GB2260122A

GB2260122A - Carrying case handle

Info

Publication number: GB2260122A
Application number: GB9220684A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Rudolf Muller; Robert Hofmann
Original assignee: TA Triumph Adler AG
Current assignee: TA Triumph Adler AG
Priority date: 1991-10-04
Filing date: 1992-10-01
Publication date: 1993-04-07
Anticipated expiration: 2012-10-01
Also published as: ITMI922174A0; FR2682256A1; JPH0666045B2; FR2682256B1; SE9202739D0; DE4132905C2; ITMI922174A1; CH684513A5; DE4132905A1; SE9202739L; GB9220684D0; IT1255610B; GB2260122B; JPH05303447A

Abstract

A carrying case for portable office machines has a U-shaped handle (6) which is slidably supported with its longitudinal legs (7), which are parallel to each other, in a push guide in the case, between a push-in and a pull-out position. The handle (6) is formed as a punched and bent component, the two longitudinal legs (7) of which are slidably moved in a respective guideway (8) in the carrying case which embraces the associated longitudinal leg (7) with clearance. In the entry region in the guideway (8), the longitudinal legs (7) are flanked by a guide wedge (9) which is movable at right angles to the wedge narrowing direction (K). Each wedge (9) is slidably mounted on a pin (12) and situated between the leg (7) and the outer wall (25) of the guideway (8). When pushed in, the leg (7) penetrates between a leaf spring (11) and a plastic strip (10). The wedge (9) may have at its base a flange (19) with a slot (20) through which the leg (7) passes. <IMAGE>

Description

? - r l -- CARRYING CASE The invention concerns a carrying case for

portable office machines, data processing units and the like, and in particular for portable personal computers.

in such portable machines, the carrying case is usually fitted with a handle which may consist of a plain handle recess integrally moulded in the case, for example, a fold-out handle, or a handle which is slidable between a push-in and pull-out position.

Various requirements are made of such slidable handles. The handle construction must be very compact, so that as little space as possible is taken up inside the carrying case. Tn addition, it must be possible to push the handle in and pull it out very easily. Tn particular, it must not jam against operation when it is grasped off-centre on the grip-of the handle, which would cause its longitudinal legs, which engage in the case, to stick in the guideway of the case.

The invention aims to produce a carrying case of this generic type with a handle that is of particularly compact construction, neatly guided, and which can he easily pushed in and out.

According to the present invention there is provided a carrying case with a 'U' shaped handle which is supported slidably between a push-in and a pull-out position, with its longitudinal legs which are parallel to each other, in a slide guide in the carrying case, wherein the handle is designed as a punched and bent component, the two longitudinal legs of which are perpendicular with their faces (outer side) to the plane formed by the handle are slidably moved in a guideway in the carrying case, with this guideway embracing the associated longitudinal leg with clearance, and in the entry region into the guideway are flanked by a guide wedge which is movable across the wedge direction and which is arranged between a longitudinal side of the longitudinal leg and the guideway inner side facing this, with its wedge direction pointing in the push-in direction of the handle.

Due to the design of the handle as a punched and bent component, it engages with the carrying case with only very narrow longitudinal legs. This facilitates the desired compact construction. In addition, the longitudinal legs can be slidably moved in a guideway in a manner which represents a particularly skilful design solution, whereby the guideway shrouds the legs with a running clearance. The guide wedges, provided in the entry region of the longitudinal legs into the guideway, effectively prevent any jamming of the legs in the guideway, in particular in the event of an uneven loading of the handle during push-in. The movable wedges can adapt to a push-in direction of the longitudinal legs, should this deviate from the longitudinal direction of the guideway, and ensure a clean guidance of the longituAinal legs of the handle even under these unfavourable circumstances. Accordingly, the handle can be moved to and fro without any special effort when it is subjected to a one-sided or offcentre operation.

In order to optimise their guidance properties, the two guide wedges may be arranged on the outer sides of the longitudinal legs, facing away from each other. The two guide wedges may also have, at their wedge base, flanges extending at right angles to the wedge direction, which are provided with an access slot for the longitudinal legs of the handle. The flanges also form a visually neat frontal termination of the guideway.

Preferably, between one longitudinal side (outer side) of each longitudinal leg of the handle and, facing this, the inside (longitudinal side) of the guideway, a leaf spring is inserted which is essentially warped in a convex manner.

1 The leaf spring supports the function of the guide wedges in that it holds the longitudinal legs as parallel as possible to the longitudinal direction of the guideway, even under a one-sided loading of the handle. In addition, the leaf spring has the effect that the handle will stay in any position and will not rock in spite of the necessarily existing play between the guideway and the longitudinal legs.

