BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a luggage, more particularly to a luggage having a handle unit with an abutting member that abuts against a case body of the luggage for preventing damage to a retaining unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a conventional wheeled luggage 2 that includes a case body 20 formed with a pair of handle-storing tubes 22, and a handle unit 21 including a pair of handle rods 25. Each of the handle rods 25 is pivoted to a corresponding slider 23 that is slidably disposed in a respective one of the handle-storing tubes 22 so as to permit retraction of the handle rods 25 into the handle-storing tubes 22, respectively, when the handle rods 25 are disposed in a non-inclined position relative to the handle-storing tubes 22, and so as to permit pivoting movement of the handle rods 25 relative to the handle-storing tubes 22 when the handle rods 25 are fully extended from the handle-storing tubes 22. A retaining unit includes a pair of engaging parts 261 disposed movably and respectively in the handle rods 25 and engaging respectively and releasably engaging grooves 232 that are formed in one end 231 of the sliders 23 in the handle-storing tubes 22 so as to retain the handle unit 21 at a desired inclined position relative to the case body 20. The conventional luggage 2 can be moved in a pulling manner or a pushing manner using the handle unit 21.
The conventional luggage 2 is disadvantageous in that the retaining unit tends to get damaged when the case body 20 is fully loaded and is moved in the pushing manner using the handle unit 21. In addition, since the engaging grooves 232 in the ends 231 of the sliders 23 are normally shallow, the engaging parts 261 tend to disengage from the engaging grooves 232 during the pushing operation of the case body 20.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a luggage with an abutting member that is connected to the handle unit of the luggage and that is capable of overcoming the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art.
According to the present invention, there is provided a luggage that comprises: a case body; a handle-storing unit including at least a guiding rail that is secured to the case body, and that has opposite front and rear end portions and a bottom wall which is formed with a through-hole defined by a hole-defining wall and disposed adjacent to the front end portion of the guiding rail, the hole-defining wall having an abutting face; a slider mounted slidably on the guiding rail, and slidable on the guiding rail between a first position, in which the slider is disposed adjacent to the rear end portion of the guiding rail, and a second position, in which the slider is disposed adjacent to the front end portion of the guiding rail; a coupling unit pivoted to the slider; a handle unit including at least an elongated handle rod that is coupled to the slider through the coupling unit and that is pivotable relative to the slider when the slider is disposed at the second position; an abutting member pivoted to the slider, having an abutting protrusion that protrudes therefrom, and driven by the handle rod through the coupling unit to pivot relative to the slider from a first angular position to a second angular position when the handle rod is pivoted relative to the slider from a non-inclined position to an inclined position relative to the guiding rail, the abutting protrusion being disposed outwardly of the through-hole when the abutting member is disposed at the first angular position and when the slider is disposed at the second position, and extending into the through-hole and being disposed frontwardly of and abutting against the abutting face of the hole-defining wall when the abutting member is disposed at the second angular position and when the slider is disposed at the second position; and a retaining unit for retaining the handle rod at a desired angle relative to the guiding rail when the slider is disposed at the second position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In drawings which illustrate an embodiment of the invention,
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional luggage;
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary schematic view of the conventional luggage;
FIG. 3 is a side view of the preferred embodiment of a luggage according to this invention;
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of the preferred embodiment;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, partly cutaway, schematic top view of the preferred embodiment;
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary top sectional view to illustrate the preferred embodiment in a state where a slider is disposed at a first position, where an abutting member is disposed at a first angular position, where a handle rod is disposed at a non-inclined position relative to a guiding rail, and where first and second toothed parts engage each other;
FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side sectional view to illustrate the preferred embodiment in the state shown FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a fragmentary top sectional view to illustrate the preferred embodiment in a state where the slider is disposed at the first position, where the abutting member is disposed at the first angular position, where the handle rod is disposed at the non-inclined position, and where the first and second toothed parts are disengaged from each other;
FIG. 9 is a fragmentary side sectional view to illustrate the preferred embodiment in a state where the slider is disposed at a second position, where the abutting member is disposed at the first angular position, and where the handle rod is disposed at the non-inclined position;
FIG. 10 is a fragmentary side sectional view to illustrate the preferred embodiment in a state where the slider is disposed at the second position, where the abutting member is disposed at a second angular position, and where the handle rod is disposed at an inclined position;
FIG. 11 is fragmentary side sectional view to illustrate the preferred embodiment in a state where the handle rod is disposed at an inclined angle different from that of the inclined position of the handle rod shown in FIG. 10;
FIG. 12 is fragmentary side sectional side to illustrate the preferred embodiment in a state where the handle rod is disposed at a right angle relative to the guiding rail; and
FIG. 13 is a schematic side view to illustrate different adjustable positions of the handle rod of the preferred embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIGS. 3 to 7 illustrate the preferred embodiment of a wheeled luggage according to this invention. The wheeled luggage includes a case body 31 and a handle assembly mounted on the case body 31.
