FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a suitcase structure that can be closed or opened via a latching assembly, and more particularly, to a suitcase structure having a latching assembly that would not separate from the suitcase structure when being collided with a foreign object while the suitcase structure is pulled to move around.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A suitcase is generally carried by a user during a holiday trip or a sightseeing travel abroad for holding personal things. Presently, there are various kinds of suitcases available in the market featured by different functions and designs to satisfy users' increasing demands. Most of the suitcases are mainly formed of two shells, which are selectively openably closed to each other using zippers or latches. Therefore, the suitcases currently available in the market can be generally divided into two types, namely, zipper suitcases being openably closed using zippers and zipperless suitcases being openably closed using latches.
When a zipperless suitcase is in a closed state, the latches on the suitcase respectively have a large part protruded from outer surfaces of the two shells, such that most outer surfaces of the latches are exposed to an external space. When the zipperless suitcase is pulled to move around, the exposed outer surfaces of the latches tend to collide with other objects. In some worse condition, the latches become separated from the shells and lose their function of closing the zipperless suitcase.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a suitcase structure with an improved latch configuration. The latch is not protruded from an outer surface of the suitcase structure when it is in a latched position to close the suitcase structure, and accordingly, would not separate from the suitcase structure even when it collides with an external object while the suitcase structure is pulled to move around.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved suitcase structure that allows a user to conveniently retrieve things from the suitcase structure when the same is in an upright state. Further, things received in the suitcase structure would not fall out of the suitcase structure undesirably when the latter is opened.
To achieve the above and other objects, the suitcase structure according to the present invention includes a case portion, a cover portion, and a latching assembly.
The case portion includes a case bottom wall, a case sidewall enclosing four sides of the case portion, and a case-side transitional edge portion located between and connected to the case bottom wall and the case sidewall. The case sidewall has an end defining a case opening and the case bottom wall is located at another opposite end of the case sidewall to be spaced from the case opening. The case sidewall further has a sunken area formed on one side of the case side wall near the case opening to provide a case-side recess, which defines a case-side receiving space having an open top of the case-side receiving space flush with an outer surface of the case sidewall.
The cover portion is pivotally turnably connected to the case portion, such that the cover portion can be swung relative to the case portion to selectively open or close the case opening. The cover portion includes a cover top wall located spaced from the case bottom wall, a cover sidewall located in alignment with the case sidewall when the cover portion is closed to the case opening, and a cover-side transitional edge portion located between and connected to the cover top wall and the cover sidewall. The cover portion has a sunken area extended from the cover-side transitional edge portion to the case sidewall to provide a cover-side recess. The cover-side recess is aligned with the case-side recess and defines a cover-side receiving space, an open top of the cover-side receiving space flush with an outer surface of the cover sidewall and the cover-side transitional edge portion.
The latching assembly includes a latch capable of straddling across the case-side recess and the cover-side recess, and a retainer formed in the cover-side recess. The latch includes a pivoting section corresponding to the case-side recess and a latching section corresponding to the cover-side recess. The pivoting section is pivotally connected to the case sidewall, such that the latch can be swung for the pivoting section to move toward and receive in the case-side recess and for the latching section to move into the cover-side recess to be retained to the retainer.
In a preferred embodiment, a distance between the spaced case bottom wall and the case opening is defined as a case thickness, and an end of the cover sidewall farther away from the cover top wall defines a cover opening. The cover top wall is spaced from the cover opening and a distance between them is defined as a cover thickness. The cover thickness is smaller than the case thickness; and a ratio of the case thickness to the cover thickness is 7.25˜7.5:1.5˜1.75.
The outer surface of the cover-side transitional edge portion is configured as a cover-side curved surface, and the latching section has an outer surface configured as a latch-side curved surface. The latch-side curved surface has a curvature the same as that of the cover-side curved surface.
The retainer includes an extended section extended from the cover portion, and a retaining section further extended from the extended section. The retaining section is located spaced from an inner surface of the cover-side recess, such that a retaining space is formed between the retaining section and the inner surface of the cover-side recess. The latching section has a length being receivable in the retaining space and retained to the retaining section.
