CA1129821A - Luggage roller with diabolo shaped wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

LUGGAGE ROLLER

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A luggage roller featuring a diabolo-shaped wheel, which is preferably detachable from the piece of luggage, i.e. a con-tainer, to which it is mounted. The diabolo-shaped wheel is more stable than prior art configurations, because of its greater ef-fective width leading to greater bearing area. The detachable feature of the wheel leads to changeability of the luggage roller wheel when wear occurs, so that the piece of luggage does not have to be discarded when the installed wheel wears down. This detach-able feature is typically attained by providing an axle on which the wheel is mounted which is detachable from the container. The axle is generally of one of several alternative configurations in which a threaded connection is provided between portions of the axle assemblage, so that one portion or part of the axle assemblage may be unscrewed from the other portion or part.

Description

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1. Fi_ d of the Invention A lugyage roller.

2. D~scription of the Prior Art In recent years it has been the practice to provide lug-gage, particularly large pieces of lugyage which when loaded are quite heavy, with several rollers on their bottoms, e.y. two pair or three pairs of rollers, whereby to enable a person to roll the luggage over fla-t surfaces withou-t strain. ~ometimes these rolle s had fixed axes of rotation and in such even-t -the axes of rotation were parallel to the bottom of the luggage and perpendicular to the length of the luggage. The axes of rotation of any pair o-E
rollel-sconverltionally were in registry. The rollers were ordi-narily located near the sides of the luggage to obtain a large spacing between them. This was done because a loaded piece of luggage had a high cen-ter of gravity and tended to become uns-tabl when tipped, or when subjected to a lateral force. By increasing the spaces between the rollers of a pair of rollers, stability was improved. It also has been proposed to provide -the sundry rollers with swivel connections to the luggage, so that the di-rection of travel of luggage could be more easily altered.
Standard rollers, and by this reference is direc-ted to the wheels as distinguished from the rotational mounting for -the wheels, ordinarily have been provided with a cross section such that the roller has a laterally curved surface whereit engagéd the ground. It is believed that this was done in an effort to minimize friction between the wheel and the ground and thus requi ed less effort to pull or push the luggage; however because of this curved ground engaging surface, the distance,between the points of contacts of two rollers of a pair of rollers was less than it effectively could be, so that the stability of the luggage using ~

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such wheels wassomewhat low. It will be appreciated that a stand ~d piece of lugyage is not particularly wide; a specific width might be somewhere be-tween 8 inches and 12 inches. ~ -typical wi~th between each wheel of a pair of rol3.er w~eels is abou~ 6 inches from outside to ou-tside; the actual spacing be-twen the points of contactisonly 5 1/2 inches so that if -the center of gravity of a loaded piece of luggage is displaced by approximately 2 inches an

3/4 inches, the luggage will fall on its side. It would be highly advantageous if this effec-tive spacing between the ex-treme points of contact of the wheels and the ground could be in-creased.
Frequently debris, e.g. small pieces of wood or dirt or pebbles, will enter into the space between the wheel and a sta-tionary part adjacent the wheel, for example a bracket that sup-ports the wheel. This will prevent the wheel from rotating freely so that the wheel becomes fixed. With a jammed wheel the luggage becomes much more difficult to push or pull; in addition when a wheel jams and slides on the ground rather than rolls, the wheel becomesflat so that subsequently even if it is freed, it no longer will roll properly since the fla-t intermittently hits the ground.
0-ther times a wheel becomes damaged in a diff~erent fashion. For example, a wheel may split, or a journal for the wheel may become worn out. When a wheel becomes defect1ve for any reason, it substantially destroys the piece of luggage forthe person owning it. The roll-about feature is totally lost. The person has the choice of using the luggage without the roll-about feature, or fixing a wheel. In most cases since the mounting for the wheel, e.g. the bracket, is permanen-tly connected to the piece of luggage, -the replacement of the wheel is a major pro-blem. A person must send the plece hack to the manufacturer or to a ~?~Z~

