Purses – wallets – and protective covers – Purse or handbag type – Changeable decorative appearance
Reexamination Certificate
2002-09-16
2004-10-26
Mai, Tri M. (Department: 3727)
Purses, wallets, and protective covers
Purse or handbag type
Changeable decorative appearance
C150S118000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06807992
ABSTRACT:
The present invention is a convertible handbag, which allows the owner to change the color or pattern of the handbag quickly and easily in order to match any outfit being worn. The body of the handbag is a basic “lunch bag” style with a front, back, left and right sidewalls, a lining, and a bottom. The open top is slightly covered with a snap on flap in order to prevent any contents from failing out. The shoulder strap is attached to the top of each end wall. The front and back walls have matching reinforced holes in the top left and right hand corners. There are two matching crossbars secured to the handbag, one on each upper corner. The crossbars are secured to the handbag by threaded ends of each bar being fitted through front and back reinforced holes in the handbag and secured on the inside of the handbag with decorative nuts.
Before securing the cross bars to the handbag, they are threaded through matching reinforced holes in the upper left and upper right band corners of one or more flaps. Each flap consists of two pieces of material of different color or design secured back to back with a reinforced material in between to make it rigid and is completed with a trim around the perimeter. Each flap is the same dimension of the front and back wall of the handbag.
Once the cross bars are threaded through the extra flaps and attached to the handbag, the flaps can easily be flipped up over the crossbars to the other side to display the chosen color or pattern. Different colors or patterns can be displayed simply by turning the handbag around, and/or by flipping the flaps over to the other side.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a convertible handbag, which allows one to quickly and easily change the color of the handbag simply turning the handbag around or by moving a flap or flaps from one side to the other by means of a crossbar at the top of each side of the handbag, in order to coordinate the bag with the outfit being worn and not having to change handbags.
As we all know, it is very important for a woman to have a matching, attractive and functional handbag, whether it be for work or for play. Most women spend a great deal of money buying many different handbags just for this purpose, along with much time and effort changing the contents from one handbag to another. This invention saves both time and money, which in today's hectic society, is very important.
There have been many attempts to create such a handbag, but each has left much room for improvement. One example of prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 1,747,801. This patent discloses a handbag with removable closure flaps that are retained by press button snaps in a pocket in the rear of the purse. The current invention is better than this one because you do not have to remove the flaps to display a different color and therefore there is no chance of losing them. The current invention is also much faster way to change the look of the handbag.
Another attempt to make a changeable handbag is U.S. Pat. No. 2,798,524. This patent discloses a handbag with a cover flap, which has one end affixed to the bottom of the bag and completely wraps around both sides and the top of the bag. This handbag can only display a few colors at a time. The current invention surpasses this one by being able to display 6 or more changes in color or design without having to change out a flap.
Another attempt at a convertible handbag is U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,710. This patent describes a handbag, which has a plurality of facing members secured to the bottom of the handbag and can be moved to cover one sidewall or the other and is secured by a clasp keeping them in place. The current invention is much better in that the flaps flip over the top of the handbag and do not need a clasp to keep them in place.
Another attempt is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,204. This patent describes a handbag which has interchangeable removable flaps which are selectively attached to the handbag by a spring-loaded toggle lock and hasp system. The current invention is superior to this one in that it can have more flaps attached at one time and because of the ease of moving the flaps from one side to the other.
All of the above prior patents disclose handbags which can change the outer appearance, but each is complicated and has many steps involved in the change and only have a few colors to choose from. The present invention much different and is a much needed improvement over all of the above mentioned attempts due to it's features which allow a much simpler, quicker and easier transformation of the handbag with just one flip. The current invention also allows many changes without the possibility of losing any part of the handbag since all parts are attached to the handbag.
1747801
February 1930
Topal
150/104
2798524
July 1957
Ryon
150/103
4027710
June 1977
Keebler
150/103
5503204
April 1996
Byers
150/105
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an improved handbag system, which combines a basic handbag with many extra flaps, which come in varying materials, colors and designs. The front of the basic handbag is one color or design, while the back and sides are a different color or design. The handbag will embody 2 or more flaps at a time, depending on materials used. Each flap is comprised of a front and a back, each of a different color or design. This enables the owner to display one of many colors or designs just by turning the handbag around or by flipping one or more flaps over the top of the handbag by means of two crossbars. The crossbars are attached to the handbag by the threaded ends placed through reinforced holes in the top corners of the front and back sidewalls and secured on the inside of the handbag by decorative nuts. The flaps are secured to the handbag by the cross bars, again being threaded through reinforced holes in the upper left and right hand corners, before the bars are attached to the handbag. Although it is not required, the crossbars can easily be removed in order to remove the flaps and replace them with more flaps, which can be purchased separately. The flaps are available in many different materials, colors and designs along with custom requests.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1696138 (1928-12-01), Day et al.
patent: 1747801 (1930-02-01), Topal
patent: 2080453 (1937-05-01), Kraut
patent: 2318563 (1943-05-01), Smith
patent: 2635664 (1953-04-01), Cohen
patent: 3954128 (1976-05-01), Rushing et al.
patent: 4112991 (1978-09-01), Barbaresi
patent: 4154323 (1979-05-01), Sneider
patent: 5955948 (1999-09-01), Howell
patent: 6179025 (2001-01-01), Sutton
Head Johnson & Kachigian
Mai Tri M.
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