WO1997014292A1

WO1997014292A1 - Fruit picking bag with harness

Info

Publication number: WO1997014292A1
Application number: PCT/AU1996/000640
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bruce Elliott
Original assignee: Bruce Elliott
Priority date: 1995-10-13
Filing date: 1996-10-11
Publication date: 1997-04-24
Also published as: AUPN596395A0

Abstract

The invention concerns a picking bag assembly (10) including a picking bag (16) pivotally attachable to a stomach plate (14) and a harness (12), the harness being adjustable to fit a wearer so as to allow the weight of the bag and its contents to be supported by the torso of the wearer. The harness comprises a waist section (24) and a shoulder section (18), each of the waist and shoulder sections being independently adjustable to fit a body of a wearer. The waist section and shoulder sections are independently formed and are each connected to the stomach plate. The bag attaches to the stomach plate through a hook (34) outstanding from the sotmach plate, the plate being able to swing about the hook.

Description

TITLE: FRUIT PICKING BAG WTTH HARNESS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an improved picking bag. The picking bag of the present invention is adapted for use for picking all hand picked fruit including, but not being iimited to apples, oranges, pears, apricots, mangos and avocados.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the harvesting of fruit, particularly relatively soft fleshed stone fruits such as apricots and nectarines, the fruit would normally be picked by hand. The fruit is collected in a relatively rigid container typically supported by one or more straps passing around the neck of a fruit picker. The bag typically includes an open bottom which is folded upwards and secured with straps. When the bag is full the wearer is required to lift the container, release the straps and tip the contents of the container into a larger collection bin. In the case of harder fruits e.g. apples or pears the fruit is collected in a canvas bag.

Although these arrangements have been in use for many years, they are not without defects. The arrangement of straps passing over the neck effectively ensures that the weight of the bag and the contents thereof is borne mainly by the shoulders of the wearer and partially by the neck. This places a considerable amount of strain on the shoulders of the wearer. For example, when the fruit picker leans forward to collect fruit the bag will swing from the neck, and when the bag is substantially full this imposes a considerable load on a neck and more particularly the lower back. Over a fruit picking season this leads to injuries to the backs of fruit pickers for which governments have become responsible for injury compensation claims. This problem is of course exacerbated by the ever increasing length of the fruit picking season. For example, citrus fruits are picked all year round.

The arrangement of bag and shoulder/neck strap described above is also inconvenient when it is necessary to empty the bag. Because of difficulties in manoeuvring a full bag the wearer is likely to compromise and force the contents out in a manner likely to damage soft fruit. The picker, for example, has to raise the bag and its contents to the level of the collection bin which has relatively high sides. In doing so, the spine may get twisted and damaged. Thus, as a result of the misuse of the bag some fruit may also be damaged and its value diminished.

Whilst a number of alternative arrangements for picking bags have been contemplated these are not always directed to the safety and comfort of the wearer. Efforts have mainly been directed to bags having padded interiors for protecting fruit from bruising. Thus for example Australian Patent No. 624913 (Fleming) discloses a bag which has a padded upper portion of the interior. Similariy US Patent No. 5201446 (Martin) discloses a picking bag in which the interior of the bag is laminated material and foam used to protect the fruit. Such a system certainly provides a lightweight bag. However, in each case the weight of the bag is supported by the wearer's neck and irrespective of the lightness of the bag it will inevitably be of considerable weight when full of fruit. Thus neither of these bags provides a satisfactory answer to the problem of strain as outlined above.

Indeed none of these bags address one of major causes of stress and injury resulting from fruit picking, namely the load placed on the neck of the picker when bending over.

The present invention provides an improved picking bag arrangement which enables the bag and its contents to be supported by the entire torso of any wearer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a picking bag assembly, characterised in that the assembly comprises, a picking bag pivotally attachable to a stomach plate and a harness the harness being adjustable to fit a wearer so as to allow the weight of the bag and its contents to be supported by the torso of the wearer.

Thus, the picking bag of the present invention uses the whole upper body of a wearer to support the weight of the picking bag and its contents. By spreading the load, particularly through the hips and back of the wearer, the bag reduces the likelihood of injury to the wearer following extended use of the bag. Preferably, the harness is adjustable in both height and girth thereby ensuring a close fit over any user thereof. Typically, the harness might comprise a pair of brace straps extending upwardly from connection points on the stomach plate and passing over the shoulder, crossing over the back and reconnecting on sides of the stomach plate; and a hip or waist strap extending around the girth of the wearer between opposing sides of the stomach plate.

