CONFIGURABLE COMPARTMENTED MULTIPLE-ITEM CARRYING CASE
A compartmented multiple-item carrying case (10) adapted for construction of configurable dividers (60, 62, 64, 66, 68) is formed with matable building elements (82, 84, 86) arranged by a user to provide interior compartments (40, 42, 44, 46) of customized shapes and sizes. User configurable interior compartments enable efficient item placement and storage because the items a user desires to carry at a given time can differ in size and shape.
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This disclosure relates to a compartmented multiple-item carrying case and, in particular, to a carrying case having configurable container-part dividers that can be constructed with user-arranged matable building elements to form interior compartments of customized shapes and sizes.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSUREA compartmented multiple-item carrying case is adapted for construction of configurable dividers formed with matable building elements arranged by a user to provide interior compartments of customized shapes and sizes. User configurable interior compartments enable efficient item placement and storage because the items a user desires to carry at a given time can differ in size and shape. The configurable compartmented carrying case comprises a container part having an interior space defined by a base surface and side surfaces. The base surface includes a patterned surface portion configured to support a set of container-part building elements that are configurable for mating to the patterned surface portion of the base surface and to one another. This enables a user to build configurable dividers arranged to form configurable compartments in the interior space of the container part. In a preferred embodiment, a cover part of the carrying case is sized to cover the interior space of the container part. The cover part has an interior surface including a patterned surface portion configured to support a set of cover-portion building elements that are configurable for mating to the patterned surface of the interior surface of the cover part to enable a user to build on the interior surface a configurable storage compartment.
For each of the container and cover parts, a set of building elements includes a subset of the building elements having first and second matable features that are matable to each other so that the building elements in the subset are configurable for mated joining to one another for assembly in a stacked relationship.
Additional aspects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A floor panel element 86 has a bottom surface on which is formed a recess 90′ (
Patterned inner surface 22 is configured to receive matable building elements 82 and floor panel elements 86. Building elements 82 in this embodiment are preferably small molded plastic components that are stackable upon one another, like small bricks, to create a divider wall. (Building elements 84, which are intended to provide a finished surface, typically do not have top surface mating features that would enable stacking of another layer of building elements 82.) Building elements 82, 84, and 86 can be of different colors. Suitable building elements 82, 84, and 86 include LEGO toy bricks, available from Interlego AG, Zug, Switzerland.
A preferred building element 82 has on its bottom side recesses 90 that are sized to mate with spatially corresponding bosses 80 so that building element 82 can be affixed to and thereby cover part of the patterned inner surface 22. Skilled persons will appreciate that a building element 82 having multiple recesses 90 on its bottom side is configured so that adjacent recesses 90 are separated by the same distance as that separating corresponding adjacent bosses in patterned inner surface 22. The spaced-apart bottom side recesses 90 of building element 82 that are sized to mate with spatially corresponding bosses 80 of patterned inner surface 22 define a recess feature pattern that is complementary to patterned inner surface 22.
For purposes of simplicity and uniformity, a user preferably constructs a divider or a storage compartment with a set of stackable building elements in which the bottom side feature and the top side feature mate with and operationally match, respectively, the features in a patterned surface of the container or cover part. Operationally match is defined to mean that a top side feature is matable to the bottom side feature of the same building element.
Skilled persons will appreciate that building elements 82, 84, 86, 102, and 104 are examples of matable building elements that can be assembled. These building elements can be of different sizes and shapes to create, for example, dividers of different heights, contours, and colors.
Patterned inner surfaces 22 and 70 can be replicated on one or both of the outer surfaces of container part 12 and cover part 14 of carrying case 10. The matable building elements can be arranged to form a three-dimensional customized presentation of a textual message, decorative image, or other user-configurable pattern for display.
It will be obvious to those having skill in the art that many changes may be made to the details of the above-described embodiments without departing from the underlying principles of the invention. The scope of the present invention should, therefore, be determined only by the following claims.
Claims
1. A configurable compartmented carrying case, comprising:
- a container part having an interior space defined by a base surface and side surfaces, the base surface including a patterned surface portion configured to support a set of container-part building elements that are configurable for mating to the patterned surface portion of the base surface and to one another so as to enable a user to build configurable dividers arranged to form configurable compartments in the interior space of the container part.
2. The carrying case of claim 1, further comprising a cover part sized to cover the interior space of the container part, the cover part having an interior surface including a patterned surface portion configured to support a set of cover-part building elements that are configurable for mating to the patterned surface of the interior surface of the cover part to enable a user to build on the interior surface a configurable storage compartment.
3. The carrying case of claim 1, in which the set of container-part building elements includes a subset of the building elements having first and second matable features that are matable to each other so that the building elements in the subset are configurable for mated joining to one another for assembly in stacked relationship.
4. The carrying case of claim 1, in which the set of cover-part building elements includes a subset of the building elements having first and second matable features that are matable to each other so that the building elements in the subset are configurable for mated joining to one another for assembly in stacked relationship.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 27, 2008
Publication Date: May 27, 2010
Applicant: IPPASA, LLC (Vancouver, WA)
Inventor: Aaron B. Sternberg (Vancouver, WA)
Application Number: 12/594,170
International Classification: A45C 3/00 (20060101);