U.S. patent application number 09/838869 was filed with the patent office on 2001-10-25 for luggage fastener.
This patent application is currently assigned to Chaw Khong Technology Co., Ltd., Taiwan, R.O.C.. Invention is credited to Chang, Ming Hsi.
Application Number | 20010032379 09/838869 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 21666861 |
Filed Date | 2001-10-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20010032379 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Chang, Ming Hsi |
October 25, 2001 |
Luggage fastener
Abstract
A luggage fastener comprising a female engagement member and a
male engagement member, wherein the female engagement member
includes a recessed center adjoining member, which can be directly
riveted onto the luggage. In securing the male and female
engagement members, the hooks of the male engagement member are
inserted into the sockets of the female engagement member, while
the attachment member is inserted into the adjoining member by
guiding the ribs on the male engagement member along the grooves on
the female engagement member. Two L-shaped openings at the rear
ends of the sockets further facilitate a quick unfastening of the
secured engagement members. The benefits of this invention include
the elimination of the fabric strap, the reduction of part of the
female engagement member, and the resulting material savings as
compared to the conventional design of the prior art.
Inventors: |
Chang, Ming Hsi; (Hsin
Chuang city, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
WARE FRESSOLA VAN DER SLUYS &
ADOLPHSON, LLP
BRADFORD GREEN BUILDING 5
755 MAIN STREET, P O BOX 224
MONROE
CT
06468
US
|
Assignee: |
Chaw Khong Technology Co., Ltd.,
Taiwan, R.O.C.
|
Family ID: |
21666861 |
Appl. No.: |
09/838869 |
Filed: |
April 20, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
24/614 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A44B 11/266 20130101;
Y10T 24/45524 20150115 |
Class at
Publication: |
24/614 |
International
Class: |
A44B 011/25 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 21, 2000 |
TW |
089206589 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A luggage fastener comprising: a male engagement member
including a rear slot-like aperture, two spaced front flexible
hooks extended from the slot-like aperture, and a tongue-shaped
attachment member integrated with the slot-like aperture disposed
between the two spaced front flexible hooks; and a hollow female
engagement member fixed directly onto the luggage, including an
adjoining member at a bottom, two open-ended sockets on the sides,
and two L-shaped openings at rear ends of the sockets to facilitate
the squeezing operation to the flexible hooks of the male
engagement member by hand; wherein during the securing of the male
engagement member to the female engagement member, the hooks of the
male engagement member are inserted into the sockets of the female
engagement member and the tongue-shaped attachment member of the
male engagement member is inserted into the adjoining member of the
female engagement member.
2. The luggage fastener of claim 1, wherein each of the L-shaped
openings has a flat inner surface at the rear.
3. The luggage fastener of claim 1, wherein each of the L-shaped
openings has a rounded outer surface at the rear and the adjoining
member has a rounded inner surface at the rear.
4. The luggage fastener of claim 1, wherein the female engagement
member further comprises two holes for allowing the luggage
fastener to be threadedly secured onto the luggage.
5. The luggage fastener of claim 1, wherein the attachment member
on the male engagement member includes two side ribs and a front
extension and the female engagement member further comprises two
grooves such that the ribs are guided along the grooves when the
engagement between the male and female engagement members occurs.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to the field of luggage and
more particularly to a luggage fastener with many improved
characteristics.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] A conventional luggage fastener, which comprises a female
engagement member A and a male engagement member B, is shown in
FIGS. 1A and 1B. The female engagement member A includes a
slot-like aperture A1, two side openings A2, and a front opening
A3. A fabric strap C1 with one end secured to the top of the
luggage is looped through the slot-like aperture A1 at the other
end. The male engagement member B includes a slot-like aperture B1
at its rear end, two spaced front flexible hooks B2 extended down
from the slot-like aperture B1, and two hook-shaped attachment
members B3 sandwiched between the two hooks B2. A fabric strap C2
with one end looped through the slot-like aperture B1 and the other
end secured to the hook H is provided, wherein an extra carriage,
such as a separate bag or an attache case (not shown), can be laid
on the hook H and carried by the user.
[0005] As shown in FIG. 1A, the two hooks B2 and the two
hook-shaped attachment members B3 of the male engagement member B
are inserted into the front opening A3 of the female engagement
member A to secure the two engagement members together. In other
words, the two hooks B2 on the male engagement member B are secured
into the recesses A21 of the openings A2 on the female engagement
member by their own outward expansion force after they are
elastically compressed by the user. While attempting to disengage
the male engagement member B from the female engagement member A,
the user may first use his/her thumb and index finger to squeeze
the exposed hooks B2, making them deform inward, then use the other
hand to pull the male engagement member B out of the female
engagement member A.
