Metal suitcase and method for manufacturing a metal suitcase

Trunks and hand-carried luggage – Hand luggage – Wall detail

Patent

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Details

220421, A45C 1304

Patent

active

056854030

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention is directed to a metal suitcase according to the preamble of claim 1 and to a method for manufacturing a metal suitcase according to the preamble of claim 8.
Metal suitcases are known (DE 32 46 510 A 1) which consist of two single-piece shell halves formed, e.g., from a deep-drawn metal sheet. Especially when using high-strength aluminium alloys, such a manufacturing process is very expensive.
Further, it is known to manufacture suitcase shells (DE-PS 835506) from a single-piece metal sheet which is punched out at the corners, with the narrow sides, the upper side and the standing surface being each generated by bending the single-piece metal sheet. For stabilizing purposes and for covering the punching cuts, the bent wall elements have to be connected at the corners to connecting elements which simultaneously serve for protection of the corners. Further, in the separating plane between the suitcase halves, the wall elements are each held by a stabilizing frame member. Also the manufacture of such a suitcase requires high expenditure along with numerous manually performed manufacturing steps.
From DE 16 79 329 U, a method for manufacturing a metal suitcase is known wherein a single-piece wall element is produced from a plate, with the narrow and upper sides being formed by bending the plate once. Another wall element is connected to the above wall element by a double welt.
It is an object of the invention to improve a metal suitcase and a method for the manufacture thereof in a manner allowing for a less expensive and more easily automated production.
According to the invention, the above object is solved by the features of claims 1 and 8, respectively.
As provided by the invention, each suitcase half of the metal suitcase is advantageously formed from two wall elements, of which one wall element consists of a strip-shaped material having one longitudinal edge provided with a wall-receiving profile and having the opposite longitudinal edge provided with a frame profile. The strip-shaped wall element can be manufactured in one manufacturing step from a continuous-cast profile.
A considerable advantage of the invention and the inventive method resides in that the wall elements can be used for suitcases of different sizes by simply cutting the length of the wall elements according to the size of the suitcase. The first wall elements can be delivered, e.g., in the form of coils, and different suitcases can be produced using the same continuous-cast profile.
The above applies also to the second wall element, of which the length can also be cut in accordance to a desired width. Thus, for instance, it is possible to produce the second wall elements of the two suit-case halves--which suitcase halves have different depths--from the same metal sheet. In this manner, the maintenance of stocks of profiles and metal sheets for different sizes of suitcases can be considerably reduced, resulting also in reduced production costs and space requirements.
The second wall element is manufactured, without wall-receiving and frame profiles, from a plane metal sheet and is bent once for forming a broad side of the metal suitcase and the associated upper side.
Assembly of the metal suitcase is performed by simple insertion of the second wall element into the wall-receiving profiles of the first wall element which, for tight interconnection between the wall elements, can be pressed together by a suitable tool.
Preferably, it is provided that the wall-receiving profile along with a flap is punched to project freely at the respective free end of the narrow sides and can be bent, with a transition radius, to the end edge of the narrow sides, with the flap of the wall-receiving profile being fixable to the respective narrow side.
Thus, the suitcase halves of the metal suitcase can be assembled in a simple manner using two single-piece wall elements.
Particularly, the method according to the invention provides: formed thereto along one edge thereof, and having a frame profile, made of a strip-shaped continuous-cast profil

REFERENCES:
patent: 2227266 (1940-12-01), Levin
patent: 2950792 (1960-08-01), Axtell
patent: 4374555 (1983-02-01), March
patent: 4433760 (1984-02-01), Pelavin
patent: 4503955 (1985-03-01), Fitzsimmons, Jr.

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