LUGGAGE WITH BUILT IN LOCK FOR SECURING LUGGAGE TO AN IMMOVABLE OBJECT AND AGAINST THE OPENING THEREOF

Abstract

A luggage piece which has an internal compartment with a zipper closure, a pulling tab and a pair of carrying straps. One of the straps is secured at one end to the luggage and at the other end has a shackle device attached thereto. A lock is fixedly secured to a second location on the luggage. The strap is configured to allow passing of the disconnected strap through an immovable object. The shackle is sized, shaped and configured to pass through an opening in the zipper tab. Thereby, the luggage is capable being tethered to the immovable object and thus becoming itself immovable and the contents in the internal compartments of the luggage are secured against theft simultaneously.

Description

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to luggage and, more particularly, to luggage that is securable to an immovable object using existing carrying straps of the luggage.

Luggage, particularly of the backpack variety, typically comes with a pair of back straps which can be dunned over one or both shoulders for ease of carrying. Typically, such luggage has a criss-crossing zipper which traverses the entire backpack and allows dividing it into two constituent parts, for ease of access. Luggage of the backpack style is typically of a size that can be carried on the back and therefore easily prone to being pilfered because it can be carried with one hand and quickly removed unobtrusively.

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide luggage, particularly of the type that includes carrying straps, where the carrying straps serve dual functions. One function is to enable threading the strap through an opening in an immovable object, for example, a leg of a desk or through the arm rest of a chair, and then locked back to the suitcase, so as to make it impossible (or at least difficult) to remove or walk away with the backpack.

The other objective of the invention is to provide and use the same mechanism to also lock the zipper of the backpack, to thereby provide dual functionality of locking the contents within the backpack and making removal of the backpack difficult.

The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a backpack with at least one of the straps being configured to serve as a locking strap and zipper lock.

FIG. 2 shows some more details of the lock and the manner in which the zipper tabs can be locked thereto.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of a carabiner style lock.

FIG. 4 shows the embodiment of FIG. 3 using a combination lock.

FIG. 5 shows the embodiment of FIG. 3 using a push cylinder lock.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a photograph of a carabiner style combination lock.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the backpack of the invention locked to an immovable object.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the typical backpack 10 which has a centrally located zipper 12 with two zipper tabs 14, each with a tab opening 16 therethrough. The locking tabs 14 can be moved from one side to the other side of the backpack, in well known manner.

The backpack 10 has a pair of left and right shoulder straps 20 and 22. The shoulder straps 20 and 22 have upper distal ends each of which is sewn or otherwise fixed to the body of the backpack 10. The shoulder strap 20 is similarly sewn at its other distal end, at the bottom of the backpack 10 as shown.

The right side strap 22 has at its opposing distal end a pair of holes 22A and 22B. The strap at that location may be reinforced as compared to the rest of the strap, for example, it may be constituted of a metallic rectangular piece of metal 24 that is strongly secured to the strap 22. The lock shackle 26 can be passed through those holes 22A and 22B, and then inserted into the openings of the aforementioned zipper tabs 14.

A lock 30 which may be a pad lock operated either with a key or as a combination lock, is sewn or otherwise secured to the bottom of the backpack, for example, by means of holding bands 32, 34. The shackle 26 which passes through the strap and also through the zipper tab(s) can then be inserted into the lock, thus locking the strap and zipper tabs near the bottom of the backpack 10. In this position, the straps can be used in the conventional manner.

As seen in FIG. 1, both straps 20, 22 can be adjusted in a length, in conventional matter, except it must be assured that the length adjusting mechanism for the strap 22 can not allow it to be opened in a manner which might defeat its being locked to the lock 30.

As shown in FIG. 8, in typical use, a traveler will use the key 36 to free the strap 22 and then thread the free end of the strap 22 through the chair arm rest 42 of the chair 40, or through an opening in any immovable object, and then re-lock the strap 22, rendering the entire backpack 10 immovable. Thus, a traveler can easily lock the backpack to the chair in which he is sitting or while waiting in an airport and allow himself to comfortably fall asleep without fear that somebody might actually walk away with the backpack or rummage through or pilfer its contents.

The invention is not meant to be limited to its precisely described embodiments, as it would be apparent to those skilled in the art that there are many offered manners in which the strap can be locked to the backpack. Also, the entire lock might be concealed within the body of the suitcase with access provided only for the shackle to be inserted into the concealed lock.

