EP3952691B1 - Foldable wheeled suitcase and steering roller - Google Patents

Description

Technical area

The present invention relates to a foldable rolling suitcase.

background

Travel suitcases and their suitcase shells are usually made of metal, leather, fabric material or plastic and are made up of 2 rigid or slightly flexible housing halves, which are held together via a suitcase frame with a hinge and lock or a zipper, thus creating a stable container .

This creates a volume that can be defined in liters. In most cases, this volume value together with the external dimensions represent the essential technical properties of the suitcase. On average, a travel suitcase has a volume of 80 liters.

On average, people worldwide go on a 2-week vacation once a year, where clothing, shoes and toiletries as well as everyday accessories are packed into a larger suitcase. This means that a suitcase with a volume of 80 liters is stored for 50 weeks a year.

A family of 4 with 4 suitcases stores around 320 liters of volume for 50 weeks a year, in the basement, in the attic or in the garage. In very few cases can the suitcases be stacked one inside the other due to the wheels, handles and attachments. Even if this is possible, the volume of the largest suitcases remains for storage.

Whether an individual or a family, a similar problem arises at the destination of a trip. Whether in the hotel room or on the sailboat. The volume of the suitcase has no space. They get in the way or take up space that is actually needed in the wardrobe. Manufacturers produce suitcases all over the world. After production, these empty suitcases with gigantic volumes are stored and shipped around the globe at high prices They in turn store these at their dealers, who pay a high price for storing the voluminous suitcases due to their good location.

Suitcases and travel bags are usually provided with wheels to make their transport easier. The majority of suitcases and travel bags have either a pair of fixed wheels with a common virtual axis of rotation on an edge facing the floor, or usually 4 single or double wheels that can be swiveled through 360 degrees, each of which is mounted in the 4 corners on the bottom sides.

The large 360 degree swivel range of these wheels takes up a larger volume per wheel arrangement than the wheels themselves. Either the external dimensions of a suitcase increase, or the wheels are partially integrated into the suitcase volume, which reduces the packing volume. In order to reduce this unused volume and the weight of the suitcase, the wheels are kept as small as possible.

This results in poor driving behavior and a high level of driving noise, especially on uneven ground.

Depending on the position of the suitcase, wheels that can be swiveled through 360 degrees protrude from its actual external dimensions due to gravity and increase the volume of the suitcase, especially when loading a suitcase into a trunk or luggage compartment.

A convertible suitcase, for example, is out US 2006/0169691 A1 known. Foldable suitcases are in US 3,814,220 A and GB 520 473 A disclosed. In US 2,425,035 A and WO 2020/031173 A1 Further examples of foldable suitcases are described.

GB 520 473 discloses a foldable travel suitcase comprising a top and a bottom, a hinge side and at least one side surface.

Based on this prior art, the present invention sets itself the task of specifying a foldable rolling suitcase and a role that is particularly suitable for use in such a foldable rolling suitcase.

These and other tasks that will be mentioned upon reading the following description or that can be recognized by a person skilled in the art are solved by the subject matter of the independent claims. The dependent claims further develop the central idea of the present invention in a particularly advantageous manner.

Detailed description of the invention

A foldable travel suitcase according to the invention is defined by claim 1.

Advantageously, the at least one side surface is a large side surface of a suitcase half.

According to the invention, at least two opposite sides of two suitcase halves are connecting strips made of soft, elastic material made of plastic, rubber, silicone, textile, fabric or a combination thereof, arranged at 45 degrees to the short edges, starting from the corners.

Preferably the at least two opposite sides are the top and bottom. Preferably one or more rollers are attached to the large side surface and protrude beyond it.

Not defined by the invention, a swivel castor is disclosed, which are mounted in pairs on the two largest sides of a suitcase or bag, the caster, which is mounted in the axle holder by an axle, having a vertical steering axis centered on the roll width. Preferably, the steering axle is in front of the axle in the direction of travel, so that the roller follows.

