Soft handle luggage

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6290040
  • Patent Number
    6,290,040
  • Date Filed
    Monday, May 1, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, September 18, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Weaver; Sue A.
    Agents
    • Harrison & Egbert
Abstract
A soft handle for luggage including a soft grip tube, a fabric strap, an arcuate bracing rod, and two fastening bases. The fabric strap is put through the soft grip tube such that the unexposed portion of the fabric strap is braced by the arcuate bracing rod, and that two exposed ends of the fabric strap are fastened to the luggage frame by the two fastening bases in conjunction with a plurality of rivets.
Description




TECHNICAL FIELD




The present invention relates generally to luggage, and more particularly to a soft handle of luggage.




BACKGROUND ART




As shown in

FIGS. 1 and 2

, a prior art luggage is provided with a soft handle


10


which is formed of a fabric body


11


and a leather jacket


12


fitted over the fabric body


11


. The fabric body


11


is fastened at both ends thereof to a luggage frame


13


by a plurality of rivets


14


.




Such a prior art soft handle


10


as described above is defective in design because the soft handle


10


is apt to deform due to the weight of the articles contained in the luggage. The deformed handle is likely to cause discomfort or even injury to the hand. In addition, the fabric body


11


is fastened to the luggage frame


13


by a plurality of rivets


14


, which undermine the aesthetic effect of the luggage and are apt to rust. Moreover, a trademark label cannot be easily attached to the prior art soft handle


10


.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a luggage with a soft handle which is free from the shortcomings of the prior art soft handle described above.




In keeping with the principle of the present invention, the foregoing objective of the present invention is attained by a soft handle which is fastened to a luggage frame and is formed of a soft grip tube, a fabric strap, an arcuate bracing rod, and two fastening bases. The fabric strap is put through the soft grip tube and is supported by the arcuate bracing rod such that both ends of the fabric strap are fastened to the top side of the luggage frame by the two fastening bases.




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











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

shows a perspective view of a prior art soft handle of luggage.





FIG. 2

shows a sectional view of the prior art soft handle of luggage.





FIG. 3

shows a perspective view of a soft handle of the present invention in conjunction with luggage.





FIG. 4

shows an exploded view of the soft handle of the present invention.





FIG. 5

shows a sectional view of the soft handle of the present invention.





FIG. 6

shows a cross-sectional view of the soft handle of the present invention.





FIG. 7

shows a cross-sectional view of the fastening base of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION




As shown in

FIGS. 3-7

, a soft handle embodied in the present invention is fastened to a luggage


1


and is formed of soft grip tube


20


, a fabric strap


30


, an arcuate bracing rod


40


, and two fastening bases


50


.




The soft grip tube


20


is made of a soft plastic material and is provided in the underside thereof with an elastic piece


21


having a corrugated surface


22


. The soft grip tube


20


is provided in the upper surface thereof with a plurality of arcuate through holes


23


, and, in the center of the upper surface thereof, with a rectangular hole


24


dimensioned to receive a locating piece


25


. The locating piece


25


is provided in the underside thereof with two retaining pillars


26


which are inserted into the soft grip tube


20


.




The fabric strap


30


is put through the soft grip tube


20


such that both ends of the fabric strap


30


are exposed, and such that the unexposed portion of the fabric strap


30


is braced by the bracing rod


40


.The fabric strap


30


is provided in the top thereof with two holes


31


into which the two retaining pillars


26


of the locating piece


25


are inserted. The arcuate bracing rod


40


is provided in the top of the fabric strap


30


with two retaining holes


41


in which the two retaining pillars


26


are retained via the two holes


31


of the fabric strap


30


.




As shown in

FIG. 5

, the two exposed ends of the fabric strap


30


are affixed to the frame of the luggage


1


by the fastening bases


50


, which are formed of a seat


51


and a cover


52


. The seat


51


is provided with a retaining seat


511


having two riveting holes


512


and a stopping wall


514


, and is further provided with a retaining slot


515


opposite in location to the stopping wall


514


. The cover


52


is provided in the underside of a front end thereof with a retaining block


523


and an arresting wall


522


, and is further provided in the underside of a rear end thereof with a receiving slot


521


.




Each of the two exposed ends of the fabric strap


30


is fastened to the frame of the luggage


1


by two rivets


60


which are fastened onto the exposed end of the fabric strap


30


and the frame of the luggage


1


via the riveting holes


512


. The two rivets


60


are concealed by the cover


52


which is connected to the seat


51


such that the retaining block


523


of the cover


52


is retained in the retaining slot


515


of the seat


51


, and such that the retaining seat


511


is received in the receiving slot


521


of the cover


52


.




The soft grip tube


20


is formed of an upper tube portion


201


and a lower tube portion


202


by injection molding.




The soft grip tube


20


is provided with the corrugated surface


22


and the arcuate through holes


23


, which give added comfort to a hand holding the soft grip tube


20


. In addition, the soft grip tube


20


is immune from a severe deformation caused by the weight of the articles contained in the luggage


1


.




The soft grip tube


20


is provided with the rectangular hole


24


for receiving the locating piece


25


. The locating piece


25


can be used to separate the rectangular flat surface for attaching a trademark pattern thereto.




The rivets


60


used to fasten the fabric strap


30


are concealed by the covers


52


of the two fastening bases


50


. As a result, the rivets


60


are less likely to rust. In addition, the aesthetic effect of the soft handle of the present invention is not compromised by the rivets


60


which are well concealed by the covers


52


of the fastening bases


50


.



Claims
  • 1. A soft handle of luggage, said soft handle comprising:a soft grip tube provided in an underside thereof with an elastic piece having a corrugated surface, and in an upper surface thereof with a plurality of arcuate through holes and a rectangular hole located in the center of said soft grip tube and dimensioned to receive therein a locating piece whereby said locating piece is provided in an underside thereof with two retaining pillars extending into said soft grip tube; a fabric strap put through said soft grip tube such that both ends of said fabric strap are exposed, and that an unexposed portion of said fabric strap is contained by said soft grip tube; a bracing rod disposed in said unexposed portion of said fabric strap to brace said unexposed portion whereby said arcuate bracing rod is provided in the top with two retaining holes in which said two retaining pillars are retained via two holes of the top of said fabric strap; and two fastening bases, with each being formed of a seat and a cover, each of said seats being provided with a retaining seat having a plurality of riveting holes and a stopping wall, each of said seats further provided with a retaining slot opposite in location to said stopping wall, said respective covers being provided in an underside thereof with a retaining block, an arresting wall, and a receiving slot; each of said two exposed ends of said fabric strap being fastened to a luggage frame by a plurality of rivets whereby said rivets are fastened onto said exposed ends of said fabric strap and the luggage frame via said riveting holes, said cover being connected to said seat such that said retaining block of said cover is retained in said retaining slot of said seat, and that said retaining seat is received in said receiving slot of said cover.
  • 2. The soft handle of a luggage as defined in claim 1, wherein said soft grip tube is formed of an upper tube portion and a lower tube portion by injection molding.
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number Name Date Kind
4364150 Remington Dec 1982
5440783 Allardyce et al. Aug 1995