The present invention is characterized in that, when the latch of the latching assembly is retained to the retainer of the latching assembly, the pivoting section and the latching section of the latch are located in the case-side recess and the cover-side recess, respectively, such that the whole latch is received in the case-side recess and the cover-side recess at the same time. Therefore, the latch is not protruded from the case portion and the cover portion. When the suitcase structure is pulled to move around, any external object colliding with the latch would only impact the outer surface of the latch without causing separation of the latch from the case portion. That is, the latch of the present invention is not easily separable from the suitcase structure even it is subjected to an impact of an external force.
Further, since the case portion has a thickness larger than that of the cover portion, more articles can be contained in the case portion than the cover portion. Therefore, the suitcase structure of the present invention not only allows a user to retrieve things from the suitcase structure when the latter is laid horizontally, but also allows the user to conveniently retrieve the things when the suitcase structure is in an upright state. Further, things received in the suitcase structure would not fall out of the suitcase structure undesirably when the latter is opened.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings, wherein
FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view of a suitcase structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the suitcase structure of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an exploded sectional side view of the suitcase structure of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is an assembled perspective view showing a cover portion is pivotally turnable relative to a case portion of the suitcase structure of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged, partially sectional side view showing a latch of the present invention before it is mounted to the case portion and the cover portion of the suitcase structure;
FIG. 6 shows the latch of FIG. 5 is mounted to the case portion of the suitcase structure of the present invention and located at a released position;
FIG. 7 shows a retaining section of the latch of the present invention is moved into a retaining space on the cover portion; and
FIG. 8 shows the latch is fully moved into a latched position on the suitcase structure of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention will now be described with a preferred embodiment thereof and by referring to the accompanying drawings.
Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2. A suitcase structure 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a case portion 10, a cover portion 20, and a latching assembly 30. As can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the case portion 10 includes a case sidewall 11 enclosing four sides of the case portion 10 and a substantially rectangular case bottom wall 12. The case sidewall 11 has an end that defines a case opening 13, and has sunken areas formed on different sides thereof near the case opening 13 to provide a case-side recess 14 each. Each of the case-side recesses defines a case-side receiving space 141, which has an open top flush with an outer surface of the case sidewall 11. The case bottom wall 12 is located at another end of the case sidewall 11 opposite to the case opening 13, such that the case bottom wall 12 is spaced from the case opening 13. A case-side transitional edge portion 15 is provided between and connected to the case sidewall 11 and the case bottom wall 11, so that the case sidewall 11 is not directly located adjoining the case bottom wall 12. As can be seen in FIG. 3, since the case bottom wall 12 is spaced from the case opening 13, there is a distance between the case bottom wall 12 and the case opening 13, and the distance is defined as a case thickness H1.
Please refer to FIGS. 2 and 3. The cover portion 20 includes a substantially U-shaped cover sidewall 21 and a substantially rectangular cover top wall 22. The cover sidewall 21 has an end that faces toward the case opening 13 and defines a cover opening 23. The cover opening 23 has a contour smaller than that of the case opening 13. The cover top wall 22 is located at another end of the cover sidewall 21 facing away from the cover opening 23, such that the cover top wall 22 is spaced from the cover opening 23. The cover top wall 22 has a contour smaller than that of the case bottom wall 12. A cover-side transitional edge portion 24 is provided between the cover sidewall 21 and the cover top wall 22, so that the cover sidewall 21 is not directly located adjoining the cover top wall 22. The cover-side transitional edge portion 24 has a rounded outer surface, which is defined as a cover-side curved surface 241. As shown, the cover portion 20 has sunken areas that are extended from the cover-side transitional edge portion 24 to the cover sidewall 21 to provide a cover-side recess 25 each. Each of the cover-side recesses 25 defines a cover-side receiving space 251, which has an open top flush with an outer surface of the cover sidewall 21 and the cover-side curved surface 241. Further, since the cover top wall 22 is spaced from the cover opening 23, there is a distance between the cover top wall 22 and the cover opening 23, and the distance is defined as a cover thickness H2. The cover thickness H2 is smaller than the case thickness H1. In the preferred embodiment, a ratio of the case thickness H1 to the cover thickness H2 is 7.25˜7.5:1.5˜1.75.
Please refer to FIGS. 3 and 4. The cover sidewall 21 of the cover portion 20 is pivotally turnably connected to the case sidewall 11 of the case portion 10, such that the cover portion 20 can be swung relative to the case portion 10 to selectively open or close the case opening 13 of the case portion 10. When the cover portion 20 closes the case opening 13, the cover opening 23 of the cover portion 20 is located adjacent to the case opening 13, and the cover top wall 22 of the cover portion 20 is spaced from the case bottom wall 12 of the case portion 10, while the cover sidewall 21 of the cover portion 20 is aligned with the case sidewall 11 of the case portion 10.
