Rucksack which may be switched to a front position

The present invention relates to a rucksack interchangeable from a standard wearing position to a front position, notably in order to allow access to products contained in the bag, or for facilitating the movements of the user in the sitting position while retaining the bag attached onto the body. The rucksack, object of the present invention, will notably find its application in the field of sports, such as skiing, trekking or bicycling.

The bag will be implemented at manufacturers of textile articles, in particular manufacturers of bags or manufacturers of sports articles.

In a known way, the rucksack consists of a bag, strictly speaking, forming an envelope capable of containing a load, i.e. articles notably related to the activity practiced by the user of the bag. The bag generally comprises a pair of shoulder straps and a belt, laid out in the back of the bag, said components allowing the bag or the envelope to be worn on the shoulders while maintaining it applied against the back. When the user wishes to access articles contained in this bag, he/she should be able to easily handle the system for opening or closing the envelope, and then view the articles positioned inside the latter in order to be able to grab the desired product. Traditional rucksacks require complete freeing of the rucksack in order to position it in the front, and to thus easily handle the system for opening the envelope and properly view the articles contained inside it.

Further, certain activities require that the bag be released from the back in order to facilitate displacement of the user. For example, this is the case in the field of skiing when the skier takes a chairlift, and should then be able to properly sit down on the seat during the ascent. The skier then has to remove the bag before sitting down, which has the drawback of his/her having to grasp both the bag and the ski poles during the ascent of the ski run.

Rucksacks are known which allow a remedy to be found to these drawbacks, said bags being equipped with means laid out for switching the bag from a standard wearing position on the back to a front position of the bag. This is the case in documents WO 94/15496, WO 2006/025011, U.S. Pat. No. 6,619,519 and WO 03/056975 for example.

According to document WO 94/15496, the bag comprises two shoulder straps positioned as a cross, the upper and lower ends of the shoulder straps being attached by anchoring means onto the back of the bag. Further, the lower ends of the shoulder straps may be detached by means of connectors. The first shoulder strap comprises a section forming a loop which may be opened by means of a connection system, in order to enlarge the length of the strap. This looped section has a connector laid out in order to receive as a connection the lower end of the second shoulder strap when it is detached. Moreover, the bag also comprises a belt provided with a buckling system, the belt being attached at its side ends by anchoring means on the lateral sides of the bag. Pivoting of the bag from the rear to the front is performed by detaching the connector at the lower end of the second shoulder strap, this connector being then attached onto the member for connecting the looped section onto the first shoulder strap; the connector of the looped section is then opened in order to release the latter and enlarge the length of the first shoulder strap, the rucksack may then pass under the arm of the user and swing over to the front position.

According to document WO 2006/025011, the rucksack comprises a first shoulder strap consisting of an upper portion and a lower portion connected together by means of a connection system. A second shoulder strap consists of two straps; the first strap has its upper end attached to the upper portion of the bag and the lower end attached to the lower portion of the bag; the second strap is attached to the first strap by forming a loop inside which the user may pass his/her arm. Further, the bag comprises a third strap with which the chest may be belted, this strap having its ends connected to the second shoulder strap, one of the ends being connected to the primary strap and the other end to the secondary strap. Switching of the bag is performed by opening the connection system on the first shoulder strap in order to detach the latter into two portions, the bag then switching above the shoulder of the user on the side of the second shoulder strap, and then pivoting around the body in order to be positioned towards the front.

According to document U.S. Pat. No. 6,619,519, the bag comprises a pair of shoulder straps, the upper ends of which are attached at the upper portion of the back of the bag. The bag comprises a belting member, the side ends of which are attached to the side lower ends of the back of the bag by connecting means. The lower ends of the shoulder straps are attached on the lateral sides of the belt by connecting means. Rotation of the bag on the front may be facilitated by opening the connectors.

According to document WO 03/056975, the bag comprises an envelope and at least one shoulder strap, the upper end of which is attached to the upper portion of the back of the bag, and the lower end is attached to the lower portion of the bag by means of a connector. The bag comprises a waist belt slidably mounted facing the back of the envelope by means of a slide buckle system. Further, the belt comprises a connector so that the latter may be separated into two for attachment around the waist. The bag comprises a connecting member laid out between the lower portion of the shoulder strap and the belt; this connecting member may be detached into two by means of a connector. Further, the bag may comprise a second shoulder strap. Rotation of the bag requires the opening of one of the shoulder straps at its lower portion. The user then has to loosen the belt while maintaining it closed, which facilitates rotation of the bag and of the belt.

The rucksacks applied in documents WO 94/15496, WO 2006/025011 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,619,519 have the drawback of maintaining the belt tightened around the waist or around the chest during the switching of the bag. The user then has to loosen the belt, or even open the latter in order to facilitate the switching of the envelope from the rear to the front, the belt remaining in the closed position on the body of the user. The design of the bag according to WO 03/056975 also requires loosening of the belt in order to pivot the bag, and then tightening the latter once the bag is repositioned on the back of the user. Such designs further require that several handling steps be performed in order to pivot the bag from the rear position to the front position, and notably to detach at least one of the shoulder straps, and to loosen, or even open the belt in order to pivot said bag easily without the belt rubbing or catching on the waist or the chest of the user.

The rucksack object of the present invention has the purpose of overcoming the drawbacks existing on the bags from the prior art equipped with a system for switching from a standard wearing position to a front position.

As such, the invention relates to a rucksack consisting of a bag, strictly speaking, forming an envelope, said bag or envelope being able to contain a load such as products or articles relating to the practiced activity. Further, the rucksack comprises an assembly consisting of a pair of shoulder straps and a belt, said members being laid out in the back of the bag and allowing the latter to be worn on the shoulders while maintaining it applied against the back of the user. The rucksack according to the invention is laid out so as to switch from a standard wearing position of the bag in the back of the user, to a front position where the bag is positioned on the chest of the user, notably with the purpose of accessing the products positioned in the bag, or even for allowing the user to free the bag from his/her back, notably with the purpose of his/her sitting down.

The rucksack according to the invention is remarkable in that the shoulder straps/belt assembly comprises two straps each consisting of an upper portion, of an intermediate portion, and of a lower portion. The upper portions are attached to the upper end of the back of the bag and are able to be positioned around the shoulders of the user. The intermediate portions are able to be positioned underneath the arms of the user. The upper portions and the intermediate portions form the shoulder straps of the shoulder straps/belt assembly. The lower portions are able to be positioned around the waist. The ends common to the intermediate portions and to the lower portions are attached to the bottom of the back of the bag, and the distal ends of the lower portions are provided with a fastening system, the latter being laid out so as to maintain said distal ends attached. Thus, the upper portions and the intermediate portions form said shoulder straps and the lower portions attached together form at least the front portion of the waist belt.

Further, at least one sliding system is laid out on the bag so as to maintain one of the common ends between the intermediate portion and the lower portion of one of the straps, attached facing the back of the bag, while allowing it to be slidably mounted facing the bottom of the back of the bag. Moreover, this strap comprises a fastening system laid out at the common end between the upper portion and the lower portion, this fastening system being laid out in order to detach said intermediate portion from said upper portion, which allows the shoulder straps to be opened, and the intermediate portion to be then slid on the sliding system and thus slacken the waist belt in order to switch the bag to the front position while avoiding tightening of the belt around the waist.

Preferentially, the bag comprises two sliding systems laid out so as to be slidably mounted facing the bottom of the back of the bag, both common ends between both intermediate portions and both lower portions remaining attached to the back of the bag. With this slidable mounting, the shoulder straps may be slackened when the distal ends of the lower portions forming the waist belt are detached, which facilitates removal of the bag. Conversely, with this design, it is possible to adjust the shoulder straps on the body in the wearing position, once the distal ends of the lower portions forming the belt are fastened.

In a preferential and non-limiting way, the bag comprises two fastening systems laid out at the common ends between the upper portions and the lower portions of both straps forming the shoulder straps. Such a design has the advantage of allowing the bag to be used, for both a left-handed user and a right-handed user, the latter being able to choose at his/her discretion to either open the fastening system located on the left strap or the fastening system located on the right strap, in order to detach the lower portion from the upper portion, forming the shoulder strap, and to slacken at the belt in order to pivot the bag onto the front portion.

Preferentially, the bag comprises at least one adjustment system laid out on at least one of the straps, so as to adjust the length of the latter, said adjustment of the length allowing the shoulder straps and the belt to be systematically adjusted on the body when the distal ends of both lower portions are fastened together.

Further, the rucksack comprises a holding strap, laid out between both shoulder straps, at least located at the height of the common ends between the upper portions and the intermediate portions, or even preferably between both upper portions, said holding strap being able to prevent separation between said upper portions of the shoulder straps when the bag is in the wearing position. Further, this holding strap has the advantage of also preventing separation between the upper portions of the shoulder straps during the pivoting of the bag into the front position on the one hand, and of ensuring that the bag is held against the individual when the bag is in the front position on the other hand.

Other features of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following description of a preferential embodiment of the rucksack according to the invention, this description being supported by figures, among which:

FIG. 1 illustrates the rucksack according to the invention in the wearing position on the back of the user;

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