Systems and methods for collapsible luggage

A self locking hinge, comprising:

• two plates;
• a central axle to which the plates are connected;
• one of the plates provided with a cylinder comprising a spring and a ball, said spring being compressed and tensioning the ball;
• and
• a cam coaxial with and perpendicular to said axle, said cam arranged to guide the two panels into either an essentially coplanar configuration and an essentially perpendicular configuration.

A method of providing collapsible luggage, comprising:

• providing a rigid bottom plate comprising two portions, one capable of being rotated relative to the other along a first axis;
• providing a rigid top plate comprising two portions, one capable of being rotated relative to the other along a second axis;
• providing a flexible rear surface, right side surface and left side surface;
• providing a right side support that can be rotated along a third axis;
• and
• providing a left side support that can be rotated along a fourth axis, the third and fourth axes being essentially parallel, and allowing said right side support and said left side support to be folded substantially into a plane,
• wherein the first axis and the second axis are substantially parallel, and substantially perpendicular to the third axis and the fourth axis.

A self-locking hinge, comprising:

• a first arm and a second arm, the first arm provided with a cylinder containing a spring and a ball;
• the first arm and the second arm each rotatably connected to an axis;
• and
• a flange co-axial with the axis, the flange fixed with respect to the second arm, the flange having a first radius over most of its arc length, and smaller radii at selected positions along its surface, the selected positions corresponding to preset stops, wherein the flange is placed along the axis so as to abut the ball at the end of the cylinder.

A method of providing collapsible luggage, comprising:

• providing a rigid rear panel;
• providing a rigid bottom plate comprising two portions, one capable of being rotated relative to the other along a first axis so as to allow the two portions to be in either a planar and a perpendicular configuration;
• providing a flexible top surface, front surface, right side surface and left side surface;
• and
• providing a bottom support flap that can be rotated along a second axis substantially parallel to said first axis, allowing said support flap to either lie on top of said rigid bottom plate in its planar configuration or folded substantially into a plane adjacent to the rear panel,
• wherein the two portions of the rigid bottom plane can be connected in each of its planar and perpendicular configurations by one or more self-locking hinges.