Patent Application
20230249893
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates to the field of luggage, more specifically, a piece of luggage that features vacuum bags integrated therein and of which save space inside of the luggage.
One of many limiting factors during travel is the amount of luggage space available. While most persons are not comfortable traveling with just the clothes on their back there is a limit to how much luggage a person can travel with. Physically a person is limited to how much they can hold and carry. Beyond physical limits, traveling with oversized or a large number of bags may incur unwanted fees, or add travel time due to the requirement to check bags, such as with airlines. Ideally, a traveler would be able to fit most if not all of their needed clothing and items in carry-on luggage, which is generally free and bypasses the bag check process. However, there are size restrictions for carry-on luggage, and many airlines limit economy passengers to one carry-on item. Thus, there is an incentive for travelers to be able to fit their luggage into a single bag.
Compression bags and compression luggage have been developed to increase the amount of usable space in luggage, functioning by compressing the luggage and expelling air. While better than regular luggage, compression bags and luggage are only able to remove air volume 25% to 33%. To obtain more usable space a vacuum must be used. A vacuum is capable of removing 50% to 60% air volume. Unfortunately, many current solutions require full size vacuums at both end of a journey. Others have introduced a more portable syringe vacuum pump, although this has the disadvantage of being labor intensive, and while smaller than full size vacuums, the portable syringes still tend to be bulky, taking up valuable space which could be used for luggage or being externally mounted which may lead to the bags being considered oversized.
By looking at prior art multiple types of advancements have been seen in similar regards. For instance, The Anthony patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,499,574) discloses a vacuum-packed suitcase with sealable compartments for vacuum sealing of articles of travel, such as clothing and makeup accessories, thereby reducing the volume of the articles of travel to a minimum and thus increasing storage efficiency. However, the suitcase does not have a male valve located on the exterior of the suitcase that marries up to a female valve located within said suitcase and upon a liner that upon deflation will increase packing efficiency within the suitcase.
The Weissman et al. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,253) discloses a suitcase that has an airtight liner that can be compressed by a vacuum pump to reduce the volume of clothes to fit within the suitcase which also has a valve to hold and release the vacuum. Again, the suitcase does not teach a male valve located on the suitcase's exterior that marries up with a female valve situated upon a liner located in the exterior of said suitcase, which will deflate said liner apart of a vacuum bag in order to increase packing efficiency within said suitcase.
The Nunez patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,870) discloses an inflatable luggage insert. However, the insert is not designed to increase packing efficiency or include valves located on a liner and exterior surface that enable a vacuum bag to be deflated therein.
The Casese et al. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,731) discloses a collapsible suitcase that provides a structure which, when in a compressed condition, will need less space for storage when not in use. However, the suitcase collapses in overall size to enable storage efficiency of the suitcase and not packing efficiency of items contained within during use.
The Choi patent (U.S. Pat. No. Des. 601,342) illustrates an ornamental design for a luggage case, which does not depict a vacuuming means or vacuum bags contained within.
The Frey et al. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,213) discloses an inflatable insert for luggage. However, the insert is designed to inflate in order to protect fragile items within and not decrease the volume of content contained within in order to protect packing efficiency.
The Tsay patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,575) discloses a vacuum extractor for a luggage article. However, the extractor does not feature a vacuuming compartment located on a separate exterior portion of said luggage in which a vacuum hose can be connected to a male valve on an exterior surface that marries up with a female valve in order to deflate a liner in connection with a vacuum bag in order to increase packing efficiency within said suitcase.
There are multiple products that are available in similar regards however these solutions are limited and restricted to their conventional systems. The current invention is focused on presenting an ergonomic built-in bag in a bag/suitcase that allows to vacuum the luggage, while also being economical to manufacture, reliable, and able to satisfy the performance expectations of the end user.
None of the previous inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Hence, the inventor of the present invention proposes to resolve and surmount existent technical difficulties to eliminate the aforementioned shortcomings of prior art.
In light of the disadvantages of the prior art, the following summary is provided to facilitate an understanding of some of the innovative features unique to the present invention and is not intended to be a full description. A full appreciation of the various aspects of the invention can be gained by taking the entire specification, claims, drawings, and abstract as a whole.
The primary desirable object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved form of ergonomic built-in bag with valve to vacuum the bag to increase the storage space.
It is also the primary objective of the invention to provide a piece of luggage with at least one vacuum bag integrated into the design of the luggage such that the vacuum bag is vacuumed from an exterior of said luggage, and with the intent of improving the packing efficiency of the luggage.
It is another objective of the invention to provide a main assembly where vacuuming means are valve and airtight zipper.
It is also the object of the invention to provide an assembly which is designed to work with all sizes and configurations of luggage both hard sided and soft sided, a suitcase type form or a duffel bag.
It is also the object of the invention to provide a bag with air valve which is made of reliable construction and are good to use for long term.
Other aspects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
This Summary is provided merely for purposes of summarizing some example embodiments, so as to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the subject matter described herein. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the above-described features are merely examples and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following Detailed Description, Figures, and Claims.
The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views, together with the detailed description below, are incorporated in and form part of the specification, and serve to further illustrate embodiments of concepts that include the claimed invention and explain various principles and advantages of those embodiments.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.
Detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment are provided herein. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed system, structure or manner.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well as the singular forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
The present invention is directed to a built-in bag with air valve to achieve bag with no air, while also being economical to manufacture, reliable, and able to satisfy the performance expectations of the end user.
The product is designed in form of a rectangular periphery with a top part designed to receive the item. The zipper of the bag is also air tight. The air valve present to create vacuum within the bag.
The vacuum bag opens into a large packing area and then is then reduced in size by vacuum to fit into the bag so it can be closed. This allows to create a luggage that can have the maximum amount of clothing stored. The design of a flexible bag that can be used in a hard or soft wall suitcase and can even be used in a retrofit situation
The bag is designed to work with all sizes and configurations of luggage both hard sided and soft sided, a suitcase type form or a duffel bag.
While a specific embodiment has been shown and described, many variations are possible. With time, additional features may be employed. The particular shape or configuration of the platform or the interior configuration may be changed to suit the system or equipment with which it is used.
Having described the invention in detail, those skilled in the art will appreciate that modifications may be made to the invention without departing from its spirit. Therefore, it is not intended that the scope of the invention be limited to the specific embodiment illustrated and described. Rather, it is intended that the scope of this invention be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in various embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.
