Abstract:
A protective pouch has a closed cell foam padding and a casing enclosed around the closed cell foam padding. The configuration forms two opposing curved sidewalls. The protective pouch has a closing mechanism, which can be a flap extending from one sidewall and attached to the other sidewall. The pouch can be substantially fitted for a rectangular object so that when the object is inside said pouch, the object forms protective pockets between the sidewalls of the object and opposing sidewalls of the pouch.

Description:
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/034,484 filed on Mar. 4, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,778. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a carrier to transport items. 
     Manufacturers have devised cases for carrying items. Examples of cases include luggage, briefcases and computer carriers. In particular, for computer carriers that hold a portable computer, the typical carrier resembles a briefcase. The cases have the same (i.e., rectangular) shape as the computer. The cases are made of either a hard material or soft material. The cases afford some protection to their contents. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In general, the invention features a pouch having two opposing, curved sidewalls. Each curved sidewall has a padding layer and a casing on an exterior portion of the padding layer. In one embodiment, the casing and padding are arranged such that the casing is in tension with respect to the padding layer. The tension causes the opposing sidewalls to curve. 
     The pouch has a closing piece, such as a flap extending from one opposing sidewall and attaching to the other opposing sidewall. The padding layer can be a corrugated material or a closed cell foam material. The padding layer can also have a series of folds and ridges that run in parallel with the curvature of the sidewall of the pouch. 
     The pouch is configured to deform so that it absorbs and distributes any impact energy imparted to the pouch. The pouch can be substantially fitted for a rectangular object so that such an object inside the pouch forms protective pockets between the object and sidewalls of the pouch. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The foregoing features and other aspects of the invention will become more apparent from the drawings, taken together with accompanying description, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a protective pouch; 
     FIG. 2A is a perspective view illustrating the pouch of FIG. 1 in an open position with a portable computer being inserted; 
     FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along line  2 B— 2 B of FIG. 2A; 
     FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional perspective view illustrating a padding layer for the pouch of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional perspective view illustrating an alternate embodiment of the padding layer for the pouch of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional perspective view illustrating a still further alternate embodiment of the padding layer,for the pouch of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3D is a perspective view illustrating a padding layer having a showed plastic coating useful in the pouch of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4A is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a pouch; 
     FIG. 4B is a view of a side padding for the pouch of FIG. 4A; 
     FIG. 4C is a cross-sectional view showing side padding; and 
     FIG. 5 is a top view of FIG. 2A illustrating protective pockets surrounding the contents inside a pouch. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring now to FIG. 1, a protective pouch  10  having an outer protective covering  12  and a closure flap  14  is shown in a closed position. In one embodiment, outer protective covering  12  and flap  14  are comprised of a suitable fabric-type material that is stitched at seam  16   a  and seam  16   b . The pouch is sized to hold a fragile device such as a portable computer. The configuration of the pouch  10  and the materials of the components of the pouch  10  are provided to impart shock absorbing properties to the pouch as will be described. The pouch  10  protects its contents by a number of mechanisms in the event of impact from an outside force, such as by dropping the pouch and its contents on the ground. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the pouch  10  is shown in an open position with flap  14  open revealing a pair of Velcro®, Velcro Industries, strips  15   a ,  15   b . One Velcro® strip  15   a  is attached to the inside of flap  14  and the mating Velcro® strip  15   b  is attached to a front sidewall  18   a  of the pouch  10 . A back sidewall  18   b  is also provided. Both sidewalls  18   a ,  18   b  are joined along seams  16   a ,  16   b  and are configured to have an outwardly curved surface. 
     In particular, as shown in FIG. 2B, the pouch includes the outer protective covering  12  of fabric or other outer protective covering arranged about a padding layer  20 . The outer protective covering  12  is configured to be placed in tension between seams  16   a ,  16   b  with respect to padding layer  20  so as to cause the sidewalls of the pouch  10  to curve outward. This curvature provides the pouch  10  with shock absorbing and cushioning properties when the pouch  10  is used to protect an object. The shock absorbing property results from a spring-like force. The spring-like force must be overcome by an external force to cause the sidewalls to collapse before the external force can act on an object in the pouch  10 . The shock absorbing properties of the sidewalls are in addition to the intrinsic protective properties afforded by the characteristics of the materials used to make the pouch. 
     A suitable fabric material for the outer protective covering  12  includes a rip-stop Nylon®. The pouch  10  optionally includes an inner liner  19  disposed to cover the padding layer  20 . The inner liner  19  need not be the same material as the outer protective covering  12 . 
     Referring now to FIG. 3A, one embodiment of the padding layer  20  is shown. The padding layer  20  is comprised of a foam material and is arranged as a plurality of here evenly spaced alternating ridges  20   a  and folds  20   b , or corrugations resembling waves that extend over the surface of the padding layer  20 . The corrugations are provided to stiffen the foam in an in-plane, lateral direction orthogonal to the corrugations. When this foam layer  20 ′ is used within the pouch, the corrugations are preferably disposed parallel with the curved surface of the sidewalls. The combination of the curved surface of the sidewalls and the corrugations cause the pouch to have substantial rigidity and enables the pouch to have the curved sidewalls and conform to a generally oval type shape as shown in FIG.  2 B. 