In a preferred embodiment a sliding plastic strip is inserted between the longitudinal legs and the inner longitudinal sides of the guideway. The sliding plastic strip may have a U-shaped cross-section, and may cover the inner longitudinal sides of the guideway which are not covered by the leaf spring. Ry means of the plastic strip the pysical effort required for pushing the handle in and out is further reduced. In addition, the sliding plastic strip acts as a safeguard against wear of the inside of the guideway, which is preferably made of plastic material, and against a consequential deterioration of its guidance properties.

Preferably, each guideway, each guide wedge and each sliding plastic strip have apertures which are in line with each other which are penetrated by a common fixing pin, the pin being fixed on the carrying case. The pin serves as a common support of the various components for the guidance of the longitudinal legs. This is achieved in a way which is particularly simple in terms of design.

The lower edge of the longitudinal legs of the 4 - handle may rest on the associated fixing pin, the free edge of each longitudinal leg of the handle having a stop projection in the region of the lower edge. By supporting the lower edge of the longitudinal legs of the handle, the pin acts as an additional sliding aid when the handle is pushed in and out of the carrying case. The fixing pin may further serve as a stop for the handle in its pushed-out position.

The free ends of the longitudinal legs of the handle may be chamfered on at least one of their longitudinal sides. This in turn prevents any jamming of the handle in the guide.

Other features, details and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description which follows, in which an embodiment of the invention is more closely described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows an exploded view of a handle device for a carrying case in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of the handle device in accordance with fig.1 in a part section presentation; Fig. 3 shows a front view of a guide wedge; Fig. 4 shoWs a side view of the guide wedge in accordance with fig. 3; Fig. 5 shows a top view of the guide wedge in accordance with figures 3 and 4; Fig. 6 shows a side view of an alternative embodiment of guide wedge; Fig. 7 shows a top view on the guide wedge in accordance with fig. 6, and Fig. 8 shows a top view of the handle in accordance with fig. 1.

1 Figures 1 and 2 show only the part of the base tray 1 which is of interest, together with the base 2 and a side flank 3 of a carrying case in accordance with the invention. The side flank 3 has a recessed region 4, in the end regions of which there is a rectangular aperture 5.

The handle device in a carrying case in accordance with the invention is composed of a 'T shaped handle 6 with its two longitudinal legs 7 and two components provided in duplicate in each case and associated with the lontiduinal legs 7, namely the guideways 8, the guide wedges 9, the sliding plastic strips 10, the leaf springs 11, the fixing pins 12, and the terminal pieces 13.

The handle 6 is constructed as a punched and bent part. The faces of the longitudinal legs 7 are perpendicular to the plane opened up by the handle 6. The handle grip or bar 14 connecting the longitudinal legs 7 is sheathed by two handle half shells 15, 16 (see Figure 2 or Figure 8) which can engage with each other in a snap-in arrangement.

Located behind the side flank 3 of the base tray 1 in the push:--in direction E are the guideways 8, which are each constructed as a sleeve with a flat rectangular crosssection and which are in alignment with the apertures 5 in the side flank 3 of the base tray 1. In these guideways 8, the longitudinal legs 7 of the handle 6 are slidably supported between the pushed-out position shown in Fig. 2 and a pushed-in position (not shown), whereby the guideways 8 embrace the longitudinal legs 7 with clearance.

In the entry region of the guideways 8, pointing in a direction opposite to the push-in direction E, one of the guide wedges 9 is always in operation, namely between the outsides 17, which face away from each other, of the longitudinal legs 7, and the insides of the guideways 8 which flank these legs. The wedge direction K of the guide wedges 9 points in the same direction as the push-in direction E. Furthermore, the guide wedges 9 are movable across the wedge direction K.

The guide wedge 9 shown in figures 3 to 5 has at its wedge base 18 a rectangular flange which extends at right angles to the wedge direction K; the dimensioning of this flange corresponds to the apertures 5 in the side flank 3 of the base tray 1. In the wedge direction K adjacent to the wedge base 18 of the guide wedge 9, the flange 19 is provided with an access slot 20 for each longitudinal leg 7 of the handle 6.

The sliding plastic strip 10 and the leaf spring 11 are inserted, facing each other, into the guideways 8 in the push-in direction E behind the guide wedges 9. The sliding plastic strip 10 covers the upper and lower narrow side 21, 22 inside the guideways, and also the inner longitudinal side 23. For this purpose, the sliding plastic strip 10 is constructed with a 'U' shaped cross-section. It is made from a dimensionally stale, but flexible plastic material, such as polytetrafluoroethylene.

