Abstract:
This new invention combines protection and ease of quick-access for cameras and other fragile items in protective spaces with comfortable carrying of other day/weekend items in non-protective spaces in appropriate carrying devices such as bags, packs, and other configurations.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
         [0001]    None  
         FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH  
         [0002]    Not Applicable  
         SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM  
         [0003]    Not Applicable  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION—FIELD OF INVENTION  
         [0004]    This invention relates to carrying devices intended to shield and protect the items carried and to daily or weekend-items carrying devices.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    In our multi-tasking society, people need to be able to carry their cameras protectively, easily, with quick access to cameras so that they don&#39;t “miss the shot.” They need also to carry other items for daily life, travel, hiking, school, work, etc. The intention of this invention is to help people to carry their cameras, or other fragile equipment such as tape recorders, cd players, etc., protectively and with quick-access possible while comfortably and conveniently carrying items for general day or weekend use. Items that may be carried in addition to camera or other fragile equipment and without impinging on the access to the camera or other fragile equipment include wallets, passports, guide books, sweater, jacket, lunch, and other small or large accessory items.  
           [0006]    Prior to the invention, camera bags or camera packs may have been used along with separate personal items&#39; bags; a protective bag may have been used inside a standard bag or pack or other carrier; standard bags may have been used with protective inserts to protect camera equipment; or protective bags or pockets combined with non-protective bags or pockets, either expansible or not, without quick access for camera gear may have been used. With the difficulty of carrying more than one bag or the difficulty of removing the camera from the interior of a standard bag or pack or other previous arrangements, the desired photographic shot might easily have been missed.  
           [0007]    The prior art of separate solutions for the need to have access to cameras and the need to carry day or weekend items are numerous. The first and historically most usual are rigid cases with compartments, such as Gilbert 853,404, May 14, 1907. These and other rigid cases are not suitable for every day modern ‘running’ life and do not solve the problem. There are many storage containers for shoes, glass, pizzas, bottles, cosmetics, and removable purse liners, etc., but they do not allow easy, quick access for cameras, nor do they allow carrying of extra items for day or weekend use. One example is Kime 4,832,193 May 23, 1989 206/372 “storage container” which has at least two sections, but both are rigid, and would have no comfort for carrying about with day or weekend items, and large rigid sections against the body would add to weight and would be uncomfortable. Therefore, in these many examples, two carrying devices would be needed and there would be lost opportunity and there would be discomfort.  
           [0008]    There are combination bags such as Callaghan 2,487,220 Nov. 8, 1949 “Combined Lunch Kit and Vanity Case” which has multi-functionality in a bag item, but also has rigidity in all  3  sections making it cumbersome. Mittelmann&#39;s 4,078,595 Mar. 14, 1978 150/30 “Combination Handbag and Shopping Bag” allows both shopping purchases and purse use, but would not provide protection or easy access to a camera, were a camera placed in the purse. Similarly, Adams 1,510,815 Oct. 7, 1924 “Combination Baggage” is a duffel with a rigid center for protection of fragile items, with soft ends for clothes. The central compartment is a “ditty box” “ . . . anything which it is desired to protect from breakage or injury,” but this combination bag would be difficult to use to quickly access a camera or other fragile equipment, and awkward and cumbersome when the full bag were used for day or weekend items. Combination “gadget bags” or camera bags similar to duffel bags with either stationary or expandable end sections for day items and rigid case-like areas for fragile items, are bulky, cumbersome, and do not allow quick access to cameras or other protected vital equipment. For example, Sprecht 3,128,854 Apr. 14, 1964 duffel with a rigid center, and Bostick 3,759,356 Dec. 16, 1971 190/42, “Carrier for Soiled Diapers,” while having soft sections and rigid sections, would not be useful for camera and day or weekend items. There are ‘convertible’ bags that are either a utility or equipment bag depending upon if an insert is added or not, but these bags do not allow sufficient room or access for both kinds of items at the same time. One example is Mastronardo 4,842,032 Jun. 27, 1989 206/309 which has an insert for camera bag which can be removed to leave the space as a utility bag. Another example of a convertible bag which does not solve the problem is Belenson 4,210,186 Jul. 1, 1980 206/316.2 which is “(a) flexible fabric camera bag having a central main bag portion” that can hold the padded compartmentalized/adjustable camera insert, with, possibly, side small zippered pockets. While “(a)nother advantage is that upon removal of the camera bag compartment insert, the bag can serve independently as a traveling hand bag or overnight bag for carrying clothing or other luggage,” it does not offer easy and quick access to the camera when the insert is inside the bag. Weinreb 4,212,377 Jul. 15, 1980 190/52, “Convertible Bag,” although described as a convertible utility bag with a divider panel which can be flattened to leave a big open space, does not offer enough room for day or weekend items, and would otherwise be bulky and cumbersome.  
