Patent Application
20170360165
Robert Plath, an airline pilot, is generally credited with inventing the modern style rolling suitcase. Plath is the inventor of U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,487, which discloses a luggage assembly comprising a suitcase having integrally connected thereto a laterally extendable handle at its upper end and a wheel assembly (usually a pair of wheels) at its lower end. To effect transport, the handle is moved from a lowered, compact, position to a raised position and the suitcase is tilted from an upright standing position to a canted position in which it is supported solely by its wheels and rolled by pulling said handle. An attachment allows for additional luggage items to be carried by the assembly and transported in a fully balanced manner. This type of rolling suitcase is sold, e.g., under the trademark Rollaboard® by Travelpro International, Inc.
In a variation of this concept, so-called “spinner” suitcases include four wheels at the lower (usually smaller) end. Spinner suitcases are designed for the four wheels to remain level, in contact with the ground or floor and be free spinning, not to be tilted and rolled like two wheeled rolling suitcases.
Rolling luggage is convenient if one is using only a single suitcase or one rolling suitcase and a smaller bag, e.g., a laptop case, that can be carried on top of and attached to the rolling suitcase. However, rolling suitcases become inconvenient when one is traveling with two or more larger suitcases.
Various proposals have been made for combination rolling carts and suitcases. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,720,656 discloses combination rolling cart and suitcase that includes a base suitcase, an external support frame, a plurality of steel stabilizers, a plurality of permanent adjustable straps and plurality of attachment points where the attachment points receive and removably couple the permanent adjustable straps to secure one or more suitcases across a top portion of the combination rolling cart and suitcase. The combination rolling cart and suitcase also includes a pair of telescoping handles, a telescoping stem, a releasable handle lock, a plurality of omnidirectional casters and a lid releasably fastened to the base suitcase.
In the various combination rolling cart and suitcase proposals, three or four wheels are installed on the large bottom face of the suitcase. However, having the three or four wheels exposed on the bottom face of the suitcase poses problems for stacking the suitcases in modern airline cargo holds. Therefore, a number of such proposals have complicated arrangements for retracting some or all of the wheels within the bottom face of the suitcase. These disadvantages are likely why such proposals have not been commercially popular.
It is therefore still desirable to have a modern style rolling suitcase, either of the two-wheeled tilt and rolling type or of the four wheeled spinner type, which can easily be converted into a suitcase cart, but does not have the disadvantage of having permanently installed wheels on its bottom face and/or have the disadvantage of a complicated wheel retraction mechanism.
Therefore, the present invention provides a suitcase including a kit to convert the suitcase to a luggage cart. The suitcase includes a suitcase base having a major bottom wall, opposing front side and rear side walls and opposing top and bottom end walls, the major bottom wall, the front side wall, rear side wall, top end wall and bottom end wall together forming a luggage compartment. A suitcase lid is operably connected to the suitcase base, the suitcase lid having a closed position closing the luggage compartment and an open position allowing access to the luggage compartment in the suitcase base. At least one pair of wheels extends from the bottom end wall of the suitcase base configured to allow the suitcase to be rolled in an upright position with the bottom end parallel to the ground or in a position with the top end tilted toward the user such that the bottom end is tilted from parallel. At least three sockets are installed in spaced relation in the major bottom wall of the suitcase base and open to an outside of the suitcase and at least three stem casters are also provided, each stem caster having a wheel rotatable in a housing and a stem attached to the housing, each stem being configured to be removably secured in one of the at least three sockets. When the at least three stem casters are secured in the at least three sockets and the bottom wall of the suitcase base is arranged facing the ground with the wheels of the at least three stem casters touching the ground, the suitcase is useable as a luggage cart by piling at least one further suitcase over the suitcase lid.
