EP1038466A2 - Perfectionnements pour ou relatifs aux valises ou similaires - Google Patents

Perfectionnements pour ou relatifs aux valises ou similaires Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1038466A2
EP1038466A2 EP00302382A EP00302382A EP1038466A2 EP 1038466 A2 EP1038466 A2 EP 1038466A2 EP 00302382 A EP00302382 A EP 00302382A EP 00302382 A EP00302382 A EP 00302382A EP 1038466 A2 EP1038466 A2 EP 1038466A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
lid
base
case
corner brackets
case according
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP00302382A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP1038466A3 (fr
Inventor
Marc Gainsbury
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Polyformes Ltd
Original Assignee
Polyformes Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from GBGB9906726.6A external-priority patent/GB9906726D0/en
Application filed by Polyformes Ltd filed Critical Polyformes Ltd
Publication of EP1038466A2 publication Critical patent/EP1038466A2/fr
Publication of EP1038466A3 publication Critical patent/EP1038466A3/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A45—HAND OR TRAVELLING ARTICLES
    • A45C—PURSES; LUGGAGE; HAND CARRIED BAGS
    • A45C5/00—Rigid or semi-rigid luggage
    • A45C5/03—Suitcases
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A45—HAND OR TRAVELLING ARTICLES
    • A45C—PURSES; LUGGAGE; HAND CARRIED BAGS
    • A45C3/00—Flexible luggage; Handbags
    • A45C3/02—Briefcases or the like