The handle assembly includes: a handle-storing unit 40 including a pair of parallel guiding rails 42, each of which is secured to the case body 31 and each of which has opposite front and rear end portions 421, 422 and a bottom wall 424 which is formed with a through-hole 45 (see FIGS. 9 and 10) defined by a hole-defining wall and disposed adjacent to the front end portion 421 of the respective guiding rail 42, the hole-defining wall having an abutting face 451; a pair of sliders 60, each of which is mounted slidably on a respective one of the guiding rails 42, and each of which is slidable on the respective guiding rail 42 between a first position (see FIGS. 5, 6 and 7), in which the slider 60 is disposed adjacent to the rear end portion 422 of the respective guiding rail 42, and a second position (see FIG. 9), in which the slider 60 is disposed adjacent to the front end portion 421 of the respective guiding rail 42; a pair of coupling units 80, each of which is pivoted to a respective one of the sliders 60; a handle unit 50 including a grip part 56 and a pair of elongated handle rods 51, each of which is coupled to a respective one of the sliders 60 through a respective one of the coupling units 80 and each of which is pivotable relative to the respective slider 60 when the respective slider 60 is disposed at the second position (see FIGS. 9 to 12); a pair of abutting members 70, each of which is pivoted to a respective one of the sliders 60, each of which has an abutting protrusion 74 that protrudes therefrom, and each of which is driven by a respective one of the handle rods 51 through a respective one of the coupling units 80 to pivot relative to the respective slider 60 from a first angular position (see FIG. 9) to a second angular position (see FIG. 10) when the handle rods 51 are pivoted relative to the sliders 60 from a non-inclined position (see FIG. 9) to an inclined position (see FIG. 10) relative to the guiding rails 42, the abutting protrusion 74 being disposed outwardly of the through-hole 45 when the respective abutting member 70 is disposed at the first angular position and when the sliders 60 are disposed at the second position (see FIG. 9), and extending into the through-hole 45 and being disposed frontwardly of and abutting against the abutting face 451 of the hole-defining wall when the respective abutting member 70 is disposed at the second angular position and when the sliders 60 are disposed at the second position (see FIG. 10); and a retaining unit 90 for retaining the handle rods 51 at a desired angle relative to the guiding rails 42 when the sliders 60 are disposed at the second position.
In this embodiment, the abutting members 70 are pivoted relative to the respective sliders 60 in a first direction from the first angular position to the second angular position when the handle rods 51 are pivoted relative to the respective sliders 60 in a second direction opposite to the first direction from the non-inclined position (see FIG. 9) to the inclined position (see FIG. 10).
Referring back to FIG. 4, in combination with FIGS. 6 and 7, each of the sliders 60 has a case part 61 that defines a chamber 610 therein and that has opposite top and bottom walls 612, 613 and two opposite side walls 614 extending between the top and bottom walls 612, 613. Each of the abutting members 70 is pivoted to the side walls 614 of the case part 61 of the respective slider 60. The bottom wall 613 of the case part 61 is formed with a bottom opening 65 for extension of the abutting protrusion 74 therethrough.
The case part 61 further has a front wall 611 that interconnects the side walls 614 of the case part 61 and that is formed with a pair of slots 64. Each of the abutting members 70 further has a pair of driven protrusions 73 protruding therefrom through the slots 64, respectively, in the front wall 611 toward a respective one of the coupling units 80. Each of the sliders 60 further has a pivot part 62 that protrudes frontwardly from the front wall 611 of the case part 61 toward the respective coupling unit 80. Each of the coupling units 80 includes a pivot joint 81 that is pivoted to the pivot part 62 of the respective slider 60 and that has a pair of driving protrusions 813 respectively in sliding contact with the driven protrusions 73 of the respective abutting member 70 so as to drive the abutting members 70 to pivot relative to the sliders 60 when the handle rods 51 are pivoted relative to the sliders 60, respectively.
Each of the guiding rails 42 is in the form of a rectangular tube, defines a channel 425 (se FIG. 5) therein, and further has a top wall 423 that is opposite to the bottom wall 424 of the guiding rail 42. Each of the sliders 60 is confined in the channel 425 in the respective guiding rail 42 and each of the handle rods 51 is fully retracted into the channel 425 in the respective guiding rail 42 when the sliders 60 are disposed at the first position. The top wall 423 of each of the guiding rails 42 is formed with an elongated opening 43 (see FIG. 7) that has a closed end 431 (see FIG. 9) disposed adjacent to the front end portion 421 of the guiding rail 42 and that is defined by an opening-defining wall which has a stopping face 432 at the closed end 431 of the opening 43. The top wall 612 of the case part 61 is formed with an elastic protrusion 63 that projects into the opening 43 (see FIGS. 7 and 9) in the top wall 423 of the respective guiding rail 42 and that abuts against the stopping face 432 of the opening-defining wall (see FIG. 9) such that at least a portion of the case part 61 remains in the channel 425 in the respective guiding rail 42 and that the handle rods 51 are fully extended from the guiding rails 42 when the sliders 60 are disposed at the second position. Note that the pivot part 62 of each of the sliders 60 is disposed outwardly of the channel 425 in the respective guiding rail 42 when the sliders 60 are disposed at the second position.