special repair shop. More recently, it has been propo~ed to moun roller brackets on a plate which is de~achahly secured to a plate permanently flxed -to the bot-tom of a piece o luggage. The ~heo~
is that a person of little skill can separate the -two plate~ and buy a replacemen-t plate ~ith the wheel a~-tached and substi-tute i-t for the plate having the defec-tive wheel. ~lowever this practice hasnot been accepted by the public at larye. They have purchased luggage with such detachable wheel brackets since it is a good sales feature while it is still in the store, but they have not taken advantage of this in everyday use. It would be highly de-sirable to provide a ~heel which is replaceable with much greater ease than the s-tructure utilizing detachable connecting plates.
There is another problem which has plagued the roll-about luggage industry, namely that such luggage is dif~icult to roll about on floors covered with high pile carpeting including shag rugs. It would be desirable to provide a configuration of luggage wheel which is not susceptible to this drawback and which at the same time would provide greater stability and the ability to shed debris.

SUM~IARY OF THE INVENTION
1. Purposes of the Invention It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved luggage roller. ~
Another object is to provide a luggage roller having an improved shape of roller wheel.
A further object is to provide a luggage roller for a piece of luggage which renders the piece of luggage more stable when manipulated and moved across a planar surface.

An additional object is to provide a luggage roller whic enables the piece of luggage to be more easily moved across the surface of a shag rug.

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: Still another object is to provide a luggage roller in which the wheel of the roller has grea~er bearing area than prior art wheels.
Still a further objec-t is to provide a lu~yaye ~alle~
with a diabolo-shaped wheel.
Still an addi-tional objec~ is to provide a luygaye rolle with a detachable wheel.
An object is to extend the useful life of a piece o lug gage by provided a luggage roller in whch the wheel is detachable and replaceable when worn.
An object is to provide a lug~a~e roller with a wheel having grea-ter effective width than prior art wheels.
These and other objects and advantayes oL the present invention will become evldent from the descrlption which follows.
2. Brief Description of the Inventio_ `
Within the context of the present invention, it will be understood that the term"container"encompasses and includes variou types and pieces of Iuggage such as a suitcase, a trunk,an attache case, a display case, cases for the transport of items of commerce such as jewelry, etc.
In the principal embodiment of the invention, the luggag roller includes and features a diabolo-shaped wheel. As commonly understood, a diabolo is a game in which an hourglass-shaped top s balanced and spun on a string stretched between the tips of two~
sticks, however the term'diabolo"also refers to the top used in this game. As will appear infra, the diabolo shape will be described and shown in the~ drawings.
With specific regard to the present luggage roller havi~n a diabolo-shaped wheel, the luggage roller also includes an axle, means mountinq tle wheel to =he axle for rotatlon about the , ~

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longitudinal axis of the axle, and means ~or mountiny the axle to a container, such that the container may be transported across a planar surface, by disposing the container on the planar su~face with the wheel in con-tact with -the planar surface and at least partially supporting the container.
In a preferred embodiment, each lateral outer edge o the wheel has a chamfer, -to accornmodate movement of the container across a planar surface in a curved path,or slight tilting of the container. Typically the wheel is freely and slidably mounted to the axle, so that the wheel is freely rotatable about a fixed axle, however the wheel and axle may alterna-tively be integral and laterally mounted to a roller or ball bearing mounting which accommodates concomitant rotation of the one-piece wheel and in-tegral axle. In many inst~nces a cylindrical sleeve composed of a wear-resistant material such as Teflon or other plastic materia , brass, or steel will be concentrically interposed between the wheel and the axle in order to minimize wear in service and also to provide greater strength to the wheel. This sleeve will be generally coaxial with the axle. In most instance the sleeve wil be secured to the inner perimeter of the wheel.
One aspect and facet of the present invention entails providing a configuration in which an axle, and a wheel of diabol shape or generaIly of any shape, are detachably mounted to the container. In this case, in most ins-tances each of the opposed ends of the axle is moonted to one of a pair of opposed parallel brackets, and means is provided so -that opposed edges of the brackets are mounted to the container. ~ith regard to this aspec of the invention, severa] alternative configurations for detachab~ Y
mounting the wheel and axle to the container are feasible. One structural configuration entails the provision of a slotted head at one end of the axle and external to its associated bracket, wi h - the other end of the axle having a threaded recess. A screw l~ Z~l having a slotted head is screwed in-to the recess, wi~h ~he slotted head oE the screw being externhl -to the bracket associate with the other end of -the axle.
Another configuration for detachably mounting -the wheel and axle to the con-tainer via -the bracke-ts entails the provislon of an axle in which one end of the axle has a slotted head extern 1 to i-ts associated bracket, and the other end of the axle is ex-ternally threaded. A nut lS screwed onto the other end oE the axle, the nut being external to the bracket associated with the other end of the axle. ~
In stlll another alternative configuration, the axle is a split axle having two opposed portions. The inner end of one portion has a threaded recess, and the inner end of the other por tion has a threaded protuberance, the protuberance being screwed into the recess. ~ ~
In a preferred embodlment, at least one of -the brackets is provided with a generally~perpendicular extension along a lateral edge, so that a baffling against ingress of discrete material hetween the wheel and the con-tainer is provided. Typi-cally in this case, and for ease of forming the brackets~andmounting same,;each of the brac~ets is provided with opposed ex-tensions,which opposed extensions extend towards each other and terminate at edges which are~contiguous. In one embodiment of th~
invention, and typically as commercially manufactured, an lnter-posed mounting plate adapted to mount against the container is provided, with means mounting opposed edges of the brackets to the mounting plate~.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the means fo mounting the axle to the container is a swivel means. Usually -th~
wheel will be composed of rubber or plastic, however wooden or :