           [0009]    There are bags with interior padded inserts, either movable or non-movable or collapsible, but they don&#39;t allow quick access to the camera or other fragile equipment while other items for day or weekend use are in the carrying device. For example, Domke 4,260,004 Oct. 27, 1978 206/316.2 “Camera and Accessory Case” has an inside compartment and extra room for film, batteries, etc., without easy access and without room for daily or weekend items, and, if the bag were enlarged, the whole bag would be bulky and cumbersome and the camera or other fragile equipment would be difficult to access.  
           [0010]    Additionally, there are expansible or non-expansible bags, with the main pocket padded and there are small padded accessory pockets for carrying batteries, film, etc., but these bags don&#39;t allow for the carrying of necessary items for the day or weekend, or the capacity for carrying these items is sufficient but without adequate access. Simon D272,965 Mar. 29, 1982 D3/33; Sykes D247,460 Mar. 7, 1978 and Sykes D247,525 Mar. 14, 1978 D/87/5E, “Carrying Case for a Camera and Accessories or the like,” are not adequate for day or weekend items, and, if made bigger, would not allow easy access to camera or other fragile equipment, and would be bulky and cumbersome. Of a similar problem is Kontoff 2,691,401 Oct. 12 1954, “Expansible carrying case for camera parts or the like,” which is expansible and has pockets for various items but is not adequate for day or weekend items. The Davis 4,334,601 Jun. 15, 1982 “Utility Bag,” which is intended to “provide a new and novel utility bag structure capable of carrying beverages or the like in a thermally insulated manner while at the same time being expandable for the purpose of carrying sports equipment and clothing and the like,” does have collapsible and expandable side sleeve or sleeves flanking a more rigid insulated section, but is too bulky or cumbersome for quick access to fragile equipment, and, were it smaller, would be inadequate for day or weekend items. Ward 3,122,225 Feb. 25, 1964 “Collapsible Bag” is inadequate for ease of access to camera or other fragile equipment and also inadequate for ease of carrying day or weekend items. The Ward “Collapsible Bag,” with its handle or strap on what might be the protective pocket, would be difficult to bring out a camera or other fragile equipment requiring quick-access.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION—OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES  
         [0011]    The present protective and non-protective carrying device allows quick access to camera or other fragile equipment while allowing a way for items for the day or weekend to be carried in the same device. The other devices that have come heretofore have not offered easy access to camera or other equipment needing protection while at the same time allowing day or weekend items to be carried conveniently or comfortably. This invention allows the necessary protection and access to camera or other fragile equipment while allowing the convenient, comfortable carrying of day or weekend items in the same device.  
           [0012]    There are no references that we could find in prior art in patent listings, in sales brochures, in retail establishments, on internet catalogues, or visible in use by strangers, for carrying devices that will allow parents who have their hands full, tourists traveling and touring for the day, hikers and birders out for the day, or sundry other users, to carry cameras or other fragile equipment they can immediately access, and at the same time easily carry their day or weekend items.  
           [0013]    In one embodiment, the invention comprises a contiguous meeting of a hard, rigid, or otherwise protective pocket or pockets with a non-protective pocket or pockets whereby a camera or other fragile equipment can be protectively contained in the hard or rigid or otherwise protective pocket and quickly and easily accessed while at the same time there is a separately-accessed opening for the soft or otherwise non-protective pocket or pockets which can contain day, weekend, or other items. The protective pocket or pockets may comprise foam, neoprene, or otherwise protective material, while the non-protective pocket or pockets may comprise unpadded or otherwise non-protective material such as unlined nylon, cotton, denim, or others. The access for each of the compartments of protective and non-protective pocket or pockets is direct to the exterior of the carrying device and these openings are either secured by hook-and-loop, drawstring, snap, insertion, or other materials or devices which may be construed. Handles, straps, or other means of carrying the carrying device can adhere or meet in diverse manner to the soft pocket for construance of the comfort and access of the device.  
