The present invention relates to a luggage case, and more particularly to a hard luggage case that is so configured that a user can adjust a receiving space thereof according to actual need in use and easily visually determine the remaining receiving space available in the luggage case.
A traveler often uses a luggage case to conveniently hold personal items and clothes therein. To protect the luggage case against damage during travel, most of the currently available luggage cases are so designed that they have an outer frame with a fixed shape and structural strength sufficient to resist forces externally applied thereto. The currently available luggage cases are also internally provided with binding straps or other holding means for holding personal items and clothes in place in the luggage cases.
However, in the process of packing the luggage case, a user usually puts the things to be carried in the body portion 95 instead of the cover portion 96 of the luggage case. When it is necessary to use the extendable structure 97 to expand the receiving space, the user has to pile all things in the body portion 95 beyond the open side thereof and then closes the cover portion 96 onto the body portion 95 with the extendable structure 97 in a stretched state. With this design, the user can not easily determine whether there is any remaining receiving space available for use before the cover portion 96 is closed onto the body portion 95. And, there are times the user fails to correctly determine the available receiving space and packs the luggage case with too many things. As a result, the cover portion 96 just could not be closed to the body portion 95 even if the extendable structure 97 has been fully stretched.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a hard luggage case that provides an expandable receiving space for carrying things, and allows a user to easily visually determine the remaining receiving space available in the luggage case.
To achieve the above and other objects, the hard luggage case according to the present invention includes a cover portion; a body portion including a base section and an extension section telescopically fitted in the base section, and the base section and the extension section being made of a rigid material to maintain the luggage case in its designed shape and to provide required supporting strength; at least one extendable structure being configured as a tubular member made of a flexible material and connected at two axially opposite ends to the base section and the extension section; a first fastening structure being correspondingly connected to along facing ends of the base section and the extension section; and a second fastening structure being correspondingly connected to along facing ends of the cover portion and the extension section.
In a preferred embodiment, the extendable structure is a tubular member formed by sewing woven fabrics together.
In a preferred embodiment, the first fastening structure is a zipper correspondingly connected to along two facing ends of the base section and the extension section of the body portion; and the second fastening structure is a zipper correspondingly connected to along two facing ends of the cover portion and the extension section of the body portion.
In another preferred embodiment, the cover portion is made of a rigid material and has a raised top with rounded edges and corners, and the cover portion and the body portion respectively have two wheels symmetrically mounted near a lower left and a lower right corner thereof.
In a further preferred embodiment, the base section and the extension section of the body portion respectively have two wheels symmetrically mounted near a lower left and a lower right corner thereof, such that the wheels are evenly distributed on a lower sidewall of the body portion.
The present invention is characterized in a hard luggage case that has rigid walls to provide lightweight but strong structure, a body portion including an extension section telescopically fitted in a base section, and an extendable structure connected to between the extension section and the base section of the body portion for axially stretching to expand the receiving space in the hard luggage case. And, by providing the extendable structure on the body portion instead of the cover portion of the luggage case, a user packing the luggage case can easily visually determine the remaining receiving space available in the luggage case.
The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein
The present invention will now be described with some preferred embodiments thereof and with reference to the accompanying drawings. For the purpose of easy to understand, elements that are the same in the preferred embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals.
Please refer to
Another two wheels 13 are symmetrically mounted to a lower sidewall of the body portion 20 near a lower left and a lower right corner thereof. With the two pairs of wheels 13, the hard luggage case can be freely and easily moved around by a user. The hard luggage case of the present invention further includes an extendable structure 30 provided between the base section 21 and the extension section 22. The extendable structure 30 is a tubular member 31 made of a flexible material. In the illustrated embodiment, the tubular member 31 is formed by sewing two or more pieces of woven fabric together. The extendable structure 30 is connected at two axially opposite ends to the base section 21 and the extension section 22, such that a user may stretch the tubular member 31 in an axial direction thereof to increase the receiving space defined between the base section 21 and the extension section 22 when necessary. A first fastening structure 32 having two mating parts is provided along two facing ends of the base section 21 and the extension section 22. In the illustrated embodiment, the first fastening structure 32 is a zipper 33 having a first tooth row and a mating second tooth row, which are correspondingly sewed to along the facing ends of the base section 21 and the extension section 22. When the tubular member 31 is in a folded or collapsed state, the zipper 33 can be closed to fixedly hold the extension section 22 to the base section 21, preventing the body portion 20 from unexpected expansion.
It is understood the above description about the types and materials of the tubular member 31 is only exemplary and not intended to limit the present invention in any way. That is, the tubular member 31 can be otherwise a bellow or a netlike structure, depending on actual need in use. Further, the tubular member 31 can be otherwise made of any flexible sheet material selected from the group consisting of nonwoven cloth, leather, and plastic materials.
Further, a second fastening structure 11 is provided between the cover portion 10 and the extension section 22 to openably close the cover portion 10 to an open side of the body portion 20. In the embodiment illustrated in
It is understood the above description about the positions and quantity of the wheels 13 is only illustrative and not intended to limit the present invention in any way. For example, depending on actual need in use, it is also possible to provide only two wheels 13 and mount the same near the lower left and the lower right corner of the base section 21 of the body portion 20 while two legs can be mounted to the lower sidewall of the cover portion 10 or the extension section 22.
Please refer to
In brief, the present invention is characterized in a hard luggage case that has rigid walls to provide lightweight but strong structure; a body portion including an extension section telescopically fitted in a base section; and an extendable structure connected to between the extension section and the base section of the body portion for axially stretching to expand the receiving space in the hard luggage case. And, by providing the extendable structure on the body portion instead of the cover portion of the hard luggage case, a user can conveniently stretch the tubular member and easily visually determine the remaining receiving space available in the luggage case.
The present invention has been described with some preferred embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.