Definitions

  • This invention relates to improvements in or relating to cases and is more particularly but not exclusively concerned with assembly of attaché cases.
  • the lid may be made up of a hollow extruded aluminium section comprising four pieces or members cut and sized to make a supporting frame joined at the corners by plastics corner joints.
  • the extruded cross-section includes a channel for receiving the edge of a flat, rectangular top part of the lid made for example of rigid plastics or a sandwiched material.
  • the downwardly depending edge of the lid defined by the frame members is shaped suitably to mate with a complementary edge contour of aluminium extruded section material arranged in a frame to form the bottom or base of the case.
  • the bottom or base of the case may be made up of similar extruded sections and plastics and/or aluminium corner brackets joining the frame members but the precise make-up of the bottom of the case may be varied to suit according to the particular depth of base and/or aesthetic characteristics or cost.
  • the upstanding side walls of the base need not be constructed from an aluminium extruded section which is the full height of the side wall (as with the lid) but rather, for saving in costs, the upstanding side walls themselves may be constructed by frame members shaped to support and hold in place flat; rectangular side walls of similar plastics construction to the flat bottom wall of the base of the case.
  • the applicant has perceived that there may be certain disadvantages to such modular construction attaché cases or briefcases or at least it is believed that a more versatile construction could be engineered.
  • the plastics corner brackets themselves are provided with projections or male mating parts that engage in holes (or slots) or female mating parts in the aluminium extruded frame sections.
  • the frame sections are held together by the force fit engagement of the corner brackets in the holes/slots in said frame sections.
  • the height of corner bracket that can be employed is limited more particularly to about 20mm and that if any such corner bracket is employed having a height greater than that there are problems in the corner brackets being retained properly in the frame members bearing in mind that the idea of the construction method is not to employ adhesives and in any event the application of such adhesives may not be suitable in view of the stresses involved on the structure overall in any case both in manufacturing and in use.
  • each corner has been made up of a plurality of corner brackets and owing to the particular construction involved the base may not have side walls which are each made up of a single length of extruded aluminium section unlike the lid. Additionally, the plastics corner sections clearly stand out in such a case and this may not be the most aesthetic appearance that could be achieved.
  • An object of the present invention is to at least alleviate one or more of the aforementioned, or other, disadvantages associated with modular case construction.
  • a case having a lid and a base, at least one of the lid and base being formed from frame members connected together by corner brackets, the case having one or more of the following features:
  • a case having a lid and a base, at least one of the lid and base being formed by frame members connected together by corner brackets, the case having corner brackets including flange means extending in three mutually orthogonal directions.
  • each corner bracket includes tapered ribs
  • said ribs are preferably tapered in cross-section as well as longitudinally and preferably are tapered in three mutually orthogonal directions, said ribs tapering from an inner location of the corner bracket to the outside of the corner bracket.
  • said tapered ribs will define an edge surface engaging walling of the frame members defining a slot or hole for reception of connection flanges on the corner brackets defining the tapered ridge.
  • the case is made up of a lid and base, the lid including four frame member sections, each frame member section corresponding to the height of a side wall of the lid, connected together by corner brackets, each corner bracket having the same height extending the height of the side wall.
  • the base may comprise a four frame member sections of a similar height as used on the lid or greater joined together by four corner brackets having a height equal to the height of the side walls of the base.
  • the briefcase may include a lid made up of four frame member sections, four corner joints and a flat top part in addition to a base made up of four frame member sections, four corner brackets and a flat bottom part to the base.
  • Each corner bracket may be constituted by the integral moulding and there may be only two types of corner bracket provided in a construction.
  • each of the flange means includes tapered ribs such that the narrowest tapered edge engages walling of a slot in an extruded frame member section of said case.
  • a briefcase of known construction has a lid 101 hinged to a base or bottom 102 with a handle 103.
  • the lid 101 is made up from four frame members 104 (only two shown) of hollow extruded aluminium joined at their ends by plastics corner brackets 105 (only three corners shown) and a flat rectangular top part 106.
  • the base 102 utilises corner brackets 107, of two part construction, being split up into components 107a, 107b.
  • Component 107b is of about 20mm in height and is a push-fit engagement into the hollow slots provided in the extruded aluminium frame member sections 111 and 112.
  • the four aluminium sections 104 are provided with a U-shaped longitudinal channel opening inwardly receiving a flat rectangular top panel 106.
  • a flat rectangular base panel (not shown) is similarly framed and held in the channels of four extruded frame member sections 111 of reduced height compared to frame members 104.
  • each side wall of the bottom 102 of the case is not constructed entirely of an aluminium extruded material. Instead, each side wall includes a flat rectangular panel 108 and each corner bracket 107a and 107b has a central aluminium corner bracket piece 110
  • the corner bracket means 105 and 107 in each case have to be less than 20mm in height or otherwise the lid or base of the case may be prone to coming apart and it is believed that restrictions on the height of each corner bracket means unnecessary limits the design feature of the case.
  • FIGURES 2 and 3 show views of an attaché case or brief case 1 constructed in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.
  • each corner bracket means 2 at each corner on the lid 3 is a one-piece plastics moulding having a height or depth substantially larger than 20mm and in practice up to virtually whatever dimension may be required.
  • the base 4 is constructed in a similar fashion to the lid 3 except that the height of the side walls is greater and the height of the corner bracket means 5 has been increased accordingly.
  • the lid 3 is formed from four hollow extruded aluminium frame member sections 6 held together by a force-fit with the corner bracket means 2, in a manner to be described, and the base 4 has been constructed in a similar manner except that the height of the extruded aluminium frame member section 7 is greater than the height of the aluminium section 6 used for the lid.
  • the cross-section of the frame member section 7 is similar (but larger) to the cross-section of frame member 6.
  • the frame member sections 6 of the lid have inwardly directed longitudinal U-shaped channels U (see FIGURES 5 and 6) to snugly receive a rectangular top panel 8 of the lid.
  • the hollow external aluminium section frame members 7 have similarly inwardly directed channels to receive edge portions of the plastics rectangular base panel 9.
  • a handle H is provided on the base 4 of the case in known manner.
  • FIGURE 4 shows perspective views of one of the corner brackets 2 used for the lid and it can immediately be seen that each corner bracket 2 has mutually perpendicular connecting flanges 2a and 2b which are a force-fit into appropriate slots T (see FIGURE 5) in the aluminium extruded section frame members 6 in a manner which should be generally evident from the drawings.
  • Each corner bracket is divided up into two portions and each portion includes a number of spaced tapered ribs R which, as shown, are tapered in two directions at right-angles and the height Ra of the tapered rib on the outside of the corner bracket is slightly less than the internal height Rb of the tapered rib more particularly as should be evident from FIGURE 4 of the drawings.
  • FIGURE 8 shows the rib R pattern superimposed in the engagement position in slots T. It is to be noted (see FIGURE 4) that the top of the corner bracket 2 is provided with a slot 2d which, in use, receives the corner of a flat rectangular plastics panel or the like of the lid.
  • the corner bracket 5 used for the base (see FIGURE 9) is provided with a channel formation 5e of complementary channel configuration to the upper mating edge 2e of corner bracket 5 (see FIGURE 4).
  • the ringed details on FIGURE 4 and FIGURE 9 show how the overlapping channel configurations mate.
  • the corner bracket 5 is very similar to corner bracket 2 and so will not be described in great detail since the only feature of difference apart from the complementary channel shape 5e is the length of the bracket.
  • the tapered rib design is extremely important since it allows a significant holding force in the slots provided in the aluminium extruded section to such an extent that the length of corner brackets provided may be much greater (very much greater than 20 mm.provided for in prior art construction).
  • the side walls on brief cases can be provided to virtually any reasonable height requirement and each of the corner bracket means need only be produced in one piece as a one piece moulding rather than necessarily having to employ a plurality of shorter height component corner brackets.
  • tapered rib or fin arrangements R are very important as are flat stop surfaces 2f and 5f provided at the ends of the tapered ribs.
  • a case can be constructed with having a bottom or base with quite high side walls with the aluminium extruded frame member sections extending the full height of the side walls.
  • each corner bracket is provided with an indented outer surface, for example surface 2g on corner bracket 2 (see FIGURE 4) for mounting a sheet of decorative material (e.g. aluminium finished to match the aluminium outer appearance of the case for enhanced aesthetics).
  • a sheet of decorative material e.g. aluminium finished to match the aluminium outer appearance of the case for enhanced aesthetics.
  • FIGURES 5 and 6 show typical sections through the upper of lower side frame members. Both FIGURES 5 and 6 show a side frame member with an inner wall 121 and an outer wall 122 each of thickness X mm., these walls being parallel and spaced apart by a separation distance W mm.
  • the side frame members may be made of metal, aluminium being particularly suitable. When using aluminium it has been found that a wall thickness X in the range 1 to 2 mm, preferably about 1.6 mm., combined with a separation distance W between 4 and 30mm., and preferably between 8 to 15mm. provide walls of the required strength and rigidity.
  • FIGURES 10 to 16 This embodiment is particularly concerned with the production and assembly of a briefcase of a general form as shown in FIGURE 1 of the drawings but on a much larger scale.
  • the components 105 and 107 are limited to a height of about 20mm., but in accordance with the further developments made by the Applicant, no such limitation need be applied and each corner bracket 105, 107 could for example be of a height of 40 mm.enabling a much larger case to be provided.
  • brackets 200 effectively replace the lower components 107b positioned on the base of the case shown in FIGURE 1 and the corner brackets 300 would replace the upper components 107a on the upper open part of the base 102.
  • each mounting bracket 200 and 300 has mutually perpendicular connecting flanges or flange means 201, 202 etc., which are a force fit into appropriate slots S1 and S2 (see FIGURE 16) in the aluminium extruded section frame member 400, which is similar to the frame members 111 defined in the bottom of the base 102.
  • the height of the corner bracket 200 can be above 20mm (for example 40mm) and the required holding force of the flanges in the slots in the extrusion will still be entirely sufficient.
  • each corner bracket 200 has a third flange or flange means 203 projecting mutually perpendicular to the other two flanges 201, 202, said third flange being receivable in an appropriate aluminium extrusion corner bridge piece similar to central aluminium corner bracket piece 110.
  • Corner bracket 300 is of a generally similar format to corner bracket 200. Corner bracket 300 has two mutually perpendicular flange means 301, 302 to extend within the associated exterior aluminium section and also a third mutually perpendicular flange means 303 similar to the flange means 203 (provided on corner bracket 200). However, instead of the corner bracket 300 being provided with a smooth corner portion opposite the flange means 303, it is provided with a lipped edge to receive an appropriately lipped edge 304 of the lid in a manner which should be self-explanatory.
  • the tapered ribs R1 of the flange means 201, 202, 203, 301, 302, 303 are surrounded by longer L-shaped section or U-shaped section portions as the case may be.

