CN113347902A

CN113347902A - Extensible drawbar suitcase

Info

Publication number: CN113347902A
Application number: CN202080010099.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吉安卡洛·穆奇奥
Original assignee: Ji AnkaluoMuqiao
Current assignee: Ji AnkaluoMuqiao
Priority date: 2019-01-21
Filing date: 2020-01-20
Publication date: 2021-09-03
Also published as: EP3914122A1; US20220087383A1; WO2020152562A1

Abstract

Disclosed is an expandable trolley luggage comprising: a bottom container (100) having a top opening and a top container (200) having a bottom opening, the top container (200) and the bottom container (100) being slidably coupled to each other in such a manner that the bottom opening of the top container corresponds to the top opening of the bottom container; at least one locking device (300, 310, 315, 350) interacting with the bottom container (100) and the top container (200) and configured to assume a release configuration in which the locking device allows reciprocal sliding of the bottom container (100) and the top container (200) and a locking configuration in which the locking device prevents reciprocal sliding of the bottom container (100) and the top container (200); whereby the expandable drawbar luggage is configured to assume at least two geometric configurations depending on the position of one of the bottom container (100) and the top container (200) relative to the other, in which the at least one locking device (300, 310, 315, 350) assumes a locked configuration, each of the at least two geometric configurations having a respective storage volume bounded by the bottom container (100) and the top container (200), the at least two geometric configurations comprising a minimum geometric configuration having a minimum storage volume and a maximum geometric configuration having a maximum storage volume.

Description

Extensible drawbar suitcase

The present invention relates to an expandable trolley luggage case that allows a user to easily, reliably and comfortably resize the trolley luggage case to accommodate different travel needs, that can be manufactured at low cost and is durable in use.

It is known that luggage items, in particular trolley luggage items, have different standardized dimensions depending on the storage characteristics of the different modes of transport and/or the storage requirements imposed by different transport companies (for example, the requirements imposed by airlines on carry-on luggage). This requires that when the user steps on multiple journeys involving different modes of transportation and/or different transportation companies, he/she may need to change the trolley luggage case between the different journeys to accommodate the particular storage characteristics and/or the actual need for the volume of the interior storage space of the trolley luggage case.

In the prior art, some expandable luggage cases have been proposed, such as those disclosed in documents CH 87118A, GB 1208113A, EP 2289365 a1 and KR 101929680B 1.

However, these prior art expandable luggage cases have a rather complicated structure, are neither easy nor comfortable to use, and are generally unreliable.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to allow a user to easily, reliably and comfortably resize a trolley luggage case that can be manufactured at low cost and yet is durable in use.

A particular subject of the invention is an expandable trolley luggage comprising: a bottom container having a top opening and a top container having a bottom opening, the top container and the bottom container slidably coupled to each other in such a manner that the bottom opening of the top container corresponds to the top opening of the bottom container; at least one locking device interacting with the bottom and top containers and configured to assume a release configuration in which the locking device allows reciprocal sliding of the bottom and top containers and a locking configuration in which the locking device prevents reciprocal sliding of the bottom and top containers; whereby the expandable drawbar luggage is configured to assume at least two geometric configurations depending on the position of one of the bottom container and the top container relative to the other, in which the at least one locking device assumes a locked configuration, each of the at least two geometric configurations having a respective storage volume bounded by the bottom container and the top container, the at least two geometric configurations including a minimum geometric configuration having a minimum storage volume and a maximum geometric configuration having a maximum storage volume.

According to another aspect of the invention, the top and bottom containers may be slidably coupled to each other by a plurality of linear retractable guides, optionally having aluminum balls.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the plurality of linear retractable guides may be composed of four linear retractable guides.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, the top container may be configured to slide within the bottom container.

