U.S. patent application number 10/663303 was filed with the patent office on 2005-03-17 for case having shell members formed from molded plastic shell parts and a fabric covering.
This patent application is currently assigned to EMINENT LUGGAGE CORP.. Invention is credited to Hsieh, Dick-Ming.
Application Number | 20050056511 10/663303 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34274345 |
Filed Date | 2005-03-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050056511 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hsieh, Dick-Ming |
March 17, 2005 |
Case having shell members formed from molded plastic shell parts
and a fabric covering
Abstract
A case includes a pair of shell members that cooperate to form a
receiving space. Each shell member includes a pair of upright side
shell parts, a top shell part, a bottom shell part, and a fabric
covering. The side shell parts are molded integrally from plastic,
form opposite sidewall boundaries of the receiving space, and have
upper and lower sections. The top and bottom shell parts are
disposed between and are connected to the upper and lower sections
of the side shell parts, respectively, and cooperate with the side
shell parts to form top and bottom wall boundaries of the receiving
space, respectively. The fabric covering has opposite edges
connected respectively to the side shell parts, and extends to
conceal outer surfaces of the top and bottom shell parts.
Inventors: |
Hsieh, Dick-Ming; (Tainan
Hsien, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
RITTER, LANG & KAPLAN
12930 SARATOGA AE. SUITE D1
SARATOGA
CA
95070
US
|
Assignee: |
EMINENT LUGGAGE CORP.
Tainan Hsien
TW
|
Family ID: |
34274345 |
Appl. No.: |
10/663303 |
Filed: |
September 16, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
190/125 ;
190/111; 190/115 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A45C 13/04 20130101;
A45C 5/045 20130101; A45C 5/14 20130101; A45C 5/06 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
190/125 ;
190/111; 190/115 |
International
Class: |
A45C 003/00; A45C
013/00; A45C 013/26 |
Claims
I claim:
1. A case comprising a pair of shell members that cooperate to form
a receiving space of said case, each of said shell members
including: a pair of upright side shell parts molded integrally
from plastic, spaced apart from each other, and forming opposite
sidewall boundaries of the receiving space, each of said side shell
parts having upper and lower sections; a top shell part disposed
between and connected to said upper sections of said side shell
parts, said top shell part cooperating with said side shell parts
to form a top wall boundary of the receiving space; a bottom shell
part disposed between and connected to said lower sections of said
side shell parts, said bottom shell part cooperating with said side
shell parts to form a bottom wall boundary of the receiving space;
and a fabric covering having opposite edges connected respectively
to said side shell parts, said fabric covering extending to conceal
outer surfaces of said top and bottom shell parts.
2. The case as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said side shell
parts, said top shell part and said bottom shell part is angled
such that said side shell parts, said top shell part and said
bottom shell part cooperate to form a through hole that is covered
by said fabric covering.
3. The case as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said top and
bottom shell parts is molded integrally from plastic.
4. The case as claimed in claim 1, wherein said fabric covering of
at least one of said shell members has an outer surface provided
with a pocket.
5. The case as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lower section of at
least one of said side shell parts has a caster mounted
thereon.
6. The case as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a retractable
handle assembly mounted on one of said shell members.
7. The case as claimed in claim 6, wherein said retractable handle
assembly includes a guide tube unit mounted fixedly on an interior
side of at least one of said top and bottom shell parts of said one
of said shell members, and an extension handle member extendable
and retractable through said guide tube unit.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The invention relates to a case, more particularly to a case
having shell members formed from molded plastic shell parts and a
fabric covering.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional case includes a pair of
complementary integrally molded plastic shell members 11. Although
the shell members 11 can provide adequate protection to articles
inside the case against impact, the shell members 11 are heavy and
increase the weight of the case considerably, thereby resulting in
inconvenience during transport. Moreover, the outer appearance of
the shell members is relatively monotonous since only concave or
convex patterns can be formed on the outer surfaces of the shell
members for aesthetic purposes. In addition, the outer surfaces of
the shell members are not provided with pockets to receive small
objects, such as pens, manuals, maps, etc.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide
a case having shell members formed from molded plastic shell parts
and a fabric covering so as to overcome the aforesaid drawbacks of
the prior art.
[0006] Accordingly, the case of this invention comprises a pair of
shell members that cooperate to form a receiving space of the case.
Each of the shell members includes a pair of upright side shell
parts, a top shell part, a bottom shell part, and a fabric
covering.
[0007] The side shell parts are molded integrally from plastic, are
spaced apart from each other, form opposite sidewall boundaries of
the receiving space, and have upper and lower sections.
[0008] The top shell part is disposed between and is connected to
the upper sections of the side shell parts, and cooperates with the
side shell parts to form a top wall boundary of the receiving
space.
[0009] The bottom shell part is disposed between and is connected
to the lower sections of the side shell parts, and cooperates with
the side shell parts to form a bottom wall boundary of the
receiving space.
