Soft luggage handle assembly for wheeled case

A soft-sided roller supported luggage or case with telescopic handle rods is provided with housings that secure to at least two of the top wall, end wall, or rear wall of the case. In one embodiment the housings are secured to all three of the top, rear, and end walls. The housings extend less than the full length of the case leaving considerable extra storage space within the case and, for external housings, reducing the chance of bending or other damage to the housings. The rigid connection between the housings and at least at two walls and preferably three walls provides sufficient support for holding the weight of the case with the handle rods extended. The housings on an internal case are preferably located at or close to the corners of the rear and end walls of the case to again increase the unobstructed storage space in the case.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
This invention relates generally to soft-sided wheeled luggage and in 
particular to a unique handle assembly for use in combination with 
soft-sided luggage supported on wheels. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Portable luggage or cases of the type supported by wheels are known. Some 
of these cases are hard-sided, that is, all the walls of the case are of 
rigid material making the case relatively rigid so that the attachments to 
that case, such as the extendible handle and the wheels, are well 
supported by the rigidity of the walls of the case itself. Soft cases or 
soft-sided cases, however, do not have the rigidity of the walls of the 
case to support the handles and the wheel assemblies. Thus, wheel 
assemblies are generally built into the bottom of a case and secured to a 
hard wood or plastic insert in the bottom to improve the rigidity. The 
handle assemblies in these types of soft cases are generally extendible 
with a handle attached to parallel round or rectangular, solid or hollow 
rods that slide into hollow housings or hollow tubes. The housings can be 
inside of the luggage (internal handle) or the housings can be outside of 
the luggage (external handle) but in both instances the housings which 
telescopically receive the rods attached to the handle generally run the 
full length of the case and are attached to the more rigid base of the 
case in order to provide rigidity against the torque exerted when the 
handle is extended and being pulled. 
Soft cases tend to come in three general sizes. Although exact sizes may 
vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, in general, a carry-on case will 
have a length of about twenty to twenty-three inches. A midsize case will 
have a length of twenty-five to twenty-seven inches. A large case will 
have a length of twenty-eight to thirty-two inches. As is apparent, the 
distance from the user's hand to the handle on the top of the case will 
differ depending on the size of the case. Thus, while long housings will 
be needed to hold the telescopic handle rods on a short carry-on case, for 
a large case only a short handle rod and thus a short housing will be 
required. It is a unique feature of this invention to recognize that long 
housings running from the top of the case to the bottom of the case are 
not necessary for larger cases and to provide a unique structural 
arrangement to rigidly secure these shortened housings to the top area 
only of a case. 
In most prior art soft cases, the housings for the handle rods are extended 
from the top of the case to the bottom of the case even where unnecessary 
for large cases. Running the housings for the handle rods the full length 
of the case on a soft case to attach to a rigid support on the bottom of 
the case does provide stability to the housings but also causes 
difficulties. Since the housings run the full length of the case, 
externally mounted housings can become bent or damaged in the course of 
luggage handling. When the full length housings are inside of the case 
they take up valuable storage area that could otherwise be used for 
clothing. The full length housings also are obstacles around which it is 
difficult to pack. 
Some attempts have been made to shorten the housings, particularly for 
larger cases where the handle needs not extend very far. U.S. Pat. No. 
4,995,487 shows housings which appear to run only part way down inside of 
a soft case. Similarly U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,759 shows a handle assembly in 
which the housings only extend a slight way down into the case. Both of 
these prior patented cases, however, lack stability in the handle 
assemblies since they do not attach to the bottom support structure of the 
case nor are they supported elsewhere along the case except to the top 
wall of the case. Attempts to secure the housing assemblies only to the 
top wall of the case are inherently weak since heavily loaded cases when 
pulled along the ground will tend to twist the housing assemblies when 
there is a heavy pulling force applied to the handle. 
Another difficulty with soft-sided cases is that the handles generally are 
placed inward from the opposite end-walls of the case particularly where 
the housings for the handle assembly are aligned with the wheel assemblies 
so that the housings for the handle assembly can attach to the wheel 
assemblies. This means, for an internal handle in particular, that the 
storage compartment inside the case gets divided into three somewhat equal 
separate areas. The housings running the full length of the case to attach 
to the wheel assemblies or the bottom of the case make it difficult to 
have a wide variety of packing options for the case. That is, ideally the 
inside storage area of the case would be one large unobstructed storage 
area to thus provide the maximum storage options for the user. Shirts, 
dresses, etc. would require less folds, for example. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of this invention to provide a soft-sided wheeled luggage 
or case in which the handle assemblies have hollow housings for 
telescopically receiving the rods of the handle but with the housings 
extending only part way down from the top of the case and being supported 
by at least two of the three walls forming a top corner of a case. In the 
preferred embodiment of a case having an external handle assembly, three 
walls support the housings, namely, the top wall, the rear wall, and the 
end wall. In this embodiment, the housing of the handle assembly is thus 
provided with considerable rigidity since it has three surfaces of 
attachment. 
In the case of an internal handle assembly, the housing will be attached to 
an end wall and an integral stiffening plate that wraps around a corner so 
that the housing is again supported by a corner having two right-angle 
walls. This also provides considerable rigidity to the housing. 
One advantage resulting is that a larger, unobstructed storage compartment 
is created. 
Another advantage is that shorter housings for the handle assemblies are 
less likely to become bent or damaged. 
