GB2453100A

GB2453100A - Luggage packing system

Info

Publication number: GB2453100A
Application number: GB0714288A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ian Mccormack
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-07-18
Filing date: 2007-07-18
Publication date: 2009-04-01
Also published as: WO2009010775A1; GB0714288D0

Abstract

A luggage packing system, comprising an item of luggage (15), items of clothing (20, 22, 24) packed in the item of luggage, and at least one anticrease divider (30) interposed between adjacent items of clothing, the anticrease divider comprising first and second layers (32, 34), made of plastics material, connected so as to be in close face-to-face relation and defining a non-enclosed space between the faces (32a, 34a).

Description

LUGGAGE PACKING SYSTEM

The present invention relates generally to a luggage packing system.

Clothing packed within luggage while travelling has always been prone to creasing. However, standardised luggage sizes and increased airline restrictions on luggage size and weight is making the problem worse.

Business suits and shirts can particularly show the affects of having been packed as luggage.

The present invention is concerned with the problem of creasing in clothing which is packed as luggage and generally seeks to lessen the creasing which takes place.

According to a first aspect, the present invention may provide a luggage packing system, comprising an item of luggage; items of clothing packed in the item of luggage; and at least one anticrease divider interposed between adjacent items of clothing, the anticrease divider comprising first and second layers made of plastics material connected so as to be in close face-to-face relation and defining a non-enclosed space between the faces.

It has been found that by packing clothing in an item of luggage with the anticrease chvider in accordance with the present invention sitting between adjacent items of clothing, the degree of creasing which results may be reduced.

Polyethylene, having a thickness of 0.05-20mm, is a preferred plastics material.

According to a second aspect, the present invention may provide an anticrease divider suitable for use in the first aspect of the invention.

According to a third aspect, the present invention may provide a method for packaging luggage comprising providing an item of luggage and packing items of clothing into the item of luggage such that an anticrease divider is interposed between at least one pair of adjacent items of clothing, wherein the anticrease divider comprises first and second layers, made of plastics material, connected so as to be in close face-to-face relation and defining a non-enclosed space between the faces.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a suitcase packed in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 shows a plan view of an anticrease divider in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 3 shows a plan view of an anticrease divider in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention; Figure 4 shows a plan view of an anticrease divider in accordance with a third embodiment of the invention; and Figure 5 shows a plan view of an anticrease divider in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1 shows an embodiment of the luggage packing system of the present invention and is generally designated 10. The system comprises a suitcase 15 which has been packed with clothing items 20, 22 24 and miscellaneous non-clothing items 26, 28. The clothing items 20, 22, 24 may comprise any type of clothing, but may especially be one of those items, like, for example, suit trousers, suit jacket or a business shirt, which the traveller is particularly keen not to become creased. The clothing items 20, 22, 24 have been neatly folded and arranged as separate layers within a pile of clothing within the suitcase 15 as is conventional.

In accordance with the system of the present invention, anticrease dividers have been arranged to sit between the clothing layers formed from clothing items 20, 22 and the clothing layers formed from clothing items 22, 24.

The anticrease divider 30 is shown in more detail and in plan view in Figure 2.

The divider 30 comprises a first film or layer 32 of this plastics material and a second layer 34 of plastics material bonded together. Polyethylene, having a thickness of 0.05-20mm, is a preferred plastics material. The first layer comprises a rectangular sheet having major faces 32a, 32b, edges 32c-f and corner regions 32g-j. The second film or layer comprises a similarly sized rectangular sheet comprising major faces 34a, 34b, edges 34c-f and corner regions 34 g-j. The layers 32, 34 are bonded together at joins 40a-d, shown in hash shading, formed by heat sealing completely around the edges 32c-f, 34c-f of the sheets 32a, 32b, whereby the face 32a of the first layer 32 is held in close face-to-face relation with the face 34a of the second layer 34. Faces 32a, 34a thus constitute inner faces, and the faces 32b, 34b, for contacting an adjacent clothing layer, constitute outer faces.

Two venting holes 42a, 42b formed in the first layer 32 and one venting hole 44, which is drawn in dotted lines, formed in the second layer 34 ensure that the space or region between inner faces 32a, 34a is not enclosed, whereby air is able to flow into and out of the space between the faces.

It has been found that by packing the clothing items 20, 22, 24 with an anticrease divider 30 interposed between the clothing items in the manner shown can markedly reduce the degree of creasing.

The exact mechanism by which a crease-reducing effect is produced is not known with certainty. However, one tentative, candidate theory is as follows. Normally, when one layer of clothing directly lies in contact with another layer of clothing, small localised movements of one layer will be imposed on, and thus disturb, the other because of the high coefficient of friction which exists between the two clothing layers. The disturbance may tend to cause creasing. However, when the anticrease divider 30 is used, the outer faces 32b, 34b of the layers 32, 34 similarly experience a relatively high coefficient of friction with the adjacent layer of clothing, but the inner faces 32a, 34b have a relatively low coefficient of friction with respect to each other. As a result, referring to Figure 1 as an example, when small localised movements of layer 22 take place, that motion is imposed on the divider sheet 30 below it, but because of the relatively low coefficient of friction between the inner faces 32a, 34a some relative slippage between the faces 32a, 34a takes place and the clothing layer 20 remains relatively undisturbed. By making the space between the inner faces 32a, 34a non-hermetically sealed, there is no permanent cushion of air to prevent the contact and relative slippage of the faces 32a, 34a. It will be appreciated that according to this first embodiment, there is some relatively high coefficient of friction contact between the clothing layer 22 and the inner face 34a of the second layer 34 via the holes 34 and between the clothing layer 20 and the inner face 32a of the first layer 32 via the hole 44, but the extend of that contact is kept relatively insignificant by the area of the holes. In other embodiments, a large number of finely distributed holes of small area can replace the holes 42a,b and the holes 44. In other embodiments, a hole(s) may be provided in only one of the layers 32,34.