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steel wheels are also feasible. In Most instances, the wheel wil be one of a pair of opposed and spaced apart generally iden-tical wheels mounted to the container. In this case, the wheels Wlll usually be coaxial, and each of -thé wheels will be motmted adjl-cent an edye of the bottom of the container.
The present improved~ luggage roller provides several salient advantages. The luggage roller has an improved diabolo-shaped roller wheel. The present luggage roller, becau.se of the configuration of the wheel, renders the piece of luggage more stable when manipulated and moved across a planar surface. Thus for example, the present luggage roller enables the piece of lug-gage to be more easily moved across the surface of a shag rug.
The present wheel configuration has greater bearing area than prior wheels. The detachable feature of the present wheel is highly advantaqeous, since the useful liEe of a piece of luggage is extended by providing a luqqage roller in which the wheel is detachable when worn, so that worn wheels on the piece of luyyage no longer necessitate discarding the piece oE luggage.
The present wheel configuration has a greater effective width than prior art wheels, thus the piece of luggage equipped with the present luggage roller is more stable and not as easily tippe over. The present lugqage roller is relatively inexpensive and may readily be manufactured in mass production facilities, using unskilled labor. Finally, the present luggage roller is rugqed and serviceable and is not easily broken or jammed. This latter consideration is especially important when the piece of luggaqe i moved over a planar surface having discrete solid particles such as pebbles, twigs or leaves thereon.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts ~ ~ .

which will be exemplified in the article of manufacture hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.
I~ the accompanying drawings in which are shown several of the various possible embodiments of the invention:
Fig. 1 is an elevation view of one embodiment of the present luggage roller, f Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation view taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. l;
; 10 Fig. 3 is an elevation view of an alternative embodiment of~the present luggage roller;
Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation view taken substantially along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;
Fig. 5 is comparable to Fig. 4 but shows alternative aspects of the invention;
Fig. 6 shows an alternative embodiment of axle;
Fig. 7 is a bottom plan view of a typical pair of luggage rollers as installed on a piece of lu~gage; and Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a piece of luggage, i.e. a portable container, with the present luggage rollers installed on the bottom of the item~
Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, the present luggage roller is characterized by the provision of a diabolo-shaped wheel 10 (Fig. 2), having a central V-shaped channel or recess 12 about its cylindrical periphery. The wheel 10 rests on a planar surface 13, and is composed of rubber or plastlc, and an integral cylindrical sleeve 14 is coaxially mounted to the wheel, within the central opening in the hub of the wheel. This sleeve 14 is typically composed of TEFLON*, polyethylene, polypropylene * A trademark of E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co. ~nc.
for tetrafluoroethylene resins.