           [0014]    Further objects and advantages of the present protective and non-protective invention will become apparent from a consideration of the 8 sheets of drawings and ensuing description.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0015]    While both the art of protective carrying devices for camera-related and other fragile gear exists and many non-protective carrying devices exist for a myriad of day or weekend use items, this new protective and non-protective carrying device is intended to allow modern users with their need to perform many tasks while out for the day or away for the weekend to carry gear for the day or weekend along with being able to quickly “get that photo shot” by securing a camera, or otherwise quickly reach a fragile item such as binoculars, calculator, or otherwise important item while carrying their day or weekend items in a combined device.  
           [0016]    Two elements, protective and non-protective pockets of any multiplicity, are combined to provide more than the sum of their parts, so that cameras or other fragile equipment needed can be carried with easy access, in one carrying device, along with needed items for the day or weekend.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1 is a front angled perspective drawing of the protective and non-protective carrying device with the non-protective pocket shown open and the non-protective pocket shown open.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 2 is a fully-front perspective of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 with both pockets closed.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 4 is a front angled downward perspective of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 with both pockets closed.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 5 is a side angled perspective of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 with both pockets closed.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 6 is a side perspective of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 including a section of a person withdrawing from or encasing a camera in the protective pocket.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 7 is a side perspective of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 including a section of a person withdrawing from or encasing a book in the non-protective pocket.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 8 is a side-back angled perspective of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 including a person using the carrying device by withdrawing or encasing a camera in the protective pocket.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 9 is an alternative embodiment, in backpack form, showing a carrying device in a front angled perspective drawing.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 10 is an additional embodiment, in a larger shoulder bag form, showing a carrying device in a front angled perspective drawing.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 11 is an alternative embodiment, in a baby carrier form, showing a carrying device in a front angled perspective drawing.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 12 is an alternative embodiment, in a form conducive to application to a wheelchair, showing a carrying device in a front angled perspective drawing. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
     FIGS.  1 - 8 —Preferred Embodiment  
       [0029]    A preferred embodiment of the protective and non-protective carrying device is shown in FIG. 1 from the front angled perspective. The preferred embodiment is a shoulder bag comprising approximately 12″×8″×4″ in a non-protective soft pocket  11  and approximately 6″×7″×2″ in a protective harder pocket  13 . At the top  18  of the soft pocket, a zipper  14  can close the open pocket  16 . At the top  23  of the harder pocket—with a padded lining  12  of approximately ½″ foam lined by oxford cloth—a hook and loop piece  24  on the harder pocket underside  17  can meet with a hook and loop piece  19  on the harder pocket  13  to close its open space  15 . A D-ring with web  27  is an attachment point for a web strap  28  with slider  29  (mirror image of D-ring with web  27  and slider  29  not shown) for a means of carry. In the full front perspective with the pockets closed, FIG. 2, the zipper closure cover  14  of the softer pocket  11  and the full top of the harder pocket  23  may be seen, and in FIG. 3, the carrying device is shown from the bottom perspective, the soft pocket  11 , the harder pocket  13 , and the underside of the top of the harder pocket  17  may be seen with the hook and loop piece  24 . FIG. 4 shows the carrying device from a front angled downward perspective with both pockets closed and then in FIG. 5 the same carrying device may be seen from a side perspective.  
         [0030]    As shown, harder pocket  13  and soft pocket  11  can be oriented so that a bottom portion of each pocket form a substantially contiguous plane. As a result, when a user sets the carrying device down, the carrying device will not have a tendency to tip onto a side. Additional features can also be included in the carrying device. Additional harder and/or soft pockets can be included and located in any desired position on the carrying device. For example, additional soft pockets can be located on one or more sides of soft pocket  11  and/or harder pocket  13 , in the interior of soft pocket  11  and/or harder pocket  13 , etc. Further, protective/decorative flaps can be included on the carrying device. For example, material can be included that covers zipper  14  on soft pocket  11 .  
