Illumination – With container – Bag – purse or trunk
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-16
2001-02-13
O'Shea, Sandra (Department: 2875)
Illumination
With container
Bag, purse or trunk
C362S154000, C362S155000, C362S102000, C150S124000, C150S118000, C150S130000, C135S133000, C135S136000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06186640
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of fashion apparel and accessories, and particularly to hand bags. More specifically the present invention relates to a hand bag such as a purse having an automatic internal light assembly and which is configured as circumferentially sequenced, radial bellows constructed of a series of arched support ribs rotatably mounted at each end to co-linear and longitudinally spaced apart half axles and interconnected by flexible sheet material. The sheet material expands and folds with the ribs in accordion fashion as the ribs rotate about the axles. Ends of the sheet material are secured to adjacent ribs which together define a hand bag access opening. A lighting circuit is housed within concave axle head structures secured to outer ends of each half axle at end of the hand bag.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have long been purses and other hand bags for carrying personal items on errands and excursions. A problem with most purses, and hand bags generally, has been that they tend to be monotonously uniform in structure and appearance, and most lack internal lighting so that items they contain are difficult to locate while one is outdoors at night.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a hand bag which is new and is noticeably different in mechanical structure and appearance from those already known.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a hand bag which has a structure which causes an interesting and inter-dependent movement of virtually all portions of the hand bag when the hand bag is opened or closed.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a hand bag which contains lighting means which automatically activates when the hand bag is opened and deactivates when it is closed, and in which the lighting means are largely contained within and integrated with the hand bag structural and ornamental features.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such a hand bag which is durable, spacious and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention accomplishes the above-stated objectives, as well as others, as may be determined by a fair reading and interpretation of the entire specification.
A hand bag is provided, including an axle structure; several arched support ribs each having a first rib end and a second rib end and being rotatably mounted at the first and second rib ends to the axle structure and bowing outwardly between the first and second rib ends; and flexible sheet material laterally interconnecting the support ribs, so that the sheet material folds and unfolds in accordion fashion as the ribs rotate about the axle structure, the flexible sheet material having an opening defining a hand bag access opening.
The several of support ribs preferably include two immediately adjacent opening ribs which are not interconnected by the sheet material, so that rotating the opening ribs about the axle structure away from each other defines between the opening ribs the hand bag access opening. The hand bag preferably additionally includes a hand bag internal lighting assembly. The hand bag internal lighting assembly preferably includes a light source within the hand bag and circuitry for automatically activating the light source upon opening the hand bag access opening and for automatically deactivating the light source upon closing the hand bag access opening. The axle structure preferably includes substantially co-linear and longitudinally spaced apart first and second half axles, each of the half axles having an axle outwardly directed end and an axle inwardly directed end.
The hand bag internal lighting assembly preferably includes a light circuit including the light source, a power source and an automatic light switch secured to one of the opening ribs and oriented so that pivoting the opening ribs together to close the access opening causes a portion of the hand bag to bear against and thus actuate the automatic switch to open the circuit and thereby deactivate the light source, and separating and pivoting apart the opening ribs to open the hand bag access opening causes the portion of the hand bag to move out of contact with the automatic switch and thereby causes the automatic switch to close the circuit and activate the light source. The sheet material has an outer surface and the hand bag preferably additionally includes a head structure secured to at least one of the outwardly directed ends of the half axles and extending over the outer surface of the sheet material and the ribs, the head structure being concave and opening toward the interior of the hand bag to define a concave region within the head structure; where the power source is contained within the concave region.
The light source preferably is mounted to the inward end of at least one of the half axles. The at least one half axle optionally is tubular and has a lateral entrance port and a wire of the circuit extends through the at least one half axle to the light source to deliver electrical power to the light source. The circuit preferably additionally includes a manual switch for opening the circuit and preventing activation of the light source regardless of the activation status of the automatic switch. The hand bag preferably includes one of the head structure and one of the circuits and at each of the half axle outwardly directed ends.
The ribs preferably are metal slats bowed to retain their arch shape and having axle ports at each rib end which are fitted over corresponding half axles. Each of the head structures preferably has a head structure outer face which includes ornamental design elements.
The light source preferably includes a light bulb socket and a light bulb, and the at least one half axle preferably includes external threads and in this instance the socket includes an axle receiving bore having corresponding internal threads for receiving and removably engaging the at least one half axle.
The hand bag preferably additionally includes a handle for carrying the hand bag, the handle being substantially U-shaped with two handle ends, each of the handle ends being secured to one of the support ribs. The handle preferably includes telescoping elements so that the handle is extendable into a longer mode and retractable into a shorter mode.
The sheet material preferably is secured to support rib surfaces directed toward the interior of the hand bag with sheet material fasteners. The sheet material has a sheet material outward surface directed away from the interior of the hand bag and a sheet material inward surface directed toward the interior of the hand bag and the sheet material inward surface optionally is secured to rib surfaces; the hand bag additionally including rib cover strips secured to the outward surface of the sheet material adjacent to and along the ribs, sandwiching the sheet material between the ribs and the rib cover strips, to create the appearance of exposed ribs.
A hand bag is further provided, including an axle structure; at least three arched support ribs each having a first rib end and a second rib end and being rotatably mounted at the first and second rib ends to the axle structure and bowing outwardly between the first and second rib ends; flexible sheet material laterally interconnecting the support ribs, so that the sheet material folds and unfolds in accordion fashion as the ribs rotate about the axle structure, the flexible sheet material having an opening defining a hand bag access opening; and a hand bag internal lighting assembly. The at least three arched support ribs preferably include two immediately adjacent opening ribs which are not interconnected by the sheet material, so that rotating the opening ribs about the axle structure away from each other defines between the opening ribs the hand bag access opening.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3800134 (1974-03-01), Castaldo
patent: 4106520 (1978-08-01), Warner et al.
patent: 5018057 (1991-05-01),
Kubler Frank L.
O'Shea Sandra
Zeade Bertrand
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