Patent Publication Number: US-2005120454-A1

Title: Kneepad having a sling strap system

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      The present patent document claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of Provisional U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 60/527,851, filed Dec. 8, 2003, the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND  
      Historically, to prevent knee injuries during physical activity that requires being in a kneeling position, a user would wear a protective kneepad over the front of their knee. Traditional protective kneepads normally include some type of rigid cap secured against the front of a knee by some type of strap that surrounds the knee and leg of the user.  
      These traditional protective kneepads, however, suffer from a number of deficiencies. For example, traditional kneepads are often designed to have a strap assembly that is permanently fixed to the protective kneepad. This design limits the life of the kneepad due to the fact the entire kneepad must be replaced once a portion of the strap assembly becomes worn or breaks. Additionally, this design creates problems in that a designer must design a strap assembly for the protective kneepad that can comfortably surround a number of different sized knees and legs for various users.  
     BRIEF SUMMARY  
      It is therefore desirable to have a strap assembly for a protective kneepad that can be easily adjusted to surround a number of different sized knees and legs for various users, and provides a way to replace a portion of the strap assembly should it become worn or break. The present invention is directed at correcting these deficiencies in the prior art.  
      In one aspect of the invention, a kneepad includes a base, a first and second mounting ring attached to the base, and an elongated strap removably attached to the first and second mounting rings. During use, the base is placed over a knee of user. The elongated strap is placed behind the knee of the user and a first end of the elongated strap is wrapped around the knee and inserted into the first mounting ring. A second end of the elongated strap is then wrapped around the knee and inserted into the second mounting ring. The first and second ends of the elongated strap are pulled through the first and second mounting rings to obtain a desired tension between the kneepad and the knee. Once the desired tension is obtained, the kneepad is secured to the knee. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a kneepad having a sling strap system showing the ends of the sling strap system open in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIG. 2A  is a perspective view of the kneepad of  FIG. 1  showing the ends of the sling strap system closed;  
       FIG. 2B  is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a kneepad having a sling strap system showing the ends of the sling strap system closed;  
       FIG. 3  is a side view of the kneepad of  FIG. 1  showing the ends of the sling strap system open;  
       FIG. 4A  is a side view of the kneepad of  FIG. 1  showing the ends of the sling strap system closed;  
       FIG. 4B  is a right perspective view of the kneepad of  FIG. 3  showing the ends of the sling strap system closed;  
       FIG. 5  is a back view of the kneepad of  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 6A  is a front view of a first embodiment of an elongated strap to be used with the sling strap system and kneepad of  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 6B  is a rear view of the embodiment of the elongated strap of  FIG. 6A ;  
       FIG. 6C  is a front view of a second embodiment of an elongated strap to be used with the sling strap system and the kneepad of  FIG. 2B ;  
       FIG. 7  is a front view of an embodiment of a D-ring to be used with the sling strap system of  FIGS. 1-6 ;  
       FIG. 8  is a front view of the D-ring shown in  FIG. 7  in communication with the elongated strap of FIGS.  6 A-B; and  
       FIG. 9  is a front view of the D-ring shown in  FIG. 7  in communication with the elongated strap of  FIG. 6C . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      As shown in  FIG. 1 , a kneepad  102  to protect a knee of a user generally includes a flexible base  104 , a rigid cap  106 , and a strap assembly  108 . Preferably, the flexible base  104  is made of a padded fabric with an elastomeric or silicone interior.  
      The rigid cap  106  is preferably a rigid plastic such as PVC, but any rigid material could be used. In one embodiment, the rigid cap  106  may be permanently attached to the flexible base  104  by ways known in the art such as sewing the rigid cap  106  to the flexible base  104  or gluing the rigid cap  106  to the flexible base  104 . In other embodiments, the rigid cap  106  may be removably attached to the flexible base  104  by ways known in the art such that different sized rigid caps  106  or rigid caps  106  made of different materials could be used with the same kneepad  102 .  
      In general, a user places the flexible base  104  containing the rigid cap  106  over the knee such that the rigid cap  106  covers the front of the knee. Once the flexible base  104  and the rigid cap  106  are in a desired position, the user secures the kneepad  102  to the knee by wrapping the strap assembly  108  around the leg.  
      As shown in  FIGS. 1-5 , the kneepad  102  may contain at least one, but preferably two, sling strap systems  110  to secure the kneepad  102  to a leg of a user in position over the knee. The sling strap system  110  generally includes an elongated strap  128 ,  128 ′, a first mounting ring  114  attached to the flexible base  104 , and a second mounting ring  116  attached to the flexible base  104 . The mounting rings  114 ,  116  may be any type of ring such as a D-ring or square-ring that is capable of mounting the ends of the elongated strap  128 ,  128 ′. A D-ring is a mounting ring that is flat on one side and curved on the opposite side. Preferably, the first and second mounting rings  114 ,  116  are located on an upper portion  115  of the flexible base  104  or a lower portion  117  of the flexible base  104 , but the mounting rings  114 ,  116  may be located on any portion of the flexible base  104 .  
      As shown in FIGS.  6 A-C, the elongated strap  128 ,  128 ′ of the sling strap system  110  generally includes two straps  112 ,  112 ′ attached or sewn to a padded area  120  so as to define a first end  118  and a second end  122 . The padded area  120  is preferably made of a soft elastomeric material, but any material could be used that does not cause discomfort to a user during use of the kneepad  102 . Further, the padded area  120  is preferably ergonomically shaped to increase comfort to the user of the kneepad  102 .  
