The BrellaBag
Group 7: Kleiner Castillo, Justin Do, Jannah Rawas
City College of New York
English 210: Writing for Engineers
Professor Jacobson
May 4, 2020
The product that this paper will introduce combines elements that we are all familiar with. Many people have experienced the struggles of carrying an umbrella through harsh weather, and have gone through the troubles of soaking their bag as well. The BrellaBag is a cross between a backpack and an umbrella, minus the struggle.
The conception of the BrellaBag is brilliant but admittedly quite simple. That is to say, the idea of it has existed in other products as well. While it can’t be said that the BrellaBag is an invention never thought of before, it is superior to other inventions due to its mechanism.
Figure 1. Other Umbrella Backpack Designs
Here are two examples of other products that utilize the combination of an umbrella and a backpack. As one can already tell, there are a few faults with these designs. The photo on the left depicts a backpack that shields the user in a dome-like casing from the rain. While it does seem effective, the design is clunky and far too inconvenient. When the user closes this dome they are left with a huge rod sticking out of their bag. In addition to that, the drying process in that product would cause all the water to drench the backpack, rendering the product useless. The BrellaBag is designed so that the drying mechanism prevents a wet backpack, and neatly fits within the bag.
Compared to the product depicted on the right, there is no option to even close the umbrella. There is only a fixed umbrella attached to a backpack without the ability to close or to store the umbrella. Despite this product being essentially useless, due to its luxury brand status the estimated cost of it is actually between $1.5k and $2.k. This is an insane price for a product that can barely get the job done. The BrellaBag boasts not only functionality, but also affordability with its reasonable price. It is very clear why our product is superior to others, with its superb design, compactness, and price.
The BrellaBag has three major components: the backpack, the umbrella, and the folding/drying mechanism. The backpack’s major parts are the pockets, straps, handle, and zippers. Its subparts contain the water bottle pocket and the interior pockets. The adjustable straps are the part of the backpack that keeps it on your back. They go over the shoulder and through the side of your body for it to be secure on your body. They also have an adjuster buckle that holds the webbing (strong fabric) straps in order to adjust the length of the strap for your comfort. Carry handles are used for carrying the bag with your hand rather than your back. The front pocket is usually a smaller pocket used for various things that tend to be small like pens, markers, chargers, etc.
Figure 2. Exterior/Interior
The main internal compartment is the biggest pocket in your backpack and can hold the most things usually used for books, laptops, etc. A zipper is a “fastener consisting of two rows of metal or plastic teeth on strips of tape and a sliding piece that closes an opening by drawing the teeth together”(Merriam Webster, n.d). The main compartment zipper opens and closes the main pocket of the bag. The back compartment where the umbrella is located has two zippers that close around the rod of the umbrella.
Figure 3. Opening For Umbrella
The interior organization pockets are sub pockets inside the main pockets that have various uses to organize pens, pencils, and markers to keep your laptop safe. The water bottle pocket is where your water bottle fits snuggly in usually on the side of a bag. The BrellaBag has two water bottle pockets on the inside of the bag next to the umbrella holder.
Figure 4. Top View of the BrellaBag
For the umbrella, its main parts are the canopy, pole, ribs, handle, and handle strap. The subparts include the top notch, tips, runner, tie wrap, and umbrella sleeve.
Figure 5.
Components of an Umbrella
The canopy is “the part of the umbrella that keeps us dry and protected from the sun”(Umbrella Workshop, 2020). It uses a special fabric that allows it to withstand rain as well as dry off easily. The canopy is the part of the umbrella which can be designed to your liking. The pole/shaft is the part of the umbrella that connects the handle and the top portion of the umbrella. It can be made from many different materials based on your preference. Ribs are the metal parts that hold the umbrella into shape. They run across the canopy and connect to the pole. The top notch is “a thin, round nylon or plastic piece with teeth around the edges and held with wire”(Umbrella Workshop, 2020). This moves up and down the shaft when it closes and opens the umbrella. Tips are the end of the ribs that extend past the canopy. The runner is the part of the umbrella one can push up or down to open the umbrella. The handle is used to hold a regular umbrella when it is open. The BrellaBag has no need for a handle since it is already installed in the bag. A tie wrap is a small fabric strap that closes an umbrella tightly, this item also helps to make the umbrella more compact. An umbrella sleeve protects the umbrella when closed, and prevents one’s bag from getting wet. In the Brellabag, there is a built-in sleeve that holds the umbrella when not in use. The umbrella also has a mechanism that opens, closes and dries the umbrella. It uses an open and close button and a mechanism in the middle that bends the umbrella. The mechanism helps bend the umbrella in half, keep the umbrella propelled up and halt the umbrella halfway in order for it to dry.