Meanwhile, the cover-side recesses 25 on the cover portion 20 are in one-to-one correspondence with the case-side recesses 14 on the case portion 10, such that the cover-side recesses 25 are correspondingly communicable with the case-side recesses 14.
Please refer to FIGS. 2, 3 and 5. The latching assembly 30 includes a plurality of latches 31 and a plurality of retainers 32. The latches 31 are in one-to-one correspondence with the case-side recesses 14 on the case portion 10, and respectively have a length being a pivoting section 311. The remaining length of each latch 31 is a latching section 312 that is forward extended from the pivoting section 311. The latching assembly 30 further includes a swing arm 33 disposed between each set of corresponding pivoting section 311 and case-side recess 14. More specifically, the swing arm 33 is connected at an end to the case sidewall 11 of the case portion 10 and at another opposite end to the pivoting section 311, such that each of the latches 31 can swing to and fro about the swing arm 33 relative to the case portion 10, allowing the pivoting section 311 to move into the corresponding case-side recess 14 and be fitly received in the case-side receiving space 141 while the latching section 312 is located outside the case-side recess 14. The latching section 312 has an outer surface configured into a latch-side curved surface 312a, which has a curvature the same as that of the cover-side curved surface 241. On the other hand, the retainers 32 are in one-to-one correspondence with the cover-side recesses 25 on the cover portion 20. As shown, each of the retainers 32 includes an extended section 321 extended from the cover portion 20 and a retaining section 322 further extended from the extended section 321 in an opposite direction to a location spaced from an inner surface of the cover-side recess 25, such that a retaining space 323 is formed between the retaining section 322 and the inner surface of the cover-side recess 25.
Please refer to FIGS. 5 and 6. The latch 31 of the latching assembly 30 is located at a released position P1, i.e. the whole latch 31 is pivotally connected to one end of the swing arm 33 and located outside the case-side recess 14 on the case portion 10. When the latch 31 is in the released position P1, the cover portion 20 can be pivotally turned relative to the case portion 10.
Please refer to FIGS. 5 and 7. When the latch 31 of the latching assembly 30 is swung from the released position P1 counterclockwise, a front part of the latching section 312 can be moved to the cover-side recess 25 on the cover portion 20 to be received in the retaining space 323 of the retainer 32. At this point, the pivoting section 311 of the latch 31 is located outside the case-side recess 14 on the case portion 10.
Please refer to FIGS. 5 and 8. Then, the latch 31 of the latching assembly 30 can be swung about the swing arm 33 clockwise, so that the pivoting section 311 of the latch 31 is moved into the case-side recess 14 on the case portion 10. At this point, the front part of the latching section 312 is still received in the cover-side recess 25 on the cover portion 20, so that the latching section 312 fitly covers the cover-side receiving space 251 of the cover-side recess 25. That is, the latch 31 is now located at a latched position P2 with the latching section 312 being retained to the retainer 32. With the latching section 312 being retained to the retainer 32 on the cover portion 20, the cover portion 20 is not pivotally turnable relative to the case portion 10 and can therefore keep closing the case opening 13 of the case portion 10. In the preferred embodiment, when the latch 31 is in the latched position P2, it straddles across the case-side recess 14 and the cover-side recess 25 while the pivoting section 311 of the latch 31 has a large part being located in the case-side recess 14 without protruding therefrom. That is, the pivoting section 311 is covered on the case-side receiving space 141 on the case portion 10 with an outer surface of the pivoting section 311 being flush with the outer surface of the case sidewall 11 of the case portion 10. Meanwhile, a large part of the latching section 312 is received in the cover-side recess without protruding from therefrom. That is, the latching section 312 is covered on the cover-side receiving space 251 on the cover portion 20 with the latch-side curved surface 312a being flush with the cover-side curved surface 241 of the cover portion 20. With these arrangements, when the suitcase structure 1 being pulled to move around is collided with some external object, the external object would only contact with a top outer surface of the latch 31 without endangering other areas of the latch 31. Therefore, the latch 31 of the present invention is not easily separable from the case portion 10 even if the latch 31 is subjected to an external force or a collision with an external object.
The present invention has been described with a preferred embodiment thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiment can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.
Patent Application
20240130499