      In a first embodiment of the elongated strap  128  shown in FIGS.  6 A-B, the free ends  118 ,  122  of the straps  112  includes a surface of minute hooks  133  while the padded area  120  of the elongated strap  128  and a portion of the first and second straps  112  includes a first and second attachment area  136 ,  138  having surfaces of uncut pile. The elongated strap  128  is designed such that when the free ends  118 ,  122  of the straps  112  are folded back against the padded area  120 , the surface of minute hooks  133  will engage the surfaces of uncut pile  136 ,  138 , thereby securing the free end of one of the straps  112  against the padded area  120  and securing the free end of the other strap  112  against the padded area  120 .  
      In a second embodiment of the elongated strap  128 ′ shown in  FIG. 6C , a free end  118 ′ of one strap  112 ′A and a free end  122 ′ of the other strap  112 ′B make up a hook and loop fastening system, but any fastening system could be used. In the second embodiment, the free end  118 ′ of one of the straps  112 ′A includes a surface of minute hooks on an outer side while the second end  122 ′ of the other strap  112 ′B includes a surface of uncut pile on an inner side. The elongated strap  128 ′ is designed such that when the free end  118 ′ of one strap  112 ′A is folded towards the free end  122 ′ of the other strap  112 ′B, the surface of minute hooks will engage the surface of uncut pile and securely hold the free ends  118 ′,  122 ′ together.  
      Preferably, the elongated strap  128 ,  128 ′ is not permanently attached to the kneepad  102  so that the elongated strap  128 ,  128 ′ may be removed from the kneepad  102  and replaced if a elongated strap breaks or wears out so that the entire kneepad  102  does not have to be replaced. Additionally, the elongated strap  128 ,  128 ′ is preferably available in various lengths to accommodate the different leg sizes of different users.  
      During operation, as shown in  FIGS. 3-5 , a user places the flexible base  104  containing the rigid cap  106  over the front of his or her knee. The padded area  120  of the elongated strap  128 ,  128 ′ is placed behind the knee of the user while a free end  122 ,  122 ′ of one strap  112 ,  112 ′ is wrapped around the leg of the user and inserted through the first mounting ring  114  on the flexible base  104 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the same end  122 ,  122 ′ is pulled through the first mounting ring  114  such that the end  122 ,  122 ′ moves from an outside portion  124  of the kneepad  102  towards an inner portion  126  of the kneepad  102 .  
       FIG. 7  illustrates an enlarged view of the first mounting ring  114  located on the flexible base  104  without any elongated straps from a sling strap assembly  110 .  FIG. 8  illustrates how, in the first embodiment of the sling strap system  110 , the free end  122  of one  112  strap of FIGS.  6 A-B is inserted through the first mounting ring  114  and folded back on the attachment area  138  to secure the same end to the first mounting ring  114 .  FIG. 9  illustrates how, in the second embodiment of the sling strap system  110 , the free end  122 ′ of one strap  112 ′B of  FIG. 6C  is inserted through the first mounting ring  114  and the other free end  118 ′ of the strap  112 ′A is inserted through the second mounting ring  116 . The free ends  118 ′,  122 ′ of the straps  112 ′A,  112 ′B are then secured to each other to secure the elongated strap  128 ′ to the first and second mounting rings  114 ,  116 .  
      Referring again to  FIGS. 3-5 , as with the free end  122 ,  122 ′ of one strap  112 ,  112 ′B, the free ends  118 ,  118 ′ of the other straps  112 ,  112 ′A are wrapped around the leg of the user and inserted through the second mounting ring  116  on the flexible base  104  such that the other ends  118 ,  118 ′ move from the outside portion  124  of the kneepad  102  towards the inner portion  126  of the kneepad  102 .  
      The free ends  118 ,  118 ′ of the straps  112 ,  112 ′A and the free ends  122 ,  122 ′ of the other straps  112 ,  112 ′B are pulled through the first and second mounting rings  114 ,  116  to force the kneepad against the leg of the user in position over the front of the knee of the user and to force the padded areas  120  of the elongated strap  128 ,  128 ′ against the back of the knee. In a first embodiment of the sling strap system shown in  FIGS. 2A, 3 , and  4 A, once a desired tension is achieved between the kneepad  102  and the knee of the user, the first end  118  of one strap  112  is folded back and secured against the first attachment area  136  while the end  122  of the other strap  112  is folded back and secured against the second attachment area  138 , thereby securing one end of the kneepad  102  to the knee of the user. For kneepads containing more than one sling strap system  110 , this process is repeated for each elongated strap  128 .  
      In a second embodiment shown in  FIGS. 2B and 4B , once the desired tension is achieved between the kneepad  102  and the knee of the user, the free ends  118 ′,  122 ′ of the straps  112 ′A,  112 ′B are secured to each other in front of the kneepad  102 , thereby securing one end of the kneepad  102  to the knee of the user.  
      In other embodiments, in alternative to the mounting rings  114 ,  116 , other mounting device/systems may be provided on the flexible base  104  and/or the elongated strap  128 ,  128 ′ such as hook and loop fastening systems, snaps, fabric loops, buckles, or other means. For example, in embodiments using a snap, the free ends of the elongated strap could make up a snap fastener; a free end of the strap and a mounting area of the flexible base could make up a snap fastener; or a free end of a strap and a first attachment area of an elongated strap could make up a snap fastener. Similarly, in embodiments using a buckle, the free ends of the strap could make up a buckle; a free end of the strap and a mounting area of the flexible base could make up a buckle; or a free end of the strap and a first attachment area of the strap could make up a buckle.  
      It is therefore intended that the foregoing detailed description be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting, and that it be understood that it is the following claims, including all equivalents, that are intended to define the spirit and scope of this invention.