The brace straps are provided with length adjustment means conveniently placed at the front of the straps just above the connection points to the stomach plate and the waist strap has adjustment means located at one or more sides of the waist.

Preferably, the brace straps and waist strap are co-joined at sides of the harness. Thus, by joining the brace and waist straps a single harness unit can be produced.

Preferably, all elements of the harness are formed of a woven material of sufficient width to avoid any painful digging into the body of the user. Further, a portion of the rear of the waist strap is of significantly increased width, thereby ensuring a secure and comfortable fit for the wearer.

Conveniently, the side adjustments to the harness are made by means of an adjustable hook and loop fastener.

The stomach plate is shaped in a curve so as to fit around a wearer and is comprised of either a light alloy or a polymeric material of moderate flexibility, for example, PVC or propylene. The picking bag is conveniently anchored to the stomach plate by means of a clip on a rear side of the picking bag attaching to a hook type member on a front portion of the stomach plate. The picking bag is pivotally movable on the clip over the hook. Conveniently the picking bag also has a frame comprising flexible front rim and a strengthening rear rim ensuring that the bag remains open at all times. Moreover, the picking bag and harness of the present invention can be used with bags of varying sizes, for example, 1 1/2 bushel bags. Differing size bags can be attached to the same frame. The opening of the bags is therefore the same for all bag sizes. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described by way of following example as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG 1 illustrates a perspective view a picking bag assembly in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention;

FIG 2 illustrates a detail of the picking bag assembly of FIG 1 and stomach plate in side view;

FIG 3 illustrates in detail the harness of the picking bag of FIG 1 ;

FIGs 4, 5 and 6 illustrates in various views one bag of the assembly of FIG 1.

DESCRIPTION OFTHE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Shown in the drawings is a picking bag assembly 10 comprising a harness 12, stomach plate 14 and picking bag 16.

The harness 12 comprises a pair of front braces 18, each brace 18 being attached to a hook 20 on the stomach plate 14. Each brace 18 comprises a webbing strap having a portion of hook plate and loop fastener attached to ends thereof. The braces 18 are secured to the stomach plate by passing around the hook 20 and securing the two faces of hook and loop fastener against each other. The braces 18 as can be seen in FIG 1 pass over the shoulders of the wearer and cross at the back following round to the sides of the wearer and attached to side hooks 22 on the stomach plate 14. The waist strap 24 is shown in some detail in FIG 3. The waist strap 24 includes two separate webbing straps 28 attached to respective hooks 26 on each side of the stomach plate 14 and an enlarged back portion 30. The back portion 30 is of considerably increased width compared with the rest of the waist strap 24. Hook and loop fastening portions 29 attached to each of the straps 28 are used to secure the straps 28 to the hooks 26.

The harness 12 is therefore adjustable in terms of height through the adjustment of the positioning of the hook and loop fastening position for both the braces 18 and the waist straps 28. The harness 12 is constructed of a wide webbing for example a woven nylon webbing such as is used in vehicle seat belts. It should also be noted that the braces 18, which pass over the shoulder of the picker, and the waist straps 24 are entirely independent. Thus, if necessary separate sizes of straps for individuals of all height and girt can be provided.

The use of hook and loop fastening provides for comfort during use, and also for quick release when it is necessary to remove the bag. For strength an overlap of at least 8 cm on each of the hook and loop fastening section is preferred.

The stomach plate 14 is a slightly curved plate adapted to fit around the stomach of a wearer of the picking bag 10 and has attached thereto the side hooks 26 to enable connection of the waist strap 24, and the upper edge hooks 20 to enable connection of the braces 18. As can be seen in FIG 3 the hooks are formed of metal sections around which the webbing material can be wrapped and sewn.

In the embodiment shown the stomach plate 14 is formed of a piece of alloy metal, the hooks also being made of metal and being welded thereto. Preferably, the plate 14 is finished with a smooth edge and a painted finish.

