Patent Publication Number: US-2007102077-A1

Title: Detachable purse assembly

Description:
STATEMENT REGARDING COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL  
      Portions of the disclosure of this patent document contain material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
    
    
     CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
      None  
     FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH  
      Not Applicable  
     SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM  
      Not Applicable  
     BACKGROUND  
      The present invention relates in general to purse assemblies, and more particularly, to a purse assembly for multi-purpose usage that includes various detachable components.  
      Typically, purses and related accessories are carried to storage various personal items. The design and size of a purse primarily aims at meeting these specific storage needs. Additionally, style, convenience and portability are taken into consideration. Suitable provisions are included for holding a large number of items such as identification cards, money, credit cards, cosmetics and other personal items. Since purses are frequently changed for various reasons, moving items from one purse to another can be time consuming and laborious. Therefore, purse assemblies with interchangeable and convertible features have been developed to address this problem.  
      Several storage accessories for women with convertible and interchangeable features are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,254 to Fromm discloses a handbag assembly with separable inner and outer members, which allow easy conversion into a variety of different styles and configurations. The outer member comprises an envelope suspended from a carrying strap and has an open top closable by a conventional fastener. The inner member comprises a lining pouch sized to be closely received within the envelope. The inner member is removably secured to the outer member by strips of hook and loop type fastening material which can also be used to seal the top edges of the inner member to one another when removed from the outer member.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 6,823,909 to Marsteller discloses a removable insert for bags that holds and organizes personal articles. The device includes a first insert module and a second insert module separable from the first insert module. Both the modules comprise a closed base, an open top, sidewalls and pocket walls extending between the sidewalls. The pocket walls and sidewalls define a plurality of vertical pockets. An attachment mechanism selectively attaches and detaches the first and second insert modules to one another.  
      In U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,573 to Owens an interchangeable purse assembly is disclosed. The device comprises a plurality of outer bag components each having a unique color or design. An interior pouch may be removably received within any one of the associated bag components by zipping the pouch onto the interior surface of the bag component sidewalls. Items that are typically stored in a purse are placed in the removable pouch. When changing purse styles, a user would simply unzip the pouch and reattach it to another style bag component, thus eliminating the burdensome chore of having to individually transfer the items.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 4,263,951 to Siegel discloses an organizer handbag system having multiple handbags in the system and interchangeable components and accessories. The interchangeable components and accessories may include a wallet, cosmetic case, key ring, address books and notebooks. Selected components are provided with attachment means so that the interchangeable accessories can be conveniently transferred from one handbag to another and secured with cooperable attachment means. The accessories are selected in design and appearance to be compatible with a wide variety of handbag styles.  
      Although, the above devices include convertible and interchangeable features, they do not include any means to attach or detach various other accessory storage members to the purse. Current storage devices can store a variety of items, however they may not be inserted in the purse due to size and design considerations and are inconvenient to carry separately.  
      Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved purse assembly that includes detachable means to secure individual storage members of the purse assembly.  
      A further object is to provide an improved purse assembly, which provides additional accessory storage members such as a cosmetic bag and a wallet that can be detachably secured to a main purse body.  
      A further object is to provide an improved purse assembly, which can be employed at work, during business travel, or shopping.  
      A further object is to provide an improved purse assembly, which can be transformed to suit various storage needs and occasions by using different combinations of the cosmetic bag, wallet, and purse.  
      Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved purse assembly, which also includes means to detachably secure the cosmetic bag and the wallet. These and other objects of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the appended Summary, Description, and Claims.  
     SUMMARY  
      The present invention is directed to an improved purse assembly with detachable accessory storage members. The assembly mainly comprises a main purse body, a cosmetic bag, and a wallet. Preferably, the purse is firm, or hard-sided and forms the base of the assembly. The assembly also includes a means to detachably secure the cosmetic bag and wallet on to the exterior of the hard-sides of the purse. Alternately, the cosmetic bag and the wallet can also be secured to the interior of the purse. The detachable means are disposed on the purse, cosmetic bag, and wallet at suitable locations. The same detachable means can also be used to secure the cosmetic bag and the wallet together.  
      The cosmetic bag and the purse can include straps, zippered openings, and a plurality of compartments and pockets. The wallet can also include a plurality of pockets, zippers, transparent windows, and money clips. All the components of assembly can be produced in different colors, sizes, and designs. The cosmetic bag, wallet, and straps are interchangeable from purse to purse. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES  
       FIG. 1  is an illustration of the perspective view of the main purse body in accordance with the present invention.  
       FIG. 2  is an illustration of the top view of the main purse body.  
       FIG. 3  is an illustration of the wallet and the cosmetic bag.  
       FIG. 4  is an illustration of the wallet secured to the main purse body with snaps.  
       FIG. 5  is an illustration of the cosmetic bag secured to the main purse body with snaps.  
       FIG. 6  is an illustration of various configurations of the wallet.  
       FIG. 7  is an illustration of the wallet secured to the cosmetic bag with snaps.  
       FIGS. 8A and 8B  are illustrations of the wallet in a secured and unsecured position relative to the cosmetic bag with the elongated bar. 
    