According to another aspect of the invention, the bottom receptacle may comprise a front shell and a rear shell, each of the front shell and the rear shell being made of a hard material and having a bottom edge and two side edges, the front shell and the rear shell being hinged to each other on a first side edge and being closable by a zipper extending along the bottom edge and a second side edge of the shell of the bottom receptacle, and the top receptacle may comprise a front shell and a rear shell, each of the shells being made of a hard material and having a bottom edge and two side edges, the front shell and the rear shell being closable by a zipper extending along the bottom edge and the side edges of the shell of the top receptacle.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the expandable drawbar luggage may include one or more sealing gaskets interposed between the front and rear shells, the sealing gaskets configured to maintain a seal between the bottom and top receptacles.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the front shell of the top container may be provided with two or more front rectilinear grooves, the number of said front rectilinear grooves ranging from the number of said at least two geometric configurations to the number of said at least two geometric configurations plus two, facing corresponding two or more rear rectilinear grooves provided on the rear shell of the top container, the number of said rear rectilinear grooves being equal to the number of said two or more front rectilinear grooves, wherein said two or more front rectilinear grooves and said two or more rear rectilinear grooves are oriented in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the top container is extracted from the bottom container, each of said two or more front rectilinear grooves and said two or more rear rectilinear grooves having a respective central circular concavity, wherein the at least one locking means consists of a front locking means interacting with the front shell of the bottom container and the front shell of the top container and a rear locking means interacting with the rear shell of the bottom container and the rear shell of the top container, the rear locking means being operable by a rear locking knob, wherein the front and rear knobs are substantially circular and arranged outside the front and rear shells of the bottom container, respectively, and the knobs are provided with central cylindrical pins passing through the front and rear shells of the bottom container, respectively, wherein the central cylindrical pins are configured to be inserted into one of the central circular recesses and to interact with springs configured to exert a force on the central cylindrical pins in a direction of insertion into one of the central circular recesses, each of said front and rear knobs is configured to assume a release position corresponding to a release configuration, in which said knob is spaced apart from the front or rear shell, respectively, of the bottom receptacle, and a locking position corresponding to a locking configuration, in which said front and rear knobs are pushed against the front and rear shells, respectively, of the bottom receptacle, and in which the respective central cylindrical pin is inserted into one of the central circular recesses, respectively, of the front and rear shells of the bottom receptacle.

According to another aspect of the invention, the expandable trolley luggage case is configured to assume a number of said at least two geometric configurations equal to four, whereby the number of said two or more front side linear grooves, and said two or more rear side linear grooves ranges from four to six.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the number of the two or more front-side straight grooves and the two or more rear-side straight grooves is equal to five or six.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the inner surface of each of the front and rear shells of the bottom receptacle may be provided with two raised linear cushioning sealing elements, optionally made of rubber, more optionally realised with a convex rubber seal, arranged along the extraction direction, configured to be at least partially inserted into two respective front and rear linear grooves, respectively, and to maintain the seal between the bottom receptacle and the top receptacle, wherein the distance between each raised linear cushioning sealing element and the central cylindrical pin of each of the front and rear shells of the bottom receptacle is equal to the distance separating the two front or rear linear grooves adjacent to each other, whereby when the central cylindrical pin is inserted into one of the central circular recesses of the respective front or rear linear grooves, the two raised linear relief sealing elements are inserted into at least one of the two or more front or rear linear grooves adjacent to a linear groove having a central circular recess into which a central cylindrical pin is inserted.

According to another aspect of the invention, the bottom container and the top container may be made of a plastic material, optionally acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (also known as ABS).

According to another aspect of the invention, the bottom wall of the bottom container may be externally provided with two or more rotating elements.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, the two or more rotating elements may be selected from the group consisting of a fixed sheave, a slew wheel, a fixed shaft roller, and a slew roller.

According to another aspect of the invention, the pull-out handle is mounted on the rear wall of the bottom container and/or wherein the fixed top handle is mounted on the top wall of the top container.

The expandable trolley luggage according to the present invention provides a number of advantages.

In fact, the expandable trolley luggage is configured to change its size, i.e. the storage volume (of the internal space), according to the needs and/or storage requirements of the user (e.g. the requirements imposed by the airline on the carry-on luggage).

In this manner, a user may purchase a single expandable trolley luggage case rather than a plurality of different sized trolley luggage cases that may no longer be used after an unexpected change in storage conditions associated with the size of the trolley luggage case, which may also introduce additional shipping costs and make it inconvenient (if not impossible) to use.