Each of the handle rods 51 is hollow. Each of the coupling units 80 further has a mounting seat 82 that extends frontwardly from the pivot joint 81 and into a respective one of the handle rods 51. Each of the retaining units 90 includes a first toothed part 91 that is formed on the pivot part 62 of a respective one of the sliders 60, and a second toothed part 92 that is mounted movably on the mounting seat 82 of a respective one of the coupling units 80 and that engages releasably the first toothed part 91 (see FIGS. 7, 9, 10, 11, and 12) so as to retain the handle rods 51 at the desired angle relative to the guiding rails 42 when the sliders 60 are disposed at the second position.
Each of the handle rods 51 has a rear end 511, and is formed with two opposite retaining holes 55 (see FIGS. 4 and 6) disposed adjacent to the rear end 511. The mounting seat 82 of each coupling unit 80 is formed with two opposite retaining protrusions 88 that extend respectively into the retaining holes 55 so as to be held to the respective handle rod 51.
The luggage further includes a pair of releasing units 100, each of which includes a main body 101 mounted movably on the mounting seat 82 of a respective one of the coupling units 80 and formed with a first cam 102. Each of the releasing units 100 further includes a first cam follower 98 extending frontwardly from the second toothed part 92, a first urging member 99 for urging the second toothed part 92 to move in a rearward direction toward the first toothed part 91, and a rod-shaped operating member 54 extending into a respective one of the handle rods 51 for moving the first cam 102 in a first transverse direction relative to the rearward direction. The first cam 102 engages slidably the first cam follower 98 in such a manner that movement of the first cam 102 in the first transverse direction results in movement of the second toothed part 92 in a frontward direction opposite to the rearward direction against urging action of the first urging member 99 so as to disengage the second toothed part 92 from the first toothed part 91 (see FIG. 8).
An operating button 53 is mounted on the grip part 56, which interconnects front ends of the handle rods 51, is connected to the operating members 54, and is pressable so as to actuate the operating members 54 to drive the first cam 102 to move in the first transverse direction.
Each of the releasing units 100 further includes a second cam 107 formed on a rear end of a respective one of the operating members 54, a second cam follower 104 extending from the main body 101, and a second urging member 106 for urging the second cam follower 104 together with the main body 101 and the first cam 102 in a second transverse direction opposite to the first transverse direction. The second cam 107 engages slidably the second cam follower 104 in such a manner that movement of the respective operating member 54 in the rearward direction results in movement of the second cam follower 104 and the first cam 102 in the first transverse direction against urging action of the second urging member 106.
Each of the abutting members 70 further has an elastic tail 75 that extends therefrom to abut elastically against the elastic protrusion 63 of the case part 61 of a respective one of the sliders 60 and that is elastically deformed (see FIG. 10) when the respective abutting member 70 is pivoted from the first angular position to the second angular position so as to accumulate a restoring force to restore the respective abutting member 70 from the second angular position to the first angular position when the handle rods 51 are pivoted from the inclined position to the non-inclined position.
Referring back to FIGS. 4 and 6, the first cam follower 98 includes two opposite side walls, each of which is formed with a V-shaped notch 95 and each of which defines a cam face 982. The first cam 102 protrudes from the main body 101 into the notches 95 in the side walls of the first cam follower 98, and is in sliding contact with the cam faces 982 of the first cam follower 98.
The bottom wall 424 of each of the guiding rails 42 is further formed with an aperture 44 (see FIGS. 5 and 6). The main body 101 of each of the releasing units 100 is further formed with a push protrusion 103 that protrudes therefrom through the respective handle tube 51 and into the aperture 44 in the bottom wall 424 of the respective guiding rail 42.
The handle rods 51 can be further pivoted from the inclined angle relative to the guiding rails 42 shown in FIG. 10 to different angles as shown in FIGS. 11 to 13. The extent of position adjustment of the handle rods 51 relative to the guiding rails 42 through engagement and disengagement of the first and second toothed parts 91, 92 depends on the configuration (teeth number) of the first and second toothed parts 91, 92.
The case body 31 includes a top wall, a bottom wall opposite to the top wall and provided with wheels thereon, and lateral side walls extending between the top and bottom walls. In this preferred embodiment, the handle assembly is mounted on the top wall in such a manner that that handle rods 51 extend in a horizontal direction relative to the ground when the handle rods 51 is disposed at the non-inclined position. Alternatively, the handle assembly can be mounted on one of the side walls so that the handle rods 51 extend in a vertical direction relative to the ground when the handle rods 51 is disposed at the non-inclined position.
With the inclusion of the abutting members 70, which can be operated by the handle unit 50 and which functions to abut against the case body 31 when the luggage is moved in a pushing manner using the handle unit 50, in the luggage of this invention, the aforesaid drawbacks associated with the prior art can be eliminated.
With the invention thus explained, it is apparent that various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It is therefore intended that the invention be limited only as recited in the appended claims.
Patent Grant
7380647
