Lineman's Tool Carrying Strap Device

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

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STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

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INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM.

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STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

The disclosure relates to carrying strap devices and more particularly pertains to a new carrying strap device for carrying a lineman's hot stick on a worker's back. The device includes a shoulder strap and a pad attached to the shoulder strap and a coupling strap and a cup each attached to opposing ends of the shoulder strap. The coupling strap can be wrapped around a lineman's hot stick and the cup receives an end of the lineman's hot stick to attach the lineman's hot stick to the shoulder strap. The shoulder strap can be worn over the worker's shoulder for carrying the lineman's hot stick on the worker's back.

(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

The prior art relates to carrying strap devices including a variety of body harness devices that each at least includes a plurality of straps that can be worn on a person's body and their waist for carrying golf bags or snow skis on a worker's body. In no instance does the prior art disclose a shoulder strap that has a coupling strap and a cup for engaging a lineman's hot stick for carrying the lineman's hot stick on a worker's back.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a shoulder strap which has a pad that is centrally located on the shoulder strap to rest against a worker's chest when the shoulder strap is worn over the worker's shoulder. A coupling strap is attached to the shoulder strap which can be wrapped around a lineman's hot stick. The coupling strap is matable to itself to form a closed loop to secured the coupling strap around the lineman's hot stick. A cup is attached to the shoulder strap at an opposing end of the shoulder strap with respect to the coupling strap to receive an end of the lineman's hot stick for securing the lineman's hot stick to the shoulder strap. In this way the worker can carry the lineman's hot stick on their back.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a lineman's tool carrying strap device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a back view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a left side view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a left side in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 7 thereof, a new carrying strap device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 7, the lineman's tool carrying strap device 10 generally comprises a shoulder strap 12 that has a pad 14 which is centrally located on the shoulder strap 12. The pad 14 rests against a chest 16 of a worker 17 when the shoulder strap 12 is worn over the worker's shoulder 18. The shoulder strap 12 includes a first strap 20 that is coupled to and extends away from a first end 22 of the pad 14 and the shoulder strap 12 includes a second strap 24 that is coupled to and extends away from a second end 26 of the pad 14. The pad 14 is elongated between the first end 22 and the second end 26 and each of the first end 22 and the second end 26 is rounded. Furthermore, the pad 14 is comprised of a resiliently compressible material, including but not being limited to rubber or silicone, to enhance comfort for the user.

The shoulder strap 12 has an adjustment buckle 30 which is slidably integrated into the second strap 24 for adjusting a length of the second strap 24. The pad 14 has a thumb hole 32 extending through a front surface 34 and a back surface 36 of the pad 14 to accommodate the worker's thumb 38 when the shoulder strap 12 is worn over the worker's shoulder 18. The thumb hole 32 is positioned closer to the first end 22 of the pad 14 than the second end 26 of the pad 14 and the thumb hole 32 is aligned with a centerline of the pad 14. An annular ring 40 is provided and the annular ring 40 is attached to a free end 42 of the first strap 20.

A coupling strap 44 is attached to the shoulder strap 12 and the coupling strap 44 can be wrapped around a lineman's hot stick 46. The lineman's hot stick 46 may be a lineman's hot stick of any conventional design that is carried by a worker who performs maintenance and service on high voltage power lines. The coupling strap 44 is matable to itself to form a closed loop thereby securing the coupling strap 44 around the lineman's hot stick 46. The coupling strap 44 has a first surface 48 which is releasably matable to a second surface 50 of the coupling strap 44. Additionally, the coupling strap 44 has a receiver 52 extending away from the first surface 48 at a point is centrally located on the coupling strap 44. The annular ring 40 extends through the receiver 52 thereby securing the coupling strap 44 to the annular ring 40. Furthermore, the coupling strap 44 may include hook and loop fasteners to facilitate the coupling strap 44 to be mated to itself.

A clasp 54 is provided and the clasp 54 is attached to a free end 56 of the second strap 24. The clasp 54 has a gate 58 that is biased into a closed position such that the clasp 54 forms a closed loop. Furthermore, the gate 58 is urgeable into an open position such that the clasp 54 defines an open loop. The clasp 54 may comprise a D-ring or a lobster claw clasp or other type of clasp that can be opened and closed.

A cup 60 is attached to the shoulder strap 12 at an opposing end of the shoulder strap 12 with respect to the coupling strap 44. The cup 60 insertably receives an end 62 of the lineman's hot stick 46 for securing the lineman's hot stick 46 to the shoulder strap 12. In this way the worker 17 can carry the lineman's hot stick 46 on their back 64. The cup 60 has a lower end 66, an upper end 68 and an outer wall 70 extending between the upper end 68 and the lower end 66 and the upper end 68 is open to insertably receive the end 62 of the lineman's hot stick 46. The outer wall 70 slopes inwardly between the lower end 66 and the upper end 68 such that the upper end 68 has a diameter that is less than a diameter of the lower end 66. The cup 60 has a receiver 72 which extends away from the outer wall 70 and the receiver 72 on the outer wall 70 receives the clasp 54 for retaining the cup 60 on the clasp 54.

In an alternative embodiment 74 as shown in FIG. 5, a pouch 76 is included that has a first lateral edge 78 and a second lateral edge 80 each angling away from a top edge 82 and intersecting each other such that the pouch 76 has a triangular shape. Each of the first lateral edge 78 and the second lateral edge 80 is coupled to the back surface 36 of the pad 14. Furthermore, the top edge 82 is free from the back surface 36 to define an entry 84 into the pouch 76 for storing objects. Continuing in the alternative embodiment 74, a pocket 86 is attached to the back surface 36 of the pad 14 and the pocket 86 is positioned between the pouch 76 and the second end 26 of the pad 14. The pocket 86 includes a flap 88 which is foldable over a top end 90 of the pocket 86 for opening and closing the top end 90. Additionally, the flap 88 includes a fastener 92 which releasably engages the pocket 86 for releasably retaining the flap 88 in a closed orientation.

In use, the cup 60 is placed on a bottom end 94 of the lineman's hot stick 46 and the coupling strap 44 is wrapped around the lineman's hot stick 46 at a point located adjacent to a hook 96 on the lineman's hot stick 46. In this way the shoulder strap 12 is attached to the lineman's hot stick 46 thereby facilitating the shoulder strap 12 to be worn over the worker's shoulder 18. Thus, the worker 17 can carry the lineman's hot stick 46 on their back 64 rather than having the carry the lineman's hot stick 46 in their hands. Additionally, the worker 17 can extend one of their thumbs 38 through the thumb hole 32 while the shoulder strap 12 is being worn over their shoulder 18 to stabilize the shoulder strap 12 on their shoulder 18.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, device and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.