The present invention will now be described, by way of illustration and not limitation, according to preferred embodiments thereof, with particular reference to the figures of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a rear perspective view of a preferred embodiment of an expandable drawbar luggage case according to the present invention (in which the indication "EJECT" is shown which is not part of the scope of the present invention);

FIG. 2 illustrates a front, elevational, perspective view of the expandable trolley luggage of FIG. 1 when it assumes four geometric configurations;

FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of the expandable drawbar luggage of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates a right side view of the expandable drawbar luggage of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 illustrates a top plan view of the expandable trolley luggage of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 illustrates a rear view of the expandable drawbar luggage of FIG. 1;

fig. 7 shows the plan view of fig. 5 (fig. 7a) and two partial cross-sectional views along the plane AA (fig. 7b) and the plane BB (fig. 7c) thereof;

fig. 8 shows the plan view of fig. 5 (fig. 8a) and two partial cross-sectional views along its plane BB (fig. 8b) and plane CC (fig. 8 c);

fig. 9 shows the front view of fig. 3 (fig. 9a), a cross-sectional view along the plane DD thereof (fig. 9b) and a related enlarged portion (fig. 9 c);

fig. 10 shows a partial cross-sectional view along the plane BB (fig. 10a) and a partial cross-sectional view along the plane CC (fig. 10b) of the plan view of fig. 8 a; and

figure 11 schematically illustrates the mode of operation of some components of the trolley luggage of figure 1.

In the drawings, the same reference numerals will be used for similar elements.

Furthermore, although specific dimensions of preferred embodiments of the expandable trolley luggage according to the invention are shown in the drawings, it has to be noted that these dimensions are not essential features of the invention, and that in other embodiments of the expandable trolley luggage these dimensions may be modified at least partly with respect to the dimensions of the preferred embodiments, while still being within the scope of protection defined by the appended claims.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, a preferred embodiment of an expandable trolley luggage case with internal storage space can be observed. The bottom wall of the expandable trolley luggage is conventionally provided with four swivel wheels (rotating about an axis orthogonal to the bottom wall) indicated by reference numeral 190. Furthermore, the expandable trolley luggage is provided with a pull-out handle 180 mounted on the rear wall 120 of the expandable trolley luggage, i.e. conventionally telescopically extractable by means of two telescopic rods (indicated with reference 500 in fig. 2 and 9b) and by means of a fixed top handle 280 mounted on the top wall 230 of the expandable trolley luggage.

It must be noted that other embodiments of the expandable trolley luggage according to the invention may have rotating elements even different from swivel wheels, such as fixed wheels or fixed axle rollers or swivel rollers (rotating around an axis orthogonal to the wall bottom), and/or a plurality of rotating elements different from four (e.g. two rotating elements), and/or the trolley luggage may not have a fixed top handle 280 and/or one or more additional handles positioned on at least one side wall of the expandable trolley luggage, while still remaining within the scope of protection defined by the appended claims.

The expandable trolley luggage includes a bottom container 100 having a top opening and a top container 200 having a bottom opening, the bottom container and the top container slidably coupled to each other (and thus the interior space of the bottom container 100 communicates with the interior space of the top container 200) in such a manner that the bottom opening of the top container corresponds to the top opening of the bottom container, and thus, the expandable trolley luggage is configured to assume four geometric configurations defining four respective storage volumes bounded by the bottom container 100 and the top container 200. In particular, the top container 200 is configured to slide within the bottom container 100, and the expandable trolley luggage is configured to assume one of the geometries shown in fig. 2, namely: a minimum geometry with a minimum storage volume (shown in fig. 2 a); a first intermediate geometry having a first intermediate storage volume greater than the minimum storage volume (shown in fig. 2 b); a second intermediate geometry having a second intermediate storage volume greater than the first intermediate storage volume (shown in fig. 2 c); and a maximum geometry having a maximum storage volume greater than the second intermediate storage volume (shown in fig. 2 d).

When the caster wheels 190 rest on the floor, the height of the expandable trolley luggage relative to the floor is 45cm, 50cm, 55cm, and 60cm, respectively, in four geometries; in each of the four geometries, the expandable drawbar luggage has a width of 40cm and a depth of 20 cm. It is reiterated, however, that the particular dimensions of the expandable trolley luggage in accordance with the invention are not essential features of the invention.