     In one embodiment of the padding layer  20 , the foam layer  22  is comprised of a closed cell foam that provides a degree of cushioning to the padding. Alternatively, an open cell foam material could be used but an open cell foam is less preferred because of its typical water absorbent properties. 
     Referring now to FIG. 3B, an alternative embodiment  20 ′ of the padding layer is shown. Foam material  22 ′ (either open or closed cell) is configured as crossed layers that deform upon impact. 
     Referring now to FIG. 3C, another alternative embodiment  20 ″ of the padding layer  20  is shown. Padding layer  20 ″ includes the closed cell foam layer and the corrugated portions of the embodiment of FIG. 3A, as well as, spacers  24  disposed between ridges to provide the foam layer  22 ″ with additional resistance to deforming in the lateral direction. One type of foam that has this configuration is Ridge-Rests® closed cell foam material (available from Cascade Designs) and is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,936 incorporated herein by reference. 
     Referring now to FIG. 3D, padding layer  20  is shown having a thin hard covering surface  26  over a padding layer. As shown the surface  26  is disposed over the corrugated portions of either the padding layer  20  or  20 ″. The hard covering surface  26  is a plastic or other type of material or film such as Kevlar® from Dupont and can act as the outer protective covering of the pouch or an additional protective layer between the padding layer  20  and outer layer  12 . The hard covering  26  is characterized as having a hardness that is substantially greater than the hardness of the underlying padding layer. The hard covering surface  26  can be molded into a curve shape to dissipate energy across the outer case. The hard covering surface  26  can also be curved ribs that form a rib cage. 
     Referring now to FIG. 4A, the inner lining  19  and outer protective covering  12  can be arranged to form a sleeve  28  within which the padding layer  20  is inserted. The dimensions of the sleeve  28  and hence the surface area of the inner layer  20  and the surface area of the outer protective it covering  12  are selected so that when the inner layer  20  is inserted into the sleeve, the outer surface area curves outwardly imparting the illustrated curved surface to the front sidewall  18   a  and the back sidewall  18   b . By configuring the outer protective layer  12  and the padding layer  20 , in this manner, the combination provides a spring-like property to the sidewalls  18   a ,  18   b  of the pouch to increase the ability of the pouch to protect its contents. 
     Referring now to FIG. 4B, the padding layer  20  can have a sidewall padding layer  30  disposed along the edges of the pouch while the sidewalls  18   a ,  18   b  of the pouch  10  are still maintained in curvature. The sidewall padding layer  30  is inserted adjacent the pair of seams  16   a ,  16   b  and along the bottom of the pouch  10 . 
     Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4C, the sidewall padding can be placed between a pair of seams along each of the edges of the pouch. Each sidewall  18   a ,  18   b  of the pouch would be coupled between a corresponding pair of seams  19   a ,  19   a  ′ and  19   b ,  19   b  ′ so that the outer layer of each sidewall  18   a ,  18   b  is disposed in tension between the pair of corresponding seams with respect to the padding layer  12 . The sidewall padding layer  30  is inserted to provide additional shock absorbent properties and protection along the sidewalls  18   a ,  18   b  to an object contained in the pouch  10 . 
     Referring now to FIG. 5, the pouch  10  is shown housing an object  38 , such as a portable computer. Because the object  38  is rectangular and the configuration of the pouch is oval-like, protective pockets or spaces  32  are formed between sidewall surfaces of the object  38  and opposing portions of the interior of the pouch  10 . During impact against the outside of the pouch, the presence of the protective pockets  32  diminish the impact force imparted to the object  32  because the sidewalls of the pouch  10  flex or compress to fill the pockets and thus dissipate a portion of the force imparted to the object as a result of the impact. 
     Besides producing protective zones  32  around object  38 , tensional forces increase the structural integrity of padding layer  20 . The protective covering  12  and padding resist distortion from their relaxed shape by resisting an externally applied force  34  with a “restoring force”  36 . The restoring force is related to the amount of pre-stressing of the pouch provided by the curved surfaces of the pouch  10 . This prestressing can be modeled as a spring in partial compression. Therefore, prestressing the curved sidewalls increases the amount of energy that the pouch  10  will absorb before its contents are affected. 
     A strap can also be attached to the inside of the pouch for additional security. The strap can be fastened around the object  38  to prevent the object  38  from shifting inside the pouch. 
     The pouch can be used to protect nonrectangular objects. In addition, a rectangular form can be placed within the pouch and the form can house objects having different shapes. 
     Having described preferred embodiments of the invention, other embodiments incorporating its concept may be used. It is felt, therefore, that this invention should not be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but rather should be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.