve optimal comfort during walking the length of the shoulder straps have to be kept within certain limits, depending on the size of the body of the person, leading to the disadvantage that the shoulder straps are"too tight"during taking on/off, i. e. making the taking on/off to a struggle. Many different solutions have been suggested to minimize this problem, none of which has been any success.

For instance, from US 2002/0066682 there is known a shoulder strap carrying arrangement for a golf bag, wherein the carrying arrangement is formed of two long carrying shoulder straps with padding and attachment devices for attaching the shoulder strap carrying arrangement to a golf bag. In order to facilitate taking on and taking off of the shoulder straps there is arranged a retainer member which, comprises a receiving member and an insertion member, which are used to connect or disconnect the long carrying straps, such that it will be easier to remove the shoulder straps when the members are disconnected. However, this device, as other known similar solutions, necessitates manual operation of the retainer member.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a shoulder strap carrier arrangement that is easy to put on and to take off, without the use of any retaining means that need to be manually operated. In keeping with the principle of the present invention, the foregoing objective is achieved by a shoulder strap carrying device, comprising a first shoulder strap, a second strap shoulder strap, said first shoulder strap comprising a first end having an attachment device and a second end also having an attachment device, said second shoulder strap having a first end having an attachment device and a second end also having an attachment device, and a retainer device arranged to cross-wise retain said first and second shoulder strap in relation to each other, wherein said retainer device is arranged to be slideably moveable upon each one of said shoulder straps by means of the action from at least one of said shoulder straps.

Other objectives, features and functions of the present invention will be more readily understood upon deliberation of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a golf bag with a carrying device according to the invention, Fig. 2 shows a view from a part of the backside of a carrier device according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, Fig. 3 shows a first embodiment of a retaining device according to the invention, seen from the side, Fig. 4 shows a preferred embodiment of a retaining device according to the invention, seen in perspective, Fig. 5 shows a cross-sectional view along I-I in Fig. 3, Fig. 6 shows the carrying arrangement according to the invention used in a position where the carrying arrangement is positioned on to the shoulders of a person, and Fig. 7 shows a carrying arrangement according to the invention when the first shoulder strap is being detached from the shoulder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In Fig. 1 there is shown a golf bag 6 having two attachment devices 4,5. Two shoulder straps 1, 2 are attached to the attachment devices 4,5. One of the shoulder straps 1 is intended for being positioned on the left hand shoulder. This shoulder strap 1 has one

end 10 that is attached to a first attachment device 5 of the golf bag whereas the other end 13 is attached to the second attachment device 4 of the golf bag. The other shoulder strap 2 is intended for the right hand shoulder and has a first end 20 that is attached to the second attachment device 4 of the golf bag 6, and a second end 23 that is attached to the first attachment device 5 of the golf bag 6. Around the mid portion of each strap 1, 2 there is provided paddings 11,21 in order to provide enhanced comfort. As indicated (on one strap 1) each strap, 1, 2 is preferably divided into two separate portions by means of an adjustment device 24, which provides for adjustment of the length of each strap 1, 2. At the back portion of the carrying device, there is arranged a retainer device 3, which retains the two straps 1,2 in a cross-wise manner. The objective of this retainer device 3 is to position the straps 1, 2 properly, i. e. to avoid twisting of the straps and to provide for appropriate positioning of the paddings 11,21 on the shoulders. According to the invention this retainer device 3 is arranged slideably onto each one of the straps 1, 2. Thanks to this arrangement the retainer device 3 will not arrest the shoulder straps in the position shown in Fig. 1 when taking off (or taking on) the carrying device, but will slide down along each one of the straps to provide for an extended maximum distance between the paddings 11, 21 of the carrying device such that easy taking off and taking on is achieved. (See also Fig. 6 and Fig. 7.) In Fig. 2 there is shown a more detailed view of the backside of a carrying device according to the invention. It is shown that the distance X between the attachment points 4,5 for the end portions 10,20 of the straps 1,2, should be more or less within same region as the distance B between each end portion 10,20 and its stop position 12, 22 of the retainer device 3, i. e. when it is in its upper position. It is shown that a lowermost end portion 22,12 of each padding 11,21 preferably is used to provide for said stop position. The reason for this design feature (X ~ B) is that is facilitates easy sliding of the retainer device 3 along each one of the straps 1,2, simultaneously, without any need to push or pull the retainer 3 by the use of the hands. Instead it is the strap 1 and the specific design of the retainer device 3 that provides for movement of the retainer 3 along the straps. This is achieved by using straps 1 which have a certain amount of bending stiffness in the plane'within-which it is moved when pushing/pulling the retainer 3. As is well known most straps, commonly used as shoulder straps and the like, do provide for a certain/sufficient amount of stiffness against bending in that direction, whereas they are very flexible to bending in a perpendicular plane.