The Chromium-Nickel (CrNi) steel leaf spring 11 is bent at intervals, at bending lines 24 which extend in the transverse direction. Between these bending lines 24, the leaf spring 11 is flat. The angles of bend are approximately 15 - 200. The two leaf springs 11 are inserted between the outer sides 17 of the longitudinal legs 7 and the outer longitudinal sides 25 of the guideways 8, with their convex sides facing the longitudinal legs 7. They therefore apply pressure on the two longitudinal legs 7 of the handle 6 in directions towards each other.

The guideways 8, the guide wedges 9, and the sliding plastic strips 10 have on their lower edge, at a 4 - 7 front end with respect to the push-in direction E, access apertures which are in line in the final assembly position, namely the round holes 26-in the guideways 8, the recesses 27 in the guide wedges 9, and the rectangular reliefs 28 in the sliding plastic strips 10. These apertures have fixing pins 12 penetrating them, which are fixed between the fixing lugs 29 (fig. 2) at the bottom of the base tray 1. The fixing pins are slightly flexible, so as to compensate for tolerances in the various components of the handle device.

The guideways 8 at the inside end of the case, are stepped, starting from the upper narrow side 21. The terminal piece 13 which is L-shaped in profile, with retaining tabs 30, engages in the stepped section. The lower extension 31 of the guideways 8, formed by the stepped relief, extends beneath appropriate holddown devices (not shown) on the base tray 1, whereby the guideways 8 are counter-supported and held fast to the case. The upright 'L' leg 32 of the terminal piece 13, together with an offset 33 on the handle leg side end of the longitudinal legs 7 of the handle 2, serves as an end stop during the push-in movement of the handle 6 into the carrying case.

The free ends 34 of the longitudinal legs 7 of the handle 6 have on their lower edge 35 a stop projection 36, which strikes against the fixing pin 12 when the handle 6 pulled out, thus limiting the pull-out position of the handle.

The two free ends 34 of the longitudinal legs 7 of the handle 6 further have a chamfer 37.

Figures 6 and 7 show a guide wedge 9' of an alternative design, in which the flange 19 has been omitted. A nose-like extension 38 at the lower end of the wedge base 18 is used to fix the guide wedge 9' in the wedge direction K. This extension 38 is also used as a pivot point for the pivoting movement of the guide wedge 9' across the wedge direction which occurs when the handle 6 is pushed in with pressure on one side only.

is - 8

Claims

1. A carrying case with a 'U' shaped handle which is supported slidably between a push-in and a pull-out position, with its longitudinal legs, which are parallel to each other, in a slide guide in the carrying case, wherein the handle is designed as a punched and bent component, the two longitudinal legs of which are perpendicular with their faces to the plane formed by the handle, are slidably moved in a guideway in the carrying case, with this guideway embracing the associated longitudinal leg with clearance, and in the entry region into the guideway are flanked by a guide wedge which is movable across the wedge direction and which is arranged between a longitudinal side of the longitudinal leg and the guideway inner side facing this, with its wedge direction pointing in the push-in direction of the handle.

2. A carrying case in accordance with claim 1, wherein the two guide wedges are arranged on the outer sides, facing away from each other, of the longitudinal legs.

3. A carrying case in accordance with claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the two guide wedges have at their wedge base, flanges extending at right angles to the wedge direction and which are provided with an access slot for the longitudinal legs of the handle.

4. A carrying case in accordance with one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein between one longitudinal side of each longitudinal leg of the handle and, facing this, the inside of the guideway, a leaf spring is inserted which is essentially warped in a convex manner.

5.

Z1 A carrying case in accordance with one of the claims 1 to 4, wherein a sliding plastic strip is inserted between the longitudinal legs and the inner longitudinal sides of the guideway.

6. A carrying case in accordance with claim 4 or claim 5, wherein the sliding plastic strip has a U-shaped cross-section and covers the inner longitudinal sides of the guideway which are not covered by the leaf spring.

7. A carrying case in accordance with claim 5 or claim 6, wherein each guideway, each guide wedge, and each sliding plastic strip have in the entry region of the longitudinal legs at their lower edge access apertures which are in line with each other, which are penetrated by a common fixing pin which is fixed on the carrying case.

8. A carrying case in accordance with claim 7, wherein the lower edge of the longitudinal legs of the handle rests on the associated fixing pin.

9. A carrying case in accordance with claim 7 or 8, wherein the free end of each longitudinal leg of the handle has a stop projection in the region of the lower edge.

10. A carrying case in accordance with one of the claims 1 to 9, wherein the free ends of the longitudinal legs of the handle are chamfered on at least one of their longitudinal sides.

11. A carrying case substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.