The bottom wall of the bottom container 100 serves as the bottom wall of the expandable trolley luggage and the top wall 230 of the top container 200 serves as the top wall of the expandable trolley luggage. The pull handle 180 is mounted on the rear wall 120 of the bottom container 100, which together with the rear wall 220 of the top container 200 forms the rear wall of the expandable trolley luggage case.

The expandable drawbar luggage further comprises a front side locking device interacting with the front wall 110 of the bottom container 100 and the front wall 210 of the top container 200, i.e. operable by the front side locking knob 300, and a rear side locking device interacting with the rear wall 120 of the bottom container 100 and the rear wall 220 of the top container 200, i.e. operable by the rear side locking knob 350. The front and

rear locking knobs

300, 350 are each configured to assume a released configuration in which they allow reciprocal sliding of the top and

bottom containers

200, 100 and a locked configuration in which they prevent reciprocal sliding of the top and

bottom containers

200, 100 and lock the expandable trolley luggage in one of its four geometric configurations, particularly shown in fig. 2.

In particular, starting from the minimum geometry of fig. 2a, when the swivelling wheel 190 rests on the floor, whereby the bottom wall of the bottom container 100 is supported by the swivelling wheel 190, when the pull-out handle 180 is pulled out in a pulling-out direction (indicated by arrow a in fig. 2b, 2c and 2 d), whereby it is moved away from the bottom wall of the bottom container 100, and when the front-side locking knob 300 and the rear-side locking knob 350 assume the release configuration, the top container 200 can slide within the bottom container 100 in the pulling-out direction a, so that the expandable trolley luggage assumes one of the other three geometries shown in fig. 2b, 2c and 2d, in which it is possible to lock the expandable trolley luggage by causing the front-side locking knob 300 and the rear-side locking knob 350 to assume the locking configuration.

Referring also to fig. 3-10, it can be seen that the bottom receptacle 100 comprises a front shell 100F and a rear shell 100R, each made of a rigid material and having a bottom edge and two side edges, the front and rear shells being hinged to one another at a first side edge (via hinge 150 shown in fig. 1 and 9b) and closable in a conventional manner by a zipper 160 extending along the bottom and second side edges. Similarly, the top container 200 includes a front shell 200F and a rear shell 200R, each made of a rigid material and having a bottom edge and two side edges, which are closable by zippers 260 extending along the bottom and side edges in a conventional manner. In particular, FIG. 10b schematically illustrates opening path C1 of zipper 160 and opening path C2 of zipper 260.

Four linear telescoping guides with aluminum balls allow the top container 200 to slide within the bottom container 100. In particular, as shown in fig. 7c, 8b, 9c and 10a, two front telescopic guides 400F are coupled to the two

front cases

100F and 200F, respectively, and two rear telescopic guides 400R are coupled to the two

rear cases

100R and 200R, respectively. The seal between the top container 200 and the bottom container 100 is conventionally ensured by

gaskets

450F, 450R, 455F and 455R (shown in fig. 7b and 8c) interposed between the

front shells

100F and 200F and between the

rear shells

100R and 200R.

The front case 200F of the top container 200 is provided with five front side

linear grooves

271F, 272F, 273F, 274F, and 275F; also, the rear case 200R of the top container 200 is provided with five rear side

straight grooves

271R, 272R, 273R, 274R, and 275R. When the top container 200 is slidably coupled to the bottom container 100, the five front-side straight grooves 271F to 275F and the five rear-side straight grooves 271R to 275R (which are optionally concave) are oriented in a direction orthogonal to the extraction direction a (whereby the front-side straight grooves and the rear-side straight grooves are parallel to the floor itself when the caster wheel 190 is resting on the floor), and the height of each of the five front-side straight grooves 271F to 275F with respect to the floor is the same as the height of the corresponding one of the five rear-side straight grooves 271R to 275R with respect to the floor, whereby the five front-side straight grooves 271F to 275F face the five rear-side straight grooves 271R to 275R. Each groove is provided with a central circular recess (denoted by reference numerals 281F to 285F for the front-side straight groove and 281R to 285R for the rear-side straight groove).

