US2684135A

US2684135A - Handbag

Info

Publication number: US2684135A
Application number: US313521A
Authority: US
Inventors: Francis G Cart
Original assignee: Atlantic Products Corp
Current assignee: Atlantic Products Corp
Priority date: 1952-10-07
Filing date: 1952-10-07
Publication date: 1954-07-20
Anticipated expiration: 1971-07-20

Description

F. G. CART July 20, 1954 HANDBAG Filed Oct. 7', 1952 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY! Patented July 20, 1954 HANDBAG Francis G. Cart, Morrisville, Pa., assignor to Atlantic Products Corporation, Trenton, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application October 7, 1952, Serial No. 313,521

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to luggage and pertains more particularly to a novel type of handbag.

It is an object of the invention to provide a construction for a handbag which is extremely light, very inexpensive, but attractive in appearance and designed to meet the needs of modern travel.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

A preferred embodiment of the invention selected for purposes of illustration is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a front view of the handbag.

Figure 2 is a side view of the same.

Figure 3 is a front view of the frame members and attached frame connecting members prior to insertion in the outside shell.

Figure 4 is a side view of the same.

Figure 5 is a similar view showing the frame members in assembled condition.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view through a corner of the bag showing the manher in which the outside shell is supported by the frame.

Present day handbags fall largely into two categories, the frameless type, exemplified by the so-called zipper bags, in which, in the absence of a frame, the walls of the bag are relatively limp, and the frame type in which a more or less rigid frame of wood or metal is used to support the bag and provide rigidity. In the frame type of bags, the frames are of many different types or styles, but in all types of frame bags with which I am familiar, the frame has been assembled first, and the outside covering walls have been built around the frame.

In the present handbag, on the contrary, I assemble the outside covering walls first, forming a complete outside shell of any suitable material such as cloth, leather, plastics or combinations thereof, and then inserting the frame into the finished shell. In order to make it possible to insert the frame, it is made in two pieces which are inserted separately and assembled inside the shell. The pieces of the frame may then be secured together and to the shell in any desired manner.

Referring to the drawings, the bag is preferably rectangular in shape and the outside shell, formed of any suitable material such as cloth, leather, plastics or combinations thereof, consists of a front panel I, a back panel 2 of similar shape and size, and a gusset 3 having its edges connected to the corresponding edges of the front and back panels as by stitching or any of the other techniques used in the luggage industry. Said gusset forms the top, bottom and the ends of the shell. As so constructed, the shell is relatively limp and shapeless, having only such stiffness as may be provided by the particular material of which it is made.

In order to provide access to the interior of the shell, the front panel I is provided with an opening 4, preferably in the shape of a semi-circle, as shown, which said opening may be closed by a single slide fastener 5.

The frame of the bag comprises two similar U-shaped members 6, 6' which may be inserted into the completed shell through the opening t. Said frame members are of a width substantially equal to the width of the gusset, and are shaped to underlie and support all portions of the gusset. After insertion of the frame members into the shell, the members are forced apart, preferably by a suitable stretching tool, until the opposed end edges I, l of the respective frame members clear each other, whereupon the stretching tool is removed to allow the end edges to engage in abutting relationship as shown in Figure 5. However, the shell remains stretched by the frame so that the front and back panels are stretched taut.

Prior to insertion of the frame members into the shell, the ends of the lower frame member 5 are each provided with a plate 8 which is secured thereto as by rivets 9. After the frame members have been stretched in place, rivets i 9 are pushed through the plates 8, the ends of the upper frame member 5' and through the gusset, thus securing the frame members to one another and to the shell.

A carrying handle it is attached to the top of the bag with the handle posts 82 extending through the gusset and through the top frame member 6, thus additionally securing the frame to the shell.

It will be understood that the invention may be variously modified and embodied within the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim as my invention: 7

l. A handbag comprising an outer shell consisting of front and back panels of similar size and shape connected together along their corresponding edges by a gusset, one of said panels having an opening therein which affords access to the interior of the shell, said openingbeing of an area less than the area of the panel, a frame for said shell, said frame being substantially the width of said gusset and underlying and supporting all portions of said gusset, said frame corn- 3 prising two U-shaped members having the end edges of the legs of the U in abutting relationship and stretchin taut the front and back panels of said shell, and means for securing the abuttin ends of said frame members to each 5 other.

2. A handbag as claimed in claim 1 in which the means for securing the abutting ends of the frame members together comprises a plate riveted to the abutting ends of said frame members, 10

with at least one of said rivets passing through said gusset and securing said frame to said gusset.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number