Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to a parallelepiped
back packt such as a brîefcase which can be carried on should~r
straps, for instance on the back~
It is the primary object of this invention to provide
such a back pack of very light weight and, nevertheless, cap-
able of withstanding very rough handling while retaining its
shape, other objects include the possibility of cheap mass
production, providing a briefcase which can be carried on the
back as well as by hand, and which is capable of reducing
perspiration when carried on the back.
The above and other objects are accomplished accord-
ing to the invention with a parallelepiped back pac]c com~
prising an outer casing of a thin, flexible sheet material,
a stiffening insert comprised of at least one stiffening part
disposed in the casing and imparting thereto a parallelepiped
shape, means for fastening the stiffening insert to the case,
and at least one shoulder strap. The present invention pro-
~ides a variety of insert bodies, as well as varying~fasteners
for the shoulder straps, special hand grips, and air-
permeable members for contact with the back of a personcarrying the back pack to prevent perspiration.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there
is provided a parallelepiped bac~ pack including a front and
rear face and a base thereon comprising in combination, an
outer casing of thin, flexible sheet material; a stiffening in- ~ -
sert comprising a plurality of stiffening parts disposed in said
casing and imparting thereto a parallelepiped shape; means for
fastening said stiffening insert to said casing' and at least
one shoulder strap, said back pack also including a partition
wall disposed in said casing and dividing the interior thereof
into compartments, said partition wall extending substantially
parallel to said rear face of said back pack and one of said
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stiffening parts being disposed in each o~ said compartments,each of said stiffenin~ parts beiny a parallelepiped body
comprising a stiffening plate, and perpendicularly projecting
therefrom two end faces and a base connecting said end faces,
said stiffening plate of said body in the compartment ad]acent
the rear face of said back pack being ad-jacent said rear
face and said stiffening plate of said body in the compartmen-t
adjacent said front face of the back pack being ad~acent the
front face thereof, the bases of the bodies being adjacent the
base o~ the back pack.
The invention is illustrated by way of example in the
accompanying drawin~s wherein:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of
a back pack according to the present invention,
Figure 2 shows the back pack of Figure 1 in vertical
section:
Figure 3 illustrates one embodiment of stiffening
inserts or parts thereof for a back pack.
Referring now to the drawings and firstly to FXGS, 1
and 2, there is shown a parallelepiped back pack 1 in the
form of a briefcase for students. The back pack consists of
thin, flexible outer casing 2 and stiffening insert 3. The
material of the outer casing consists preferably of a synthetic
resin fiber fabric coated on both sides, for instance a nylon
fabric coated with an acrylic resin. Partition ~all 4,
extending parallel to rear face 5 of the back pack, divides
the interior chamber of the back pack into two parallelepiped
comp~rtments~ The partition wall is sewn to the end faces and
the base of the back pack.
As best shown in FIG. 2, the stiffening insert consists
of two bodies 7 and 7'. As will be appre~iated, parallelepiped
insert body 7 includes an elongated rear wall an~ relatively
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shorter length base wall and therefore is L-shaped in cros~-
section, thus it is open on tip and in front and is so inserted
into the rear compartment defined between partition wall 4 and
rear face 5 that plate 10 of body 7 is adjacent the rear face
of the back pack.
In the illustrated embodiment, foam cushion insert
8 is inserted between plate 10 of insext body 7 and the rear
face of the outer casing.
Insert body 7' is substantially identical with body
7, i.e. it has a base, two end faces and a lateral plate,
the latter being adjacent the front face of the back pack.
The two insert bodies are loosely fitted into the front and
rear compartments separated by partition wall 4. They are
fastened by rlvets 11 to the end faces of outer casing 2
and by staples or nails 12 to the base of the outer casing,
The attachment is reinforced by inserting washers 13 between
the rivet ends and the inside of the insert bodies.
Shoulder straps 15 or the back pack comprise
carrier straps 16 having an approximate width of 30 to
40 mm and cushioning layers 17 underlying the carrier straps
for soft contact with the shoulders; Buc~les 14 are affixed
to the rear face of the back pack for adjustably receiving the
other ends of the shoulder straps when the back pack is carried
on the back, The buckles are riveted to the rear face at 18~
In the illustrated embodiment, the rear face of the
back pack comprises porous or "breathing" cover lg mounted
over cushion 8 and holding the cushion against plate 10 of
insert body 7. Cover 19 is attached to outer ca~ing 2 by
double seams 20 or may be fused thereto along the edges~ ;
As can be seen from FIG, 1, the porous or "breathing"
portion 19 extends almost over the entire rear face of the
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bac]c pack, cushion 8 extending beyond cover 19, as can be seen
from edges 21 of the cusllion in relation to seams 20 of -the
cover.