The front and

rear knobs

300 and 350 are substantially circular and are disposed outside the front and

rear cases

100F and 100R of the base container 100, and the knobs are provided with central cylindrical pins 310 penetrating the front and

rear cases

100F and 100R of the base container 100, respectively. The central cylindrical pin 310 is configured to be inserted into one of the central circular recesses 281F to 285F and 281R to 285R, respectively. Each central cylindrical pin 310 interacts with a respective spring 315 configured to exert a force on the central cylindrical pin 310 in a direction from the bottom container 100 to the top container 200, i.e. in a direction of insertion into one of the central circular recesses. Furthermore, the inner surfaces of the front shell 100F and the rear shell 100R of the bottom receptacle 100 are respectively provided with two raised linear cushioning sealing elements 320, optionally made of rubber, more optionally realized by means of convex rubber seals, arranged along the extraction direction a, configured to be partially inserted into two respective front-side linear grooves 271F to 275F or rear-side linear grooves 271R to 275R. Two raised linear cushioning seal elements 320 facilitate the seal between the top container 200 and the bottom container 100.

In particular, the distance between each protruding linear cushioning seal element 320 and the central cylindrical pin 310 is equal to the distance separating two adjacent front-side or rear-side linear grooves from each other, whereby the two protruding linear cushioning seal elements 320 are inserted into at least one of the two or more front-side or rear-side linear grooves adjacent to the linear groove having the central circular recess into which the central cylindrical pin is inserted, when the central cylindrical pin 310 is inserted into one of the central circular recesses 281F to 285F and 281R to 285R of the respective front-side or rear-side linear grooves, respectively, as shown in fig. 7c, 8b and 10 a. In this case, the respective spring 315 keeps pressing the respective front knob 300 or rear knob 350 against the wall of the front shell 100F or rear shell 100R of the bottom container 100 and further keeps the pin 310 within the central circular recess in which it is inserted, preventing the top container 200 from sliding with respect to the bottom container 100, whereby the respective locking means assumes a locked configuration. By pulling the front knob 300 or the rear knob 350, i.e. by pressing the respective spring 315, the front knob 300 or the rear knob 350 is detached from (i.e. moved away from) the wall of the front shell 100F or the rear shell 100R of the bottom container 100 and the respective central cylindrical pin 310 is extracted from the central circular recess in which it is inserted, whereby the respective locking means assumes the release configuration; subsequently, by rotating the knob, the wall of the front shell 100F or rear shell 100R of the bottom container 100 is pushed by keeping the front knob 300 or rear knob 350 spaced apart from the wall of the front shell 100F or rear shell 100R of the bottom container 100 and thus preventing the front knob 300 or rear knob 350 from returning, and further preventing the respective central cylindrical pin 310 from being reinserted into the central circular recess from which it has been extracted, so that the base of the knob interacts with the one or more protruding elements protruding from the front shell 100F or rear shell 100R of the bottom container 100, thus stably maintaining the locking device in the released configuration.

As mentioned above, when the two locking devices assume the release configuration, the top container 200 can slide within the bottom container 100, and the expandable trolley luggage can assume any of its four geometric configurations as shown in fig. 2, in which it can be locked by: rotating the front 300 and rear 350 knobs backwards, thus interrupting the interaction of the knob bases with said one or more protruding elements protruding from the front 100F or rear 100R shell of the bottom container 100, returning the front 300 or rear 350 knobs to push the walls of the front 100F or rear 100R shell of the bottom container 100 and inserting the central cylindrical pin 310 into the central circular recess of the front and rear rectilinear grooves, corresponding to the geometrical configuration considered, whereby the locking device assumes the locking configuration again; in this case, the raised linear cushioning sealing elements 320 are inserted into the two front and rear linear grooves, corresponding to the geometry considered, and they transmit the snapping movement to the top container 200 once they are inserted into them, during the extraction of the top container 200.

