US3108627A

US3108627A - Reversible handbag

Info

Publication number: US3108627A
Application number: US283810A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harvey J Tatelman
Original assignee: ORIGINALS BY CLAIRE Inc
Current assignee: ORIGINALS BY CLAIRE Inc
Priority date: 1963-05-28
Filing date: 1963-05-28
Publication date: 1963-10-29
Anticipated expiration: 1980-10-29

Description

. 29, 1963 H. J. TATELMAN REVERSIBLE HANDBAG Filed Mai 28, 1963 FIG. 3

- IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII INVENTOR- HARVEY J. TATELMAN A TTORNE Y United States Patent 3,108,627 REVERSIRLE HANDBAG Harvey .l. Tatelman, Oceanside, N.Y., assignor to Originals By (Ilaire, Inc., New Yorlr, N.Y., a corporation of New Yorlr Filed May 28, 1963, Ser. No. 233,810 15 Claims. (Cl. 159-28) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in wearing apparel and accessories and more particularly to a reversible handbag construction.

For different seasons of the year, handbags formed of different materials are ordinarily utilized, the lighter weight fabrics being more commonly employed in the summer months and the heavier materials being used in winter. Hence, it is usually necessary to have a plurality of handbags made from various materials for each season of the year. It is also desirable that the color of the handbag be coordinated with the costume of the wearer thus necessitating considerable expense in purchasing and difficulty in storing a large number of handbags.

The present invention provides a handbag of reversible construction which may be readily reversed to match two different dresses or costumes. The owner of such a bag may, at substantially decreased cost, be supplied with a suflicient number of bags for her various wardrodes without it being necessary to purchase or maintain readily available an excessive number of individual bags.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a handbag having the exposed parts thereof made of differcnt fabrics or of different colors or patterns which may be selectively exposed to view by the wearer.

Another important object of the invention is to pro vide a reversible handbag formed symmetrical about a supporting shaft which may be reversed by merely swinging the sides of the bag about the shaft.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a reversible handbag construction having separate pocket closures for each mode of use and provided with means whereby articles carried in one pocket are automatically transferred to the other pocket upon reversal of the handbag.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a handbag finished in contrasting materials or colors and quickly reversible in structure without removing the contents thereof to bring either of the materials or colors to the outside of the bag.

th-er objects of the invention are to provide a handbag construction bearing the above objects in mind which has relatively few and simple parts, is inexpensive to manufacture and assemble, can be formed in a simplified manner in the form of flat sheets secured together, is neat, durable, compact, convenient and efficient in use.

for yet other objects and for a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accomcompanying drawing.

In the drawings which 'dlustrate the preferred form of the invention now contemplated:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the handbag of the present invention in one of its two modes of use;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the handbag having portions thereof broken away to show the internal construction thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional View through the bag taken along lines 3 3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG- URE 2 showing the various layers of material employed; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG- URE 3 showing in detail the manner in which the handle shaft is secured by the laminations of material.

amass? Patented Got. 29, i963 ice Reference is now made more specifically to the drawings, wherein like numerals designate similar parts throughout the several views and wherein the reversible handbag constituting the subject matter of this invention is shown generally at 1% The main body portion of the bag is fabricated from two flat pieces or panels of durable material lit and 12.. Any material commonly utilized for handbag outers may be used and it is contemplated that leather, plastic, and fabric will be acceptable. Preferably each of the two pieces 11 and 12 will either be of different materials or of different colors or both. This is indicated in the drawings by the difference in stippling. While the embodiment disclosed herewith employs material pieces cut in an hour glass shape, it is to be understood that any shaped flat pieces may be used in the handbag fabrication. The flat pieces may have a lining sewn or laminated to the inside faces thereof or may be left plain as shown in the drawings.

Each panel if and 12 is preferably formed with two die-cut rectangular slide fastener receiving openings 13 parallel to and on either side of the transverse center line of the panel and behind which are sewn or otherwise applied common slide fasteners 14. It is to be understood, however, that any other type of closure commonly used in this art may be employed in lieu of the slide fasteners.

Two pieces of relatively thin material l5, 16, are cut to the general side outline of the main body panels ii and 12 but are considerably shorter than the panels and preferably of slightly less width. These pieces serve as wall separators and perform a function later described in detail.

A handle construction is provided comprising an oval tubular plastic member 17 which is rotatably journalled near the ends of a supporting shaft 18. The member 17 is retained on the shaft by press tit retaining caps 19 which may also be decorative in design. While these caps are preferably frictionally held on the shaft, they may alternatively be screw threaded thereon. In use the upper and lower runs of the handle member 17 are selectively used depending upon which side of the bag is on the outside.

During assembly, the wall separator panels 15 and 16 are placed face to face but on opposite sides of the supporting shaft 13 which runs along the transverse center line of these panels. The main body pieces or panels 11 and 12 are then placed on either side of the wall separator panels with their decorated or primary faces directed outwardly. Welt-mg Bill of a complimentary material is next placed around the periphery of the main panels and these panels and welting are then stitched to gether as at 26 or are alternatively joined by adhesive means. The wall separator panels being of less width than the main panels are not stitched about the periphery, but may be provided with small tabs extending outwardly in the area adjacent the transverse center line which may be stitched along with the main panels and the wel ing. it is contemplated however, that the wall separator panels may be stitched about their periphery if desired.

Two stitch rows 21 and 22 are then made through all the layers of material parallel with and spaced slightly on either side of supporting shaft 18. This shaft is thus completely enveloped and can rotate within this covering.

The resulting structure is in effect two closed envelopes, one on each side of the supporting shaft 18, and each having an intermediate separator wall comprising the panels 15 and 16 which terminate short of the envelope ends. Access may be had to both sides of each of the envelopes through the slide fasteners 14.

