Off-centered dual-purpose handle assembly for wheeled luggage

A handle assembly for wheeled luggage is disclosed. The handle grip is off-centered from the center line of luggage in the longitudinal direction across the top of luggage within a predetermined limited distance. The handle assembly further comprises a locking mechanism mounted to the inner tube with locking pins facing each other for engaging three apertures provided in the outer tubes in the handle storage position, the handle for carrying position, or the handle for pulling position. This allows wheels to be away from the legs of user and thus provides a great convenience to user since luggage does not interfere with the user's movement.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
 The present invention relates to a handle assembly for wheeled luggage and
 more particularly to an off-centered dual-purpose handle assembly that can
 be used for both carrying and pulling a wheeled luggage and furthermore,
 when luggage is carried, the lower end of luggage tilts away from the
 user.
 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 Wheeled luggage has been widely used in recent years by travelers in
 various forms of transportation. When designing a wheeled luggage, a
 number of important criteria must be considered. For example, luggage
 should be rigidly constructed for surviving rough handling when pulled in
 the streets, in and out of buildings with ascending or descending steps,
 and in and out of various forms of carriers such as airplanes or motor
 vehicles. The wheeled luggage must also have adequate wheel means such
 that luggage can be pulled along a pavement with relative ease.
 Wheeled luggage should have a convenient pull-handle system that can be
 easily stowed away when not in use and extended when needed. Most types of
 luggage of large or medium size sold in markets are equipped with a pull
 handle of various types so as to facilitate carrying of the same in
 journey. However, most of pull-handle systems are not suitably designed
 and cannot be reliably used. For example, in order to carry or lift the
 wheeled luggage, a separate handle system must be provided on luggage case
 in addition to the pull-handle system. But such design is unsatisfactory
 because it protrudes from the surface of luggage case permanently and
 cannot be retracted into a recess. As such, the requirement for a separate
 carry handle system not only clutter the simple design of a luggage case,
 but also increase the cost of luggage.
 More recently, the airline industry has strictly enforced the restriction
 on the dimensions of carry-on luggage that may be brought onboard of an
 airplane. A protruded carry handle used on a wheeled luggage for carrying
 purpose further adds to the dimensions and may disqualify a luggage to be
 carried onboard an airplane. The need for a handle system that can be
 completely stowed away in a recess built into the luggage case, can be
 used to both pull luggage on wheels or to carry luggage when needed has
 been long existing but unfulfilled.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a wheeled
 luggage equipped with a pull-handle system that does not have the
 drawbacks of conventional pull-handle systems.
 It is another object of the present invention to provide a wheeled luggage
 equipped with a dual-purpose handle system that can be used for both
 pulling luggage on wheels or carrying wheel when needed.
 It is a further object of the present invention to provide a wheeled
 luggage equipped with a dual-purpose handle system that can be locked in
 at least two operating positions for pulling and carrying luggage.
 It is another further object of the present invention to provide a wheeled
 luggage equipped with a dual-purpose handle system that can be completely
 stowed away in a bezel when not in use and thus reducing the dimensions of
 luggage.
 It is still further object of the present invention to provide a wheeled
 luggage equipped with a dual-purpose handle system such that the need for
 a separate carrying handle is eliminated.
 It is still further object of the present invention to provide a wheeled
 luggage equipped with a dual-purpose, off-entered handle system.
 It is still further object of the present invention to provide a
 dual-purpose handle system that can be locked in a stowed-away position,
 in a partially-extended or carrying position, e.g., at a distance between
 about 0.5 inch to about 6 inch from the top of luggage, and in a fully
 extended position for pulling luggage on wheels. The locking function is
 provided by a novel locking mechanism that is connected to an end of an
 inner tube which slidingly engages a cavity in an outer tube for operating
 the handle system. Two identical inner tubes are used to slidingly engage
 two identical outer tubes and are mounted on each side of handle grip. A
 recessed button in the handle grip is used to operate the locking
 mechanism by a pair of flexible steel cables mounted inside the inner
 tubes. The locking mechanism which are mounted to the inner tube with
 locking pins facing each other for engaging at least three apertures
 provided in the outer tubes for each of the three locking positions, i.e.,
 the handle storage position, the handle for carrying position, and the
 handle for pulling position.