Accordingly when moving the first shoulder padding 11 down from the shoulder the strap 1 connected thereto will act upon the retainer device 3 to push it down along the other strap 2. Thanks to the specific design of the retainer device 3 there will be created

no pinching forces acting upon any of the straps 1, 2 from the retainer device 3, but instead the movement of the retainer 3 down along the right hand strap 2 will simultaneously provide for movement of the retainer device 3 downwards along the left hand shoulder strap 1.

In Fig. 3 there is shown a side view of the retainer 3 with straps 1,2. It is shown that the retainer 3 comprises a housing, having a back-wall 35, a front-wall 38 and two side walls 36,37 (see also Fig. 4). Accordingly, there will be provided a passage having two openings 32, 33, at opposite ends of the housing along the longitudinal axis of the retainer device 3, which passage coincides with the extension of the right hand shoulder strap 2. Accordingly these openings 32,33 provide for the right hand shoulder strap 2 to slideably extend through the retainer 3. Within each one of the side walls 36, 37 there is provided a opening 30,31 to provide for slideable extension of the left hand shoulder strap 1 through the retainer 3. As can be seen one of the openings 31 has a extension Ou that is substantially smaller than the extension 02 of the opposite opening 30, as will be explained in more detail in connection with Figs. 4 and 5.

In Fig. 4 there is shown a side view of a preferred embodiment of the retainer 3, seen in perspective, facing it from the side 37 with the largest opening 30. This embodiment is in principle the same as the one shown in Fig. 3, but preferably produced in another way, i. e. by form molding (plastic) whereas the Fig. 3 embodiment preferably is made of metal by the use of metal sheet (bending and/or welding). An advantage when using form molding is that rounded edges (increased comfort) may easily be achieved and that continuous supporting edges 39A, 39B may easily be provided, (for both passages, i. e. also for the cross-wise strap 1).

In Fig. 5 there is shown a cross-sectional view through the retainer 3, along plane I-I in Fig. 3. As is evident it is appropriate to make the width of each opening 30-33 somewhat larger than the width TI, T2 of the straps 1,2, to facilitate easy sliding. In this embodiment each strap has the same width, i. e. T1 = T2, but it is evident that the invention may also bemused with different widths of the two straps. Hence, openings 32 and 33 preferably has a width Tl, that slightly exceeds T2, to provide for easy movement of the retainer 3 along the right hand shoulder strap 2. The other two openings 30, 31, however, should preferably be somewhat wider than the width T1 of the strap 1, since the left hand shoulder strap 1 must be possible to deflect/move, between a first end position where it abuts the lowermost edges 301/311 and a second end position, where it <BR> <BR> abuts the uppermost edges 300, 310, i. e. , within an angular range 0-a within the retainer