It must be noted that when the expandable trolley luggage assumes the maximum geometry (shown in fig. 2 d), the raised linear cushioning sealing element 320 (when the caster wheel 190 rests on the floor) located below the central cylindrical pin 310 is not inserted into any linear groove, but is located below the front shell 200F or the rear shell 200R of the top container 200, thereby optionally acting as a support for the front shell 200F or the rear shell 200R of the top container 200. In an alternative embodiment of the expandable trolley luggage in accordance with the present invention, the front shell 200F of the top receptacle 200 may be provided with six front side linear grooves, and the rear shell 200R of the top container 200 may be provided with six rear linear grooves, whereby even when the expandable drawbar luggage assumes a maximum geometry (shown in fig. 2 d), both the raised linear buffer sealing elements 320 of the inner surfaces of the front shell 100F and the rear shell 100R of the bottom container 100 are inserted into the two front and rear linear grooves respectively, as viewed from the top to the bottom of the front case 200F and the rear case 200R of the top container 200, the two front and rear linear grooves are adjacent to the penultimate front and rear linear grooves, respectively, and the central cylindrical pins 310 of the front and

rear knobs

300 and 350 are inserted into the central circular recesses of the two front and rear linear grooves, respectively. In different alternative embodiments of the expandable trolley luggage according to the present invention, the front shell 200F of the top receptacle 200 may be provided with four front-side rectilinear grooves, and the rear shell 200R of the top receptacle 200 may be provided with four rear-side rectilinear grooves, whereby even when the expandable trolley luggage assumes one of four geometric configurations (as shown in fig. 2), the two linearly projecting cushioning sealing elements 320 (which are optional) of the inner surfaces of the front shell 100F and the rear shell 100R of the bottom receptacle 100 are respectively arranged at the same height as the central cylindrical pin 310 of the front knob 300 and the rear knob 350 (and thus at the same distance from the bottom wall of the front shell 100F and the rear shell 100R of the bottom receptacle 100), and are respectively arranged on both sides of the central cylindrical pin 310 of the front knob 300 and the rear knob 350, so as to be configured to be inserted into the same front-side rectilinear grooves and rear-side rectilinear grooves, the central cylindrical pins 310 of the front and

rear knobs

300 and 350 are inserted into the central circular recesses of the front and rear linear grooves, respectively.

In particular, in the locked configuration, the front 300 and rear 350 knobs rest on the front 100F and rear 100R shells of the bottom receptacle 100, respectively, whereby these knobs remain in the locked configuration in case of a fall of the expandable trolley luggage, thereby preventing the accidental disengagement of the top receptacle 200 from the bottom receptacle 100 and the opening of the expandable trolley luggage.

The front and

rear shells

100F and 100R of the bottom container 100 and the

shells

200F and 200R of the top container 200 are made of a plastic material, optionally an acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (also known as ABS), i.e. a material that ensures rigidity and flexibility, scratch resistance, light weight and easy recycling at the end of life.

Due to the fact that the

zippers

160 and 260 are independent of each other, the zipper 260 of the top container 200 can exit the bottom container 100, making the closure system reliable and effective for any geometric configuration assumed by an expandable trolley luggage. To compensate for the misalignment of the two

zippers

160 and 260, the slider 262 of the zipper 260 of the top container 200 is longer than the slider 162 of the zipper 160 of the bottom container 100, such that when both

zippers

160 and 260 are closed, the holes of the two

sliders

162 and 262 are configured to perfectly align and allow the two sliders to be closed by the padlock 600, as shown in fig. 11.

Alternatively, the bottom container 100 and the top container 200 may be made in different colors to create various color combinations and highlight the possibility of increasing the storage volume of the expandable trolley luggage. To this end, stylized arrows indicating the direction of movement of the bottom and

top containers

100, 200 may be imprinted on the bottom and

top containers

100, 200 to achieve an increase in the storage volume of the expandable trolley luggage.

It must be noted that other embodiments of the expandable trolley luggage according to the invention may have locking means (also different from those shown in the preferred embodiments) interacting with the bottom and top containers and/or a plurality of locking means (e.g. one or more than two) different from two. In particular, some embodiments of expandable trolley luggage according to the present invention may have a locking device that allows the expandable trolley luggage to be stably locked in any geometric configuration from a minimum geometric configuration to a maximum geometric configuration, thereby continuously changing the storage volume of the expandable trolley luggage.

