LUGGAGE CARRYING DEVICE
A body removably attachable to belts for carrying a wheeled luggage includes an attachable element for attaching the body to a belt. The attachable element has an orifice and can include an elongated U-shaped member having a bottom, first and second side sections. The attachable element further includes a top section having first and second ends. The first end of the top section is hingedly connected to the first end of the first side section of the U-shaped member. A flap is hingedly connected to the second end of the top section. The flap and second side section of the U-shaped member are provided with a tongue and groove locking arrangement. The body further includes a reversed j-shaped utility element for holding a handle of a wheeled luggage.
Not Applicable.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot Applicable.
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISCNot Applicable.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe disclosed embodiments relate to the field of belt attachments. More specifically, it relates to devices for holding and pulling luggage.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThousands of people travel daily. When such people travel, they carry luggage with them. Often, people travel with wheeled luggage. Sometimes travelers have multiple suitcases or luggage that they use to store their items. Many times, people have more luggage than they can carry. When this is the case, a person may have to hire a porter or independent contractor to carry at least one of their bags, luggage or suitcases. Or, a person may have to ask another individual to help them with their bags. In other cases, the traveler may fumble with their bags causing damage to the bags or a strain or sprain of their body. These problems inconvenience the traveler and the individuals that are required to assist such a traveler, and may also be cost prohibitive.
Therefore, a need exists to overcome these problems that allows a person to carry and travel with multiple bags without having to hire a porter or independent contractor or ask another individual for help.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONBriefly, according to the disclosed embodiments, a body removably attachable to belts for carrying a wheeled luggage that includes an attachable element for attaching the body to a belt is disclosed. The attachable element has an orifice and includes an elongated U-shaped member having a bottom, first and second side sections. The attachable element further includes a top section having first and second ends. The first end of the top section is hingedly connected to the terminal end of the first side section of the U-shaped member. A flap is hingedly connected to the second end of the top section. The flap and second side section of the U-shaped member are provided with a tongue and groove locking arrangement. The body further includes a reversed j-shaped utility element for holding a handle of a wheeled luggage.
Additional aspects of the disclosed embodiments will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosed embodiments. The aspects of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed. The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
The subject matter, which is regarded as the invention, is particularly pointed out distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other features and also the advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Additionally, the left most digit of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number appears first appears. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. The embodiments illustrated herein are presently preferred, it being understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.
The disclosed embodiments improve upon the problems with the prior art by providing an easy and user-friendly means for carrying wheeled luggage. The disclosed embodiments improve over the prior art because they provide an individual with a device that allows such individual to carry luggage without using their hands. The disclosed embodiments further improve over the prior art because they provide an individual with a device that allows such individual to increase the amount of luggage that such individual is able to carry. Lastly, the disclosed embodiments improve over the prior art because they reduce the costs associated with traveling due to the hiring of independent contractors or porters.
Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
In the present embodiment, the side sections 119, 117 are substantially parallel to and opposing one another. In the present embodiment, a hinge 145 hingedly connects the terminal end of the first side section 119 of the U-shaped member 116 to a top section 113. The top section 113 has a first end 215 and a second end 213. Hinge 145 hingedly connects the terminal end of the first side section 119 to the first end 215 of the top section 113 and a second hinge 147 connects the second end 213 of the top section 113 to a flap 105. The top section 113 and flap 105 are substantially rectangular in shape and are substantially planar and can be formed from a plastic, wood, metal or any other suitable material. In one embodiment, any of the components of the invention may be fabricated using a 3-D printer.
In the present embodiment, the attachable element 110 has a flip top 113 that utilizes hinges 145, 147 to flip open. In an alternative embodiment, there is no hinged top 113. In this embodiment, the attachable element 110 does not open up, but is rather a static elongated hollow element.
Similarly, the hinge 147 can be integral with the second end 213 of top section 113. Or alternatively, the hinge 147 can be integral with the first end 217 of the flap 205. In yet another embodiment, the hinge 147 can be affixed to the second end 213 of the top section 113 and the first end 217 of the flap 205 with screws, fasteners, bolts, or the like (not shown). The hinges 145, 147 can be made of metal, plastic, or any other material that is well known to those skilled in the art. Alternatively, straps (not shown) can connect the first side section 119 of the U-shaped member 116 to the top section 113 such that the first side section 119 of the U-shaped member 116 is hingedly connected to the top section 113. In one embodiment, there are no hinges 145, 147 but rather flexible plastic corners that allows the areas 113, 105 to open up by utilizing the flexibility of the plastic composition of the device. Thus, the area from hinges 145 to 147 may be one flexible hinge in and of itself.