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especially isotactic polypropylene, nylon or the like plas-tic, or al-ternatively of a metal such as brass or steel or the like, or even of wood. Similar considerations apply to the wheel 10~
The sleeve 14 is slidably mounted on an aY.le 16, so -that the whee 10 with integral sleeve 14 is freely rotatable on the axle 16 and about the central lonyitudinal axiS or axis of syrnme-try of the cy lindrical axle. The axle 16 configuration entails the provision f a slotted head 1~ having a transverse slot 20 a-t one end of the axle 16. The slotted head 18 is disposed external -to an associat cl bracket 22 which connects and holds the axle 16 to a piece of lu gage 24. The otller end of the axle has a threaded recess 26, and a screw havi.ng a thr;eaded shank 28 and a slotted head 30 (slot 32) s screwed into the recess 26. q'he slotted head 30 is external to ar associated bracket 34, which also connects and holds the axle 16 to the piece of luggage 24, in con~unction with the bracket 22.
~s best seen in FIG. 2, the brackets 22 and 34 are characterized by the provision of respective and opposed yenerally perpendi~
cular extensions 36 and 33 along a lateral edge, such as the edge 40 of bracket 34, from which the extension 36 extends laterally relative to the bracket 34. The opposed extensions 36 and 3~ extend towards each other from the respective .edges of the brackets and terminate at edges which are contiguous as shown at line 41 (FIG. 2). Thus, a baffling ayainst ingress of discrete material such as pebbles, twigs or leaves between the wheel and the container is provided' by the extensions 36 and 38. The brackets 22 and 34 are secured to a mounting plate 42, which is interposed between the bracket's and the portable container 24.
Typically the plate 42 is secured to the bottom surface of the con-tainer 24 by members 44 and 46, which may consis-t of bolts, ' 30 rivets, screws or the like.

8Zl FIGS. 3 and 4 show an al-ternative embodiment of the in-vention, in whlch a swivel joint 48 having ball b~arings as shown is in-terposed be-tween the mountiny pla-te 42 and b~aCkets 50 and 52, so that the luggage roller is swivelably mounted to the con-tainer 24. As best seen in FIG. 4, the bracke-~s S0 and 52 in thi embodiment of the invention are devoid of perpendicular extension alony a 1ateral edge. In addition, a configuration of axle dif-ferent from that of FIG. 2 is shown in FIG. 4, namely an axle 54 having a slotted head 56 externa~1 to ltS associated bracket 50, and external threading on the other end of the axle 54. A nut 58 is screwed onto the other end of the axle 54, and as shown, the nut 58 is external to the bracket 52 associated with the external Y
threaded other end of the axle 54. Finally, Figs. 3 and 4 show a wheel 60 in which each lateral outer edge of the wheel;60 has a chamfer, i.e. the ohamfers 62;and 64.
FIG. 5 shows~an embodiment of the invention-in whlch the wheel 66 is chamfered and in addition the axle 68 is externally threaded at both ends, with respeot:ive~nuts 70 and 72 being~sorew d~
onto the ends of the axle, the nuts external to their res~ective associated braokets 74 and 76.
Fig. 6 shows~an alternative embodiment of axle~in which the axle 78 is a split axle having two opposed portlons 80 ~and 82 Each portion 80 and 82 has~a~respective outer terminal slotted head 84 and 86. The lnner end of portion~80 has a threaded pro-tuberance 90. ~The protuberance 90 is screwed into the~recess 88, as shown.
FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate the typical orientation and arrangement of a~plurality of the presentluggage rollers mounted on the bottom surface of a~pl-ce oi luggage 92 havlng handle 94 , : :, :

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and two opposed body portions 96 and 98 connec-ted by hinges.100 and 102. ~s silown in Fig. 7, each pair oE opposed luggage roller , such as 10~ and 106, is mounted to tlle bottom sur:~ace o~ the piec~
of luggacJe 92, with the diabolo-shaped wheels 10~ and 11~ being coaxially oriented in registratlon along axis 112. As shown, eac~
wheel 108 and 110 is mounted adjacent an outer edcJe of the bottom portion of its respective luggage portion, i.e. wheel 108 is mounted adjacent to edge 11~ of portion 96, and wheel 11~ is mounted adjacent to edge 116 of portion 98.
10It thus will be seen that there is provided a luggage roller which achieves the various objects of the invention and wh ch is welll adapted to meet the conditions of prac-tical use.
As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the em-bodimen~s above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense. Thus, it will be understood~by those skilled in the art that although : preferred and alternative embodiments have been shown and des-cribed in accordance ~ith the Paten-t S-tatutes, the invention is not limited thereto or tllereby.

