Personal carrier

Abstract

An apparatus suitable for carrying personal items is described. The apparatus includes a partial vest body and a shoulder strap. The partial vest body is formed from one or more flexible materials and defines an arm hole therethrough. The vest body includes a front portion configured to lie over a portion of a wearer's chest and a rear portion configured to lie over a portion of the wearer's back, with a first arm of the wearer extending through the arm hole. The front portion of the partial vest body includes a first material forming a forward face and defining at least one pouch opening therethrough, and a second material disposed rearward of the first material and defining, together with the first material, at least one pouch accessible through the pouch opening. The shoulder strap extends from the rear portion of the partial vest body.

1 . An apparatus for carrying one or more personal items, the apparatus comprising:
 a partial vest body formed from one or more flexible materials and defining an arm hole therethrough, the vest body including a front portion configured to lie over a portion of a wearer's chest and a rear portion configured to lie over a portion of the wearer's back, with a first arm of the wearer extending through the arm hole, where:
 the front portion of the partial vest body comprises:
 a first material forming a major forward face of the front portion and defining at least one pouch opening therethrough; and 
 a second material disposed rearward of the first material and defining, together with the first material, at least one pouch accessible through the pouch opening, wherein the second material is of a greater flexibility than the first material, such that the second material is more conformable to an item placed in the pouch than the first material; and 
 
   a shoulder strap extending from the rear portion of the partial vest body and of a length selected to enable the strap to be extended across the wearer's back, over and under an opposite shoulder of the wearer and to extend back to the rear portion of the partial vest body.   
   
   
       2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , where when the at least one pouch is empty the first and second materials lie substantially flat to one another and when the at least one pouch contains an item, the second material stretches to substantially conform to a shape of the item. 
   
   
       3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , where the at least one pouch is configured to contain a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant, a camera and/or a portable digital media player. 
   
   
       4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , where the shoulder strap includes one or more adjusters configured to adjust the length of the strap. 
   
   
       5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , where the partial vest body further comprises:
 an adjuster attached to the front portion and the rear portion and configured to adjust the relative positions of the front and rear portions to adapt to different wearer sizing.   
   
   
       6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , where the rear portion of the partial vest body includes an adjuster configured to adjust a length of the rear portion to adapt to different wearer sizing. 
   
   
       7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , where the front portion and the rear portion are integral to one another. 
   
   
       8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , where the front portion and the rear portion are at least partially integral to one another and together include an adjuster configured to adapt to different wearer sizing. 
   
   
       9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , where the shoulder strap is connected at a first end to an upper location on the rear portion of the partial vest body and at a second end to a lower location on the rear portion of the partial vest body, and is configured to be worn with the first end near a wearer's first shoulder and extending behind the wearer's neck to the front of the wearer and underneath the wearer's opposite armpit and extending across the wearer's back to the second end positioned on the wearer's back near the first armpit. 
   
   
       10 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , where the second material is at least partially comprised of spandex. 
   
   
       11 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , where the second material comprises a stretchy and resilient material. 
   
   
       12 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , where the shoulder strap comprises a stretchy and resilient material. 
   
   
       13 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , where the first material comprises a flexible fabric. 
   
   
       14 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , where the first materials comprises one or more of leather, vinyl or nylon. 
   
   
       15 . An apparatus for carrying one or more personal items, the apparatus comprising:
 a partial vest body formed from one or more flexible materials and defining an arm hole therethrough, the vest body including a front portion configured to lie over a portion of a wearer's chest and a rear portion configured to lie over a portion of the wearer's back, with a first arm of the wearer extending through the arm hole, where:
 the front portion of the partial vest body comprises:
 a first material forming a major forward face of the front portion and defining at least one pouch opening therethrough; and 
 a second material disposed rearward of the first material and defining, together with the first material, at least one pouch accessible through the pouch opening, wherein the second material is conformable to an item placed in the pouch; and 
 
   a shoulder strap extending from the rear portion of the partial vest body and of a length selected to enable the strap to be extended across the wearer's back, over and under an opposite shoulder of the wearer and to extend back to the rear portion of the partial vest body.   
   
