Patent Publication Number: US-10314374-B2

Title: Luggage with hidden storage compartment within expandable area

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119(a), this application claims the benefit of earlier filing date and right of priority to Chinese Application No. 201620300468.7 filed on Apr. 12, 2016. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field 
     The present invention relates generally to luggage containers. More specifically, the present invention relates to an expandable luggage that has an expandable portion with a concealable storage compartment formed at the expandable portion. The storage compartment is concealed when the expandable portion is not expanded and an opening of the storage compartment is exposed when the expandable portion is expanded. 
     Background 
     A challenge to traveling has always been carrying one&#39;s belongings in the most efficient and easy manner. To meet this challenge, expandable luggage designs have appeared in the prior art to allow carrying additional items when expanded. However, prior art designs merely allow expansion of a portion of the luggage without providing any other functions or uses of the expanded portion. Items, such as a personal laptop computer or notebook, must be taken out of a luggage to go through a security check point at an airport. However, it is very inconvenient to take out such items from the luggage because the luggage may need to be open completely if such items are stored within a main storage space of the luggage. Even if a notebook may be stored in an outer compartment of the luggage for each access, for example, in an outer compartment formed at an opening/closing cover of the luggage, the notebook in the outer compartment may be susceptible to impacts because the notebook is located at or near an outermost portion of the luggage. Therefore, a solution is necessary to avoid such inconvenience and to minimize impacts applied to an item stored in the luggage. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an improved luggage apparatus that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a luggage container includes a main compartment having a front side and a backside; a cover portion coupled to the main compartment to cover the front side of the main compartment and configured to be open or closed via a first opening/closing mechanism element to expose or cover the main compartment; an expandable portion extendingly coupled to the main compartment, the expandable portion including a second opening/closing mechanism element; and a storage compartment including an opening portion formed at the expandable portion and a pocket portion extending from the opening portion such that the pocket portion of the storage compartment is located in the main compartment. 
     In one aspect of the present invention, the expandable portion is configured to be in a closed configuration when the second opening/closing mechanism element is closed and to be in an expanded configuration when the second opening/closing mechanism element is open. In another aspect of the present invention, the opening portion of the storage compartment is concealed when the expandable portion is in the closed configuration and exposed when the expandable portion is in the expanded configuration. In yet another aspect of the present invention, the opening portion includes a third opening/closing mechanism element and the opening portion is not visible in the main compartment while the outer surface of the pocket portion is visible in the main compartment such that the inner surface of the pocket portion is visible via the opening portion. 
     According to another embodiment of the present invention, a bag includes: a main compartment including a front side, a backside, and an opening; an expandable portion extendingly formed at the main compartment, the expandable portion including an opening/closing mechanism element; and a storage compartment including an opening portion formed at the expandable portion and a pocket portion extending from the opening portion such that the pocket portion of the storage compartment is located in the main compartment, wherein: the expandable portion is configured to be in a closed configuration when the opening/closing mechanism element is closed and to be in an expanded configuration when the opening/closing mechanism element is open; and the opening portion of the storage compartment is concealed when the expandable portion is in the closed configuration and exposed when the expandable portion is in the expanded configuration. 
     In one aspect, the opening portion includes a first zipper track configured to open or close the opening portion according to movement of a first slider. In another aspect, the main compartment further includes a second zipper track configured to open or close the opening according to movement of a second slider. 
     Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide a further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
         FIG. 1A  is a top plan view of a luggage in which an expandable portion is in a closed configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 1B  is a top plan view of a luggage in which an expandable portion is in an expanded configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2A  is a perspective view of a luggage with a concealable storage compartment at a main storage area of the luggage according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2B  is a perspective view of the luggage in which the storage compartment is attached to receiving portions according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with respect to the embodiment(s) illustrated in the annexed drawings. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B , when an expandable portion  110  of a luggage  100  is switched from a closed configuration, as shown in  FIG. 1A , to an expanded configuration, as shown in  FIG. 1B , an opening  120  of a storage compartment  130  is exposed. In one embodiment, the storage compartment  130  is made of mesh fabric. In another embodiment, the storage compartment  130  is made of a substantially transparent material. 
     Although,  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B  show that the opening  120  is formed at a top portion of the expandable portion  110  to receive an item to be stored from the top in a vertical direction, an opening may be formed at a side portion of the expandable portion  110  to receive an item to be stored from the side in a horizontal direction. In contrast, in conventional expandable luggage containers, merely an expandable portion that does not have any other structures formed thereon is exposed when the luggage is expanded. 
