Abstract:
The present invention discloses a container comprising a pump to vacuum the air contained in the container. The pump is combined with the telescopic handle of the container. A check valve in communication with the interior chamber of the container is connected to the vacuum pump for withdrawing air from the container to decrease the volume occupied by the items contained in the container.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     There are no cross-related applications. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention generally relates generally to the field of suitcases, luggage or carry-on bags for travel. More specifically the present invention relates to a luggage comprising a vacuum system for easy and effective packing of clothing materials and other items. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Most of the items places in luggage such as clothes retain air between the fibers. The air comprised between the fibers and between the different items occupies a large amount of the volume of the luggage. There have been attempts to provide luggage having means to reduce the volume of the items contained in it. For example, in prior art, a user applies a force by hand to the clothes or other similar items in order to minimize their volume and then close the luggage over the items. 
     Some other solutions presented in prior art rely on separately storing clothing in pre-made vacuum bags that can compress the clothing or items when a vacuum is applied to them. These bags are separate from the luggage and have no formal shape or design purpose other than storing individual clothing item in a pre-compressed state for later storage in a luggage. Thus several such bags may be needed to effectively store clothing or the like for travel. Further they do not form a simple single integrated system for storing items of clothing, and are generally bought separately from the luggage. Furthermore, the user will probable don&#39;t have necessary equipment to compress again the articles of clothing when travelling back. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The aforesaid and other objectives of the present invention are realized by generally providing a piece of luggage comprising a vacuum device to contain compressible articles, the luggage comprising a plurality of walls comprising an internal chamber, wherein the internal chamber is airtight and wherein the internal chamber comprises an opening; sealing means to sealingly close the opening of the internal chamber; a telescopic handle integrated into at least one of the walls, the telescopic handle comprising at least one plunger having a first extremity and a second extremity; at least one body, wherein the plunger is comprised in the body; and a handle connected to the first extremity of the plunger; at least one manual vacuum pump, each of said manual vacuum pump comprising an air chamber, wherein the air chamber and the body are unitary; at least one check valve connected to the internal chamber and to the air chamber; and a piston comprised in the air chamber, wherein the piston is connected to the second extremity of the plunger, wherein the manual pump allows the removal of a substantial part of the air contained in the internal chamber. 
     The terms “baggage”, “suitcase”, “luggage” and “travel container” are considered equivalent for purposes of this application and are used interchangeably. 
     The luggage comprises an enclosed sealable compartment for vacuum sealing articles of travel such as clothing, makeup accessories, and other articles generally accompanying a traveler. The luggage is preferably constructed in the manner of a traveling bag or suitcase comprising of a top cover and a more rigidly constructed bottom receptacle; the bottom receptacle serves as storage space for the various articles of travel. 
     The luggage comprises a manual pump that is integrated within the suitcase to occupy a minimum of volume. The pump comprises a handle, a piston and a check valve connected to the interior of the luggage. The vacuum pump removes a substantial part of the air from the chamber, and from articles so as to reduce the volume occupied by said articles of travel to a minimum, thereby increasing the storage efficiency of the container. 
     The valve is preferably a check valve type which permits the passage of a gas or fluid in one direction, but not in the other. The valves connecting the sealed compartment to the pump are typically one-way valve as illustrated for example, but not limited to, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,804, U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,398, U.S. Pat. No. 4,120,614, U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,072 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,073. 
     In a further embodiment, the luggage comprises a double handle. There are two manual pumps, each one connected to one of the extremity of the handle, or plunger. This allows the removal of the air to be performed more rapidly thus resulting in less effort from the user to vacuum the content of the luggage. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, the walls of the luggage are airtight and sealable by vacuum, so that the luggage minimizes the volume required to store the articles of travel, thus achieving a higher volume of available storage space for articles of travel stored therein. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the walls of the container are lined with a plastic film that serves to seal the chamber. The container cover also comprises a sealing plastic material, or cloth material lined with a sealing plastic film or liner. The storage chamber has built-in check valves that allow air to bleed in and out of the storage chamber as desired. When articles of travel are stored in the article compartment, or chamber, and the compartment cover is sealably attached to the container, the air comprised in the articles and the air in the unused spaces in the chamber can be evacuated to minimize the volume of the articles allowing more articles of travel to be stored in the container than would otherwise be possible. 
     In another embodiment of the invention, the outer shell of the luggage need not be air-tight, but the internal chamber has an airtight lining that form a sealed chamber for vacuum packing articles of travel. 
     When a user needs to access the articles, he can simply open the luggage and the chamber. In a further preferred embodiment, a bypass valve comprising a vacuum release valve is opened to allow air to go back into the chamber. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the luggage comprises an expandable section. This section allows the luggage to be reduced in volume after having been closed. 
     Sealing means for sealingly close the internal chamber are already known in the art, examples are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,615,224, U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,493, U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,937 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,038. 
     The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIGS. 1A to 1G  are schematic illustrations of the steps performed to vacuum the air contained in the luggage. 
         FIGS. 2A and 2B  are perspective views of a first embodiment of the luggage of the present invention. 
         FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C  are perspective views of a second embodiment of the luggage of the present invention. 
