Information
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Patent Grant
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6290040
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Patent Number
6,290,040
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Date Filed
Monday, May 1, 200024 years ago
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Date Issued
Tuesday, September 18, 200123 years ago
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Inventors
-
-
Examiners
Agents
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CPC
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US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 190 18 A
- 190 39
- 190 115
- 016 104
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International Classifications
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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 |
|