     For example, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the expandable portion  110  is formed at or near a front side portion of the luggage  100 , as shown in  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B , such that the expandable portion  110  is located adjacent to a cover portion  140  of the luggage  100  that is used to open/close the luggage  100 . Alternatively, although not shown in drawings, the expandable portion  110  may be formed at or near a middle portion or a back side portion of the luggage  100 . Further, multiple expandable portions may be formed at a plurality of portions of the luggage  100 , at least one of the multiple expandable portions having a storage compartment formed therethrough. 
     According to an embodiment, switching between the closed configuration and the expanded configuration is achieved by manipulation of an opening/closing mechanism element formed at the expandable portion  110 . For example, the opening/closing mechanism element includes a zipper having zipper tracks and one or two slider(s) holding the zipper tracks together, as shown in  FIG. 1A . The luggage  100  is in the expanded configuration as shown in  FIG. 1B  when the zipper is unzipped by sliding the slider(s). For example, when there are two sliders for the opening, the expandable portion  110  is expanded when the two sliders are slid away from one another. When the luggage  100  is in the expanded configuration, a width of the luggage  100  increases compared to a width of the luggage  100  in the closed configuration, thus increasing a storage space inside the luggage. For example, the width of the luggage  100  may be increased by at least 5 centimeter (cm), about 10 cm, or more than 10 cm when the luggage  100  is in the expanded configuration. 
     In one embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B , the opening  120  of the storage compartment  130 , which is concealed when the luggage  100  is in the closed configuration and exposed when the luggage  100  is in the expanded configuration, includes an opening/closing mechanism element. For example, the opening/closing mechanism of the opening  120  is a zipper. When the zipper of the opening  120  is open, the storage compartment  130  is configured to receive an item, thus allowing receiving the item into the storage compartment  130  via the opening  120 . The opening  120  may be exposed even if the expandable portion  110  is not fully expanded. That is, for example, the zipper of the expandable portion  110  may not be unzipped fully and may be unzipped partially to a certain degree to merely expose the opening  120  of the storage compartment  130 . Such a structure of the expandable portion  110  allows easy access to the opening  120  of the storage compartment  130 , thus allowing quick and convenient storage of an item such as a notebook computer in the storage compartment  130  without requiring opening of the entire luggage  100 . 
     Once the item is stored in the storage compartment  130 , the expandable portion  110  may remain in the expanded configuration or the expandable portion  110  may be closed after the item is stored in the storage compartment  130  such that the luggage  100  with the item stored in the storage compartment  130  may be carried in the closed configuration. The item may be taken out of the storage compartment  130  easily by opening the expandable portion  110 , if the expandable portion  110  is closed, and then opening the opening  120  without requiring opening of the entire luggage  100 . 
     According to an alternative embodiment, the opening  120  of the storage compartment  130  may not have an opening/closing mechanism element contrary to the exemplary embodiment shown in  FIG. 1B . That is, the storage compartment  130  may have an opening that is always open. Nevertheless, such an opening of the storage compartment  130  will not be exposed externally when the opening/closing mechanism element formed at the expandable portion  110  is manipulated to the closed configuration. Thus, the opening/closing mechanism element may be optional for the storage compartment  130 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 1A ,  FIG. 1B ,  FIG. 2A , and  FIG. 2B , according to an embodiment, since the expandable portion  110  is formed next to or near the cover portion  140 , the item stored in the storage compartment  130  may be protected from a direct impact because the cover portion  140  that forms an outer surface of the luggage  100  will act as a shock absorber. In one embodiment, an additional storage compartment may be formed on the cover portion  140 . 
     For example, as shown in  FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B , the storage compartment  130  is formed such that the storage compartment  130  is configured to be on a top portion of a storage space of the luggage  100  when the cover portion  140  is open. That is, when the storage space of the luggage  100  is filled with item(s), the storage compartment  130  may be placed on top of the item(s) that are in the storage space. For example, the cover portion  140  and the storage compartment  130  are separated by a distance that is less than 5 cm, 4 cm, 3 cm, 2 cm, or 1 cm although the distance may be more than 5 cm depending on a design of the luggage  100 . In one embodiment, the storage compartment  130  may be in contact with an inner surface of the cover portion  140  when the main storage compartment is full of stored items. 
