Patent Publication Number: US-9894969-B1

Title: Garment bag

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (a) Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to garment bags and more particularly to a garment bag that has means for securing the bag in a folded condition, and means for allowing the user to carry the bag conveniently by hand or on the shoulder. 
     (b) Description of the Prior Art 
     Various garment bags are known. Exemplars are seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,539, U.S. Pat. No. 3,433,335, U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,897, U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,674, U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,282, and US20140008252. These garment bags commonly comprise a flexible bag body with an opening on the middle or top side, through which the user can put suits, coats or other clothes in the bag in a flat manner, allowing the bag with the clothes received inside to be folded up or rolled up. Thus, by means of a shoulder strap or carrying belt of the garment bag, the user can carry the folded garment bag by hand or on the shoulder. 
     However, even simple type garment bags are still complicated in structure, therefore high in cost. For a user who simply needs a simple storage, these complicated structural designs are unnecessarily cumbersome. Further, a complicated structural design makes it inconvenient to put clothes in the bag or take the stored clothes out of the bag. For example, when folding up the garment bag disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,897 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,674, the user needs to fasten up the zip fastener that extends along the border area of the garment bag. It is inconvenient and takes much time to fasten up the border zip fastener. Further, when using the flexible garment bag disclosed in US20140008252 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,282, the user needs to roll up the bag and then fasten up the closure or fastener means so that the garment bag can be carried by hand. This design of flexible garment bag is convenient to use. However, the component parts of the closure or fastener means may be not kept in alignment for fastening after the user rolled up the garment bag. 
     Therefore, it is desirable to provide a simple design of garment bag, which allows the user to put in or take out garments rapidly and conveniently, and to hang the garment bag on a transverse bar in a wardrobe in an unfolded condition. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is one object of the present invention to provide a garment bag which is equipped with two buckle modules for securing the bag in a folded condition, by allowing one end of the folded bag to be received in a narrow gap inside a pocket flap at the other end of the bag. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a garment bag which is equipped with a carrying belt having two ring hangers at opposite ends thereof so that the user can carry the garment bag by hand or with a shoulder strap. 
     It is still another object of the present invention to provide a garment bag which has a clothes hanger buckle unit mounted in a V-shaped opening at a top side thereof so that the user can conveniently secure a clothes hanger with the loaded clothes to the clothes hanger buckle unit. 
     Other advantages and features of the present invention will be fully understood by reference to the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference signs denote like components of the structure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic elevational view of a garment bag in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic extended-out view of the inner side of the garment bag in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic extended-out view of the outer side of the garment bag in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic front view of the present invention, illustrating the garment bag folded up. 
         FIG. 5  is a side view of  FIG. 4 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 , a garment bag in accordance with the present invention is shown for holding suits, shirts and other garments in a flat form. As illustrated, the garment bag comprises a bag  10 , a clothes hanger buckle unit  20 , a pocket flap  30  and two buckle modules  40 . 
     The bag  10  is a flat, flexible rectangular container, comprising a rectangular piece of outer fabric  11 , a piece of inner fabric  12  of equal dimension attached to the inner surface of the outer fabric  11  and peripherally fastened thereto with stitches  13 , a zipper opening  14  located on the inner fabric  12  and extending along a longitudinal centerline Y, a zip fastener  15  adapted for closing/opening the zipper opening  14  so that clothes can be put through the zipper opening  14  into the inside of the bag  10  and held therein in a flat form, and a carrying belt  16  fastened to the outer surface of the outer fabric  11  and extended along a transverse centerline X across the longitudinal centerline Y for allowing the bag  10  to be folded up along the transverse centerline X. 
     The clothes hanger buckle unit  20  is adapted for securing a clothes hanger in place and also for hanging the bag  10 . Further, the clothes hanger buckle unit  20  is mounted at a top side of the longitudinal centerline Y inside the outer fabric  11 , comprising a clothes hanger tie belt  21 , a belt buckle  22  mounted at the clothes hanger tie belt  21 , and a hanging hook  23  mounted at the clothes hanger tie belt  21 . The clothes hanger tie belt  21  can be inserted through the clothes hanger to be used, and then turned back, and then fastened by the belt buckle  22  into a loop to secure the clothes hanger in place. By means of the hanging hook  23 , the bag  10  can be hung on a transverse bar in a wardrobe. 
     The pocket flap  30  is a rectangular sheet fabric, leather or plastic of equal width relative to the outer fabric  11  and the inner fabric  12 . The pocket flap  30  is attached to the bottom side of the inner fabric  12  with two opposite end edges and bottom edge thereof affixed to the outer fabric  11  and the inner fabric  12  by the stitches  13  so that a narrow gap  31  is formed between the pocket flap  30  and the inner fabric  12 . Further, the pocket flap  30  has two windows  32  of rectangular or other shape respectively located at two opposite lateral sides thereof in communication with the narrow gap  31 . Through the window  32 , the user can see the inner fabric  12 . 
     The two buckle modules  40  each comprise a first buckle member  41 , a second buckle member  42 , a first mounting belt  43  having one end thereof stitched to the inner fabric  12  inside one respective window  32  of the pocket flap  30  and an opposite end thereof connected with the first buckle member  41 , and a second mounting belt  44  having one end thereof stitched to the outer surface of the outer fabric  11  near a top side and an opposite end thereof connected with the second buckle member  42  to keep the second buckle member  42  in alignment with the first buckle member  41 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the buckle module  40  is preferably a type of side release buckle wherein the first buckle member  41  is male buckle member; the second buckle member  42  is female buckle member detachably fastenable to the first buckle member  41 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 4 , the carrying belt  16  is an elongated fabric, leather or plastic belt stitched to the outer fabric  11  with a middle part thereof separated from the outer fabric  11  to form an arched grip  161 . Two ring hangers  17  are respectively fastened with the two opposite ends of the carrying belt  16  to the outer fabric  11  so that a shoulder strap  50  can be fastened to the two ring hangers  17  in a detachable manner. Thus, through the grip  161 , the user can carry the garment bag by hand; through the shoulder strap  50 , the user can carry the garment bag on the back. 
     Further, as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the inner fabric  12  is configured to provide a V-shaped opening  18  at the top side of the longitudinal centerline Y to expose the inner surface of the outer fabric  11 . The clothes hanger buckle unit  20  is mounted at the inner surface of the outer fabric  11  corresponding to the V-shaped opening  18 , so that the user can conveniently secure a clothes hanger with the loaded clothes to the clothes hanger buckle unit. 
     Thus, as illustrated in  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , the user can fold up the bag  10  of the garment bag along the transverse centerline X, and then insert the top side of the bag  10  (i.e. the portion above the dotted transverse line Z in  FIG. 2 ) into the narrow gap  31  between the pocket flap  30  and the inner fabric  12  to keep the two second buckle members  42  in the respective windows  32 . At this time, the user can fasten the first buckle members  41  and the respective second buckle members  42  together (see  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 ) to hold the bag  10  in the folded condition. 
     Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.