Landscapes

  • Casings For Electric Apparatus (AREA)
  • Closures For Containers (AREA)
EP00302382A 1999-03-23 2000-03-23 Perfectionnements pour ou relatifs aux valises ou similaires Withdrawn EP1038466A3 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GBGB9906726.6A GB9906726D0 (en) 1999-03-23 1999-03-23 Improvements in or relating to cases or the like
GB9906726 1999-03-23
GBGB9915762.0A GB9915762D0 (en) 1999-03-23 1999-07-07 Improvements in or relating to cases or the like
GB9915762 1999-07-07

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1038466A2 true EP1038466A2 (fr) 2000-09-27
EP1038466A3 EP1038466A3 (fr) 2002-05-15

Family

ID=26315330

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP00302382A Withdrawn EP1038466A3 (fr) 1999-03-23 2000-03-23 Perfectionnements pour ou relatifs aux valises ou similaires

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1038466A3 (fr)
AU (1) AU2256300A (fr)

Family Cites Families (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE827229C (de) * 1948-12-24 1952-02-21 Carl Kuhne Koffer, bestehend aus Ober- und Unterteil, mit Rahmen zum Halten der Waende
GB1313299A (en) * 1969-07-01 1973-04-11 Link 51 Ltd Spigot devices to engage sockets of framework members
DE2214251C3 (de) * 1972-03-23 1981-04-30 Rox Lederwarenfabriken Hamann Kg, 8911 Hofstetten Koffer
US4770312A (en) * 1987-06-10 1988-09-13 Judy O Detachable case
DE3905494A1 (de) * 1989-02-23 1990-08-30 G S A Elektro Elektronik Baute Behaelter
FR2655625B1 (fr) * 1989-12-07 1992-04-17 Berthier Rene Caisse de transport representant notamment une cuvette a cadre rigide obtenu en assemblant par grippage des elements de cornieres profiles.

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
None

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP1038466A3 (fr) 2002-05-15
AU2256300A (en) 2000-09-28

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