Travel bag with stowable seat

Abstract

A travel bag having a storage compartment is provided with opposed support members either side of the storage compartment. Each support member defines an upper rear corner area. A seat is pivotally attached to the support members adjacent the upper rear corner areas, operable to pivot from a stowed position adjacent a rear face of the storage compartment to an operating position between upper edges of the support members. A separate seat structure, for use in association with a travel bag to be attached thereto, is also provided. The seat structure has opposed support members connected by a cross-bracing structure. The support members are adaptable to be fitted around the sides of the travel bag. Each support member defines an upper rear corner, and, a seat is pivotally attached to the support members adjacent the upper rear corners, operable to pivot from a stowed position adjacent a rear face of the travel bag to an operating position between upper edges of the support members.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a travel bag, in particular a carry-on bag, having a stowable seat to support the weight of a sitting adult.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is common for modern travelers to have with them at all times a travel bag, known as a “carry-on” bag, with their personal effects. In many cases, travelers will have no checked baggage and will rely on having all of their effects in a single carry-on bag. Such travel bags, to qualify as carry-on bags, must be of relatively small size in accordance with regulations or travel industry practice, so that they can be safely stowed, for example in overhead bins on airplanes. Such regulations and practices usually establish maximum height, length and width dimensions for such bags. To maximize capacity in accordance with such constraints, many travel bags are specifically designed in a generally right rectangular prism shape and sized to meet such dimensional standards. Although relatively small compared to suitcases intended as checked luggage, carry-on bags can nevertheless transport a significant quantity of goods and can be fairly heavy and for some people can be difficult or awkward to handle.

To assist in their handling, many carry-on bags (such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,954 to Nordstrom) are provided with wheels along a bottom edge and a retractable or telescoping handle adjacent an upper edge of the bag, generally on the same side of the bag as the wheels. The combination of a telescoping handle and wheels allows the traveler to easily move the bag, usually by pulling but sometimes by pushing.

Modern travel, particularly by air, often requires lengthy waits, for example at various transportation hubs, such as airports, waiting in lines or for connections. In many situations, seating is either not provided or, with over-crowding, is not available. In such situations, it would be desirable for a traveler to have the option of sitting or resting on his or her carry-on bag, but typical carry-on bags are not capable of or comfortable for such use.

Like any other type of luggage, carry-on bags can be made of a variety of materials. Although some such bags are made of rigid materials and may comprise a hard shell case capable of bearing a person's weight, they are not necessarily designed to be sat upon and, as a result, may be unstable, uncomfortable or awkward to use, especially in the start-and-stop environment of a moving line-up. In addition, many carry-on bags are made from non-rigid fabrics, such as nylon, canvas, leather and the like. Although in some cases internal stiffeners or stiffening material (e.g. made from metal, plastic, foam or even cardboard) can be used to provide some at least semi-rigid support, shape and structure to carry-on bags, they are typically not capable of bearing the weight of a sitting person without crushing the contents of the bag. In addition, they may also suffer from the problems of instability, lack of comfort and awkwardness of use.

In recognition of at least some of these problems, various travel bags have been proposed to incorporate a seat structure for the convenience of a traveler.

For example, various proposals have been made (e.g. as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,447 to Pohl, U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,313 to Lenz et al, French patent no. 2,834,431 to Le Bret Brigitte, PCT publication no. WO 9803096 to Nakagawa, PCT publication no. WO 03099056 to Tamura) to provide a seat which can deploy from the side of a travel bag or case to extend to a horizontal position away from the bag, to be supported by a suitable brace structure extending back to the bag or by legs which contact the ground. There can be various difficulties with such structures. For example, they can be relatively mechanically complex, involving various moving parts which are susceptible to damage, wear or failure, and thus relatively costly to manufacture and maintain. In addition, given that the overall size of the bag will have to be constrained to meet the requirements as a carry-on bag, the presence of such mechanical components may reduce the effective carrying capacity of the bag. Moreover, some of the exposed elements of the mechanical system may catch on, or interfere with, nearby objects or in some cases even be somewhat hazardous, which may render the bags unsuitable or unsafe as carry-on bags. In addition, in some designs, the seating arrangement can suffer from stability problems because the weight of the person will not necessarily be centered over a stable base.