 Another novel feature of the present invention is the positioning of handle
 grip in relation to the center line of luggage in the longitudinal
 direction across the top of luggage. The U-shaped handle grip which
 attaches to the two inner tubes at the two ends of the U-shaped handle
 grip while the bottom of the U-shaped handle grip is used as the handle
 grip and a housing for the push button, i.e., the activating device for
 locking mechanism. The handle grip is designed to be off-centered from the
 center line of luggage. The off-centered distance may be between about 0.1
 inch and about 2 inch to either side of the center line. The off-centered
 handle grip enables the luggage to be picked up by the handle grip with
 the lower end of luggage tilting away from the user. The U-shaped handle
 rip is designed with the opening of the U-shaped handle grip pointing
 toward the wheels mounted on the backside of the luggage. This allows the
 backside of luggage, and specifically the wheels to tilt away from the
 legs of user. The tilt-away feature of the present invention wheeled
 luggage when luggage is being carried provides a great convenience to the
 user since it does not interfere with the user's movement or walking.
 The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present
 invention will become apparent from the following detailed description
 taken with the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
 Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown an off-centered, dual-purpose handle
 system 12 for a wheeled luggage 10 constructed in accordance with the
 present invention wherein dual-purpose handle system 12 is in a
 stowed-away position and stored in bezel 14.
 The U-shaped handle system 12 is constructed by a handle grip 16 which
 houses a recessed push button 18 at a center location connected by two
 side pieces 22, 24 to the inner tubes (not shown). The wheeled luggage 10
 is further equipped with a carrying handle 26 mounted on the side 28 of
 luggage for carrying the luggage sideways. However, it should be noted
 that there is no carrying handle provided on the top 32 of luggage 10. The
 novel handle system 12 of the present invention serves both as a pull
 handle and as a carrying handle. Note that center line "l" for the handle
 grip 16 is designed such that it is positioned away from the center line
 "m" for the top 32 of luggage 10. The distance between two center lines
 "l" and "m" may be suitably between about 0.1 inch and about 2 inch. It
 should be further noted that the center line "l" for handle grip 16 can be
 positioned on either side of the center line "m" for the luggage such that
 the luggage can be carried with either the wheels toward the user or away
 from the user. This is further shown in detail in FIGS. 12A-12C and
 13A-13C.
 FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the present invention wheeled luggage 10
 with handle system 12 in a partially extended position for carrying of the
 luggage. The partially extended handle system 12 may be suitably locked by
 a locking mechanism (not shown) connected to the inner tubes of handle
 system 12 at any suitable positions. The handle grip 16 may be at a
 distance defined between the bottom surface 34 of handle grip 16 and the
 surface of the top 32 of luggage 10 at between about 0.5 inch and about 6
 inch. The distance is determined based on the design of handle grip 16
 such that a user can comfortably grip the handle grip 16 with sufficient
 clearance between the grip 16 and the bezel 14 in the top 32.
 When handle system 12 is pulled out completely such that it is in a fully
 extended position as shown in FIG. 3, the handle system 12 or handle grip
 16 can be used to pull or push the wheeled luggage 10 on its wheels 40.
 The wheels 40 are mounted in plastic housing 42 with a kick plate 44
 mounted therebetween.
 FIG. 4 is a perspective view of frame assembly 30 for wheeled luggage 10.
 As shown, the handle system 12 is mounted in bezel 14 of a top plate 46
 which is further attached to a side frame 48 by attachment means 50. The
 side frame 48 can be suitably made of a plastic material or of a metal
 material. The handle system 12 is attached to two inner tubes (not shown)
 which are stored in two outer tubes 52 with their bottom ends 54 fixed to
 an end bracket 56 and then to a bottom plate 58 which supports the side
 frame 48 by attachment means 62.
 FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the frame assembly 30 of FIG. 4 with handle
 system 12 in partially extended or carrying position. It is seen that the
 distance between the bottom surface 34 of the handle grip 16 and the
 surface of top plate 461 represented by "C" in FIG. 5, is between about
 0.5 inch and about 6 inch.
 FIG. 6 is sectional view of the handle system 12 of the present invention
 with locking pins 78 engaged to the lower apertures 80A in the outer tubes
 52. It is seen that push button 18 operates by a compressible spring 60
 which supports a bottom surface 62 of push button 18. Two wedges 64
 projecting downwardly from the bottom of push button 18 and are arranged
 symmetrically to the center of push button 18. The wedges 64 are equipped
 with inclined bottom surfaces 66 which engage a pair of sliding blocks 68
 such that when push button 18 is pressed downwardly against the spring 60,
 the inclined surfaces 66 engage sliding blocks 68 and pull them toward the
 center. Flexible cables 70 attached to sliding blocks 68 through flexible
 cable mounting blocks 72 are thus pulled up. The lower ends of flexible
 cables 70 are operatively attached to the locking mechanisms 76 which will
 be described in detail later.