The top section 113 is adapted such that when the attaching member 110 in the closed or in a locked position as shown in
In other embodiments (not shown), the attachable element 110 can have various shapes and sizes that allow the attachable element 110 to be removably attached to a belt or pants such that when generally downward forces act upon the member 110, the body 100 remains secured to a belt of an individual.
For example, in another embodiment (not shown), the attachable element can comprise a clip. The clip may comprise a U-shaped element having opposing arms defining a mouth at the terminal ends of such arms and an orifice along the arms. The orifice may receive a pants belt and be sized such that a pants belt can fit inside of the orifice. The mouth may be sized such that its cross-sectional diameter is slightly smaller than the dimension of the width of a belt. The clip may be manufactured from resilient material such that the size of the mouth may be increased when forces pushing outward on the arms and mouth cause the arms to move outward and return to its original position when such forces are removed. In this embodiment, the clip can be positioned such that the mouth of the clip receives the belt causing forces acting outward to increase the size of the mouth thereby allowing the belt to enter into the orifice of the clip after which the resilient material returns the mouth to its original shape thereby securing the body 100 to the belt. Alternatively, the mouth may be sized such that the cross-sectional diameter is slightly smaller than the cross-sectional diameter of the width of a pair of pants and belt. In this embodiment, the mouth and orifice are designed to clip onto both a belt and along the waistline of a pair of pants or alternatively the dimensions of the attachable element can be sized to receive only a pair of pants.
In another embodiment (not shown), the attachable element may define a U-shape member having two opposing arms defining a mouth at the terminal ends of the arms and an orifice along the arms. The cross-sectional diameter of the mouth may be smaller than the cross-sectional diameter of the orifice. The attaching element may include a screw lock. The cross-sectional diameter of the orifice and mouth may be increased or decreased by using the components of the screw lock such that the belt may be retained by the mouth inside the orifice. In other embodiment (not shown), the attachable element may comprise a clamp. In this embodiment, the body 100 can be attached to a belt in a clamping manner. Alternatively, in this embodiment the attachable element may clamp onto the belt and back of the waistline of a pair of pants or only along the waistline of a pair of pants or other article of clothing. In another embodiment, the attachable element may comprise a set of straps or strings that can be tied to a pants belt. It is to be understood that the attachable element may be attached to the back of an article of clothing or belt and that the terms pant or pants is not meant to be a limitation.
In this embodiment, the feature 250 is generally rectangular shaped having a cross sectional diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the protrusion 320. The protrusion 320 corresponds with a matching aperture, groove or opening 330 on the second side section 117 of the U-shaped member 116.
The aperture 330 is adapted such that the cross-sectional diameter of the aperture 330 is slightly smaller than the cross sectional diameter of the feature 250 and fits snugly with the remainder of the protrusion 320. The material forming the second side member 117 may be resilient such that the cross-sectional diameter of the aperture 330 slightly increases when forces push against the walls of the aperture 330 toward the edges of the second side member 117 and bounce back to its original shape after such forces are removed. Similarly, the material forming the protrusion 330 and feature 250 may be resilient such that the feature 250 decreases in cross-sectional diameter when forces push inward toward the center of the feature 250 and bounce back to its original shape after such forces are removed.
As shown in
In the present embodiment, to close or lock the attachable element 110, the top section 113 is hingedly rotated such that the top section 113 is parallel to and opposing the bottom section 111 (as shown in
To unlock the attachable element 110, forces acting outward perpendicular to the outside surface of second side member 117 (toward the direction of the flap 105) adequate enough to cause the feature 250 to change shape allowing the feature 250 and protrusion 320 to be removed from the second side section 117 must be applied. As a result of such outward force, the flap 105 and top section 113 can be hingedly rotated away from the terminal end of the second side section 116. In one embodiment (not shown), a string (not shown) can be attached to a portion of the surface of the flap 105 such that pulling on the string causes outwardly forces perpendicular to the surface of the flap 105 to be applied to the flap 105. If the string is pulled with adequate force, the forces applied to the flap 105 cause the protrusion 320 and element 320 to be removed from the aperture 330. However, other means of applying such forces to remove the flap 105 can be used.
