Trunks and hand-carried luggage – Trunks – Followers
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-03
2002-12-31
Shoap, Allan N. (Department: 3727)
Trunks and hand-carried luggage
Trunks
Followers
C190S102000, C190S120000, C206S524800
Reexamination Certificate
active
06499574
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of suitcases, luggage and carry-on duffle bags for travel. The terms “baggage”, “suitcase”, “luggage” and “duffle bags” are considered equivalent for purposes of this application and are used interchangeably. More specifically the present invention relates to a vacuum packed suitcase for easy and effective packing of clothing materials and other items. The invention could also be used for packing and shipping items in a regular box.
The apparatus includes an improved suitcase with specially arranged sealable compartments for vacuum sealing articles of travel such as clothing, makeup accessories, and other items generally accompanying a traveler. The apparatus is preferably constructed in the manner of a traveling bag comprising of a top cover and a more rigidly constructed bottom receptacle; the bottom receptacle serves as storage space for the various articles of travel such as clothing and other items that usually accompany a traveler. The bottom receptacle preferably has one or more separate article compartments separated by vertical or horizontal walls for organizing articles of travel including clothes, toiletry and other items a traveler might need during travel and after reaching a destination.
In conventional suitcases, the article compartments are separated by either zip flaps or internal separation walls that allow the traveler to pack various articles of travel in a well organized manner. However, the compartments are generally not designed to be air-tight. The article compartments could also be located on the outside of the cover, the inside of the cover, the inside of the bottom receptacle or the vertical sidewalls of the bottom receptacle. In all cases, in conventional suitcases, the article compartments are designed with either snap-on closures, keyed locks, velcro closures or zips, which are not air-tight and thus would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention. Further, prior art discloses suitcases made from materials such as clothing, or leather that are not air-tight. If made from a plastic, the joints and edges of conventional suitcases are generally not sealed to be airtight, since in a conventional suitcase, airtightness is not a necessity. In one embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus is an improved suitcase apparatus, designed to be completely airtight and sealable by vacuum, so that the apparatus minimizes the volume required to store the articles of travel, thus achieving a higher volume of available storage space for articles of travel stored therein. In another embodiment of the invention, the outer shell of the apparatus need not be air-tight, but the internal compartments have covers that form sealed chambers for vacuum packing articles of travel. Further, in yet another embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus can be designed with a tough sealing outer bottom receptacle and sealing top cover, so that the when a vacuum is applied inside the apparatus, the apparatus top cover and bottom receptacle will be self-sealing and will advantageously be pressure locked together by a vacuum force and would not be easy to open without a special vacuum lock and key. Preferably the apparatus is designed to accept or incorporate a built-in vacuum pump means that is either electrically powered or manually powered for applying a vacuum inside the article storage chambers so that articles of travel can be vacuum packed during travel. Also, an external vacuum pump fitting can be attached to the apparatus to apply a vacuum using a conventional vacuum cleaner hose attachment to achieve the same effect.
In the simplest embodiment of the apparatus, the top covers and bottom receptacle are designed to be airtight when sealed over each other. Separate internally arranged sealable article compartments with compartment covers are incorporated to form sealed storage chambers, so that after packing articles of travel in said storage chambers, the air in the said storage chambers can be removed from each storage chamber or from a collection of storage chambers, separately or collectively by means of a vacuum pump, thus reducing the volume of the articles of travel to a minimum by removing the air contained in them. Preferably, the vacuum pump means removes a substantial part of the air from the storage chambers, and from articles of travel so as to reduce the volume required to store said articles of travel to a minimum, thereby increasing the storage efficiency of the apparatus and also improving the security of the articles of travel during transportation. Advantageously, the integrity of the vacuum also serves as an indicator of a breach in the integrity of the apparatus.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, each article compartment is designed to be airtight, so that if the walls are constructed from a porous material, a substantial part, or all of the walls of the article compartment and the compartment cover are lined with a thin plastic film that serves to seal the storage chambers. The compartment cover is also made of a sealing plastic material, or preferably cloth or leather material lined with a sealing plastic film or liner. The compartment cover is sealably attached to the article compartment by means of an airtight plastic zip-lock or by means of a tongue and groove snap-on seal that attaches the compartment cover to the article compartment forming an airtight article storage chamber. All the storage chambers have built-in check-valves that allow air to bleed in and out of the storage chamber as desired. When articles of travel are stored in the article compartment and the compartment cover is sealably attached to the article compartment, the air trapped in the articles of travel and the unuseable space in the storage chamber can be evacuated to minimize the storage chamber volume allowing more articles of travel to be stored in the apparatus than would otherwise be possible. When access is need to the articles of travel, the a bypass valve comprising a vacuum release valve is simply opened to allow air to rush back into the storage chamber through the compartment cover or through the article compartment vertical sidewalls. The storage chambers can be sealed independently or collectively as needed.
The apparatus is further designed to be easily manufactured, so that the processes that would be encountered during the manufacturing would be easily accomplished because of the way the compartments are designed. Preferably, the apparatus is designed and manufactured in the manner of conventional suitcases with the added use of a thin airtight lining material for the purpose of making the walls of the storage chambers within the apparatus airtight. After articles of travel have been placed into the article compartments, they may be bulky and fluffy because the elasticity of the materials of clothing, for example, will cause the clothing to trap air in its pores. Thus the compartment cover is preferably designed to be large enough to completely enclose the additional volume occupied by the bulky, fluffy articles of travel prior to evacuating the storage chambers and the articles of travel stored therein. When the compartment cover is placed over the packed article compartments, it must enclose the bulk of the articles of travel and form a continuous seal around the opening of the article compartment, sealing the articles of travel therein. Thus, the compartment cover must be made to have an excess retention volume that will accommodate the articles of travel after packing without hindrance to the mating of and the sealability of the said article compartments and the compartment covers. The compartment cover may be as much as twice as deep as the compartment vertical side walls, so that when articles of travel are loaded into the article compartments, the compartment cover can be wrapped over said articles of travel, forming a bulge that is far in excess of what the apparatus would be able to store under normal condit
Mai Tri M.
Oltman Flynn & Kubler
Shoap Allan N.
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