         FIGS. 4A and 4B  are perspective views of a third embodiment of the luggage of the present invention. 
         FIGS. 5A to 5G  are schematic illustrations of the steps performed to vacuum the air contained in the luggage having a double handle. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     A novel luggage comprising a vacuum device will be described hereinafter. Although the invention is described in terms of specific illustrative embodiment(s), it is to be understood that the embodiment(s) described herein are by way of example only and that the scope of the invention is not intended to be limited thereby. 
     The luggage  10  is adapted to be hermetically sealed with the help of the hand held vacuum pump  12 . The telescopic handle of the luggage comprises a handle  36  and a plunger  25  and this plunger  25  interacts with the piston  32  to activate the vacuum pump  12 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the luggage  10  comprises the vacuum pump  12  which is connected to a check valve  76  (schematically illustrated) that is in communication with the interior chamber  30  to enable the vacuum pump  12  to withdraw or suck air from the chamber  30 . The vacuum pump also comprises an air chamber  13 . To remove the air contained in the housing or chamber  30 , a user pushes  80  and pulls  81  on the handle  36  as for a manual pump. To vacuum the air contained in the chamber  30 , the user first hermetically closed the luggage  10  and then activates the vacuum pump  12  using the handle  36  as described previously. In  FIGS. 1A to 1C , it is shown that by applying a force  80  to the handle  36 , the plunger  25  and the piston  32  moves downwardly until the piston  32  is at its lowest position illustrated in  FIG. 1C . The user then pulls  81  on the handle  36  as shown in  FIGS. 1D to 1F . By doing so, the air contained in the chamber  30  is sucked out thereby reducing the volume of the articles contained in the chamber  30 . The flow of the air is illustrated by the arrows  82 .  FIGS. 5A to 5G  show another embodiment of the present invention having a double handle  536 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2A , a preferred embodiment of the luggage  10  comprises a generally rectangular box or housing having four sides or sidewalls  16 ,  18 ,  20 , and  22  which project vertically upwardly from a bottom wall  24  to form a top opening  26  and a closure member or cover  28  adapted to form a closed accessible interior chamber  30  for storing articles. The luggage comprises a hermetic or airtight lining  50  made from a polymer or from a polymeric fabric, for example. The lining  50  comprises an opening  52  through which the articles are disposed, the lining  50  is comprised in the internal chamber  30 . The opening  52  can be hermetically closed using sealing means such as a hermetic slide fastener  56 . It is to be noted that the overall volume of the lining  50  is preferably larger than the volume of the luggage  10 . 
     In use, articles are disposed inside the chamber  30  and then the chamber  30  is closed using the hermetic slide fastener  56  shown in  FIG. 2B . Then, the user activates the manual pump  12  using the handle  36  to remove the air contained in the chamber  30 . The volume of the articles then decrease as the air contained in the articles and between them is sucked out of the chamber  30  through the check valves. It is to be understood that to be able to close the luggage  10 , the reduced volume of the articles should be almost equal or smaller than the volume of the luggage  10  itself. The luggage  10  can then be closed using a slide fastener  56  and/or with fasteners or other means as already known in the art for luggage. 
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  show another embodiment of the present invention. The luggage  210  comprises a hermetic lining  250  having an opening  252  which is hermetically closed using slide fastener  56  as shown previously in  FIGS. 2A and 2B . The luggage  210  comprises an expandable section  290 . It is to be noted that the lining  250  may be attached to the walls of the luggage  210  and to the expandable section  290  or not. In use, when the articles have been disposed in the chamber  230 , this chamber  230  is then hermetically sealed using sealing means. The user then activates the manual pump  212  as described previously. In a first case, when the lining  250  is attached to the walls of the luggage  210 , when the air is removed from the chamber  230 , the expandable section  290  will compress on itself by itself. In a second case, when the lining  250  is not attached to the walls of the luggage  210 , only the chamber  230  will reduce of size. The user will compress the expandable section  290  himself prior to close the luggage using known means in the art. 
       FIGS. 4A and 4B  show a further embodiment of the present invention. The luggage  310  comprises a chamber  330  that is hermetically sealed when the cover  328  is closed. The chamber  330  is sealed using sealing means such as a hermetic slide fastener  358 . In use, the articles are disposed in the chamber  330  of the luggage  310  and then the cover  328  is closed using the sealing means. Then, the user activates the manual pump  312  using the handle  336  to remove the air that is contained in the chamber  330 . By doing so, the expandable section  390  will collapse since the volume of the chamber  330  is forced to decrease. When the expandable section  390  is completely or partially collapsed, the user fastens the latches  366  to secure the luggage. 
       FIGS. 5A and 5B  show an embodiment of the luggage  500  wherein the handle  536  is U-shaped and wherein each plunger or extremity  525  of the U-shaped handle is connected to a vacuum pump  512 . 
       FIGS. 5A and 5B  show an embodiment of the luggage wherein the handle  536  is U-shaped and wherein each plunger or extremity  525  of the U-shaped handle is connected to a vacuum pump. 
     While illustrative and presently preferred embodiment(s) of the invention have been described in detail hereinabove, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations except insofar as limited by the prior art.