Patent Application
20240292933
The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present disclosure. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art nor material to the presently described or claimed inventions, nor that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
The present invention relates generally to the field of luggage of existing art and more specifically relates to luggage accessories.
Luggage is used for the purpose of transporting personal belongings, such as clothing, toiletries, and other items, when traveling. Baggage claim, also known as baggage reclaim or baggage carousel, is the area at an airport where passengers collect their luggage after it has been unloaded from an aircraft. Due to the amount of luggage circulating in baggage claim, it is important for travelers to be able to easily identify their luggage. Otherwise, problems occur; such as travelers spending extra time searching for their luggage, difficulty for the airlines in locating misplaced or lost luggage, and an increased risk of theft of the luggage if not clearly labeled as belonging to a specific person.
Further, in many circumstances, such as for security checks, customs inspections, convenience, etc., travelers choose to leave their luggage unlocked. However, this can cause the luggage to inadvertently open, which often results in the loss of valuable or irreplaceable items. As such, a suitable solution is desired.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known luggage accessory art, the present disclosure provides a novel luggage identifying sleeve. The general purpose of the present disclosure, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a sleeve device that is configured to be positioned around a piece of luggage and allows a user to readily identify the piece of luggage during travel.
A compressible sleeve is disclosed herein. The compressible sleeve is used for readily identifying a piece of luggage and may include a band and a fastener element. The band may be formed as a continuous loop and may include an inner surface opposite an outer surface. Further, the band may be constructed from an elasticated material such that the band is compressively fittable around the piece of luggage. The fastener element may be attached to the inner surface of the band and configured to fasten to a handle of the piece of luggage. The band and the fastener element may act in combination to provide improved identification of the piece of luggage and redundant securement of the piece of luggage when in use during travel.
According to another embodiment, a kit for use in unifying a plurality of mismatched pieces of luggage is also disclosed herein. The kit may include a plurality of compressible sleeves. Each of the compressible sleeves may include the band and the fastener element, as above. At least the outer surface of the each of the plurality of compressible sleeves may share the same functional decoration. As such, mismatched pieces of luggage are readily identifiable as a set.
For purposes of summarizing the invention, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features of the invention have been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein. The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings and detailed description.
The figures which accompany the written portion of this specification illustrate embodiments and methods of use for the present disclosure, a luggage identifying sleeve, constructed and operative according to the teachings of the present disclosure.
The various embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein like designations denote like elements.
As discussed above, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to luggage accessories and more particularly to a luggage identifying sleeve. Generally, in some embodiments the luggage identifying sleeve may include an easily applied closed loop, stretch fit band. Particularly, the band may be constructed of a dual ply colored, patterned, branded, etc. spandex fabric and may include a small loop of fabric sewn into an interior seam to attach the band to a luggage handle. The band may include a width of 5 inches, and may be available in two sizes of lengths-ranging between 12-16 inches. The band is easily attached to luggage without the use of buckles, clips or other breakable portions and may be provided in unlimited designs and colors.
The luggage identifying sleeve enables a user to readily identify their luggage from a long distance, and also unifies two or more mismatched pieces of luggage. In addition, tension applied to the luggage via the band may enable zipper pull tabs of the luggage to be placed underneath the band and prevented from moving, thus minimizing potential for luggage to be accidentally opened during transit.
Referring now more specifically to the drawings by numerals of reference, there is shown in
Referring more specifically to
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As above, the compressible sleeve 100 may include at least one luggage-identifier for readily identifying the piece of luggage 5. As shown in
In some examples, as shown in
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In use of the compressible sleeve 100, the user may thread the strap 121 of the compressible sleeve 100 under and through the side handle 10 of the piece of luggage 5. The user may then thread the band 110 through the loop of the strap 121 and pull the band 110 through so that the strap 121 ‘loops’ around the handle 10 of the piece of luggage 5 and thereby attaches the compressible sleeve 110 to the piece of luggage 5. The user may then stretch the continuous loop of the band 110 over a top side of the piece of luggage 5, with the functional decoration 130 facing outward, and position the band 110 such that the pull tabs 15 of the at least one zip fastener 20 on the piece of luggage 5 are held under tension of the band 110.
It should be noted that certain steps are optional and may not be implemented in all cases. It should also be noted that the steps described in the method of use can be carried out in many different orders according to user preference. The use of “step of” should not be interpreted as “step for”, in the claims herein and is not intended to invoke the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112 (f). It should also be noted that, under appropriate circumstances, considering such issues as design preference, user preferences, marketing preferences, cost, structural requirements, available materials, technological advances, etc., other methods for using the compressible sleeve are taught herein.
The embodiments of the invention described herein are exemplary and numerous modifications, variations and rearrangements can be readily envisioned to achieve substantially equivalent results, all of which are intended to be embraced within the spirit and scope of the invention. Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientist, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application.
