Abstract:
Installed in an auto-eject pull handle that is mounted in a travel bag and ejectable out of the travel bag to a predetermined elevation by an ejecting mechanism subject to the control of a control button, a safety structure is disclosed to include a holder member that has an opening that accommodates the control button, and a sliding cover coupled to the holder member and slidable to between a close position to keep the control button from sight and an open position to let the control button be exposed to the outside for operation.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to an auto-eject pull handle for travel bag and more particularly, to a safety structure installed an auto-eject pull handle for travel bag to prohibit accidental ejection of the pull handle. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    The design of a travel bag must consider many factors. In addition to light and durable characteristics, the factor of ease-of-use is also important. 
         [0005]    For example, a travel bag is usually equipped with a retractable pull handle to facilitate to facilitate hand carrying. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the retractable pull handle  1  is installed in the back side of the travel bade. When not in use, the retractable pull handle  1  is received inside the housing  2  of the travel bag with the grip  1   a  exposed to the outside. The housing  2  has a top recess  2   a  for accommodating the grip  1   a , maintaining the whole sense of beauty of the travel bag. 
         [0006]    However, the limited space between the grip  1   a  and the bottom wall  2   b  of the top recess  2   a  does not allow insertion of a hand. Pulling the grip  1   a  out of the top recess  2   a  is not easy. To overcome this problem, an ejecting mechanism (not shown) is provided and locked in the pull handle  1 . By means of pressing a control button  3  to unlock the ejecting mechanism, the ejecting mechanism ejects the pull handle  1  upwards from the top recess  2   a  to a predetermined elevation (see the imaginary line shown in  FIG. 1 ). Thus, a big space is left between the grip  1   a  and the bottom wall  2   b  of the top recess  2   a  for the insertion of a hand to pull the pull handle  1  to the extended position. 
         [0007]    According to the aforesaid arrangement, the control button  3  is exposed to the outside for convenient operation. Because no any safety means is provided to prohibit accidental triggering of the control button  3 , the control button  3  may be forced to unlock the ejecting mechanism accidentally by an external force, causing an accidental ejection of the pull handle  1 . Therefore, an improvement in this regard is necessary. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is therefore the main object of the present invention to provide a safety structure for auto-eject pull handle for travel bag, which prohibits accidental ejection of the auto-eject pull handle. It is another object of the present invention to provide a safety structure for auto-eject pull handle for travel bag, which has the advantage of ease of use. 
         [0009]    To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, a safety structure is installed in an auto-eject pull handle that is mounted in a travel bag and ejectable out of the travel bag to a predetermined elevation by an ejecting mechanism of the travel bag subject to the control of a control button. The safety structure comprises a holder member, which comprises a sliding track and an opening formed in the sliding track for accommodating the control button, and a sliding cover, which is coupled to the sliding track and movable along the sliding track between a close position where the sliding cover covers the opening to keep the control button from sight and an open position where the sliding cover is kept away from the opening to let the control button be exposed to the outside for operation. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a schematic drawing showing a conventional travel bag with an auto-eject pull handle. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view of a safety structure of an auto-eject pull handle in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is an elevational assembly view of the safety structure of the auto-eject pull handle in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a sectional view side view of the safety structure of the auto-eject pull handle in accordance with the present invention, showing the control button kept from sight. 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 4 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is an elevational view of the sliding cover for the safety structure of the auto-eject pull handle in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the ornamental plate for the safety structure of the auto-eject pull handle in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  is a schematic drawing of the present invention, showing the sliding cover pushed. 
           [0018]      FIG. 9  is similar to  FIG. 4  but showing the control button exposed to the outside. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    A safety structure of an auto-eject pull handle in accordance with the present invention is used in a travel bag in which a button is provided for pressing by the user to unlock an ejecting mechanism, enabling the ejecting mechanism to eject the pull handle out of the travel bag to a predetermined elevation so that the user can pull the pull handle to the fully extended position conveniently for use. Because the ejecting mechanism is of the known art and not within the scope of the claims of the present invention, no further detailed description in this regard is necessary. The structural arrangement and functioning of the safety structure and the relationship between the safety structure and the control button will be explained hereinafter. 
         [0020]    Referring to  FIGS. 2˜4 , the safety structure, referenced by  20 , is installed in the pull handle, referenced by  10 , and adapted to prohibit accidental ejection of the pull handle  10 . The safety structure  20  includes a holder member  22 , a sliding cover  24 , and ornamental plate  26 , and four elastic means, for example, spring members  28 . 