The present invention provides a suitcase including a kit to convert the suitcase to a luggage cart. The suitcase includes a suitcase base having a major bottom wall, opposing front side and rear side walls and opposing top and bottom end walls, the major bottom wall, the front side wall, rear side wall, top end wall and bottom end wall together forming a luggage compartment. A suitcase lid is operably connected to the suitcase base, the suitcase lid having a closed position closing the luggage compartment and an open position allowing access to the luggage compartment in the suitcase base. At least one pair of wheels extends from the bottom end wall of the suitcase base configured to allow the suitcase to be rolled in an upright position with the bottom end parallel to the ground or in a position with the top end tilted toward the user such that the bottom end is tilted from parallel. Thus, with one pair of wheels extending from the bottom end wall of the suitcase base, the suitcase, when not being used as a luggage cart, is still operational in its basically upright position as a two-wheeled tilt and rolling type suitcase. Similarly, with two pair of spinner-type wheels extending from the bottom end wall of the suitcase base, the suitcase, when not being used as a luggage cart, is still operational in its upright position as a the four wheeled spinner type suitcase.
At least three (preferably four) sockets are installed in spaced relation in the major bottom wall of the suitcase base and open to an outside of the suitcase and at least three (preferably four) stem casters are also provided, each stem caster having a wheel rotatable in a housing and a stem attached to the housing, each stem being configured to be removably secured in one of the at least three sockets. When the at least three (preferably four) stem casters are secured in the at least three (preferably four) sockets and the bottom wall of the suitcase base is arranged facing the ground with the wheels of the at least three stem (preferably four) casters touching the ground, the suitcase is useable as a luggage cart by piling at least one further suitcase over the suitcase lid.
In the embodiment shown, the suitcase 10 includes a retractable handle 30 as is known in the art having a retracted position with the handle being substantially flush with the top end wall as shown in the figures and an extended position with the handle extending away from the top end wall such that the handle can be used for pulling the suitcase with the top end tilted toward the user as is known in the art. An example of a suitcase having a handle 30′ in an extended position with the handle extending away from the top end wall, as is known in the art, is shown for example in connection with the top suitcase in
In another embodiment, as shown in connection with the suitcase 10′ shown in
The suitcase 10 may also have one or more fixed handles 32 on its top end wall 18 or 32′ on its front side wall 14 (see, e.g.,
The suitcase 10 or 10′ of the present invention is modified and improved from, respectively, a typical two-wheeled tilt and rolling type suitcase or a four wheeled spinner type suitcase. As most clearly shown in
When the at least three (preferably four) stem casters 36 are secured in the at least three (preferably four) sockets 34 and the bottom wall of the suitcase base is arranged facing the ground 4 with the wheels 40 of the at least three stem (preferably four) casters 36 touching the ground, the suitcase is useable as a luggage cart by piling at least one further suitcase 1, 2, 3 over the suitcase lid 24 as shown in
An adjustable length strap 46 may be provided to secure the further suitcases 1, 2, 3 over the suitcase lid 24 of the suitcase of the present invention. The strap 46 can be made of any material having sufficient strength to secure the further suitcases and can be a bungee-type strap or a canvas-type strap, the length of which can be adjusted with adjustment clips 48 as shown in the figures. When not in use, the strap 46 can be stored in the suitcase 10, e.g., in a pocket 50 provided on the suitcase 10 external to the luggage compartment. In the embodiment shown, the suitcase includes connectors 52 attached to opposing sides of the suitcase configured to connect, e.g., by male and female clips, to ends of the adjustable length strap 46.
In one embodiment shown in
It is also possible to use the handle, e.g., a retractable handle 30′ of one of the further suitcases 1, 2, 3, as shown in
The bottom 12 of the suitcase is strengthened to receive the sockets 34 and casters 36 and to support the further suitcase(s) 1, 2, 3 that will be stacked on the suitcase 10 or 10′ in the luggage cart position. For example, as shown in the embodiment of
The number of suitcases that can be stacked on the suitcase of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as the suitcase of the present invention is strengthened as noted above to support heavier stacked further suitcases. In the embodiments shown in
Thus, the suitcase of the present invention, when not being used as a luggage cart, is still operational in its basically upright position as a two-wheeled tilt and rolling type suitcase or a four-wheeled spinner type suitcase. However, by including a kit comprising at least three casters, the suitcase of the present invention can be converted to a luggage cart. The kit may but does not necessarily also include an adjustable strap for securing further suitcases on the suitcase of the present invention in its luggage cart position and/or a flexible strap connectable to at least one of the top end and the bottom end of the suitcase and configured to be used to pull the suitcase when it is being used as a luggage cart.
