Trunks and hand-carried luggage – Hand luggage – Variable volume
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-17
2003-08-26
Mai, Tri M. (Department: 3727)
Trunks and hand-carried luggage
Hand luggage
Variable volume
C190S903000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06609598
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a luggage piece having a sector-like expandable section comprising a body, a cover, a first zipper, an expandable section, and a second zipper. The body has a bottom and a top, wherein a longitudinal depth of the bottom is larger than that of the top. The cover has a fiber cloth frame and a cover having the first zipper. The expandable section is seamed between the body and cover. The second zipper is installed between the body and the cover. By the action of the second zipper, the expandable section is expanded outwards and closed inwards like a sector so as to increase the receiving volume of an object. Thereby, a larger distance is formed by the corner wheel and the leg at the bottom of the luggage piece so as to achieve preferred stability. Thus, the weight of an object is supported by the bottom without any further supporting structure. Moreover, the legs of the luggage piece are moved outwards as much as possible so as to have a large distance between the corner wheels, thereby, achieving greater stability.
2. Description of Related Art
Referring to
FIG. 9
, a prior art luggage piece is illustrated. The expandable section
2
of a prior art luggage piece
1
is formed by a fiber cloth frame having an equal width along the length of the frame. The zipper
3
of the expandable section
2
winds around the whole outer frame
4
of the luggage piece
1
. When the expandable section
2
is used, the expandable section
2
is expanded outwards so as to increase the receiving space of the expandable section
2
. However, in this prior art design, the longitudinal depth of the luggage piece is shallow. The distance between the legs
5
and the corner wheels
6
is smaller. Therefore, the luggage piece
1
is not stable when used.
Moreover, when the expandable section is not used, the line of the gravitational center of the luggage piece
1
is approximately located in the center position of the legs
5
and the corner wheels
6
. However, once the luggage piece
1
expands outwards, the increased weight moves the line of the gravitational center of the luggage piece
1
to a place near the legs
5
so that the stability of the object is very poor. Thus, only a small force will induce the luggage piece to fall down. Moreover, in general, the expandable section
2
has no strong support. A further supporter
7
must be installed at a bottom of the luggage piece in order to support the weight of an object in the expandable section. Otherwise, an object placed in the expandable section may be destroyed.
Furthermore, since the zipper
3
winds around the outer frame
4
of the luggage piece, the zipper
3
must be opened around the whole outer frame of the luggage piece
1
, if the expandable section
2
is to be used. The expandable section
3
can then expand outwards. Therefore, a rotation of the luggage piece of approximately 360 degrees is necessary, which is inconvenient. If the user desires to close the expandable section, it is possible that the zipper is released so that the user must take some time to search for the puller of the zipper, which is also inconvenient.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a luggage piece having a sector-like expandable section, wherein a expandable section is seamed between a body and a cover for adjusting the receiving space of a luggage piece. Furthermore, the body has a bottom and a top, and a longitudinal depth of the bottom is larger than that of the top. Moreover, the legs of the luggage piece are moved outwards as much as possible so as to have a large distance between the corner wheels, thereby, achieving greater stability.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a luggage piece having a sector-like expandable section, wherein the weight of an object is supported by the bottom without further supporting structure, the structure being very simple and steady. By the action of the second zipper, the expandable section is expanded outwards and closed inwards like a sector so as to increase the receiving volume of an object.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a luggage piece having a sector-like expandable section, wherein when the expandable section
40
expands outwards so as to increase the receiving volume of an object, the line of the gravitational center of the luggage piece passing through the center of the corner wheels
15
and legs
16
, so as not to reduce the stability of the luggage piece, further reducing the possibility that the luggage piece may fall down.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a luggage piece having a sector-like expandable section, wherein the second zipper is installed between the body and the cover with a configuration like an inverse U shape instead of winding around the whole luggage piece, thereby making it easier to operate.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a luggage piece having a sector-like expandable section, wherein a central position of the second zipper is installed with a stopper. As the second zipper is closed, the puller of zipper is exactly positioned on the center of the top of the luggage piece.
To achieve the previous objects, the present invention provides a luggage piece comprising:
a body
10
having a bottom side
13
and a top side
14
as defined when the luggage piece is placed in a substantially upright position, wherein the bottom side
13
has a bottom depth D
B
and the top side as a top depth D
T
smaller than the bottom depth;
a front portion
66
and an opposing rear portion
68
defining a luggage volume;
a pair of front supports
16
disposed on the bottom side near the front portion;
a pair of rear supports
15
disposed on the bottom side near the rear portion and separated from the front supports
16
by a base depth D
W
, wherein the base depth is approximately equal to the bottom depth for providing stability to the luggage piece in the upright position;
a cover
20
disposed on the front portion; and
an expandable section
40
disposed on the front portion between the cover and the body, wherein the expandable section can be expanded outward from the front portion so as to increase the luggage volume by changing the top depth while keeping the bottom depth substantially unchanged.
According to the present invention, the luggage piece further comprising a handle
17
disposed on the rear portion, wherein the rear supports
15
are wheels for allowing a user to move the luggage piece while pulling the luggage piece by the handle
17
.
According to the present invention, the expandable section
40
, which is seamed with the body
10
near the front portion
66
, is an extended part of the body
10
.
According to the present invention, a zipper
50
is provided between the cover
20
and the body
10
near the front portion
66
and the zipper
50
can be closed to conceal the expandable section
40
or opened to allow the expandable section
40
to expand outward.
According to the present invention, a zipper
30
is provided between the cover
20
and the body
10
near the front portion
66
and the zipper
30
can be closed to close the cover
20
on the body
10
and the zipper
30
can be opened to open the cover
20
from the body
10
.
According to the present invention, the cover
20
comprises one or more storage compartments or bags
23
.
The various objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with FIGS.
1
through
9
.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1705149 (1929-03-01), Brady
patent: 3443671 (1969-05-01), Dyke
patent: 5671831 (1997-09-01), Chiu
patent: 5743447 (1998-04-01), McDermott
patent: 5875876 (1999-03-01), Wang
patent: 6053382 (2000-04-01), Wyant
patent: 6318552 (2001-11-01), Godshaw
patent: 6357567 (2002-03-01), Tsai
patent: 6390259 (2002-05-01), Lu
Mai Tri M.
Universal World-Wide Business Inc.
Ware Fressola Van Der Sluys & Adolphson LLP
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