It must also be noted that other embodiments of the expandable trolley luggage according to the invention may have a different number of geometric configurations, for example two, three or more than four; in this case, if the locking means are those shown in the preferred embodiment, the linear grooves on the top container that interact with the corresponding knobs may be less or more than five. In particular, in the case of two geometric configurations, the linear grooves on the top container that interact with the respective knobs may be two to four; in the case of three geometries, the linear grooves on the top container that interact with the corresponding knobs may be three to five; in the case of five geometries, the linear grooves on the top container that interact with the corresponding knobs may be five to seven; and so on.

It must still be noted that other embodiments of the expandable trolley luggage according to the invention may have a bottom container 100 sliding inside a top container 200, while still remaining within the scope of protection defined by the appended claims.

The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above and many modifications have been proposed, but it should be understood that other modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention, which is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An expandable drawbar luggage comprising: a bottom container (100) having a top opening and a top container (200) having a bottom opening, the top container (200) and the bottom container (100) being slidably coupled to each other in such a manner that the bottom opening of the top container corresponds to the top opening of the bottom container; at least one locking device (300, 310, 315, 350) interacting with the bottom container (100) and the top container (200) and configured to assume a release configuration in which it allows reciprocal sliding of the bottom container (100) and the top container (200) and a locking configuration in which it prevents reciprocal sliding of the bottom container (100) and the top container (200); whereby the expandable drawbar luggage is configured to assume at least two geometric configurations depending on the position of one of the bottom container (100) and the top container (200) relative to the other, in which the at least one locking device (300, 310, 315, 350) assumes the locked configuration, each of the at least two geometric configurations having a respective storage volume bounded by the bottom container (100) and the top container (200), the at least two geometric configurations including a minimum geometric configuration having a minimum storage volume and a maximum geometric configuration having a maximum storage volume.

2. The expandable drawbar luggage according to claim 1, wherein the top container (200) and the bottom container (100) are slidably coupled to each other by a plurality of linear telescoping guides, optionally having aluminum balls.

3. The expandable drawbar luggage of claim 2, wherein the plurality of linear telescoping guides includes four linear telescoping guides.

4. The expandable drawbar luggage according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the top container (200) is configured to slide within the bottom container (100).

5. The expandable trolley luggage of claim 4, wherein the bottom receptacle (100) comprises a front shell (100F) and a rear shell (100R), each shell being made of a rigid material and having a bottom edge and two side edges, the front and rear shells being hinged to each other on a first side edge and closable by a zipper (160) extending along the bottom and second side edges of the shells (100F, 100R) of the bottom receptacle (100), and the top receptacle (200) comprises a front shell (200F) and a rear shell (200R), each shell being made of a rigid material and having a bottom edge and two side edges, the front and rear shells being closable by a zipper (260) extending along the bottom and side edges of the shells (200F, 200R) of the top receptacle (200).

6. The expandable drawbar luggage according to claim 5, comprising one or more sealing gaskets (450F, 450R, 455F, 455R) interposed between the front shells (100F, 200F) and the rear shells (100R, 200R), the sealing gaskets configured to maintain a seal between the bottom container (100) and the top container (200).

