Abstract:
A paintball pod harness having a central body having a concealable pouch to allow for expanded capacity off of the paintball field with a compacted arrangement for play on the field. The central body supports exterior pod sleeves for carrying paintball pods and has an internal core accessible by a body opening for concealing the expanding capacity pouch.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application hereby claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/035,675, filed on Jan. 14, 2005, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/536,873, filed on Jan. 16, 2004, which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    Not Applicable. 
       REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
       [0003]    Not Applicable. 
       RESERVATION OF RIGHTS 
       [0004]    A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to intellectual property rights such as but not limited to copyright, trademark, and/or trade dress protection. The owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records but otherwise reserves all rights whatsoever. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0006]    The present invention relates to the field of paintball pod harnesses. In particular, the present invention relates specifically to a pod harness having a concealable pouch adapted to carry an expanded load of additional gear or pods during transportation to the playing field while still maintaining a low profile design for use on the actual playing field. Particularly, the invention relates to a harness having a pouch which can be concealed or exposed, and may be used with particular application in the paint ball industry. 
         [0007]    2. Description of the Known Art. 
         [0008]    As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, various types of harnesses are known, and these may comprise containers, closable or otherwise, for accommodating objects to be carried by a user. In many instances, the harness may attach around the waist, such as by a belt, for easy portability and access to objects contained within the harness. 
         [0009]    United States patents showing paintball pods or harnesses include: U.S. Pat. No. D460,502, issued to Traum et al. on Jul. 16, 2002 entitled Paintball Tube; U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,642, issued to Herbage on Dec. 12, 2000 entitled Modular Carrier Assembly Adapted For Paintball; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2004/0031836, filed by Garcia having a publication date of Feb. 19, 2004 entitled Paintball Storage Tube Carrier. Each of these patents and application publication references are hereby expressly incorporated by reference. 
         [0010]    Thus, it may be seen that these prior art patents are very limited in their teaching and utilization, and an improved harness is needed to overcome these limitations. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    The present invention is directed to an improved paintball harness having a collapsible expanded carrying that collapses into the interior volume of the harness such that the expandable pouch does not interfere with normal operation of the harness during the extensive activities required on the field of play. 
         [0012]    In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a harness  10  with a pouch comprising a body or container portion for holding objects, and a pouch portion, the pouch portion being moveable between a first position wherein it is concealed, and second position wherein it is exposed. 
         [0013]    Preferably, the body or container portion may be mounted on a belt or similar structure which can be attached to the waist of a user. The body or container portion may be divided into two or more compartments, each of which may have closure means, such as flaps or covers, for closing off the space. 
         [0014]    Preferably, the body or container portion is attached to a belt which may be worn by the user. 
         [0015]    Preferably, the harness has a body or container portion which comprises a pair of side panels either overlapping or substantially co-planar with each other, sealed or partially sealed to define a space for the storage of items. The side panels may be provided with access means, such as a slot, and the pouch can either be stored within the space, or removed therefrom, by moving it back and forth through the access means or slot. 
         [0016]    The access means or slot may be closable, such as by a zipper, buttons, press studs, hook and loop fastener, or any other means, to ensure that it remains closed, preferably to protect any contents stored in the body or container portion. 
         [0017]    Preferably, the pouch portion is of generally square, rectangular, or rounded shape, and may be formed by a pair of substantially co-planar side panels stitched together at or near their edges, to form a pouch space, and pouch access means for opening the pouch portion to place objects into the pouch space. The pouch access means, which may be in the form of a slot, may be selectively openable and closable by means of a zipper, hook and loop fastener, or any other mechanism for releasably sealing the pouch side panels to each other. 
         [0018]    These and other objects and advantages of the present invention, along with features of novelty appurtenant thereto, will appear or become apparent by reviewing the following detailed description of the invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0019]    In the following drawings, which form a part of the specification and which are to be construed in conjunction therewith, and in which like reference numerals have been employed throughout wherever possible to indicate like parts in the various views: 
           [0020]      FIG. 1  is a front view of the harness  10  with pouch of the invention showing the interior side wall with the pouch concealed; 
           [0021]      FIG. 2  is a front view of the harness shown in  FIG. 1  of the drawings with the pouch exposed; 
           [0022]      FIG. 3  is a back view of the harness shown in  FIG. 1  with the pouch concealed; and 
           [0023]      FIG. 4  is a back view of the harness shown in  FIG. 3  of the drawings with the pouch exposed. 
           [0024]      FIG. 5  is a cutaway view showing the pouch inserted into the interior space of the central body. 
           [0025]      FIG. 6  is a cutaway view showing the pouch in the exterior position. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0026]    As shown in  FIGS. 1 through 6  of the drawings, one exemplary embodiment of the present invention is generally shown as a harness  10  of the invention, comprising a container  12  with pouch  60 , and a belt  14 . The container  12  has side walls  16  and  18 , a bottom wall  20 , and a top wall  22 . 