   
       16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , where when the at least one pouch is empty the first and second materials lie flat to one another and when the at least one pouch contains an item, the second material stretches to substantially conform to a shape of the item. 
   
   
       17 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , where the shoulder strap is connected at a first end to an upper location on the rear portion of the partial vest body and at a second end to a lower location on the rear portion of the partial vest body, and is configured to be worn with the first end near a wearer's first shoulder and extending behind the wearer's neck to the front of the wearer and underneath the wearer's opposite armpit and extending across the wearer's back to the second end positioned on the wearer's back near the first armpit. 
   
   
       18 . An apparatus for carrying one or more personal items, the apparatus comprising:
 a partial vest body formed from one or more flexible materials and defining an arm hole therethrough, the vest body including a front portion configured to lie over a portion of a wearer's chest and a rear portion configured to lie over a portion of the wearer's back, with a first arm of the wearer extending through the arm hole, where:
 the front portion of the partial vest body comprises:
 a first material forming a major forward face of the front portion and defining at least one pouch opening therethrough; and 
 a second material disposed rearward of the first material and defining, together with the first material, at least one pouch accessible through the pouch opening, wherein the first material is of a greater flexibility than the second material, such that the first material is more conformable to an item placed in the pouch than the second material; and 
 
   a shoulder strap extending from the rear portion of the partial vest body and of a length selected to enable the strap to be extended across the wearer's back, over and under an opposite shoulder of the wearer and to extend back to the rear portion of the partial vest body.   
   
   
       19 . The apparatus of  claim 18 , where when the at least one pouch is empty the first and second materials lie flat to one another and when the at least one pouch contains an item, the first material stretches to substantially conform to a shape of the item. 
   
   
       20 . The apparatus of  claim 18 , where the shoulder strap is connected at a first end to an upper location on the rear portion of the partial vest body and at a second end to a lower location on the rear portion of the partial vest body, and is configured to be worn with the first end near a wearer's first shoulder and extending behind the wearer's neck to the front of the wearer and underneath the wearer's opposite armpit and extending across the wearer's back to the second end positioned on the wearer's back near the first armpit. 
   
   
       21 . An apparatus for carrying one or more personal items, the apparatus comprising:
 a partial vest body comprising a front portion and a rear portion configured to be positioned about a wearer such that the front portion is configured to lie over a portion of the wearer's chest and the rear portion is configured to lie over a portion of the wearer's back and a wearer's arm extends through an armhole defined therebetween, where:
 the front portion includes:
 a forward face formed from a first material; 
 a rear face formed from a second material; and 
 one or more integral pouches, where each integral pouch is accessible from the forward face and formed within a void created between the forward face and the rear face such that when the integral pouch is empty the forward and rear faces lie substantially flat to one another and when the integral pouch contains an item, at least a portion of the rear face that forms the integral pouch stretches to substantially conform to a shape of the item thereby substantially securing the item and minimizing relative movement between the item and the apparatus during physical activity of the wearer; and 
 
 a shoulder strap connected at a first end to an upper location on the rear portion of the partial vest body and at a second end to a lower location on the rear portion of the partial vest body, where the strap is configured to be worn with the first end near the wearer's first shoulder and extending behind the wearer's neck to the front of the wearer and underneath the wearer's second armpit and extending across the wearer's back to the second end positioned on the wearer's back near the first armpit. 
   
   
   
       22 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , where at least one integral pouch is configured to contain a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant, a camera and/or a portable digital media player. 
   
   
       23 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , where the shoulder strap includes one or more adjusters configured to adjust the length of the strap. 
   
   
       24 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , where the partial vest body further comprises:
 an adjuster attached to the front portion and the rear portion and configured to adjust the relative positions of the front and rear portions to adapt to different wearer sizing.   
   
   
       25 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , where the rear portion of the partial vest body includes an adjuster configured to adjust a length of the rear portion to adapt to different wearer sizing. 
   
   
       26 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , where the front portion and the rear portion are integral to one another. 
   
   
       27 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , where the front portion and the rear portion are at least partially integral to one another and together include an adjuster configured to adapt to different wearer sizing. 
   
   
       28 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , where the second material comprises a stretchy and resilient material. 
   
   
       29 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , where the first material comprises a flexible fabric.