| 摘要 |
A retractable shoulder strap for portable objects, such as bags, purses, briefcases or carry-on luggage, comprises a shoulder pad, an elongated strip of pliant material, a plurality of holes positioned at substantially uniform intervals along the length of the elongated strip, and retractors located inside the shoulder pad. Extendible guide wires passing through the plurality of holes connect the ends of the elongated strip to the retractors, which are spring-biased to automatically retract the guide wires and stow the elongated strip inside internal storage spaces in the shoulder pad, thereby eliminating slack in the strap when no tension is applied to the ends of the elongated strip. When tension is applied to the ends of the elongated strip, the portions of the elongated strip stowed in the internal storage spaces of the shoulder pad are automatically extracted, thereby increasing the length of the strap to facilitate normal over-the-shoulder use. |
| 主权项 |
1. A shoulder strap for a portable object, comprising:
a) a shoulder pad comprising a base wall and a cover joined together to define a pair of openings at opposite ends of the shoulder pad, a pair of internal storage spaces adjacent to the pair of openings, and a retractor housing area bounded by the base wall, the cover and the pair of internal storage spaces; b) an elongated strip of pliant material passing through the pair of openings in the shoulder pad, the elongated strip comprising a forward section, a middle section and a rearward section, wherein the middle section is fixedly attached to the base wall, a portion of the forward section extends through one of the openings in the pair of openings so that the distal end of said forward section is located on the outside of one of the internal storage spaces, and a portion of the rearward section extends through the other opening in the pair of openings so that the distal end of said rearward section is located on the outside of the other internal storage space; c) a plurality of holes positioned at intervals along the lengths of said forward and rearward sections of the elongated strip of pliant material; and d) a pair of retractors located inside the retractor housing area of the shoulder pad, the pair of retractors comprising a pair of rotatable spindles and a pair extendible guide wires configured to wind around the pair of rotatable spindles, respectively, wherein the distal ends of the pair of extendible guide wires are attached, respectively, to the distal ends of the forward and rearward sections of the elongated strip of pliant material so that the pair of extendible guide wires pass through the plurality of holes in the elongated strip of pliant material; e) wherein the pair of rotatable spindles are biased so that, when no tension is applied to the distal ends of the forward and rearward sections of the elongated strip of pliant material, the pair of rotatable spindles will automatically rotate and wind the pair of extendible guide wires around the pair of rotatable spindles, thereby causing the forward and rearward sections of the elongated strip of pliant material to be retracted and stored inside the pair of internal storage spaces of the shoulder pad. |
