Patent Application
20150197320
The present disclosure generally relates to travel cases and more specifically to collapsible cases for carrying surfboards.
Surfing is one of the most popular water sports around the world. In surfing, the wave rider, referred to as a surfer, rides on the forward or deep face of a moving sea wave.
Waves suitable for surfing are primarily found in a variety of exotic places. Therefore, surfers travel around the world to visit such exotic places. However, surfers typically experience difficulty traveling with a surfboard. Due to its particular shape and size, carrying the surfboard through places such as airports, train stations, and the like is inconvenient and may harm the surfboard.
It would be therefore advantageous to provide a solution that overcomes the limitations of prior art solutions by providing a carrying case that fits the carriage of a surfboard. It would be further advantageous if such a case would be easy to store when not in use.
A summary of several exemplary aspects of the disclosure follows. This summary is provided for the convenience of the reader to provide a basic understanding of such embodiments and does not wholly define the breadth of the disclosure. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated embodiments, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more embodiments in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. For convenience, the term some embodiments may be used herein to refer to a single embodiment or multiple embodiments of the disclosure.
The disclosure relates to a collapsible carrying case. The case comprises a first panel including a first center portion, a first left portion, and a first right portion, wherein the first left portion and the first right portion are foldable over the first center portion; a second panel including a second center portion, a second left portion, and a second right portion, wherein the second left portion and the second right portion are foldable over the second center portion; a peripheral frame conforming to edges of the first panel and the second panel, wherein a first portion of the peripheral frame conforming to edges of the first right portion and the second right portion is foldable generally towards the center of the first center portion and the second center portion, and wherein a second portion of the peripheral frame conforming to edges of the first left portion and the second left portion is foldable towards the center of the first center portion and the second center portion; and at least one fastener constructed to retain the collapsible carrying case in a first position for carrying content therein, and further configured to retain the collapsible carrying case in a second position when the collapsible carrying case is collapsed.
The subject matter disclosed herein is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The embodiments disclosed herein are only examples of the many possible advantageous uses and implementations of the innovative teachings presented herein. In general, statements made in the specification of the present application do not necessarily limit any of the various claimed embodiments. Moreover, some statements may apply to some inventive features but not to others. In general, unless otherwise indicated, singular elements may be in plural and vice versa with no loss of generality. In the drawings, like numerals refer to like parts through several views.
Some exemplary embodiments disclosed herein include a collapsible case for carrying one or more surfboards. The collapsible carrying case comprises a first panel and a second panel, each of the panels having foldable edges. The carrying case further comprises a peripheral frame conforming to the edges of the panels. The edges of the peripheral frame are foldable generally towards the center of the case. The carrying case further comprises one or more fasteners configured to retain the collapsible carrying case in a first position for carrying content therein, and to retain the collapsible carrying case in a second position when the collapsible carrying case is collapsed.
According to one embodiment, the first panel 110, the second panel 120, and the peripheral frame 130 are made of a semi-rigid polypropylene. The semi-rigid polypropylene enables the folding of the edges of the first panel 110, the second panel 120, and the peripheral frame 130 to the collapsible position of the collapsible carrying case 100 as well as securing the content while carried in the carrying content position. The collapsible carrying case 100 may include one or more internal padded dividers (not shown). The internal padded dividers enable the safe carriage of a plurality of content items within the collapsible carrying case 100. According to another embodiment, the first panel 110, the second panel 120, and the peripheral frame 130 may further comprise a water repellent textile in their internal portions. It should be noted that the first panel 110 and the second panel 120 may have one or more overlap areas.
The peripheral frame 130 comprises at least one handle 140-1 through 140-M (collectively referred to hereinafter as handles 140 or individually as a handle 140). The handles 140 enable easy carrying, handling, and lifting of the collapsible carrying case 100. According to one embodiment, the handles 140 may be made of at least one of: a rigid material, a semi-rigid material, a soft material, and the like. According to another embodiment, the handles 140 are connected to one or more telescopic arms (not shown). The one or more telescopic arms enable a configuration of the handle 140 to different heights.
The peripheral frame 130 may further comprise at least one strap 150-1 through 150-m (collectively referred to hereinafter as straps 150 or individually as a strap 150). The straps 150 enable the attachment of the collapsible carrying case 100 to at least one of: one or more shoulder straps, one or more vehicle hangers, and the like. The collapsible carrying case 100 further comprises at least one wheel 160-1 through 160-N (collectively referred to hereinafter as wheels 160 or individually as a wheel 160). According to one embodiment, the wheels 160 may be omni-directional. In a further embodiment, the wheels 160 are located on an opposite end of the collapsible carrying case 100 from the handles 140.
The collapsible carrying case 100 further comprises at least one fastener 170-1 through 170-O (collectively referred to hereinafter as fasteners 170 or individually as a fastener 170). The at least one fastener 170 is configured to retain the collapsible carrying case 100 in the carrying content position, and further configured to retain the collapsible carrying case 100 in the collapsed position. The fasteners 170 are at least one of: zippers, straps, buckles, buttons, and the like. The fastener(s) 170 further enable the opening and closing of the collapsible carrying case 100. According to one embodiment, the at least one fastener 170 further enables the extension of the collapsible carrying case 100 in at least one of: length, width, and depth.
In this exemplary embodiment the wheels 160 are located on the surface of the peripheral frame 130 adjacent to the ground. The handles 140 are located on the opposite surface of the peripheral frame 130, in this case the surface opposite the ground. At least one strap 150 is located near the handle 140 on the same surface. Fasteners 170 are located on opposite edges of the same surface as the handles 140 and at least one strap 150. This embodiment is non-limiting and the handles 140, straps 150, wheels 160, and fasteners 170 may be located on any surfaces or edges of the collapsible carrying case 100.
The peripheral frame 130 comprises a first portion 133 and a second portion 135. The first portion 133 of the peripheral frame 130 conforming to edges of the right portion 117 is foldable generally towards the center of the center portion 113. The second portion 135 of the peripheral frame 130 conforming to edges of the left portion 115 is foldable generally towards the center of the center portion 113. According to one embodiment, the peripheral frame 130 further comprises a center portion 137 made of a rigid material. The third center portion 137 enables the securing of content carried in the collapsible carrying case 100 while in a collapsible position as further described herein below with respect of
All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future, i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure.
This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/US15/10781 filed on Jan. 9, 2015, which claims priority from United States provisional application No. 61/927,246, filed on Jan. 14, 2014. The contents of the above-referenced applications are incorporated herein by reference for all that it contains.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61927246 | Jan 2014 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/US15/10781 | Jan 2015 | US |
| Child | 14612899 | US |