         [0027]    The belt  14  comprises two lateral components  24  and  26 . Each lateral component  24  and  26  comprises a connector portion  28  and a belt portion  30 . One side of the connector portion  28  connects to a side wall  16  or  18  of the container  12 , while the other side of the connector portion  28  connects to the belt component  30 . In conventional fashion, the lateral components  24  and  26  may be located around, for example, the waist of a wearer/user, and the ends  32  of the lateral components  24  and  26  adapted secure to each other in any one of a number of manners to keep the harness  10  attached to the wearer. 
         [0028]    The container  12  comprises a back wall  40  and a front wall  42 , the back  40  and front wall  42  being of substantially the same shape, arranged in a coplanar manner with respect to each other, and connected to each other along edges which form the side walls  16  and  18 , top wall  22  and bottom wall  20 . The back wall  40  and front wall  42  define an open space therebetween, generally indicated by the reference numeral  46 . A slot  48 , which may be closed by a zipper  50 , or any other mechanism for closing the slot  48 , is provided. When the zipper  50  is pulled to one side, the slot  48  will open, and when pulled to the other side, the slot  48  will be closed. 
         [0029]    It will be seen that the front wall  42  has a number of compartments  54   a , 54   b ,  54   c  and  54   d , each of which is able to receive an object, generally indicated by the reference numeral  56 . In the embodiment shown in the present illustrations, there are four compartments, but any number of compartments, having any desirable shape and/or size, can be formed. 
         [0030]    A pouch  60  forms part of the harness  10  of the invention. The pouch  60  generally comprises a square, rectangular, or other shaped bag  62  which is dimensioned so that it can be inserted through the slot  48 . The bag  62  has an upper edge  64  which is preferably secured within the space  46 , such that the remainder of the bag  62  can either be placed within the space  46 , or allowed to project or hang outwardly from the space  46  through the slot  48  when the zipper  50  or other type of fastening is open. This is shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6  of the drawings. The bag  62  also comprises an access opening  66  in one of the walls of the bag  62 , the access opening  66  being openable and closable so that objects can be inserted into, and removed from, the bag  62 . Preferably, the bag  62  is dimensioned and configured so as to hold relatively flat or smaller items, but this can, of course, change, depending upon the dimensions selected for the container  12 . Thus, the container  12  may be expandable in some way, so that larger items inserted into the bag  62  can be properly accommodated in the container  12 , which will expand commensurately in order to receive the specific objects in the pouch bag  62 . 
         [0031]    In place of an access  66 , the bag  62  may comprise a fold back portion, movable between a closed and an open position, and which can be appropriately folded back to an open position to gain access to the bag  62 . The fold back portion can thereafter be returned to its original position to effect closure of the bag  62 . 
         [0032]    The harness  10  of the invention thus provides for the accommodation of larger items, to be placed in the compartments  54 , and other items which should be concealed or protected from the exterior, to be accommodated in the bag  62 . Once placed in the bag  62 , the pouch  60  can be pushed into the space  46  through the slot, which can then be closed by the zipper  50 , essentially protectively sealing the contents of the bag  62  from the exterior. 
         [0033]    A significant number of modifications to the invention are feasible, and are within the scope of the invention. Thus, the pouch  60 , while shown as being released from the container  12  from the bottom, may extend through an access opening which may be located at any other position on the container  12 . Further, there may be alternative or additional pouches in the connector portion  28  of the belt  14 , or even in the lateral components  24  and  26  of the belt  14 . 
         [0034]    The bag  62  of the pouch  60  may he of any convenient shape, size or configuration, and be specially adapted to accommodate either flat articles or three dimensional articles. The bag  62  may itself have compartments or discrete sections so as to separate any objects placed therein from each other. The compartments  54  themselves may, as already mentioned, vary both in number and size and configuration, as well as in shape, so that a particular compartment or compartments may be specially formed and configured for receiving equipment of predetermined dimensions. 
         [0035]    Reference numerals used throughout the detailed description and the drawings correspond to the following elements:
       harness  10     container  12     belt  14     second side wall  16     first side wall  18     bottom wall  20     top wall  22     first lateral components  24     second lateral component  26     connector portion  28     belt portion  30     end  32     back wall  40     front wall  42     open space  46     slot  48     zipper  50     pod compartments  54   a    54   b    54   c  and  54   d      pod object  56     pouch  60     shaped bag  62     upper edge  64     access opening  66         
 
         [0059]    From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention well adapted to obtain all the ends and objects herein set forth, together with other advantages which are inherent to the structure. It will also be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims. Many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof. Therefore, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.