An anticrease divider in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention is shown in Figure 3.

In this second embodiment, and in subsequent embodiments described below, where parts similar to the first embodiment exist the same reference numerals are used.

The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that instead of the holes 42a,b, 44 venting the space between the inner faces 32a, 34a, the corners regions of the first sheet are cut away, such that the joins 40a- 40d extend along most of the length of the edges 32c-f, 34c-f, but not into the corner regions, whereby the space between the inner faces 32a, 34a is not enclosed and air is able to flow into and out of the space between the faces 32a, 34a as indicated by the arrows X. The second embodiment is advantageous in that the corner regions which have been cut away on the second layer 34 lie on the outer periphery of the divider 30 allowing a large central area of unbroken face-to-face contact between the inner faces 32a, 34a in which area there is no possibility of an inner face 32a, 34a coming into contact with a clothing layer. In another embodiments, a portion of the first layer 32 may be cut away partway along an edge of the divider 30. In Figure 2, the cutaway regions amount to a small percentage of the overall perimeter of the divider 30. In other embodiments, the cutaway regions can amount to a far larger percentage of the perimeter of the divider.

In other embodiments (not shown), the one or more cutaway regions as per the second embodiment can be used in addition to one or more holes as per the first embodiment.

An anticrease divider in accordance with a third embodiment of the invention is shown in Figure 4.

The third embodiment differs from the earlier described embodiments in that instead of forming cutaways regions as per the second embodiment or holes as per the first embodiment to ensure that the space between the inner faces 32a, 34a are not enclosed, the joins which connect the layers are not formed at the edges of the layer but rather extend across them. In Figure 4, the heat seal joins are labelled 45a, 45b.

An anticrease divider in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the invention is shown in Figure 5.

The fourth embodiment in common with the third embodiment avoids forming cutaway regions as per the second embodiment or holes as per the first embodiment, but instead of providing joins which extend continuously as a narrow track across a layer, connects the first and second layers via a plurality of discrete joining sites. In Figure 5, the joining sites are labelled 46a-f.

In other embodiments, the first and second layers 32, 34 need not be quadrilateral or of generally the same size as one another. Likewise, the dimensions of the first and second layers although shown in Figure 1 as being generally matched to those of the suitcase 15, in other embodiments, this need not be the case.

Although the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in the context of the tentative theory set forth above, the scope of the invention is not reliant on the veracity of that theory, the scope of the invention being determined by the claims. It is possible that alternative theories may come to light which also explain the crease lessening benefits that preferred embodiments of the invention may deliver. In view of the foregoing description it will be evident to a person skilled in the art that various modifications may be made within the scope of the invention.

The applicant hereby discloses in isolation each individual feature described herein and any combination of two or more such features, to the extent that such features or combinations are capable of being carried out based on the present specification as a whole in the light of common general knowledge of a person skilled in the art, irrespective of whether such features solve any problems disclosed herein, and without limitation to the scope of the claims. The applicant indicates that aspects of the invention may consist of any such individual feature or combination of features.

Claims

1. A luggage packing system, comprising an item of luggage; items of clothing packed in the item of luggage; and at least one anticrease divider interposed between adjacent items of clothing, the anticrease divider comprising first and second layers, made of plastics material, connected so as to be in close face-to-face relation and defining a non-enclosed space between the faces.

2. The system as in Claim 1, wherein the first and second layers are connected by a join defining a closed perimeter about said space.

3. The system as in Claim 1, wherein the first and second layers are connected by a join defining a non-closed perimeter about said space.

4. The system as in Claim 3, wherein the first and second layers are connected by at least one long narrow join extending along or across said I ayers.

5. The system as in Claim 3, wherein the first and second layers are connected by a plurality of joins defining a generally quadrilateral perimeter about said space, wherein the perimeter includes at least one discontinuity.

6. The system as in Claim 1, wherein the first and second layers are connected by a plurality of joins located at discrete sites on said layers.

7. The system as in any preceding claim, wherein a said layer includes a hole through which air may flow into and from said space.

8. The system as in any of Claims 2 to 7, wherein said joins are formed by heat-sealing.

9. An anticrease divider for use in a luggage packing system as in any preceding claim.

10. A method for packaging luggage comprising providing an item of luggage and packing items of clothing into the item of luggage such that an anticrease divider is interposed between at least one pair of adjacent items of clothing, wherein the anticrease divider comprises first and second layers, made of plastics material, connected so as to be in close face-to-face relation and defining a non-enclosed space between the faces.

11. An anticrease divider constructed and arranged substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.