Suitcase with compressible packing system
OwnerIra B. Weissman, Helaine R. Weissmaninventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A suitcase is provided with a compressive liner encapsulating an air tight packing chamber and having a sealable opening to allow placement and removal of clothing and other articles within the packing chamber. In a relaxed state, the volume of the packing chamber is substantially greater than the volume of the suitcase interior, thereby enlarging the available packing space. When the liner is filled and sealed closed, air is withdrawn from the packing chamber by a motorized vacuum pump, causing the liner to collapse and compress the contents, thereby reducing the volume of the packing chamber to a size which fits within the closed suitcase. A one-way valve holds the vacuum within the chamber, maintaining the liner in the collapsed state until the opening is unsealed.
Claims14
A suitcase comprising:
- an upper portion including upper side walls, a top panel and a peripheral edge zone formed about said upper side walls, and a lower portion including lower side walls, a bottom panel and a peripheral edge zone formed about said lower side walls, said upper and lower portions hinged together and structured and disposed to be closed so that said peripheral edge zones are disposed in adjacent relation to enclose an interior packing space surrounded by said upper and lower side walls, said top panel and said bottom panel;
- closure means on said peripheral edge zones for releasably securing said upper and lower portions closed;
- compressible packing means for containing articles carried in the suitcase and comprising:
- a liner formed of a flexible, impervious film material and including sides, a bottom, and a top surrounding an interior storage chamber, access means for opening said liner in order to insert and remove articles from the storage chamber, and seal means for providing an air tight seal about said access means to thereby maintain said interior storage chamber air tight when said access means is closed;
- and
- said liner being structured and disposed to collapse from a relaxed state, defined by said packing chamber having a maximum volume, to a collapsed state, defined by said storage chamber having a minimum volume, upon removal of air from said storage chamber, and said storage chamber, when in said collapsed state, being sized and configured to fit within said interior packing space of the suitcase with said upper and lower portions secured closed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.