Another advantage of the short housings is they result in a lighter weight 
case and cost less to manufacture. 
These advantages are independent of one another but synergistically all 
these advantages can be obtained from this unique arrangement of the 
housings. 
In some instances it may be desirable to not have the handle assemblies 
exactly at the corners of the end and rear walls but rather be spaced in 
from the end walls. In this instance, the housings would still be 
supported by at least two walls of the top corner of the case but would 
attach to those walls through a rigid support plate that is secured to the 
rear or end walls. 
In the embodiments disclosed, the housings will extend down from the top 
wall of the case approximately two-thirds of the length of the case for a 
carry-on case, one-half the length of the case for a midsize case, and 
one-third the length of the case for a large case.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
As best shown in FIGS. 1-3, one embodiment of the invention is a 
soft-sided, full-length suitcase or large case having a rear wall 10, a 
front wall or flap 12, left and right end walls 14 and 16, and top and 
bottom walls 18 and 20. The case has a conventional stationary end wall 
handle 22 and may have a stationary top wall handle 24. Mounted on the 
bottom of the case are wheel assemblies 26 having rotatable wheels 27. The 
wheel assemblies attach to a rigid bottom support plate (not shown) in a 
conventional manner. 
It is a unique feature of this invention that the handle 30 with its 
parallel telescoping rods 32 fit into rigid housings 34 that are secured 
to the case at the top of the case. The rods may be round or rectangular 
and hollow or solid as is well known. Each housing in the embodiment of 
FIGS. 1-3 is an external housing so that the handle and rods are on the 
outside of the case. 
The size of the case shown is a large case and the housing extends down 
from the top wall of the case only approximately one third of the length 
of the case. Each housing in this embodiment is formed with corner flanges 
33 that wrap around the corner of the case and are fastened through the 
wall of the case to an internal corner plate 35 of plastic or other stiff 
material, and to the top wall 18, the end wall 14, and the rear wall 10 
using rivets or other conventional fasteners. 
The housing may also abut against additional support structure inside the 
case. The additional support structure may be only the conventional wire 
welting 38 that passes completely around the periphery of the case in a 
corner of each wall of the case as in FIG. 3 or it may attach to a support 
plate 52 of stiffening material, such as, plastic, metal, hardboard, or 
wood, that extends across the rear wall of the case as shown in FIG. 3A. 
The basic strength of the connection between the housing and the case, 
however, is its attachment to the corner between the top wall, the end 
wall, and the rear wall and it may or may not be fastened to other 
strengthening members that are provided in a normal soft-sided case. This 
three wall connection gives the housing considerable support for the 
tubular handle rods 32 and enables the rods to be extended and carry the 
weight of the case without having to extend the housings down to the wheel 
assemblies or the bottom of the case as is more conventional. As is 
readily apparent there is no extended long housing or tube running the 
full length of the case which could be bent or otherwise damaged during 
handling of the luggage as in conventional soft-sided cases. 
In FIGS. 4-6, the rods 32 are also connected to the handle 30 and fit 
within housings 50 located internally of the case. In this embodiment the 
housings are secured by rivets, fasteners or other conventional devices to 
a rigid support plate 52 that is attached to the rear wall 10 and end 
walls. An external plate 36 also supports the housing and is fastened by 
rivets to the internal corner plate 35. While the housing 50 is not 
directly in the corner it is close to the corner and is well supported by 
the rigid support member 52, external plate 36, and internal corner plate 
35. A conventional frame rail 42 of metal is also provided around the 
perimeter of the case. Again, as in the first embodiment the rigid 
housings extend down the length of the case only about one-third the 
length of the case, for example. This leaves the remainder of the interior 
of the case unobstructed for placing of garments or other materials. 
In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7-9, the rigid housings 50 are again 
securely fastened to the end walls 14 and 16, an external corner plate 37 
and an internal support plate 51 of lightweight metal, plastic, or pressed 
fiberboard that extends across the top wall 18 and the full length of the 
end walls of the case to securely fasten the housings to at least two 
walls of the corner. 
In the embodiment of FIGS. 10-12, the housings 50 are secured to flat 
metallic, wood, or plastic straps 60 that are extended to attach to the 
wheel assemblies 26 and/or the rigid bottom of the case and are riveted to 
the external corner plates 37 and the internal corner plates 35 through 
the end walls. The strap will be either L-shaped to conform to the corner 
of the rear and end wall or be a flat strap as shown. In both forms the 
housings will not extend the length of the case and thus will not remove 
storage space from inside the case, and will result in a case that has 
lighter weight housings and with housings that will cost less than full 
length housings. 
In the embodiment of FIGS. 7-9 and 10-12, it can be seen that the handles 
and housings are out against the corners of the case, allowing the 
interior of the space to not be divided into compartments as is 
conventional with most soft-sided cases. 
As shown in FIG. 7, for example, of the drawings, the housings 50 pass 
through the corner radius 37 of the upper rear corner of the case, that 
is, within the distance "x" which defines where the radius 37 intersects 
the top wall. Everything between this point of intersection and the 
adjacent end wall is considered the radius 37. This, as is readily 
apparent, places the housings close to the side walls 14, 16 leaving the 
large unobstructed storage space between the housing for storage with the 
need for less folds in clothing and less wrinkling to the clothing. 
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and 
described it should be apparent that variations will be apparent to those 
skilled in the art. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited to the 
embodiments as they are illustrated in the drawings.