[0010] The fabric covering has opposite edges connected
respectively to the side shell parts, and extends to conceal outer
surfaces of the top and bottom shell parts.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] Other features and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent in the following detailed description of the
preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings,
of which:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional case;
[0013] FIG. 2 is a partly exploded perspective view of the
preferred embodiment of a case according to the present
invention;
[0014] FIG. 3 is an assembled perspective view of the preferred
embodiment;
[0015] FIG. 4 is a front view of the preferred embodiment; and
[0016] FIG. 5 is a rear view of the preferred embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0017] Referring to FIGS. 2 to 5, the preferred embodiment of a
case according to the present invention is shown to comprise a pair
of shell members 2, a pull handle 4, a set of casters 6, and a
retractable handle assembly 7.
[0018] The shell members 2 cooperate to form a receiving space 20
of the case. Each of the shell members 2 includes a pair of upright
side shell parts 21, a top shell part 22, a bottom shell part 23,
and a fabric covering 26.
[0019] The side shell parts 21 are molded integrally from plastic,
are spaced apart from each other, form opposite sidewall boundaries
of the receiving space 20, and have upper and lower sections.
[0020] The top shell part 22 is molded integrally from plastic, is
disposed between and is connected to the upper sections of the side
shell parts 21, such as with the use of stitch seams (not shown),
and cooperates with the side shell parts 21 to form a top wall
boundary of the receiving space 20.
[0021] The bottom shell part 23 is molded integrally from plastic,
is disposed between and is connected to the lower sections of the
side shell parts 21, such as with the use of stitch seams (not
shown), and cooperates with the side shell parts 21 to form a
bottom wall boundary of the receiving space 20.
[0022] The fabric covering 26 has opposite edges connected
respectively to the side shell parts 21, such as with the use of
stitch seams (not shown), and extends to conceal outer surfaces of
the top and bottom shell parts 22, 23.
[0023] Each of the side shell parts 21, the top shell part 22 and
the bottom shell part 23 is angled such that the side shell parts
21, the top shell part 22 and the bottom shell part 23 cooperate to
form a through hole 24 that is covered by the fabric covering
26.
[0024] It should be noted herein that it is possible to select the
material, pattern and color of the fabric covering 26 so as to vary
among different cases of the present invention.
[0025] The pull handle 4 is mounted fixedly on the top shell part
22 of one of the shell members 2 to facilitate moving of the
case.
[0026] Each of the casters 6 is capable of 360.degree. rotation on
a horizontal plane, and is mounted on the lower section of a
respective one of the side shell parts 21 of the shell members
2.
[0027] In this embodiment, the retractable handle assembly 7
includes a guide tube unit 71 mounted fixedly on an interior side
of each of the top and bottom shell parts 22, 23 of one of the
shell members 2, and an extension handle member 72 extendable and
retractable through the guide tube unit 71.
[0028] The fabric covering 26 of each shell member 2 has an outer
surface provided with a pocket 5. Each pocket is preferably
registered with the through hole 24 of the corresponding shell
member 2 and is made of a fabric material such that, when an object
is placed in the pocket 5, the object can be prevented from being
damaged by the hard shell parts 21, 22, 23 of the shell members 2.
In addition, not only does it make it easier to put in and take out
objects from the pocket 5, the fabric covering 26 also provides a
buffer area to minimize the presence of protruding contours at the
pocket 5 when an object is received in the latter.
[0029] As shown in FIG. 4, the pocket 5 on one of the shell members
2 includes an inner pocket layer 51 sewn to the fabric covering 26,
and an outer pocket layer 52 that is connected to the inner pocket
layer 51 through a zipper 50 and that cooperates with the inner
pocket layer 51 to form a pocket space. The inner pocket layer 51
has pen sleeves 53 sewn thereon. The inner pocket layer 51 further
has a stack of card retainers 54 sewn thereon. A net layer 55 is
retained on an inner surface of the outer pocket layer 52 for
retaining notebooks and other miscellaneous objects. As shown in
FIG. 5, the pocket 5 on the other one of the shell members 2 is
shown to be in the form of a pouch with a top opening. In practice,
the pockets 5 on the shell members 2 can have various designs to
suit different user requirements.
[0030] In sum, the case of this invention has the following
advantages:
[0031] 1. Instead of being formed wholly and integrally from molded
plastic, the shell members of this invention are formed from
interconnected side, top and bottom molded shell parts which form a
through hole to reduce the total weight of the case while providing
adequate strength to lateral, top and bottom sides of the case for
protection of encased objects.
[0032] 2. Since the sizes of each of the shell parts are relatively
small in comparison to that of the shell members, smaller molds are
required to fabricate the same, thereby resulting in lower costs
during mass production.
[0033] 3. By changing the material, pattern or color of the fabric
coverings, cases that differ in appearance can be easily
produced.
[0034] 4. The pockets on the fabric coverings enhance utility of
the case.
[0035] 5. As the pockets are registered with the through holes in
the shell members, the fabric coverings can provide a buffer effect
for objects placed in the pockets that permits handier access to
the objects and that results in a more slender appearance when the
objects are placed in the pockets.
[0036] While the present invention has been described in connection
with what is considered the most practical and preferred
embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to
the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various
arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest
interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and
equivalent arrangements.
* * * * *