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US 7,093,700 B2Granted
Expandable luggage with locking expansion mechanism
AssigneeBriggs & Riley Travelware LLC
InventorsRichard J. Krulik, Georgene Rada, Jason V. Drew
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An item of expandable luggage is provided with a multipositional locking expansion mechanism that includes a lock release actuator for unlocking the expansion plates that is located near or on a handle on the sliding plate situated towards the upper portion of the expandable body for easy accessibility, thereby permitting the user to adjust the inner volume of the luggage storage space when the compartment is fully packed. The extendable gusset is provided with one or more resilient members that retract the gusset into the interior of the luggage when it is not extended.
Claims22
An item of luggage (10) having an adjustable interior volume comprising:
- a main body (14) having a bottom floor (12), a plurality of opposing sidewalls (18a,b,c,d), a first frame (26) and a second frame (28);
- an expandable member (50) having an adjustable height comprising a plurality of opposing sidewalls, an expandable member support frame (52) and a zipperless expandable gusset (54), wherein said gusset is located between and expandably connected to said main body (14) and said expandable support frame (52);
- an access panel (24) joined to said expandable member (50);
- and
- locking expansion device (20) connecting said main body (14) to said expandable member (50) comprising a first fixed plate (40) and a second expansion plate (60) slidably connected to said first fixed plate (40), said first fixed plate (40) being mounted to said main body and including a locking lug member (42), and first lock means corresponding to a collapsed position and second lock means corresponding to an expanded position, said second expansion plate (60) being mounted to said expandable member and including a releasable locking mechanism (100) and a lug receiving slot (68) located and dimensioned to slidably receive said locking lug member (42) through said lug receiving slot (68) so as to couple said locking lug member (42) and said lug receiving slot (68), such that adjustment of the height of said expandable member results in a corresponding adjustment of the interior volume of the luggage, and
- wherein said releasable locking mechanism (100) includes a lock element (110) capable of engaging said first and second lock means so as to control said sliding and locking of said second plate with respect to said first plate, and a lock release element (120) capable of disengaging said lock element (110), whereby said locking lug (42) is permitted to slide in said lug receiving slot (68) when said lock element (110) is disengaged.
3 more elements
An item of luggage (10) having an interior region of adjustable interior volume, which comprises:
- a) a first frame element (28);
- b) a second frame element (52) positioned adjacent said first frame element (28) and substantially similarly configured to said first frame element, said second frame element (52) being moveable between a first position in close adjacent relation to said first frame element (28) and a second position relatively spaced from said first frame element (28), yet in general dimensional and configurational alignment therewith;
- c) an expandable gusset (54) connecting said first and second frame elements, said gusset (54) being foldable to a first folded configuration when said second frame element (52) is in said first position in close relation with said first frame element (28) to reduce the interior volume, and expandable to a second extended configuration when said second frame element (52) is in said second position in relative spaced relation to said first frame element (28) to increase the interior volume;
- and
- d) a resilient connecting web member attached to the interior side of said gusset (54) and extending between opposing peripheral regions of said first frame element (28) and said second frame element (52) when said second frame element (52) is in said first position, such that movement of said second frame element (52) from said first position to said second position increases the interior volume, and movement of said second frame element (52) from said second position to said first position reduces said interior volume, and said resilient connecting web member causes said gusset to fold inwardly and be drawn towards said interior region by said resilient connecting web member.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.