As noted above, many different locking mechanisms are available, as the present invention is not limited to the use of a pad lock style locking mechanism. Thus, in FIG. 3, the strap has connected to it a hooking style carabiner lock 50 which comes with a spring loaded locking arm 52 and with a locking mechanism 54 to be described. The distal tip 56 of the carabiner lock 50 can be used to thread the zipper tab 14 and through a hook 58 which is a part of the backpack 10. The hook 58 can be metallic or made of strong cloth or the like.

As shown in FIG. 4, the lock 54 is a combination lock. In FIG. 5, the lock is a push cylinder lock 62 that has a push pin 64 that is insertable into an opening 66 as shown in FIG. 6. A carabiner style lock with a combination lock is shown in FIG. 7.

In accordance with another embodiment, the strap 22 can have affixed thereto one half of a buckle style locking device, where the complementary portion of the buckle is affixed to the backpack. The buckle style lock can be of the type which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,357,008, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. One example of such lock is shown in FIG. 3 of the U.S. Pat. No. 7,357,008, where one end of the strap is connected to the bottom of the backpack and the other hand connected to strap 22. In this style of a buckle lock, a string which is threaded through tabs 14 can be utilized to lock the zipper tabs to the buckle.

Still further, it is not necessary that the locking mechanism be provided at the bottom of the backpack, as it can be just as easily provided at the other distal end of the strap, near the top of the backpack. Also, a locking mechanism can be provided on both straps including strap 20 and strap 22.

A similar buckle style lock is also described in U.S. Patent Application No. 2007/0226964, which published Oct. 4, 2007, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The lock for the buckle style embodiment can be either of the type that uses a key or which uses a combination lock or both as described in the incorporated by reference documents.

It should be appreciated that the locking strap can also be used to be threaded through the handle of another piece of luggage and then through the immovable object, so as to lock two or more articles which require securing against theft.

The locking mechanism described herein is not necessarily limited to luggage and certainly not to backpacks and can be applied to any and all types of equipment which require securement. For example, rather than comprising straps at the rear of a backpack, the locking element may be installed at one end of one of the two handles typically provided in ladies handbags. Thus, the handbag may be secured against both theft and unwanted access to its contents.

Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein.

Claims

1. A luggage piece, comprising:

a luggage body with an internal compartment and a zipper closure for said internal compartment, said zipper closure including a pulling tab with an opening passing through said pulling tab;

a first carrying strap having a first end fixedly secured to the luggage body at a first location thereon, and a second end;

a shackle device provided at the second end of said strap;

a lock body, fixedly secured at a second location on the luggage body, in spaced relation relative to the first location, and wherein;

said strap is configured to allow the threading thereof through an immovable object, and said shackle being sized, shaped and configured to pass through said opening in said zipper tab, whereby said luggage is cable of being tethered to said immovable object and contents in said internal compartment are secured against theft.

2. The luggage piece of claim 1, including a locking mechanism in said lock body.

3. The luggage piece claim 1, wherein said luggage is configured as a backpack style luggage body, and includes a second strap useable with said first strap to enable said luggage to be strapped to a person's back.

4. The luggage piece of claim 1, wherein said locking mechanism is operable by a key.

5. The luggage piece of claim 1, wherein said locking mechanism is operable by a combination key

6. The luggage piece of claim 1, wherein said shackle is provided in the shape of a carabiner with first and second portions that are joined at a pivot and with a carabiner locking mechanism that is configured to lock the first and second portions in a closed position.

7. The luggage piece of claim 6, wherein said carabiner locking mechanism is lockable with a combination cylinder.

8. The luggage piece of claim 6, wherein said carabiner locking mechanism is lockable with an insertable key.

9. The luggage piece of claim 6, wherein said carabiner is secured to said strap, at the second end thereof.

10. The luggage piece of claim 9, including a hook forming said lock body, and said carabiner being lockable to said hook.

11. The luggage piece of claim 10, wherein said carabiner is configured to be threaded through said hook.

12. The luggage piece of claim 6, wherein said locking mechanism has a push cylinder that is configured to lock the first and said portions of the carabiner to one another.

13. The luggage piece of claim 1, including a plurality of zippers and corresponding zipper pulling tabs.