Patent Application
20180122344
The invention relates to travelling cases for musical instruments, most notably guitar cases.
The soft outer case serves to reduce the cost of traveling with additional instruments, most notably guitars, on commercial aircrafts generally in half by providing a guitar model-specific designed soft outer cases which allow the traveler to combine two hard shell guitar traveling cases inside of one single soft outer case. Typically, this qualifies the two guitars as “one” piece of luggage, if under 50 lbs., at most domestic and international airlines and therefore the traveler is only charged a fee for “one” additional piece of excess luggage instead of two separate excess pieces.
The invention is preferably a manufactured item for traveling on commercial aircraft with musical instruments, most often, acoustic guitars. However, the invention can be used with instruments other than guitars. Airlines charge on average $35 to $200 per extra piece of oversized checked-in baggage up to 50 lbs. For traveling musicians, this makes it more expensive to take more than one instrument with them in order to perform at their best as it becomes expensive when they are on tour, traveling from location to location. Most airlines allow a maximum of 62 linear inches on checked bags and charge Oversized Bag Fees for anything above that limit. Since a single guitar in a hard shell case typically measures between 66 and 70 linear inches, it by itself is in the category of oversized baggage. This invention allows the traveler to double their guitar count to two, by only adding approximately 5-6 linear inches to the total linear inch count. The linear inch length and width remain the same and the additional depth of the second guitar case makes the total between 71 and 76 linear inches, well under the firm maximum of 80 inches.
The invention is a soft outer cover which preferably fits tightly around two guitar hard shell cases that are stacked one on top of the other. In the instance where there are two guitar hard shell cases which are not identical in shape and or size, there are preferably two straps inside the soft outer case which will pull the two hard shell cases together to prevent them from slipping apart.
Various embodiments of the soft outer case can accommodate three (3) basic guitar hard shell case designs and sizes (
The components are labelled as:
The invention preferably tightly zips around the stacked guitar hard shell cases and creates one single carrying case. The soft shell material 405 can be made of vinyl, canvas, cotton, plastic, leather, rubber, wool, denim, tweed or any material and combination of materials which are strong enough to hold together two guitar cases weighing over 50 lbs.
The invention also preferably has zipped pockets on the inside 445 and outside 435 for additional guitar gear. The invention also preferably has wheels 430 on the bottom end of the soft outer case 400 in order to easily roll the soft outer case 400 from one point to another by a pulling or pushing, using a handle 425 at the opposite end of the soft outer case 400. These wheels 430 can be made to be detachable or retractable in order to lessen the linear inch total if necessary and they may be stored inside the soft outer case. The invention also preferably has carrying handles/straps 420 in the center on the side in order to be carried in a suitcase fashion. The invention preferably also has a configuration zipper 440 which runs the length of the soft outer case which zips approximately half of the soft outer case inside in order to be able to be used as a single exterior cover for when there is only one guitar case inside which requires additional protection.
The relationship between the components/elements are preferably as follows: the soft outer case 400 includes soft shell material 405, the exterior zipper 410 is to help to tighten and secure the two cases inside the soft outer case (the invention), as are the additional straps inside 415. The inside pocket(s) 445 and the outside pocket(s) 435 are for additional materials to be carried along with the guitar cases. The carrying handles 420 are to carry the soft outer case from one point to another. The wheels 430 at the bottom of the soft outer case 400 allows for easy transporting without carrying the soft outer case by pulling or pushing, using the top handle 425.
The components work individually and together as follows: The oversized soft guitar case 400 holds two hard-shell guitar cases in place. There are three standard shapes of hard-shell guitar cases and each will have its own version of this invention. Other embodiments of the soft outer case will accommodate combinations of the three standard hard-shell guitar cases. For example, one embodiment may accommodate a rectangular electric guitar case and a flat bottom case. In another embodiment, the soft outer case will be configured to accommodate and combination of two of the three standard hard-shell guitar cases. The exterior zipper 410 will hold and secure the hard-shell cases inside the outer shell as well as prevent them from falling out. The stabilizing straps inside 415 the soft outer case 400 will preferably help aid in the securing of the two inner hard-shell cases. The outside pocket(s) 435 and inside pocket(s) 445 are preferably for additional materials and are independent of the utility of the outer case, found on both the inside and outside of the Invention. The carrying handles 420 are preferably for moving the combined hard-shell cases inside the soft outer case from one point to another. The wheels 430 allow for easier transporting so not to have to lift the entire soft outer case up at once to move it.
The soft shell material 405 of the soft outer case 400 is made by sewing the soft outer shell of the case (invention) together using either and/or a combination of fabrics and materials including but not limited to canvas, cotton, nylon, plastic and leather, or any other suitable material. The first shape is the standard Dreadnaught and Jumbo acoustic guitar hard shell case shape, whereby the outer case (the invention) shape is measured to tightly fit the exact shape of the guitar case which resemble the shape of an acoustic guitar. The depth of the soft outer case is that of the depth of two standard hard-shell cases sitting one on top of each other in a mirrored position, which is approximately 10 to 12 inches. The soft outer case (the invention) will typically need to be slightly larger in order to fit the two cases inside and to be able to zip it closed. The second style of hard-shell case is that of a standard electric guitar case and is a long rectangular case and approximately half the depth of that of the acoustic guitar cases, creating a total depth of approximately 5 to 6 inches combined. The handles and pockets and wheels, all remain intact to each variation of the design.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein also can be used in the practice or testing of the present disclosure
It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “and”, and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
While the present disclosure has been described with reference to the specific embodiments and examples thereof, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adopt a particular situation, material, composition of matter, process, process step or steps, to the objective spirit and scope of the present disclosure. All such modifications are intended to be within the scope of the claims appended hereto. For example and without limitation, the present invention can also be applied to other instruments such as banjos, mandolins, violins, etc.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62202102 | Aug 2015 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 15231748 | Aug 2016 | US |
| Child | 15854711 | US |