There is preferably a spring element between the holder and the axle holder, which causes the axle holder and thus the axle to be returned to a defined position.

Preferably, the steering axis is inclined about the axis in such a way that the roller automatically returns to a defined position when subjected to vertical loading by the axle mount.

The holder is preferably part of the side surface of the suitcase or bag, or is firmly connected to it.

The roller, the axle mount and the holder are preferably made of plastic or metal.

Short description of the characters

Figure 1

a schematic representation of a preferred embodiment of a foldable rolling suitcase;

Figure 2

a schematic representation of the in Figure 1 shown embodiment of a foldable rolling suitcase;

Figure 3

a schematic representation of the in Figure 1 shown embodiment of a foldable rolling suitcase;

Figure 4

a schematic representation of the in Figure 1 shown embodiment of a foldable rolling suitcase;

Figure 5

a schematic representation of the in Figure 1 shown embodiment of a foldable rolling suitcase;

Figure 6

a schematic representation of the in Figure 1 shown embodiment of a foldable rolling suitcase;

Figure 7

a schematic representation of a preferred embodiment of a swivel castor

Figure 8

a schematic representation of the in Figure 7 Embodiment of a swivel castor;

Figure 9

a schematic representation of the in Figure 7 Embodiment of a swivel castor;

Figure 10

a schematic representation of the in Figure 7 Embodiment of a swivel castor;

Figure 11

a schematic representation of the in Figure 7 Embodiment of a swivel castor;

Figure 12

a schematic representation of the in Figure 7 Embodiment of a swivel castor;

Figure 13

a schematic representation of the in Figure 7 Embodiment of a swivel castor;

Figure 14

a schematic representation of the in Figure 7 Embodiment of a swivel castor;

Figure 15

a schematic representation of the in Figure 7 Embodiment of a swivel castor; and

Figure 16

a schematic representation of the in Figure 7 Embodiment of a swivel castor.

Description of the exemplary embodiments

Through an arrangement of highly elastic connections and semi-elastic or rigid shell elements or their segments, a suitcase half with a volume of between 25 and 100 liters can be folded in such a way that only the material thickness of the suitcase shell defines the height of the folded suitcase. This means that the volume of the entire suitcase is reduced to a fraction of the previous volume.

The foldable travel suitcase is cuboid and is moved upright on up to 4 wheels, using a handle or a handlebar on the top of the suitcase. As a rule, in this orientation, the two smallest sides form the top and bottom of the suitcase, the second largest sides form the elongated handle/hinge sides and the two largest sides form the side surfaces on which an opened suitcase lies when being packed. A zipper or a zipper and a hinge band form the closure of both halves of the suitcase.

Unlike a folding box with hinged joints, the top and bottom 3, the elongated handle/hinge sides 2 and the side surface 1 of a travel suitcase half have edges with a connecting strip 4 made of soft, elastic, yet tear-resistant material made of plastic, rubber, silicone , textile, fabric or a combination thereof. Four additional connecting strips 5, arranged at 45 degrees to the short edges, made of soft, elastic, yet tear-resistant material made of plastic, rubber, silicone, textile, fabric or a combination thereof, in the corners only allow the 2 opposite top and bottom 3 of a suitcase half, together with the opposite handle/hinge sides 2, an almost synchronous folding of the top and bottom 3 as well as the handle/hinge sides 2 in the direction of the side surfaces 1.

Since the connecting strips 4 and 5 have different widths and cannot have a fixed pivot point and therefore the top and bottom of the case 3, the elongated handle/hinge sides 2 and the side surface 1 can move towards one another in several directions and can move out of the way, this becomes synchronous Folding the two top and bottom sides 3 and the two elongated handle/hinge sides 2 onto the side surface 1 is simplified.

Both halves of the suitcase can now fold up individually from each other as soon as the zipper is opened on at least three sides. One side, preferably the hinge side, of the case can remain as a connection to make it easier to operate and close the case. However, the connection of the two shells can be separated for construction or repair.