Claims (20)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A luggage roller comprising a diabolo-shaped wheel, an axle, means mounting said wheel to said axle for rotation about the longitudinal axis of the axle, and means for mounting said axle to a luggage container such that said container may be transported across a planar surface by disposing said luggage container on the planar surface with said wheel in contact with the planar surface and at least partially supporting said luggage container.

2. The luggage roller of claim 1 in which each lateral outer edge of the wheel has a chamfer.

3. The luggage roller of claim 1 in which the wheel is freely and slidably mounted to the axle so that the wheel is freely rotatable about the axle.

4. The luggage roller of claim 1 in which a cylindrical sleeve is concentrically interposed between the wheel and the axle, said sleeve being coaxial with the axle.

5. The luggage roller of claim 4 in which the sleeve is secured to the inner perimeter of the wheel.

6. The luggage roller of claim 1 in which the axle and wheel are detachably mounted to the luggage container.

7. The luggage roller of claim 6 in which each of the opposed ends of the axle is mounted to one of a pair of opposed parallel brackets, together with means mounting opposed edges of said brackets to the luggage container.

8. The luggage roller of claim 7 in which one end of the axle has a recessed head external to its associated bracket, the other end of the axle has a threaded recess, and a screw having a recessed head is screwed into said recess, the recessed head of said screw being external to the bracket associated with the other end of the axle.

9. The luggage roller of claim 7 in which one end of the axle has a recessed head external to its associated bracket, the other end of the axle is externally threaded, and a nut is screwed onto the other end of the axle, said nut being external to the bracket associated with the other end of the axle.

10. The luggage roller of claim 7 in which the axle is a split axle having two opposed portions, the inner end of one portion having a threaded recess, the inner end of the other portion having a threaded protuberance, said protuberance being screwed into said recess.

11. The luggage roller of claim 7 in which at least one of the brackets is provided with a substantially perpendicular extension along a lateral edge, so that a baffling against ingress of discrete material between the wheel and the luggage container is provided.

12. The luggage roller of claim 11 in which each of the brackets is provided with opposed extensions, said opposed extensions extending towards each other and terminating at edges which are contiguous.

13. The luggage roller of claim 7 together with a mounting plate adapted to mount against the luggage container and means mounting opposed edges of the brackets to the mounting plate.

14. The luggage roller of claim 1 in which the means for mounting the axle to the luggage container is a swivel means.

15. The luggage roller of claim 1 in which the wheel is composed of rubber or plastic.

16. The luggage roller of claim 1 in which the wheel is one of a pair of opposed and spaced apart substantially identical wheels mounted to the container.

17. The luggage roller of claim 16 in which the wheels are coaxial.

18. The luggage roller of claim 16 in which each of the wheels is mounted adjacent an edge of the bottom of the luggage container.

19. In combination, a luggage container, a pair of luggage rollers each comprising a diabolo-shaped wheel, said wheels being spaced apart across the width of the luggage container and being in axial registration and rotatable about their axes of symmetry, and means mounting said wheels to the bottom of said luggage container so that said luggage container may be transported across a planar surface by disposing said luggage container on the planar surface with said wheels in contact with the planar surface and at least partially supporting said luggage container.

20. A luggage roller comprising a diabolo-shaped wheel, an axle, means mounting said wheel to said axle for rotation about the longitudinal axis of the axle, and means for mounting said axle to a luggage container such that said luggage container may be transported across a planar surface by disposing said luggage container on the planar surface with said wheel in contact with the planar surface and at least partially supporting said luggage container, said mounting means having an adjustable attachment to the luggage container so that said axle and said wheel are detachably mounted to said luggage container.