Claims
1. A body removably attachable to a belt for carrying a wheeled luggage comprising:
- an attachable element for securing the body to a belt, the attachable element comprising an orifice for receiving a belt;
- an elongated U-shaped member having a bottom, first and second side sections;
- a top section having first and second ends, the first end of the top section being hingedly connected to a terminal end of the first side section of the U-shaped member;
- a flap hingedly connected to the second end of the top section, wherein the flap and second side section of the U-shaped member are provided with a locking arrangement; and,
- a utility element for holding a handle of a wheeled luggage.
2. The body of claim 1, wherein the utility element has a reversed j-shape.
3. The body of claim 2, wherein the locking arrangement is a tongue and groove arrangement.
4. The body of claim 3, wherein the locking arrangement comprises a protrusion extending from the surface of the flap corresponding with an aperture on the second side section of the U-shaped member.
5. The body of claim 1, wherein the body is in a locked position when a feature of the protrusion inserts into and is captured by the corresponding aperture of the second side section such that the top section remains substantially perpendicular to the bottom section.
6. The body of claim 5, wherein the body is in a unlocked position when the feature of the protrusion is not captured by the corresponding aperture of the second side section such that the top section is not substantially perpendicular to the bottom section.
7. The body of claim 6, wherein in the locked position the body remains attached to a belt when forces substantially downward act upon the body, and wherein in the unlocked position the body is detachable from the belt when forces substantially downward act upon the body.
8. The body of claim 6, wherein the locking arrangement comprises an aperture on the flap corresponding and matching with a protrusion on the second side section of the U-shaped member.
9. The body of claim 2, wherein the locking arrangement is a snap.
10. The body of claim 1, wherein the body is made of metal.
11. The body of claim 1, wherein the body is made of wood.
12. The body of claim 1, wherein the body is made of plastic.
13. A body removably attachable to a belt for carrying a wheeled luggage, comprising an attachable element for attaching the body to a belt, and a utility element for holding a handle of a wheeled luggage, wherein the attachable element comprises:
- an orifice for receiving a belt,
- an elongated U-shaped member having a bottom, first and second side sections,
- a top section having first and second ends, the first end of the top section being hingedly connected to the terminal end of the first side section of the U-shaped member, and
- a flap hingedly connected to the second end of the top section, wherein the flap and second side section of the U-shaped member are provided with a locking arrangement.
14. The body of claim 13, wherein the locking arrangement is a tongue and groove arrangement.
15. A body removably attachable to a belt for carrying a wheeled luggage comprising:
- an attachable element for attaching the body to a belt comprising an orifice for receiving a belt;
- an elongated U-shaped member having a bottom, first and second side sections and, a top section having first and second ends, the first end of the top section being hingedly connected to a terminal end of the first side section of the U-shaped member;
- a flap hingedly connected to the second end of the top section, wherein the flap and second side section of the U-shaped member are provided with a tongue and groove locking arrangement; and,
- a reversed j-shaped utility element for holding a handle of a wheeled luggage.
16. The body of claim 15, wherein the locking arrangement comprises a protrusion extending from the surface of the flap corresponding with an aperture on the second side section of the U-shaped member.
17. The body of claim 16, wherein the locking arrangement has a locked position and an unlocked position, wherein in the locked position the body remains attached to a belt when forces substantially downward act upon the body, and wherein in the unlocked position the body is detachable from the belt when forces substantially downward act upon the body.
18. The body of claim 17, wherein the body is in a locked position when a feature of the protrusion inserts into and is captured by the corresponding aperture of the second side section of the U-shaped member such that the top section remains substantially perpendicular to the bottom section of the U-shape member.
19. The body of claim 18, wherein the body is in a unlocked position when the feature of the protrusion is not captured by the corresponding aperture of the second side section of the U-shaped member.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 27, 2014
Publication Date: Dec 31, 2015
Inventor: Robert Lian (Miami Beach, FL)
Application Number: 14/317,368