[0006] The previous design suffers from several disadvantages. For
example, the fabric strap C1 is secured to the top of the luggage
by a rivet, wherein the fabric strap C1 is redundant and the
fastening process for securing the fabric strap C1 to the luggage
body is not a labor-saving design. The device, which is provided to
combine the fabric strap C1 to the female engagement member A, is
also unnecessary. Also, the fabric strap C1 and the female
engagement member A dangles on top of the luggage when the luggage
fastener is not in use. Furthermore, the improper integration
design of the openings A2 and the slot-like aperture A1 often
causes inconvenience to the user when he/she tries to disengage the
male engagement member B from the female engagement member A, as
the frontal heads of the two hooks B2 on the male engagement member
B are not easily squeezed by the user's thumb and index finger. In
addition, the user generally has to exert much force to achieve the
above-mentioned disengagement operation due to the inappropriate
width of the slotlike aperture A1.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] It is therefore an object of the present invention to
provide a luggage fastener with a female engagement member directly
fixed to the luggage so that the fabric strap of the prior art is
eliminated. With this new design, the female engagement member will
not dangle on the luggage when the luggage fastener is not in
use.
[0008] Another object of the present invention is to provide a
luggage fastener which, by eliminating the fabric strap, has the
advantage of making the fastening and unfastening process
easier.
[0009] A further object of the present invention is to provide a
luggage fastener which, by eliminating the fabric strap, has the
advantage of reducing the total length of the male engagement
member and the female engagement member by about one third, thus
saving fastener manufacturing material.
[0010] The above and other objectives, features, and advantages of
the present invention will become apparent from the following
detailed description made in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a conventional fastener
disposed on the luggage where a male engagement member and a female
engagement member are disengaged;
[0012] FIG. 1B is an environmental view showing a user who is using
his/her fingers to squeeze inward the exposed hooks of FIG. 1A;
[0013] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of
the disengaged luggage fastener according to the invention;
[0014] FIG. 3 is an environmental view showing a user who is using
his/her fingers to squeeze the assembled fastener of FIG. 2;
and
[0015] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the luggage fastener of the
present invention disposed on a luggage piece where a male
engagement member and a female engagement member are
disengaged.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0016] FIGS. 2 to 4 show a luggage fastener constructed in
accordance with the present invention comprising a female
engagement member 10 and a male engagement member 20, wherein the
female engagement member 10 is directly fixed to the luggage body
to eliminate the fabric strap and the slot-like aperture of the
prior art. Thus, the female engagement member 10 will not dangle on
the outer surface of the luggage when the luggage fastener is not
in use. Furthermore, the length of the female engagement member 10
is reduced by about 40% due to the elimination of the slot-like
aperture, and consequently saving about 45% of the manufacturing
material due to the provision of the hollow adjoining member as
compared to the prior art.
[0017] As shown in FIG. 2, the female engagement member 10 is a
hollow body which comprises a center adjoining member 11 at the
bottom, two bottom holes 12 provided for allowing the luggage
fastener to be threadedly secured to the luggage body, two grooves
13 adjacent to the two bottom holes 12, two open-ended sockets 14
abutting the grooves 13, and two L-shaped openings 15 provided at
the front end of the two sockets 14. Each of two L-shaped openings
has two flat protrusion surfaces 151 at the front and a smooth
rounded surface 152 at the rear.
[0018] The new male engagement member 20 has a slot-like aperture
section 21 at its rear end, two spaced front flexible hooks 22
extended from the slot-like aperture section 21, and a
tongue-shaped attachment member 23, which is integrated with the
slot-like aperture section 21 and disposed between the two hooks
22, wherein the attachment member 23 has two side ribs 25 and a
front extension 26.
[0019] When the user attempts to secure the male engagement member
20 to the female engagement member 10, the hooks 22 are inserted
into the sockets 14, while the extension 26 and the attachment
member 23 are inserted into the adjoining member 11 by guiding the
ribs 25 along the grooves 13. The male engagement member 20 is
secured to the female engagement member 10 when the extension 26
and the attachment member 23 are received into the hollow space of
the adjoining member 11.
[0020] Since the two flexible frontal hooks 22 of the male
engagement member 20 are the most advanced and protrusive sections
on the male and female coupling member's engagement portions, it is
very easy for the user to manually squeeze the two frontal hooks
22, thus disengaging the male engagement member 20 from the female
engagement member 10.
[0021] The benefits of this invention are:
[0022] 1. The elimination of the fabric strap, which dangles loose
when the fastener is not in use.
[0023] 2. The omission of the slot-like aperture of the prior art,
which was used for securing the female engagement member to the
fabric strap.
[0024] 3. The elimination of the slot-like aperture and the flat
rear sides of the openings when disengaging the male engagement
member from the female engagement member saves labor for the
user.
[0025] 4. Material savings resulting from the dual enforcement of
items 1 and 2 listed above.
[0026] 5. Easy fastening.
[0027] While the invention herein disclosed has been described by
means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and
variations could be made thereto by those who are skilled in the
art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention
set forth in the claims.
* * * * *