Frame for holding an article on the outside of luggage

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6618914
  • Patent Number
    6,618,914
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, January 8, 2002
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, September 16, 2003
    22 years ago
Abstract
A frame is designed for holding and attaching an article to the outside of a luggage and is formed of a main body and a fastening strap which is fixed at one end with the main body and is detachably retained at the other end by the main body. The main body is attached to the handle of the luggage.
Description




RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS




Not applicable.




STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT




Not applicable.




REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX




Not applicable.




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates generally to an article holding frame, and more particularly to an article holding frame for use in conjunction with luggage.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




There are always certain things that are used often while a person is traveling. It is conceivably inconvenient to keep these things inside luggage. In addition, a small briefcase or article holding bag may be conveniently attached to the outside of the luggage. There are certain conventional frames for holding articles to the outside of the luggage. These conventional frames are generally defective in design because they are complicated in construction, and because they are not cost-effective.




BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a cost-effective frame for use in holding an article to the outside of a luggage.




The article holding frame of the present invention is formed of a main body and a fastening strap. The main body is provided at one longitudinal end with a through slot, and at the other longitudinal end with a retaining slot. The fastening strap is provided at one longitudinal end with a retaining portion, and at the other longitudinal end with a fastening portion. The fastening strap is joined with the main body such that the fastening portion of the fastening strap is fixedly retained in the retaining slot of the main body, and such that the retaining portion of the fastening strap is detachably retained in a retaining hole of the main body.











The features and the advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.




BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

shows a perspective view of a prior art frame for holding an article to the outside of a luggage.





FIG. 2

shows a perspective view of the present invention.





FIG. 3

shows an exploded perspective view of the present invention.





FIG. 4

shows a longitudinal sectional view of the present invention.





FIG. 5

shows another longitudinal sectional view of the present invention.





FIG. 6

shows a schematic view of the present invention at work.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION




As shown in

FIGS. 2-6

, a frame of the present invention is formed of a main body


10


and a fastening strap


11


.




The main body


10


has a straight wall


12


and a curved wall


13


extending from the straight wall


12


. The main body


10


is provided at one longitudinal end with a through slot


121


and a retaining hole


122


, and at other longitudinal end with a retaining slot


131


which is located at the free end of the curved wall


13


.




The fastening strap


11


is provided at one longitudinal end with a retaining portion


115


, and at the other longitudinal end with a fastening portion


111


. The retaining portion


115


is provided with an arcuate neck portion


116


. The fastening strap


11


is joined with the main body


10


such that the fastening portion


111


is fixedly retained in the retaining slot


131


of the main body


10


, and such that the fastening portion


111


is located by a locating block


114


which is separated from the fastening portion


111


by a predetermined distance. The retaining portion


115


of the fastening strap


11


is detachably retained in the retaining hole


122


of the main body


10


.




The retaining hole


122


is provided with a retaining block


123


for retaining the neck portion


116


of the fastening strap


11


at such time when the retaining portion


115


of the fastening strap


11


is retained in the retaining hole


122


of the main body


10


.




The retaining block


123


of the retaining hole


122


of the main body


10


has an arcuate profile so as to accommodate the neck portion


116


of the fastening strap


11


.




As illustrated in

FIG. 6

, an article


14


is held by the frame of the present invention which is in turn attached to the luggage handle. In light of the neck portion


116


of the fastening strap


11


being securely located by the retaining block


123


of the retaining hole


122


of the main body


10


, the article


14


is held securely to the outside of the luggage. The article


14


can be easily released from the frame of the present invention by pressing the fastening strap


11


gently so as to cause the neck portion


116


of the fastening strap


11


to separate from the retaining block


123


of the retaining hole


122


of the main body


10


.



Claims
  • 1. A frame device for holding an article on an exterior of a piece of luggage comprising:a main body having a straight wall and a curved wall extending from said straight wall, said main body having a through slot at one longitudinal end thereof and a retaining hole positioned below said through slot at an end of said curved wall, said retaining hole having an insertion area and a locking area positioned above said insertion area, said insertion area having a length greater than said locking area, said locking area having a retaining block at each opposite end thereof, said retaining block having an arcuate profile on a back surface thereof; and a fastening strap having a retaining portion at a longitudinal end thereof, said fastening strap having a fastening portion at an opposite end thereof, said retaining portion having an arcuate neck portion, said fastening portion insertable through said insertion area of said retaining hole, said arcuate neck portion releasably retained against the retaining blocks of said locking area, said fastening strap being joined to said main body such that said fastening portion is fixedly retained in said retaining slot of said main body.
  • 2. The device of claim 1, said fastening strap having a locating block spaced by a predetermined distance from said fastening portion at said opposite end, said locating block juxtaposed against said end of said curved wall of said main body, said fastening portion residing inwardly of said retaining slot and against said curved wall adjacent said retaining slot.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Number Name Date Kind
5634246 Jermyn, Jr. Jun 1997 A
5769475 Tylaska Jun 1998 A
5842673 Fenton Dec 1998 A
6209179 Shou-Mao Apr 2001 B1
6347693 Chen Feb 2002 B1
6374467 Chen Apr 2002 B1
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number Date Country
07251678 Oct 1995 JP