The upper hooks 20 are integrally formed with an outstanding hook 34 adapted to receive a corresponding clip 36 on a rear side of the picking bag 16. As shown in FIG 3 the hook 34 is inclined outwardly from the stomach plate 14, and when it is necessary to empty the contents of the bag 16, the clip 36 pivots on the hook 34 and the bag 16 has room to incline inwardly. To empty the bag the wearer grasps both sides of the bag firmly and lifts to remove the bag from the hook, the bag is then tilted to tip the contents into the collection bin.

As will be appreciated, the use of the stomach plate 14 and waist strap 24 enables a significant portion of the weight of the picking bag 16 and its contents to be supported by the back of the wear and not only by the shoulders, this is of particular importance as the user bends over. In this position the bag 16 pivots around the hook 34 to maintain the position, the braces 18, however, are loosened and the weight is taken by the waist strap 24, thereby relieving pressure on the neck of shoulders of the wearer. With known prior art devices, when the wearer of a bag chooses to bend, all of the perhaps considerable weight of the bag is taken by the neck of the wearer, which is an undesirable situation.

The picking bag 16 comprises a bag member 38 attached to an uppermost rigid frame 40. The bag 38 has rib 42, formed in this case from a length of rope formed in a seam, the rib 42 being inserted into a bead 44 formed in the frame 40. As can be seen from FIG 4, the frame 40 extends only partially around the open mouth of the bag member 38. The clip 36 is attached to the frame 40.

The hook and loop fastening straps 46 on the rear of the bag member 38 allow the depth of the bag to be altered. The bag is conveniently made of stong canvas material, for example 20 oz canvas. In addition, inserts into the bag can be formed, for example, shallow inserts that sit in the frame 40 can be used for collecting smaller volumes of more delicate produce.

Thus in use the harness 10 is attached to the wearer and the braces 18 and waist straps 24 are adjusted so that there is a close fit of the harness to the body of the wearer. The waist band 24 ensures that the weight from the bag and its contents are transferred principally to the hips and back of the wearer, thereby evenly spreading the load reducing the impact of the load on the wearer.

The present invention as has been described with reference to one example of the invention. Any modifications and variations of the present invention such as will be apparent to a skilled addressee are deemed to be within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A picking bag assembly (10), characterised in that the assembly comprises, a picking bag (16) pivotally attachable to a stomach plate (14) and a harness (12) the harness being adjustable to fit a wearer so as to allow the weight of the bag and its contents to be supported by the torso of the wearer.

2. A picking bag assembly according to claim 1 , characterised in that the harness comprises a waist section and a shoulder section, each of the waist and shoulder sections being independently adjustable to fit a body of a wearer.

3. A picking bag assembly according to claim 2, characterised in that the shoulder section comprises a pair of braces, each brace comprising a strap adjustably connectable at a first end to the stomach plate an upper edge thereof, the braces being arranged to pass over the shoulders of a wearer, crossing over at a back portion and being connectable at a second end to opposing sides of the stomach plate.

4. A picking bag assembly according to claim 2, characterised in that the waist portion comprises a pair of straps, one end each strap being adjustably connectable to a respective opposing side of the stomach plate and the straps being adjustably interconnectable at a second end.

5. A picking bag assembly according to claim 2, characterised in that the stomach plate has a curved profile and is formed of relatively rigid material, the plate having hooks formed on an upper edge and on opposing sides for attachment of shoulder portions of the harness and further hooks formed on the side for attachment of the waist section of the harness.

6. A picking bag assembly according to claim 2, characterised in that the shoulder and waist portions of the harness are each formed of webbing material, the waist portion being formed of a widened section of webbing at each point of connection to the stomach plate, or being formed of two spaced sections of webbing , the two sections of webbing serving to form a widened portion.

7. A picking bag assembly according to claim 2, characterised in that the shoulder and waist portions of the harness are connectable to the stomach plate by passing the portions through hooks formed on the stomach plate a, the portions being secured in position by hook and loo fastening material attached to the ends of the portions.

8. A picking bag assembly according to claim 2, characterised in that the waist portion includes a padded section for comfort.

9. A picking bag assembly according to claim 1 , characterised in that the bag comprises a bag member attachable to a frame, the frame being connectable to the stomach plate through a clip centrally located in the frame, the clip attaching to a hook outstanding from the stomach plate, formed on the clip, and thus the frame, bag member at the contents thereof being pivotally movable about the hook.