A closure tab 23 formed of two pieces of the main panel material and stitched or laminated together is attached to the bottom end of each envelope as by stitching in with the main panels and welting. One of these tabs carries a male snap fastener element 24 and the other carries a female snap fastener element 25.

As can best be seen by reference to FIGURE 3, the handbag can be selectively used with either of the two panels 1.1 or 12 on the outside by merely swinging the envelopes and handle about the supporting shaft 18 as shown in dotted lines. When in the desired position, the tabs 23 are brought together and the

snap fastener elements

24 and 25 engaged.

It will be noted that it is not necessary to remove articles in the handbag during reversal manipulations and that due to the novel construction of the wall separators 15 and 16 which terminate short of the full length of the respective envelopes, any items in the handbag on one side of the separator will automatically be transferred to the opposite side thereof upon reversal and will be in position for removal through the opening 13 when slide fastener 14 is opened.

The wall separators which are present in the preferred embodiment of this invention serve several functions. Primarily these separators act as partitions in the relatively large envelopes to retain needed items of use close to the selected access opening; that is they prevent items from being displaced into the far corners of the envelopes away from the access opening. Additionally, these separators serve to conceal the rather unsightly slide fastener tape stitched to the inside of the opposite body panel in order to present a neat trim appearance. The operation and function of these separators will be readily understood with reference to FIGURES 2 and 3. Very small articles in the bag, such as lipsticks, keys, and the like will lie below the separators and will, when the bag is reversed, be automatically in position for removal from the other side of the purse. Larger articles, such as compacts, wallets, and the like will have a portion thereof extending below the bottom of the separators and when the bag is reversed, these portions may be readily grasped by the user and pulled through. Hence these separators provide ease in access to the contents of the bag after reversal and do not require complete emptying of each compartment as would be needed if full partitions were utilized.

It is contemplated that the invention may be practiced without the use of the supporting shaft 18 or the handle member 17. In such case the resulting handbag would be similar to a pair of saddle bags but would function in a manner similar to that described above.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the drawings and detailed disclosure are to be construed in an illustrative rather than a limiting sense since various modifications and substitutions of equivalents may be made by those skilled in the art within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A reversible handbag comprising two envelopes closed on all sides and having a sealed common side, an access opening on each face of each envelope spaced from the sides thereof, and wall separator means dividing each envelope into two storage compartments.

2. A reversible handbag comprising a pair of envelopes closed about their peripheries and having a sealed common side, access means on each side of each envelope, and wall separator means dividing each envelope into two storage compartments, the separator means terminating short of the envelope side opposite said common side.

3. A handbag as defined in claim 2, wherein the envelopes have opposite faces fabricated of two different materials.

4. A handbag as defined in claim 2, wherein the envelopes have opposite faces in two different colors.

5. A handbag as defined in claim 2 and further provided with releasable fastener means on the bottom of each envelope adapted to be interengaged.

6. A reversible handbag comprising two outer panels, said panels being in overlying face-to-face relationship, a supporting shaft interposed between said panels and extending along the transverse axis of the panes, said panels being secured together about their peripheries and along two lines on either side of and parallel to said shaft, defining two envelopes, and an access opening in the panels on each face of the envelopes.

7. A reversible handbag as defined in claim 6 and further provided with wall separator means dividing each envelope into two storage compartments.

8. A reversible handbag as defined in claim 7, wherein said wall separator means comprises a pair of thin panel members of a length shorter than said outer panels, each panel being disposed between an outer panel and said supporting shaft.

9. A reversible handbag as defined in claim 6, wherein the outer panels are fabricated of two different materials.

10. A reversible handbag as defined in claim 6, wherein the outer panels are each of a different color.

11. A reversible handbag as defined in claim 6, and further including a handle of closed, generally circular sllliape, said handle being mounted on said supporting s aft.

12. A reversible handbag as defined in claim 6, and further provided with releasable fastener means on the bottom of each envelope adapted to be interengaged.

13. A reversible handbag comprising two envelopes, each formed of two pieces of material joined at the bottom and sides and having a common top edge, access openings formed in each face of each of said envelopes, and handle means adapted to support said handbag for carrying along said common edge, said envelopes being foldable about said common top edge to effect reversal of said handbag.

14. A reversible handbag comprising two envelopes, each envelope having opposite face panels joined at their sides and at the bottom, said envelopes being interconnected with each other at their tops to define a fold line, an access opening in each face panel of each envelope, and handle means adapted to engage the handbag along the fold line to support said handbag for carrying, said envelopes being foldable about said fold line to allow reversal of said handbag.

15. A handbag as defined in claim 14, wherein said face panels are formed in two difierent colors.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 75,202 Wolf May 22, 1928 1,568,120 Wunthal Ian. 5, 1926 1,994,746 Banner Mar. 19, 1935 2,021,789 Krauss Nov. 19, 1935 2,029,905 Banner Feb. 4, 1936 2,053,464 Dalsheim Sept. 8, 1936 2,086,326 Goldberg July 6, 1937

Claims

6. A REVERSIBLE HANDBAG COMPRISING TWO OUTER PANELS, SAID PANELS BEING IN OVERLYING FACE-TO-FACE RELATIONSHIP, A SUPPORTING SHAFT INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID PANELS AND EXTENDING ALONG THE TRANSVERSE AXIS OF THE PANELS, SAID PANELS BEING SECURED TOGETHER ABOUT THEIR PERIPHERIES AND ALONG TWO LINES ON EITHER SIDE OF AND PARALLEL TO SAID SHAFT, DEFINING TWO ENVELOPES, AND AN ACCESS OPENING IN THE PANELS ON EACH FACE OF THE ENVELOPES.