3, in the plane within which the strap 1 extends. The reason for this is that the shoulder strap 1 may not be squeezed by the eges 310,311 to form any dent when being deflected/pivoted within the retainer 3, since a dent will otherwise lead to fixation of the two straps 1,2 within the retainer. Accordingly it is necessary to create a sufficient width O1 within the smallest opening 31 such that the strap 1 does fit into the opening 31 in its most deflected position 8 (see Fig. 5) without being squeezed by the edges 310, 311 of the opening 31. The angle a is decided by the straight line between the uppermost edge 310 of the smallest opening 31 and the uppermost edge 300 of the largest opening 30, since this is the position within which the left hand shoulder strap 1 will be positioned when moving the retainer 3 upwards along the right hand shoulder strap 2. Hence, it is an important aspect of the invention that the edges 310,300 of these openings 30,31 are positioned to create a support line 39A for the left hand shoulder strap 1, that forms an angle a in relation to a perpendicular line PL in relation to the extension of the right hand shoulder strap 2. By providing the edges 300, 310 in this manner, both of the edges will interact with the left hand shoulder strap 1 when this is moved upwards. Accordingly there will be no momentum applied on the retainer 3 when doing this movement, but the retainer 3 will be pulled upwards along the right hand shoulder strap 2 by means of the pushing action of the left hand shoulder strap 1 acting on the said edges 300, 310. If these edges 300, 310 would be positioned perpendicularly, i. e. parallel with the perpendicular line PL, in relation to the extension of the right hand shoulder strap, the left hand shoulder strap 1 would only act upon the upper edge 300 of the larger opening 30, which would cause a momentum on the retainer 3 which in turn would cause the retainer to lock against the other strap 2.

Preferably the opening °1 of the smallest hole 31 is exactly adapted to the angle a, such that it lowermost edge 311 neatly touches the lowermost edge 311 of the left hand shoulder strap 1 when the left hand shoulder strap 1 is in contact with both of the other edges 300, 310. This means that O1 preferably should be about Tl/cosa and 02 about T + W tana.

As is also shown in Fig. 5 the lowermost edges 301,311 are positioned substantially parallel with PL, i. e. perpendicular to the extension of the right hand shoulder strap 2.

However, the exact positioning of the lowermost edge 301 of the large opening 30 is not very critical, i. e. it may be positioned to create a support line 39B that deviates about +30° in relation to PL. From a comfort aspect, however, it is preferred to position this edge 301 as shown, since it minimizes the length of the retainer 3.

The angle a, accordingly has to be larger than zero to make the retainer device 3 to work according to the invention. However, the exact choice of the angle a depends on different variables, e. g. the size of the individual and the desired positioning of the retainer device 3 in the carrying position, the size of the bag etc. Preferably the angle a should be at least 10° and more preferred below 70° and most preferred within the interval 30-60°.

The length L of the retainer 3 should preferably be made as short as possible in order not to cause discomfort. A very long retainer device may cause a feeling of being uncomfortable since it is of a rigid material and the edges/corners can cause pressurized spots on the back. Preferably the length of the device should not exceed 100 mm, more preferred it should not exceed 70 mm. Also the shape of the retainer may be of relevance in order to not cause discomfort. As seen in Fig. 3 the flat side 35 of the retainer that faces the back of the person carrying the device, is somewhat curved to form a convex surface 35. By means of this design the corners of the retainer 3 will not easily come into contact with the body. The height dl of the opening 30,31 must be at least somewhat larger than the thickness of the strap Ti, preferably the height dl is 2-10 times the thickness of the strap. It is preferred that the height dl is not too large, since otherwise the pushing/pulling action from the strap T1 might be jeopardized, due to deflection.

The invention is not limited by the embodiments described above but may be varied within the scope of the appending claims. For instance it is evident for the skilled person that many different kind of ways (than those mentioned above) may be used to produce the retainer, e. g. extrusion in plastic. Moreover it is evident that many different kind of means may be used to provide for a stop position for the retainer along a strap 1,2 (in place of the ends 12,22 of the paddings), e. g. rivets. Finally it is evident that the retainer 3 of the invention might also be used in connection with other applications where straps are being used and where a similar slideable, retaining function is desired. Furthermore it is evident that the attachment device 10,13, 20,23 of each one of each shoulder strap 1, 2 that is attached to one and the same attachment point 4 or 53 may be joined into one combined attachment device (10+23 and 13+20), since normally it is not necessary to be able to disconnect these ends separately.