         [0021]    The holder member  22  is a plate member covered on a base frame  12 , thereby forming a grip  12  of the pull handle  10 . The aforesaid ejecting mechanism has a part mounted in between the holder member  22  and the base frame  12 , i.e., the inside space of the grip  12 . The holder member  22  has an opening  22   a  cut through the top and bottom walls thereof on the middle for accommodating the control button  16  that is operable to unlock the ejecting mechanism, an open chamber  22   b  upwardly formed in the top wall of the holder member  22  and disposed adjacent to one lateral side of the opening  22   a , four countersunk holes  22   c  respectively disposed in the four corners inside the open chamber  22   b , and two locating holes  22   d  respectively formed in the open chamber  22   b  at two opposite lateral sides and cut through the bottom wall of the holder member  22 , and two sliding grooves  22   e  respectively formed in the top wall of the holder member  22  in a parallel manner at the front and rear sides relative to the opening  22   a  and the open chamber  22   b . The sliding grooves  22   e  constitute a sliding track for the sliding of the sliding cover  24 . 
         [0022]    Referring to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the sliding cover  24  is a smoothly arched plate member having two rails  224  arranged in parallel at the front and rear sides thereof and respectively slidably coupled to the sliding grooves  22   e  of the holder member  22 . Therefore, the sliding cover  24  can be moved along the sliding track of the sliding grooves  22   e  between a close position P 1  shown in  FIG. 4  and an open position P 2  shown in  FIG. 9 . The sliding cover  24  further has a beveled edge  24   b  at one lateral side thereof. 
         [0023]    Referring to  FIG. 7 , the ornamental plate  26  is a smoothly arched plate member having two bottom hook rods  26   a  respectively protruded from the bottom wall thereof at two opposite lateral sides and respectively terminating in a respective hooked portion  26   b . The two bottom hook rods  26   a  of the ornamental plate  26  are respectively inserted through the two locating holes  22   d  of the holder member  22  to secure the ornamental plate  26  to the holder member  22 . By means of stopping the hooked portions  26   b  of the bottom hook rods  26   a  at the bottom wall of the holder member  22 , the ornamental plate  26  is prohibited from falling away from the holder member  22 . The ornamental plate  26  further has a beveled edge  26   c  disposed at one lateral side thereof and matching the beveled edge  24   b  of the sliding cover  24 . After installation of the ornamental plate  26  in the holder member  22 , the ornamental plate  26  can only be moved vertically relative to the holder member  22  between a first position S 1  shown in  FIG. 4  and a second position S 2  shown in  FIG. 9 . 
         [0024]    The four spring members  28  are respectively mounted between the holder member  22  and the ornamental plate  26 , each having one end respectively positioned in the countersunk holes  22   c  and the other end stopped against the bottom wall of the ornamental plate  26  to impart an upward push force to the ornamental plate  26  toward the first position S 1 . 
         [0025]    After understanding of the structural details of the safety structure  20 , the functioning of the safety structure  20  is outlined hereinafter. 
         [0026]    In the status shown in  FIGS. 3˜5 , the sliding cover  24  is maintained in the close position P 1  to keep the control button  16  from sight. At this time, the sliding cover  24  protects the control button  16  from being touched accidentally, prohibiting false functioning of the ejecting mechanism of the pull handle  10  when the travel bag is hit or vibrated accidentally by and external force. At this time, the ornamental plate  26  is forced upwards by the spring members  28  to have the hooked portions  26   b  be stopped against the bottom wall of the holder member  22 , and therefore the ornamental plate  26  is kept in the first position S 1  in flush with the top wall of the holder member  22  and the top wall of the sliding cover  24  that is kept in the close position P 1 . 
         [0027]    When wishing to hold the grip  14  of the pull handle  10 , push the sliding cover  24  sideways in direction toward the ornamental plate  26  to force the beveled edge  24   b  of the sliding cover  24  against the beveled edge  26   c , thereby lowering the ornamental plate  26 , a shown in  FIG. 8 . When continuously pushing the sliding cover  24  sideways, the ornamental plate  26  is lowered to the second position S 2 . When the ornamental plate  26  is lowered to the second position S 2 , the sliding cover  24  is moved to the open position P 2  shown in  FIG. 9  and kept in this position by the upward spring force of the spring members  28 . At this time, the user can press the control button  16  to unlock the ejecting mechanism, enabling the ejecting mechanism to eject the pull handle  10  out of the travel bag. When the pull handle  10  is ejected out of the travel bag, the user can then grasp the grip  14  of the pull handle  10  to pull the pull handle  10  to the extended position. On the contrary, the user can push the sliding cover  24  back to the status shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0028]    In the aforesaid preferred embodiment, the ornamental plate  26  is mainly to keep the outer appearance in integrity and to work with the spring members  28  in holding the sliding cover  22  in the open position P 2 . However, the invention is not limited to the use of the ornamental plate  26  and the spring members  28 , i.e., the ornamental plate  26  and the spring members  28  can be eliminated from the safety structure  20 , allowing the sliding cover  24  to be directly moved to the position above the opening  22   a  or the open chamber  22   b  to guard or not to guard the control button  16 . Under this architecture, the open chamber  22   b  can be modified to a non-open design to accommodate the sliding cover  24  in the open position P 2  and to keep it from sight. 
         [0029]    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.