Patent Application
20110048882
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to luggage and more particularly, to a detachable luggage that reduces storage space and allows replacement of its shell.
2. Description of the Related Art
A regular luggage generally is composed of a top shell, a bottom shell, and a zip fastener. The top and bottom shells are hinged together by hinge means so that the top and bottom shells can be closed together and opened from each other. The zip fastener is provided between the top and bottom shells for opening/closing the luggage. The bottom shell is usually equipped with rollers and a retractable handle so that the user can carry the luggage on the floor smoothly with less effort.
A luggage enables a user to carry things conveniently. However, the luggage requires much storage space when it is not used and it is inconvenient to store a luggage in the limited house space. Further, after a long use, the shell of the luggage may be damaged or too dirty to use. When this problem occurs, the user may directly throw away the luggage, thus increasing the amount of garbage and environmental burden. Besides, the luggage usually has a fixed size, so a user cannot change the capacity of the luggage to fit different application requirements.
The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is the primary of the present invention to provide a detachable luggage, which greatly reduces space storage when it is not used.
It is secondary objective of the present invention to provide a detachable luggage, whose shell is replaceable when it is damaged, thus reducing the amount of garbage and environmental burden.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a detachable luggage, whose shell can be replaced by those of different sizes for the user's convenience.
To achieve the foregoing objectives of the present invention, the detachable luggage comprises a top shell, a bottom shell, and a zip fastener. The top shell has a face wall and a peripheral wall extending from the border of the face wall. The bottom shell has a base wall and a peripheral wall extending from the border of the base wall. The zip fastener comprises an upper zipper tape affixed to the peripheral wall of the top shell, a bottom zipper tape affixed to the peripheral wall of the bottom shell, two retainer boxes, each of which is affixed to one of two distal ends of the bottom zipper tape, two insertion pins, each of which is affixed to one of two distal ends of the upper zipper tape and is inserted into one of the retainer boxes, and two slides slidably coupled between the upper zipper tape and the bottom zipper tape for joining the upper and bottom zipper tapes.
Referring to
The top shell 20 has a face wall 22, a peripheral wall 24 extending from the border of the face wall 22, and a foot member 26 located at the peripheral wall 24.
The bottom shell 30 has a base wall 32, a peripheral wall 34 extending from the border of the base wall 32, two carrying handles 36 located at the peripheral wall 34, two rollers 38 pivotally mounted to the peripheral wall 34 at one side, and a retractable handle 39 affixed to an opposite side of the peripheral wall 34 relative to the rollers 38.
The zip fastener 40 includes an upper zipper tape 41, a bottom zipper tape 42, two retainer boxes 43, two insertion pins 44, two slides 45, and two finger taps 46. The upper zipper tape 41 is affixed to the border of the peripheral wall 24 of the top shell 20, having two distal ends 411 disposed in proximity to each other and a plurality of teeth 412 arranged along its external edge. The bottom zipper tape 42 is affixed to the border of the peripheral wall 34 of the bottom shell 30, having two distal ends 421 disposed in proximity to each other and a plurality of teeth 422 arranged along its external edge for engagement with the teeth 412.
The two retainer boxes 43 are respectively affixed to the two distal ends 421 of the bottom zipper tape 42. The two insertion pins 44 are respectively affixed to the two distal ends 411 of the upper zipper tape 41 for insertion into the retainer boxes 43 respectively. Alternatively, the retainer boxes 43 can be respectively affixed to the two distal ends 411 of the upper zipper tape 41, and the insertion pins 44 can be respectively affixed to the two distal ends 421 of the bottom zipper tape 42 for insertion into the retainer boxes 43.
The two slides 45 are slidably coupled between the upper zipper tape 41 and the bottom zipper tape 42 to join the upper zipper tape 41 and the bottom zipper tape 42 together. When one of the slides 45 is moved along one direction, the teeth 412 of the upper zipper tape 41 and the teeth 422 of the bottom zipper tape 42 are interlocked. On the contrary, when one of the slides 45 is moved along the other direction, the teeth 412 and 422 are separated from each other.
The two finger taps 46 are respectively affixed to the two distal ends 411 of the upper zipper tape 41 to facilitate the user's inserting the insertion pin 44 into the corresponding retainer box 43. The finger taps 46 are not absolutely requisite but optional elements in the present invention.
The use of the detachable luggage 10 is same as that of a regular luggage. When the slides 45 are moved in reverse directions to the positions shown in
After separation of the top shell 20 from the bottom shell 30, the top shell 20 can be put into the bottom shell 30 to reduce storage space of the detachable luggage 10. Further, if the top shell 20 is damaged or too dirty to use, the user can purchase a new top shell 20 to substitute for the damaged top shell without throwing away the whole luggage, thereby saving a lot of costs and reducing the garbage amount and environmental burden. Besides, another of the top shell 20 having a different size can be connected with the bottom shell 30 to constitute a luggage having a different capacity for convenience in use and requirements in different applications.
Based on the spirit of the present invention, the structure of the detachable luggage may be modified. For example, there can be two of the zip fasteners instead of one single zip fastener. According to a second embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.