         [0031]    Soft pocket  11  can be attached to harder pocket  13  using any method now known or later developed. For example, harder pocket  13  can be permanently attached by being sewn onto the side of soft pocket  11 , or harder pocket  13  can be temporarily attached to soft pocket  11  using a hook and loop configuration. Further, while an illustrative implementation of harder pocket  13  is discussed, it is understood that any method can be used to stiffen harder pocket  13  to a desired stiffness, including inserting a hardened material between two layers of a softer material.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 10 is an ADDITIONAL EMBODIMENT showing a larger shoulder bag embodiment of the protective pocket and non-protective pocket carrying device with approximately 15″×12″×5″ for the softer pocket  11  and 7″×9″×3″ for the harder pocket  13 . This embodiment has an alternative harder pocket closure  20  which has hook and loop under said  20 .  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 9 is an ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENT showing a backpack embodiment of the protective pocket and non-protective pocket invention with a softer pocket of approximate 18″×13″×6″ size and a harder pocket of 6″×7″×2″ approximate size and an alternative closure of the harder pocket top  23  by web and quick-release buckle  22  on the harder pocket  13 . A carry-handle web  31  and backpack strap of web, slider, and padded material  30  are also shown (mirror image backpack strap  30  not shown).  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 11 is an ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENT showing a baby carrier embodiment of the protective and non-protective pocket carrying device with 2 softer pockets, one pocket  11  of approximate 18″×13″×6″ size and one pocket  35  of approximate 18″×8″×8″ size; the harder pocket  13  of approximate 6″×7″×2″ size; and the side opening  36  to the said harder pocket. In this embodiment, the carrying device is shown attached to a frame  33 ; the frame  33  in this embodiment has a support belt  32 .  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 12 is an ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENT showing a wheelchair bag embodiment of the carrying device, with strap  28  attachments (one mirror image omitted).  
         [0036]    It is understood that while certain proportions and sizes have been discussed, the invention is not limited to any specific proportion or size. Further, while shown and discussed with reference to a carrying device, it is understood that the invention can be applied to other types of devices. For example, the invention can be implemented as part of a storage device in which one or more fragile items can be stored along with other non-fragile items. Still further, while various methods for carrying the device and enclosing the various pockets are shown and discussed, it is understood that these are only illustrative examples, and other methods are appropriate and can be used as are known in the art.  
       Operation—FIGS.  6 - 8   
       [0037]    [0037]FIG. 6 shows the carrying device with the harder pocket being used by the insertion or withdrawal of a camera and the softer pocket closed; FIG. 7 shows the same embodiment with the harder pocket closed while the softer compartment is being used by the insertion or withdrawal of a book; FIG. 8 shows the user in movement while using the carrying device of the preferred embodiment.  
       Advantages  
       [0038]    The advantages of this protective and non-protective carrying device include, but are not limited to, the ability to conveniently, comfortably carry both camera or other fragile gear and day or weekend items in a single device and to quickly access camera for a spontaneous, non-set-up photographic shot; reach for binoculars without having to rummage through the day&#39;s or weekend&#39;s items and thereby be able to see the fleeting bird; grab a calculator and work on numbers while progressing on a walk through an airport without having to stop to sort through the on-flight other items being carried; and other such quick-access usages while having all necessary items in the single carrying device. Parents, business people, tourists, and other people of a multiple of ages and occupations will find relief in using this invention. Additionally, at the current time, often only one bag or carrying device is permitted in museums, arenas, performance halls, limited airplane allowances and other limited or otherwise restricted venues, therefore people often want to be able to carry only one bag or carrying device which includes both camera or other fragile gear as well as general items such as wallet, passport, guide book, sweater, hat, and other items not requiring protective space.  
       Conclusion, Ramifications and Scope of Invention  
       [0039]    Thus the reader will see that the protective and non-protective carrying device of the present invention provides a device that can be used by tourists and travelers, business people, workpeople, parents, teen-agers, and others and will include but will not be limited to daily use, weekend use, travel, and hiking items such as shoulder bags, messenger bags, backpacks, child carriers, waistpacks, vests, and briefcases. This invention recognizes the need for quick access to cameras combined with carrying other items; now that cameras are “quick-shots/point-and-shoots,” people want to be able to pull them out quickly while carrying day or weekend items. Access to cameras and assorted other fragile equipment in the modem daily life of parenting, shopping, travel, recreation, and other activities requires ease while carrying passports, guide books, wallets, sweaters, and other items.  
         [0040]    While the above description contains many specifications, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as an exemplification of one preferred embodiment thereof and one additional embodiment and three alternative variations on this embodiment. Many other embodiments and variations are possible: For example, sizes can be different from small to large; materials can vary; shapes can vary; there may be a plurality of additional pockets; there may be modular pockets; shapes and/or placements of pocket openings may vary, handles or straps may be placed differently; and other changes may be made as imagined by people practiced in the art.  
         [0041]    Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiments illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.