Some other designs have been proposed that would specifically allow a child to sit on the top of a travel bag (e.g. as shown U.S. patent publication no. 2004/0066069 to Caldana). Such designs suffer from the problem that an adult may not be able to sit on the luggage without crushing its contents. In addition, the seat arrangement can interfere with access to or use of the telescopic handle or access to the top of the bag (e.g. to grab a handle or open a zippered compartment) and not easily or conveniently operable to change from an in-use position to a convenient storage position.

In some structures (e.g. as shown in French patent no. 2302066 to Durand), seats for adults or children are attached to vertical supports extending away from the bag or case, which greatly interfere with the ability of the bag or case to function as carry-on baggage.

Some have proposed seats which can move from a stowed position on the front or back of a bag to an in-use position on top of the bag. For example, U.S. publication no. 2007/0007801 to Bishop discloses a specially designed travel bag featuring an inverted U-shaped telescoping handle in which the legs are relatively widely separated. Slots are defined on the inside of each leg. A seat is fitted between the legs and slidably held in the slots by pins. The seat is operable to move up and down and rotate while restrained by the slots. U.S. Pat. No. 7,097,017 to LaCrosse et al discloses a seat pivotally attached to linkages pivotally attached to the sides of the bag. Such designs are relatively complex and may thus be more susceptible to damage, wear or failure, and thus relatively costly to manufacture and/or maintain.

Finally, it is noted that many of the above-noted prior art designs require specially engineered structures which are incapable of being, or at least not easily adaptable to be, applied to substantially conventional travel bags with conventional wheel, storage compartment or telescoping handle arrangements. The inability to use conventional components will tend to increase the cost of such travel bags.

In light of all the above, there remains a need for a travel bag with a comfortable seat that will be capable of bearing the weight of an adult, that is convenient to operate and mechanically reliable and that may be adapted to be used with conventional travel bags or travel bag components.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a travel bag having a storage compartment with opposed support members either side of said storage compartment, each support member defining an upper rear corner area, and a seat pivotally attached to the support members adjacent the upper rear corner areas, operable to pivot from a stowed position adjacent a rear face of the storage compartment to an operating position between upper edges of the support members.

The present invention also provides a seat structure, for use in association with a travel bag to be attached thereto, the structure having opposed support members connected by a cross-bracing structure, said support members adaptable to be fitted around the sides of the travel bag, each support member defining an upper rear corner, and, a seat pivotally attached to the support members adjacent the upper rear corners, operable to pivot from a stowed position adjacent a rear face of the travel bag to an operating position between upper edges of the support members.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are illustrated in the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a travel bag according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a travel bag according to the invention.

FIG. 3 is a top view of a travel bag according to the invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a portable seat structure in accordance with the invention.

DETAILED DISCLOSURE

Referring to FIG. 1, there is generally shown a travel bag 10 in accordance with the invention. Travel bag 10 comprises a storage compartment 12, of generally right rectangular prism shape. Preferably, the overall dimensions of travel bag 10 will meet the requirements of relevant travel regulations or practices; for example, Air Canada specifies that carry-on bags shall not exceed the following dimensions: 9 inches by 15.5 inches by 21.5 inches (23 cm×40 cm×55 cm).

Storage compartment 12 has a front face or panel 14, a rear face or panel 16, a top face or panel 18, a bottom face or panel 20 and right and left side faces or panels 22 and 24. Storage compartment 12 may have various access means (not shown), such as zippers, hook and loop fasteners and drawstrings, to access the interior of storage compartment 12 or various sub-divisions thereof or pockets. In addition, storage compartment 12 may on various faces have various handles, such as shown at 26 to assist in lifting or carrying the bag in different orientations. In addition, there may be a top handle 28, located generally in the middle of top panel 18.

The various panels 14 to 24 may be made of any typical travel bag material, including flexible fabric materials, such as nylon, canvas and leather. If such non-rigid materials are used, they may be optionally strengthened and supported in conventional manner by rigid or semi-rigid interior frame or stiffening members or material (not shown), e.g. made from metal, plastic, foam or even cardboard.

Rear and top panels 16 and 18 generally meet and define an upper rear edge 30. Similarly, rear and bottom panels 16 and 20 generally meet and define a lower rear edge 32.