     Although the storage compartment  130  may be formed to be any sizes, according to an embodiment, the storage compartment  130  is sized to cover substantially the entire area of the storage space such that the storage compartment  130  is placed on top of items stored in the storage space, thus the storage compartment  130  covering the store items. See  FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B . According to another embodiment, the storage compartment  130  may be sized to fit a specific item such as a notebook computer or tablet device and some of the items stored in the storage space may be visible around edges of the storage compartment  130  when the cover portion  140  is open. 
     According to an embodiment, the storage compartment  130  is formed as a pocket. That is, the storage compartment  130  may be formed by joining at least two layers of material together such that the storage compartment  130  appears as a flat layer when no item is stored in the storage compartment  130 . For example, the storage compartment  130  may be formed by stitching perimeters of two layers of material except for the perimeter at a side of the opening  120 . At the opening  120 , one zipper track is formed at a top perimeter of one of the two layers of material and another zipper track is formed at a top perimeter of the other one of the two layers of material such that the opening  120  may be open or closed by sliding at least one slider holding the zipper tracks. However, instead of the zipper tracks and the at least one slider, different types of opening/closing mechanism elements may be used for the opening  120 . Furthermore, as mentioned above, the storage compartment  130  may be formed as a pocket that does not have any opening/closing mechanism elements formed at the opening  120 . 
     In one embodiment, an item may be put into the storage compartment  130  only via the opening  120  that is accessible when the expandable portion  110  is open or expanded. In another embodiment, although not shown in the drawings, the storage compartment  130  may have an additional opening that is accessible via inside the luggage  100  when the cover portion  140  is open. For example, a zipper opening may be formed at a portion of the storage compartment  130  that is inside the main storage compartment. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B , in one embodiment, at least one first fastening structure  150  is formed at or attached to the storage compartment  130 . For example, the at least one first fastening structure  150  is formed at or attached to an edge portion of the storage compartment  130  that is located at an opposite side of the opening  120 . Further, at least one second fastening structure  160  is formed at or attached to an inside portion of the luggage  100 . For example, the at least one second fastening structure  160  is formed at or attached to a bottom portion of the luggage  100  that is located at an opposite side of the opening  120 . Thus, when the at least one first fastening structure  150  and the at least one second fastening structure  160  are coupled to one another, as shown in  FIG. 2B , the position of the storage compartment  130  is fixed such that the storage compartment  130  is laid substantially flat on a top portion of the storing space inside the luggage  100 . In an embodiment, hook and loop fasteners may be used instead of the first and second fastening structures  150 ,  160 . In alternative embodiments, any fastener can be used including buttons, additional zippers, snaps or the like instead of the first and second fastening structures  150 ,  160 . 
     Moreover, instead of or in addition to the at least one second fastening structure  160 , at least one third fastening structure may be formed near the top portion of the storage compartment  130 . (Not shown in drawings.) In one embodiment, the at least one first fastening structure and the at least one third fastening structure are coupled to one another by folding the storage compartment  130  such that a size of the storage compartment  130  is reduced by about a half. The reduced sized storage compartment  130  may allow easier access to an item stored in the folded storage compartment  130  because a depth of the storage compartment  130  is reduced compared to a depth of the storage compartment  130  that is in an unfolded state. For example, for a small item such as a mini tablet device that is stored in the storage compartment  130 , if the storage compartment  130  is in the unfolded state, a user may be able to get the small item by reaching further into the storage compartment  130 , requiring placing the user&#39;s arm in the storage compartment  130 . However, if the storage compartment  130  is folded, the user may reach the stored small item more easily by simply reaching by a hand without placing the arm in the storage compartment  130 . 
     Thus, the storage compartment of the expandable portion describe above, as exemplified in the drawings, would provide not only convenience to a user, but also provide a protective measure for an item that is stored in the storage compartment that is formed at the expandable portion. 
     Those skilled in the art will appreciate that alternative embodiments exist from the above description of the embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The above described embodiments were shown in the context of a standard carry-on size luggage in the drawings. However, in alternative embodiments, a full size luggage or a luggage with additional compartments can be substituted for the described luggage. In addition, luggage may be made with any material that is suitable. The luggage described herein may be of any sizes and for example, the luggage includes wheeled or non-wheeled luggage, soft or hard side luggage, a trunk, a suitcase, a garment bag, a tote, a duffle back, a backpack, and any types of bags. 
     Therefore, the foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto. The above specification and examples provide a complete description of the manufacture and use of the composition of the invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended.