Harness attachment for a guitar

A harness attachment to shoulder strap harness for holding a guitar in the front of the player which is attached to the left fret end and right strumming end of the guitar. The present invention has an additional right srumming end attachment which mounts over the right strumming end attachment of the shoulder strap harness. The attachment of the present invention includes a lower mounting member and an upper adjustable loop member movably attachable to the player's right hip area in a number of embodiments.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 The present invention relates to supporting and positioning a guitar or
 similar instrument, hereinafter referred to as a guitar, which is
 supported by a shoulder strap system by increasing the shoulder strap
 system support at the strumming end of the guitar and uniformly
 distributing the weight of the guitar over the player's shoulders and
 body.
 The weight of a guitar is very heavy and uncomfortable to hold over long
 periods of time. Various suspension systems for supporting the guitar on
 the front of the body have been used. A type of suspension strap commonly
 used is a single strap slung over one shoulder. However the strap rests on
 very sensitive muscles close to the player's neck. Within a short period
 of time, the player develops fatigue and discomfort. Other types offer
 double strap type solutions which attempt to split the weight in half and
 attempt to evenly distribute the weight across the shoulders or affixed to
 a belt but the result is that it appears to make the suspension system
 rigid, uncomfortable and less appropriate for guitar use. Applicant has
 recently developed a Double Strap Harness for a Guitar, U.S. patent
 application Ser. No. 09/363,812, filed Jul. 30, 1999 that overcomes the
 defeciencies of these prior shoulder strap systems. The present invention
 is directed improving the effeciencies of these prior shoulder strap
 systems when they are being used.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 The present inventions overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art single
 and double shoulder strap systems which are attached to the protruding
 mounting buttons or other attachable means at the guitar's right end or
 strumming end and the left end or fret end, hereinafter referred to as the
 right end or left end of the guitar. This is accomplished with the present
 unique additional right end mounting attachment which is attached to the
 guitar's right end mounting button means extending over the prior art
 right end attached shoulder element attached to the button.
 The present harness system encompasses a resilient, flexible lower member,
 preferably a slit fabric or leather tongue sleeve, movably attached to the
 bottom bar of a connecting bracket, and an upper adjustable strap loop
 member, preferably a sturdy, resilient fabric strap or similar item,
 slidably attached to the top bar of the connecting bracket. The slit
 tongue sleeve fits over the attached shoulder strap right end element and
 is itself attached to the protruding guitar right end button. The upper
 loop member is slidably attached to the clothing or waiste belt of the
 player by various means and hangs down adjacent the player's right hip
 area.
 By combining the present harness right end mounting system with the prior
 art shoulder strap systems, the player is able to uniformly distribute the
 weight of the guitar away from sensitive shoulder muscles to more
 comfortable positions. By being able to set the guitar's right end a
 little higher off the right hip due to the adjustable loop, this tends to
 push the guitar's weight of the right end to the tongue sleeve which
 removes the weight off the left shouder for a single shoulder strap, or
 off of both shouders for a double shoulder strap system. The player is
 thus able to adjust the guitar to the most comfortable position not
 previously available.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
 FIG. 1 illustrates a player wearing a harness attchment 10 of the invention
 supporting a guitar 1 at the front of the player's body. Shown are the
 protruding right end or strumming end 2 of the guitar and the strummung
 end button 3 for mounting the guitar to the prior art shoulder straps
 harnesses. Shown also is a known shoulder strap system 4 representing
 prior art shoulder strap systems that are used with guitars and the type
 of shoulder strap system which can be used with the present harness
 attachment of this invention. Each of the guitar buttons has an enlarged
 head or other type of mounting means over which the prior art right end
 strap 5 and left end strap not shown are mounted.
 Shown in FIGS. 2A and B are overall isolated top and side views of harness
 attachment 10 featuring one embodiment of the present invention and is the
 embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 attached to the right end strummung
 button 3 extending over the right end strap 5 of the shoulder strap.
 Harness attachment 10 as seen in the drawings includes a resilient slit
 fabric or leather tongue sleeve 12 movably mounted on the bottom bar of
 connecting bracket 14 by sewing to itself or other means. Tongue sleeve 12
 fits over the guitar's right end button 3 in securing harness attachment
 10 to the guitar. An adjustable strap loop member 16 made of resilient
 durable fabric or similar material is slidably looped through the top bar
 of connecting bracket 14. One end of loop member 16 is adjustably mounted
 through triple bar strap adjuster 18 and the opposite end is slidably
 mounted on bar 21 of suspender clip 20 by sewing to itself or other means.
 Short strap 22 movably attaches strap adjuster 18 to loop member 16 by
 being movably mounted at one end to the middle bar of strap adjuster 18 by
 sewing to itself or other means and is secured to loop member 16 by sewing
 to the loop member at the suspender clip bar 21 thereby forming loop 24.
 Each of the above three connections: of the tongue sleeve 12 to connecting
 bracket 14; of one end of loop member 16 to suspender clip bar 21; and of
 short strap 22 to strap adjuster 18 are movably mounted by small
 connecting loops 11, 15 and 23 formed at their connections on the bars of
 the devices. One of the benefits of these amall loop connections and of
 long loop 24 is that it allows the uniform distribution of the weight of
 the right end of the guitar to be distributed away from the sesitive
 shoulder muscles and placed on a more comfortable body position on the
 when the guitar is moved about. For example, when the tongue 12 is set
 higher off the right hip, this tends to push the weight of the right end
 of the guitar to the tongue which in turn removes the shoulder strap
 weight off of the left shoulder for single shoulder strap systems and off
 of both shoulders for double shoulder strap systems.
 As seen in FIG. 1, harness attachment 10 hangs loosely off the right hip,
 generally tongue 12 is about six to eight inches off the hip. Suspender
 clip 20 is seen clipped on to the player's pants. However, there are no
 limitations as to where the suspender clip can be attached for instance to
 other areas of the player's clothing or to a waiste belt or other belt.
 A preferred connector bracket 14 is shown in FIGS. 2A and B and 3.
 Generally, it is the double bar rectangular bracket, such as a dee, but
 also can be a multibar bracket or ring or similar device which movably
 attaches items at each end of the bracket. A preferred strap adjuster 18
 is shown in FIGS. 2A and B and 4. Generally, it is the triple bar
 rectangular strap adjuster allowing one end of the strap to be adjustably
 mounted for lenght through the bars and the opposite end of the same strap
 or another strap to be movably attached to the center bar by sewing to
 itself or other means. A preferred suspender clip 20 is shown in FIGS. 2A
 and B and 5 which is a typical suspender clip generally secured to a
 double bar bracket 21.
 Shown in FIG. 6 is a preferred embodiment of the invention in which the
 adjustable loop member 16(a) is slidingly attached to the waiste belt
 26(a). One end of adjustable loop member 16(a) is adjustably attached
 through strap adjuster 18(a) and is movably attached at its opposite end
 to the middle bar of the strap adjuster by sewing to itself or other
 means. Connecting bracket 14(a) is movably attached to loop member 16(a)
 at the lowest point of loop 24(a). Waiste belt 26(a) is shown adjustably
 attached to belt strap adjuster 18(ab) through belt loops xx.
 There are several advantages provided by this embodiment which includes the
 waiste belt. In particular, the combined movably mounting connections of
 the upper portion of loop 24(a) being movably mounted on waiste belt
 26(a), and connecting bracket 14(a) being movably mounted at the lowest
 point in loop 24(a) and slit tongue 12(a) being movably mounted on
 connecting bracket 14(a), not only increase the freedom of movement of the
 guitar but also reduce the weight of the guitar on sensitive muscles which
 has not been previously obtainable with prior shoulder strap harnesses.
 FIG. 7 depicts the preferred contigious waist belt embodiment of the
 invention in which the adjustable loop member 16(b) is formed from the
 contingious extension of waiste belt 26(b) forming contigious loop 24(b).
 In this embodiment, the front end of waiste belt 26(b) is movably attached
 to the top bar of triple bar bracket 14(b) by sewing to itself or other
 means. The opposite end of the of the waiste belt encircles the waiste and
 then passes through the center bar of bracket 14(b) forming adjustable
 loop member 16(b) which overlaps the front end of the waiste belt
 extending from the top bar of bracket 14(b) providing a double strap
 support at the right strumming end of the guitar. The opposite end of the
 adjustable loop-member is adjustably mounted through strap adjuster 18(b)
 which is movably mounted to the front end of the waiste belt by short
 strap 22(b). Slit tongue 12(b) is movably supported on the bottom bar of
 supporting bracket 14(b).
 In this contiguous waiste belt embodiment, contiguous loop 24(b) is formed
 from the front section of waiste belt and adjustable loop member 16(b)
 which overlaps the front end of the waiste belt forming a double strap
 loop support. Another double support for an element is also provided for
 triple bar connecting bracket 14(b) wherein the top and middle bars are
 movably supported by waiste belt 26(b). Thus, in addition to the other
 benefits provided by the harness attachment of the invention, the
 increased support of loop 24(b) and connector bracket 14(b) allows for
 greater movement and conformable positioning of the guitar.
 Shown in FIG. 8 is the preferred embodiment of the invention in which the
 adjustable loop member 16(c) is formed from the contigous extension of
 waiste belt 26(c), having front end 28(c) and back end 30(c), forming
 surface engaging contiguous loop 24(c). The description of this embodiment
 is more clearly defined in reverse order starting with the front end 28(c)
 of loop member 16(c).
 The front end 28(c) is movably attached to the middle bar of strap adjuster
 18(c) by sewing to itself or other means. The front end extends outwardly
 and loops under the top bar of triple bar bracket 14(c) initiating the
 formation of the area where loop 24(c) is to be formed. Front end 28(c)
 extends back through strap adjuster 18(c) at which time waiste belt 26(c)
 is formed. The extension of the front end through the strap adjuster forms
 the contiguous extension of back end 30(c) which overlaps, and is
 releasably adhesively secured to, the mating surtfaces of the front end
 28(c) preferably by Velcro. Back end 30(c) loops under the middle bar of
 bracket 14(c) extending therethrough in releasble contact with front end
 28(c) forming surface engaging contiguous loop member 16(c) and contiguous
 loop 24(c). The size of loop 24(c) is controlled by adjusting the
 overlapping adhesively engaging surfaces to the desired configuration
 having Velcro or similar adhesive material thereon. Slit tongue 12(c) is
 movably supported on the bottom bar of bracket 14(c).
 In this surface engaging adjustable loop embodiment, surface engaging
 contiguous loop member 16(c) and loop 24(c) are formed by the back end
 30(c) of waiste belt 26(c) overlapping and being secured to the surface of
 front end 28(c), overlapping the middle bar of strap connector 14(c) and
 onto the engaging surface of the opposite end of front end 28(c). In
 addition to the other benefits provided by the harness attachment of this
 invention, the enormous support of the doubly engaged surfaces of loop
 member 16(c), of the encased movably mounted middle bar of bracket 14(c),
 and of the overlapped and secured front and back ends of the waiste belt
 26(c) allows for the greatest movement and most comfortable positioning of
 the guitar previously unobtainable with shoulder strap systems.
 Shown in FIG. 9 is a modification of the surface engaging waiste belt
 26(d). In this embodiment the strap adjuster 18(c) of FIG. 8 is eleminated
 and the strap adjustments are made by front end 28(d) and back end 30(d)
 waiste belt engaging surfaces.
 Front end 28(d) is movably attached to the top bar of triple bar bracket
 14(d) by sewing to itself or other means. The front end extends outwardly
 around the waiste forming waiste belt 26(d) and forms the contiguous
 extension back end 30(d) which loops under the center bar of bracket 14(d)
 forming the contiguous loop member 16(d) and contiguous loop 24(d). The
 back end overlaps, and is releasably secured to, the mating top surface of
 front end 28(d) preferably by Velcro or equivalent adhesive means forming
 surface engaging contiguous loop 24(d). The length and size of loop member
 16(d) and loop 24(d) and of waiste belt 26(d) are controlled by adjusting
 the overlapping adhesively engaging surfaces to the desired configuration.
 Slit tongue 12(d) is movably supported on the bottom bar of bracket 14(d).
 In this modified surface engaging adjustable loop embodiment, surface
 engaging contiguous loop member 16(d) and loop 24(d) are formed by the
 back end 30(d) overlapping and being secured to the upper surface of front
 end 28(d) and being adjustably sized by manipulating the engaging
 surfaces. In this embodiment also, the increased support of front end 28
 and back end 30(d) around the top and middle bars of bracket 14(d) and of
 the overlapped and secured front and back ends of waiste belt 26(d) allow
 for the greatest movement and most comfortable positioning of the guitar
 previously unobtainable with shoulder strap systems.
 While the present invention has been described and illustrated with respect
 to the preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated that variations of the
 invention may be made without departing from the scope of the invention
 which is defined in the appending claims.