In a modified form, the rear face of the back pack
casin~ may define a window, cushion 8 being in registry with the
window the cover being fastened to the eclges of the window. In
the event of no window, cushion 8 may be placed over the rear
face and covered by cover 19 which i9 then sewn or fused to
the rear face of the casin~ along the edges thereof~ The cover
may extend over the entire width of the back pack in one
dimension and, in the other dimension, fro~ upper carrier plate
22 to the lower edge of the rear face, the shoulder straps
being fastened to the cover.
As best shown in FIG. 2, porous cover 19 reaches up
to carrier plate 22 for rivets 23 fastenin~ the upper ends
of the shoulder straps to the back pack. It is useful to
insert a spring steel plate 24 between carrier plate 22 and -~
the rear face of the back pack, adjacent seam 20 - ~!
Loop 9 is fastened to carrier plate 22 to enable the
back pack to be hung up.
Cushion 8 may be made o~ a foamed plastic, such as a
ployurethane foam, but it may alternatively consi~t of cork, foam
rubber or the like. Cover 19 and underlying cushion 8 enable
air to reach the back of the person carrying the back pack and
thus prevent or reduce sweating. For thi3 purpose, the cover
is preferably made of a woven, non-woven or knitted fabric
or spun or crimped synthetic resin fibers, of perforated
synthetic resin pellicles, or of fabrics of naturbl fibers,
such as cotton or the like. Such covers not only "breathe"
but absorb perspiration~ Cotton is particularly preferred
since it also exhibits the required wear resistance to enable
the rear face of the back pack to resist the frictional wear
to which it i.s subjected~
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The stiffening insert :Eor the back pack may be a
one-piece body or it may consist of several structural com~
po~ents. To keep its shape under all conditions of use, i-t is ~.
essential or the stiffening insert to comprise a material
which is impact-resi~tant, permanently elastic to return to
its original shape when distorted, temperature-resistant to
hot and cold temperatures, break resistant, tough and ductile
but capable of receivin~ rivets, staples or nails and like
fastening elel~nts, and of being stamped or sewn.
10The stiffening insert3 may be made in various shapes
and profiles designed to reduce their wall thickness and
weight while mhintaining the required stiffnes~.
Refering to FIG~ 3 illustrating one embodiment of
stiffening insert with walls provided with reinforcing ribs.
The end faces and the rear face have transverse rihs 52 and long-
itudinal ribs 53 while the base merely has ribs 54 extending
in a single direction. This type of ribbing may of course be
replaced by ribs of other types.
The ribs may have a depth of 2 to 10 mm and a width of
10 to 50 mm. They are flattened along the edges and at those
points where rivets or other fastening elements are positioned.
The material of which the stiffening inserts or their
components, the partition walls, the hand grip, the support and
clamping plates and the like are made is preferably a synthetic
resin, such as polyvinylchloride, an acrylonitrile-butadiene-
styrene copolymer, polyethylene, polycarbonate, polypropylene,
poIyurethane, nylon, polytetramethylene-terephthalate, polyester,
which may or may not contain glass Eibers, plasticliæers and other
polyester additives, polyacetals, polyvinyl benzene, poly-
fluorocarbonate, linear polyesters and thermosetting syntheticresins. The synthetic resins may, if desired, contain glass
fiber reinforcements. Selected parts may be made of ~ynthetic
resin sheet material or of fabrics of synthetic res.in fibers
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coated with any of these resin materials on one or both sides.
The parts may be produced by injection molding, pres~ing, mold- :~
.ing, stamping, extruding or any other suitable manufacture, and
parts may be welded together by high-frequency welding or the
like. It is desirable for the parts to be resistant to breakage
up to -40C and to remain shape-retaining up to 100C. They
should be impact~resistant, permanently elastic, capable of re-
ceiving rivets, nails and like fasteners, to be cut and to be
stamped. Parts made from such synthetic resins have the advan-
tage that they need not be provided with holes for rivets since
the rivets may be driven through themO This makes assembly o~
the back packs of this invention easier and, there~ore, cheaper,
thus lowering the sales price. It also makes rapid mass pro-
duction possible. .
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