 FIG. 7 is sectional view of the handle system 12 with push button 18 in a
 pressed-down position and locking pins 78 of locking mechanisms 76
 disengaged from the lower apertures 80A such that inner tubes 38 are
 slidable in outer tubes 52.
 FIG. 8 is sectional view of the handle system 12 with push button 18 in a
 released position and locking pins 78 of locking mechanisms 76 disengaged
 from the lower apertures 80A in the outer tubes 52 such that inner tubes
 38 may slide freely in the outer tubes 52.
 FIG. 9 is sectional view of the handle system 12 with push button 18 in a
 released position and locking pins 78 of locking mechanisms 76 engaged to
 the middle apertures 80B in the outer tubes 52 such that handle grip 16 is
 locked in a partially extended position for carrying the luggage 10. Note
 that the bottom surface 34 of handle grip 16 and surface of top plate 46
 has a distance "C", as previously shown in FIG. 5. Preferably, the
 distance for "C" is between about 0.5 inch and about 6 inch.
 FIG. 10 is sectional view of the handle system 12 with push button 18 in a
 released position and locking pins 78 engaged to the upper apertures 80C
 in the outer tubes 52 such that handle grip 16 is locked in fully extended
 position for pulling the luggage 10 as further shown in FIG. 14 later.
 In view of the above sectional views of handle system 12, it is seen that
 locking pin 78 slidingly engaged a lock house 84 is pulled by flexible
 cable 70 against a compressible spring 86. The housing 84 is further
 provided with a smoothly curved portion 88 to facilitate the sliding of
 flexible cable 70 on the housing 84. It is also seen that lock housing 84
 is mounted to inner tube 38 at an upper end 92 and further engages the
 interior cavities (not shown) of outer tube 52 through a mounting bracket
 90 which is locked at upper holes 82-82 of the upper portion of the outer
 tube 52. The upper end 92 of lock housing 84 is removably attached to
 inner tube 38 through a pin 96 and an aperture 98 in the inner tube 38.
 FIGS. 11A, 11B, and 11C illustrate wheeled luggage without off-centered
 feature for the handle grip 16. It is seen that in these illustrations,
 the center line of handle grip 16 is designed to coincide with the center
 line of luggage 10 such that when the luggage is picked up by handle grip
 16, the luggage 10 is perpendicular to ground surface 100. Therefor, when
 a luggage 10 is carried by hand, the wheels 40 is accordingly positioned
 perpendicular to ground surface 100 not interfering with the movement of
 the user. In this manner, both center lines pass through the center of
 gravity CG of the luggage. FIGS. 11A, 11B and 11C each illustrates a
 different bezel design for storing the handle grip 16.
 FIGS. 12A, 12B, and 12C illustrate wheeled luggage 10 of the present
 invention which incorporates the dual-purpose, off-centered handle system
 12. It is seen that based on the off-centered design, i.e., the center
 line of handle grip 16 is positioned at a distance "D" from the center
 line of luggage 10, luggage 10 tilts away (specifically, the wheels 40
 tilt away) from the user when luggage is picked up and carried.
 Preferably, the distance "D" is between about 0.1 inch and about 2 inch.
 Note that in this embodiment, handle grip 16 is off-centered to the right
 of center line of luggage 10 such that luggage should be carried with
 wheels toward user, and both center lines also pass through the center of
 gravity CG of the luggage. FIGS. 12A, 12B, and 12C each illustrates a
 different bezel design for storing the handle grip 16.
 FIGS. 13A, 13B, and 13C are further illustrations of the present invention
 dual-purpose, off-centered handle system 12 for pulling and carrying
 luggage 10. Note that in this embodiment, the center line of handle grip
 16 is designed to the left of center line of luggage 10, or closer to the
 wheels 40. In this design, the luggage should be carried with the wheels
 away from user such that the lower end of luggage 10 tilts away from the
 user. Similarly, three different bezel designs are shown in these figures.
 FIG. 14 illustrates the handle system 12 in a fully extended position such
 that handle grip 16 can be pulled with wheels 40 rolling on the ground
 surface 100.
 While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of
 specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made
 thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of
 the invention set forth in the claims.