Firstly, one must unzip the back of the bag and pull out the main rod, which is connected to the umbrella. The backpack itself will be waterproof; therefore, the user does not need to worry about getting their bag wet because of the umbrella. Please stay away from the main rod before pressing any buttons. Another thing to note is that the toggle button 1 will lock at several points (0°, 90°, 180°).
Figure 6. Umbrella Mechanism
Once the main rod is opened, the next step is to push the toggle button 1 on the top of the main rod. This will extend another rod which is connected to the umbrella. The umbrella will not open automatically, and rather the user must hold button 2 and push the runner upwards to open the umbrella. Note that the umbrella rod will perform a 180-degree flip before allowing the user to extend or retract the umbrella portion.
Figure 7. Drying Process and Extended Umbrella
To dry the umbrella, the user must hold the toggle button 1 to bend the umbrella rod to a 90-degree angle. This will lock the rod in place, which allows the user to retract the umbrella using the runner. As the user retracts the umbrella, the ribs will enclose, which will self-dry the umbrella leaving the user with a wet-free umbrella to place back into their backpacks.
Once the umbrella is dried, the person must hold the toggle button 1 and push the rod back into its original state. When everything is in place, the user needs to push down the main rod and zip their backpacks.
Total Cost of Each Materials to Make 50 Bags
| Zipper | Black Nylon | Denim | Thread | Webbing | D-Rings | Sewing | Batting | Total for backpack | Total with umbrella |
| $35.00 | $251.25 | $319.00 | $3.00 | $108.00 | $38.00 | $6.00 | $114.00 | $874.25 | $2374.25 |
With all the features that come with the BrellaBag, the total projected cost for one bag is $65. The materials needed to make our first 50 BrellaBag include zippers, black nylons, denims, threads, webbings, d-rings, sewing needles and battings. These will cost $35, $251.25, $319, $3, $108, $38, $6, $114 respectively which, in total, will cost the company $874.25. The price of making one bag will cost $17.50 in which we add $30, the umbrella mechanism, costing us a total of $2374.25 for 50 bags. We want to test this product offering a small variety of colors and designs prior to adding new patterns and offering different sizes. The price of the bag will vary based on design and size due to the cost of different fabrics. However, we want to make this bag durable and waterproof, which will keep the items in the bag safe.
As a small company, to begin with, we aim to hire five employees paying them the minimum wage of $15/hr to help build these backpacks. In terms of production and workforce, we want to implement an assembly line that helps workers understand their part and produce 50 BrellaBags within a week. Depending on the progress afterward, we will consider hiring more employees to help reduce the amount of work for one person. We will split the work, having some work on creating the backpack, and others install the umbrella mechanism.
After producing the first few backpacks, we hope to sell them in stores and online, which will require an eCommerce website in addition to the store. This will require the hiring of a Software Engineer to start up and maintain the site. Once mass production begins, we would need to consider hiring warehouse workers as well. That being said, we still want to remain a relatively small company.
All in all, the Brellabag is not a new invention and people have made similar ones before, but not like this one. Due to its drying mechanism and an open and close function, the BrellaBag far outperforms the competition. It contains three major components, those being the backpack, the umbrella and the unique mechanism. Having access to all these convenient features, $65 is a reasonable price.
Works Cited
1)“Zipper.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zipper. Accessed 27 Apr. 2020.
2) Parts of an umbrella. (2020, February 25). Retrieved from https://www.umbrellaworkshop.com/umbrellas/parts-of-an-umbrella/
3) Crestline. (n.d.). What are the Parts of a Backpack?An Illustrated Bag Anatomy. Retrieved from https://crestline.com/c/what-are-the-parts-of-a-backpack
4) C, G. (2018, October 10). The Definitive Guide that You Never Wanted: Shoulder Straps. Retrieved from https://pangolinswithpacks.com/the-definitive-guide-that-you-never-wanted-shoulder-straps-26ec3860bbc6
5) Mertes, A. (2018, December 11). What is an Imprint Area? Retrieved from https://www.qualitylogoproducts.com/promo-university/what-is-an-imprint-area.htm
6) Frantz, Melissa, and Amanda Carestio. “Build-a-backpack.” Creative Machine Embroidery, vol. 16, no. 4, July-Aug. 2017, p. 40+. Gale General OneFile, https://link-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/A497731349/ITOF?u=cuny_ccny&sid=ITOF&xid=8aa51ecf. Accessed 27 Apr. 2020.
7) Green and yellow umbrella. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.umbrellaworkshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/image.png
9) https://www.pinterest.com/pin/420101471469700065/
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