7. The expandable trolley luggage of claim 5 or 6, wherein the front shell (200F) of the top container (200) is provided with two or more front side straight grooves (271F, 272F, 273F, 274F, 275F) ranging from the number of the at least two geometries to the number of the at least two geometries plus two, the two or more front side straight grooves facing the corresponding two or more rear side straight grooves (271R, 272R, 273R, 274R, 275R), the number of rear side straight grooves being equal to the number of the two or more front side straight grooves, the rear side straight grooves being provided on the rear shell (200R) of the top container (200), wherein the two or more front side straight grooves (271F, 272F, 273F, 274F, 275F) and said two or more rear rectilinear grooves (271R, 272R, 273R, 274R, 275R) are oriented in a direction orthogonal to the direction (A) of extraction of the top container (200) from the bottom container (100), each of said two or more front rectilinear grooves (271F, 272F, 273F, 274F, 275F) and said two or more rear rectilinear grooves (271R, 272R, 273R, 274R, 275R) having a respective central circular recess (281F to 285F, 281R to 285R), wherein said at least one locking means (300, 310, 315, 350) comprises a front locking means interacting with a front shell (100F) of the bottom container (100) and with a front shell (200F) of the top container (200), said front locking means being operable by a front locking knob (300), interacting with a rear shell (100R) of the bottom container (100) and a rear shell (200R) of the top container (200), the rear locking means being operable by a rear locking knob (350), wherein the front and rear knobs (300, 350) are substantially circular and are arranged outside the front and rear shells (100F, 100R) of the bottom container (100), respectively, and the knobs are provided with central cylindrical pins (310) passing through the front and rear shells (100F, 100R) of the bottom container (100), respectively, wherein the central cylindrical pins (310) are configured to be inserted into one of the central circular recesses (281F to 285F, 281R to 285R) and to interact with springs (315) configured to insert the central cylindrical pins (310) towards the central circular recesses (281F to 285F, 281R to 285R), each of said front and rear knobs (300, 350) being configured to assume a release position corresponding to said release configuration, in which it is spaced apart from the front or rear shell (100F, 100R) of the bottom container (100), respectively, and in which said central cylindrical pin (310) is extracted from said central circular recess (281F to 285F, 281R to 285R), and a lock position corresponding to said lock configuration, in which said front and rear shells (300, 350) are pushed against the front and rear shells (100F, 100R) of the bottom container (100), respectively, and in which said respective central cylindrical pin (310) is inserted into the front and rear shells (100F, 100R) in one of the central circular recesses (281F to 285F, 281R to 285R).

8. The expandable drawbar luggage according to claim 7, wherein the number of the at least two geometries the expandable drawbar luggage is configured to assume is equal to four, whereby the number of the two or more front side straight recesses (271F, 272F, 273F, 274F, 275F) and the two or more rear side straight recesses (271R, 272R, 273R, 274R, 275R) ranges from four to six.

9. The expandable drawbar luggage according to claim 8, wherein the number of the two or more front side straight recesses (271F, 272F, 273F, 274F, 275F) and the two or more rear side straight recesses (271R, 272R, 273R, 274R, 275R) is equal to five or six.

10. The expandable trolley luggage of claim 9, wherein an inner surface of each of the front and rear shells (100F, 100R) of the bottom receptacle (100) is provided with two raised linear cushioning sealing elements (320), optionally made of rubber, more optionally realized by a convex rubber seal, arranged along the extraction direction (A), configured to be at least partially inserted into two respective front and rear linear grooves (271F to 275F, 271R to 275R), respectively, and to maintain a seal between the bottom receptacle (100) and the top receptacle (200), wherein each raised linear cushioning sealing element (320) is in fluid communication with the front and rear shells (100F, 100R) of the bottom receptacle (100), 100R) is equal to the distance separating two adjacent front or rear linear grooves (271F to 275F, 271R to 275R) from each other, whereby when the central cylindrical pin (310) is inserted into one of the central circular recesses (281F to 285F, 281R to 285R) of the respective front-side or rear-side linear grooves (271F to 275F, 271R to 275R), the two raised linear relief sealing elements (320) are inserted into at least one of the two or more front or rear linear grooves (271F-275F, 271R-275R), the two or more front-side or rear-side linear grooves are adjacent to a linear groove having a central circular recess (281F to 285F, 281R to 285R) into which a central cylindrical pin (310) is inserted.

11. The expandable drawbar luggage according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the bottom container (100) and the top container (200) are made of a plastic material, optionally acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (also known as ABS).

12. The expandable drawbar luggage according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the bottom wall of the bottom container (100) is provided externally with two or more rotating elements.

13. The expandable drawbar luggage of claim 12, wherein the two or more rotating elements are selected from the group consisting of a fixed sheave, a gyroscopic wheel, a fixed axle roller, and a gyroscopic roller.

14. The expandable drawbar luggage according to any of the preceding claims, wherein a pull-out handle (180) is mounted on the rear wall (120) of the bottom container (100) and/or wherein a fixed top handle (280) is mounted on the top wall (230) of the top container (200).