In a manner well understood in the travel bag art, a conventional retractable or telescoping handle 34 is attached to storage compartment 12 in the vicinity of upper rear edge 30, utilizing such telescoping tube support sub-structure (not shown) as may be required. In a closed position 34b (shown in FIG. 2), telescoping handle 34 is generally snug up against top panel 18. In some cases, top panel 18 may define a suitable recess (not shown) into which the handle 34 may be stowed when not in use. In its extended in-use position 34a (again, shown in FIG. 2), handle 34 may extend as much as 18 to 30 inches (45 to 75 centimeters) away from top panel 18.

In addition, also in known manner, conventional spaced apart wheels 36 are attached to storage compartment 12 generally in the vicinity of lower rear edge 32, utilizing such wheel support sub-structure (not shown) as may be required.

As noted above, although various of panels 14 to 24 may be made of flexible non-rigid material, suitable support sub-structures (not shown) must be provided in known manner to support telescoping handle 34 and wheels 36 and the proper operation thereof.

Although for the purposes for the present invention it would not be required, for esthetic or other reasons, panels 14 to 24 may be made of a more rigid material, such as various plastic or composite materials or a metal such as aluminum.

Opposed rigid support members 38 are attached to storage compartment 12 on each side of storage compartment 12, generally adjacent the left and right side panels 22 and 24. Support members 38 define upper edges 39 and ground engagement edges 40 which support travel bag 10 in a generally upright position on a flat surface. Each support member 38 also defines an upper rear corner area 41 at about, or slightly above, the height of top panel 18.

As shown in FIG. 3, support members 38 may be rigidly connected by a cross brace structure 42 and, as shown therein, storage compartment 12 may be fastened thereto. Although mechanical fasteners 43 are shown, any suitable fastening means (e.g. glue, any mechanical fasteners or even removable fasteners such as loop-and-hook fasteners, snaps, lashing) could be used. Support members 38 are preferably directly fastened to side panels 22 and 24 by any suitable fastening means but in some cases may be adequately held in position through cross brace structure 42 and the fastening of storage compartment 12 thereto.

In some embodiments, particularly where it is anticipated that storage compartment 12 is capable of providing sufficient lateral stability, it may not be necessary to include a cross brace 42 in the structure of travel bag 10. In such a case, support members 38 may be separately attached to storage compartment 12 by any suitable means, such as those noted above.

In other embodiments, to achieve a more integrated esthetic appearance, left and right side panels 22 and 24 could be omitted in favour of direct attachment of the front, rear, top and bottom panels 14 to 20 to support members 38.

A seat 44 is pivotally connected to support members 38 in the upper rear corner areas 41. As shown in FIG. 3, the pivotal connection is achieved by means of suitable pins 46, but any suitable axle or other pivotal connection means may be used. In the embodiment shown, seat 44 comprises a seat pan 48 connected to seat arms 50 which in turn effect the pivotal connection to support members 38.

As best illustrated in FIG. 2, with telescoping handle 34 in its retracted or stowed position 34b, seat 44 is operable to pivot between an operating or in-use position 44a, namely located between the upper edges 39 of support members 38, and a stowed position 44b, namely generally alongside rear panel 16 of storage compartment 12 or cross brace 42. In effecting such pivoting motion, seat 44 will pass over handle 34.

With the seat arrangement shown, namely comprising seat pan 48 and seat arms 50, a seat set back area 52 is defined, namely a space defined by a rear edge 49 of seat pan 48, seat arms 50 and a line between the upper rear corner areas 41. When the seat 44 is in its in-use position 44a, the presence of the seat set back area 52 allows easy access to the telescoping handle 34. Accordingly, handle 34 may be extended or retracted as necessary and without the need to move the seat 44 from its in-use position 44a to its storage position 44b.

In the event that seat 44 in its in-use position 44a prevents easy access to a handle 28, seat 44 may be pivoted out of the way for temporary access to handle 28 or, if handle 34 is retracted, may be returned to its storage position 44b.

To retain seat 44, either in its in-use position 44a or in its storage position 44b, retaining means 58, such as a clip or resilient engaging means, may be provided.

Preferably, support members 38 and seat 44 will cooperate with each other via suitable engagement means therebetween for engaging the seat with the support members 38 to prevent downward movement of seat 44 when seat 44 is in the in-use position 44a. In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, seat support abutments 54 are provided on support members 38 upon which a lower surface of seat 44 may bear. Other cooperative engagement means may be used.