    
     FIGURES—REFERENCE NUMERALS  
     
         
           10  . . . Purse  
           11  . . . Wallet  
           12  . . . Cosmetic Bag  
           13  . . . Compartment  
           14  . . . Loop-like Members  
           15  . . . Strap  
           16  . . . Snap  
           17  . . . Pocket  
           18  . . . Transparent Window  
           19  . . . Money Clip  
           20  . . . Elongated Bar  
       
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      Referring to the drawings, the preferred embodiment of an improved purse assembly that includes detachable features is illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 8 . The assembly mainly comprises a main purse  10 , a wallet  11 , a cosmetic bag  12 , and detachable means to removably secure the wallet  11  and the cosmetic bag  12  to the purse  10  or together.  
      Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the purse  10  forms the base of the assembly and is preferably hard-sided. The purse  10  comprises three compartments  13 , namely a center compartment  13 A and the two zippered compartments  13 B on the sides of the center compartment  13 A. Leather, suede, vinyl, canvas, or any other suitable materials can be used to make the purse body. The purse  10  includes loop-like members  14  on its top surface. To carry the purse assembly, straps  15  can be secured to the loop-like members  14  to carry the purse over the shoulder of a user. The purse  10  further includes detachable means, which are disposed at suitable locations on the two opposite exterior sides. Alternately, the purse  10  can also include the detachable means on its interior. In one embodiment, a plurality of snaps  16  can be used as the detachable means.  
      Referring to  FIGS. 3, 4 , and  5 , both the wallet  11  and the cosmetic bag  12  include snaps disposed on their exterior surfaces, front or back. The wallet  11  and the cosmetic bag  12  can be secured to the opposite sides of the exterior of the purse using these snaps  16 . The cosmetic bag  12  is expandable comprising a zippered opening and a zippered pocket  17 . The wallet  11  can incorporate a plurality of pockets  17 , transparent windows  18 , and money clips  19 .  FIG. 6  illustrates several configurations of the wallet  11  in its opened state. The bottom portion of the wallets includes the transparent windows  18  and money clips  19 . Additionally, the wallet  11  can also be detachably secured to the cosmetic bag  12  using the snaps  16 , as seen in  FIG. 7 . The cosmetic bag  12  also includes loop-like members  14  and straps  15  connected to the loop-like members to carry the cosmetic bag-wallet combination.  
      Several structural variations, dimensions, and additional embodiments of the assembly are possible. For example, hook and eye connections, tie connections, belt connections, zippered connections, etc. can be used as the means to secure the wallet  11  and the cosmetic bag  12  to the purse  10  or together. Several alternate configurations of the purse  10 , the wallet  11 , and the cosmetic bag  12  regarding the number of compartments/sections and pockets are possible.  
      The wallet and the cosmetic bag can incorporate elongated bars  20  on their top surface through which they can be secured together or to the purse  10 , as seen in  FIG. 8 . The purse, wallet, cosmetic bag, and straps can be produced in different colors, sizes, and designs. Finally, the components of the detachable purse assembly, namely, the cosmetic bag, wallet, and straps, are interchangeable from purse to purse.  
      All features disclosed in this specification, including any accompanying claims, abstract, and drawings, may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.  
      While specific apparatus has been disclosed in the preceding description, it should be understood that these specifics have been given for the purpose of disclosing the principles of the present invention and that many variations thereof will become apparent to those who are versed in the art. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is to be determined by the appended claims.  
      Any element in a claim that does not explicitly state “means for” performing a specified function, or “step for” performing a specific function, is not to be interpreted as a “means” or “step” clause as specified in 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6. In particular, the use of “step of” in the claims herein is not intended to invoke the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph 6.