However, the movable arrangement of the top and bottom 3 as well as the handle/hinge sides 2 means that the bottom surface can no longer be used as usual for attaching rollers 7. On the one hand, the surface is no longer stable due to the elastic connections 4 and 5, and on the other hand, the floor surfaces 3 fold with their visible outer surface towards each other in such a way that rollers 7 or jaw feet would collide when folded and thus the surfaces would fold flat becomes impossible.

For this reason, the large side surfaces 1 of the suitcase and their 3-dimensional structure take on the central static function and serve as a holder for the rollers 7, as well as the carrying handles and the trolley handle, which transfer all the forces for locomotion.

The described design of the side swivel roller on suitcases and travel bags (here referred to as luggage item 8) solves these problems. The swivel castors are not mounted under the piece of luggage 8 on its surface facing the floor, but rather in pairs, slim and space-saving laterally in the direction of travel, primarily in recesses on the two large side surfaces of a piece of luggage 8 on which a piece of luggage 8 is usually placed for opening. Here, the rollers 1 protrude over the edge of these side surfaces, above the surface of the suitcase facing the floor, in order to create the space between the floor and the luggage item 8 necessary for movement.

Similar to an automobile with all-wheel steering, the 2 rollers, which are mounted one after the other on the left and right side surfaces, lie in a lane. For control purposes, the rollers only swivel over their caster in a defined swivel range between 5 and 45 degrees and not 360 degrees like usual suitcase rollers. Since the swivel castor only takes up a small area for swiveling compared to the usual 360 degree swivel suitcase castor, each individual swivel castor takes up significantly less volume in the suitcase and takes up less volume in the trunk.

Each individual swivel castor has a roller with a soft tread 1, the rotation axis 2 of which is connected to an axle mount made of metal or fiber-reinforced plastic 4 can in turn pivot about the steering axis made of metal 5 in a defined area and is stored in a holder 7 made of plastic or metal 7. The holder 7 connects the swivel castor to the luggage 8 using adhesive, rivets or screws.

The steering axis 5 of the axle mount 4 and thus of the roller 1 is located centrally to the roller width 3 and in the direction of travel in front of the rotation axis 2 of the roller 1, so that the roller 1 has a caster of between 1 and 25 mm. The roller 1 can now, by applying force via the piece of luggage 8 and the holder 7, pivot left and right up to a stop 6 in both directions from the central neutral position, which causes a steering impulse on the suitcase.

Each roller in a lane can pivot to a limited angle around your steering axis 5. Since both rollers 1 with axle mounts 4 pivot simultaneously due to a lateral force on the case 8 or the bag 8, the steering angles add up, so that a small turning circle results despite the small pivoting range of the roller.

In order to achieve more stable straight running, the axle mount 4 can be guided together with the roller 1 into the neutral position of the roller via a spring element made of plastic or metal. The same return to the neutral position can be done when the roller is loaded from above, even without a spring element, by tilting the steering axis 5 around the axis 2.

Claims (5)

1. Foldable travel case, comprising

   an upper and a lower side (3), a hinge side (2) and at least one side surface (1), wherein the upper and lower sides (3), the hinge sides (2) and the at least one side surface (1) are connected to each other via connecting strips (4),

   characterized in that

   at least two opposite sides of two case halves have additional connecting strips (5) of soft elastic material made of plastic, rubber, silicone, textile, fabric or a combination thereof, arranged at 45 degrees to the short edges, starting from the corners.
2. Foldable travel case according to claim 1, wherein the connecting strips are provided from a soft elastic material of plastic, rubber, silicone, textile, fabric or a combination thereof.
3. Foldable travel case according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the at least one side surface (1) is a large side surface of a case half.
4. Foldable travel case, according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least two opposite sides (3) are the top and bottom sides.
5. Foldable travel case, according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein one or more roles (7) are attached to the large side surface and project beyond it.

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