Referring particularly to FIG. 2, it will be noted that, when ground engagement edge 40 is in contact with the ground, wheels 36 are preferably not also in contact with the ground. However, the lower rear corner areas 56 of support members 38 are cut away to partially expose wheels 36. In this manner, when travel bag 10 is tipped rearwardly by handle 34 in the extended position 34a, the weight of travel bag 10 and its contents are transferred from ground engagement edges 40 to wheels 36 for rolling operation.

Support members 38, cross-brace structure 42 and seat 44 may be made of any suitable rigid yet lightweight material (e.g. metal, plastic, composite material). Final material choice and detailed design will depend in large part on the desired appearance and style for travel bag 10.

The seat structure described above may be readily adapted to function in combination with other independent travel bags. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a separate self-supporting seat structure 70, adaptable to be attached to a conventional travel bag (not shown) with wheels and a telescoping handle on one side of the bag, may be provided. As in the case of the embodiments described above, seat structure 70 comprises opposed support panels 38 connected by a cross brace structure 42. The support members 38 define upper rear corner areas 41 to which seat 44 is pivotally attached. Seat supporting abutments 54 are provided on each support member 38. Seat 44 comprises a seat pan 48 to which are attached seat arms 50 which in turn are pivotally attached to the support members 38. A seat setback area 52 is defined by the rear edge 49 of the seat 44, arms 50 and a line between the upper rear corner areas 41. Seat structure 70 is sized so that it is adapted to receive, between support members 38, and hold (via any suitable attachment means, not shown) a conventional travel bag, whereby its telescoping handle may be accessible through and extend upwardly through seat setback area 52.

Although various preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described herein in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that variations and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A travel bag comprising:

a storage compartment,

opposed support members either side of said storage compartment, each support member defining an upper rear corner area,

a seat pivotally attached to the support members at the upper rear corner areas, operable to pivot from a stowed position adjacent a rear face of said storage compartment to an operating position between upper edges of the support members.

2. A travel bag as claimed in claim 1 wherein each support member additionally defines a ground-engaging lower portion.

3. A travel bag as claimed in claim 2 further comprising a retractable handle attached to an upper portion of the storage compartment, operable to extend upwardly from a storage position adjacent the storage compartment to an operating position away therefrom and wherein the seat is operable, during pivotal movement from its stowed position to its operating position, to pass over the handle in its storage position.

4. A travel bag as claimed in claim 3 wherein the support members and the seat further comprise engagement means therebetween for engaging the seat with the support members to prevent downward movement of the seat.

5. A travel bag as claimed in claim 4 wherein the engagement means comprises seat support abutments on the support members against which the seat abuts in its operating position.

6. A travel bag as claimed in claim 5 wherein the seat comprises seat arms, one end of each of which is pivotally attached to a support member, and a seat pan attached to the other ends of the seat arms and wherein the seat arms are of a length that the handle is accessible and operable when the seat is in its operating position.

7. A travel bag as claimed in claim 6 wherein the storage compartment is of flexible material.

8. A travel bag as claimed in claim 7 wherein the support members are connected by a cross-brace.

9. A travel bag as claimed in claim 5 wherein wheels are attached to a lower region of the storage compartment.

10. A seat structure, for use in association with a travel bag to be attached thereto, the structure comprising:

opposed support members connected by a cross-bracing structure, said support members adaptable to be fitted around the sides of the travel bag, each support member defining an upper rear corner, and,

a seat pivotally attached to the support members adjacent the upper rear corners, operable to pivot from a stowed position adjacent a rear face of the travel bag to an operating position between upper edges of the support members.

11. A seat structure as claimed in claim 10 wherein each support member additionally defines a ground-engaging lower portion.

12. A seat structure as claimed in claim 11 wherein the travel bag has a retractable handle attached to an upper portion thereof operable to extend upwardly from a storage position adjacent the travel bag to an operating position away therefrom and wherein the seat is operable, during pivotal movement from its stowed position to its operating position, to pass over the handle in its storage position.

13. A seat structure as claimed in claim 12 wherein each support member defines a seat support against which the seat, in its operating position, abuts.

14. A seat structure as claimed in claim 13 wherein the seat comprises seat arms, one end of each of which is pivotally attached to a support member, and a seat pan attached to the other ends of the seat arms and wherein the seat arms are of a length that the handle is accessible and operable when the seat is in its operating position.

15. A seat structure as claimed in claim 14 wherein the travel bag has wheels attached to a lower region thereof.