Abstract:
A handbag system allowing for the rapid exchange of handbag styles and sizes utilizing a detachable inner sleeve and an exterior shell, the inner sleeve being expandable to fit a variety of exterior shells, including exterior shells varying in width and length.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    None 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates to a ladies handbag or purse system. The time and effort required to transfer the contents from one handbag to another limits a woman&#39;s ability to match the design characteristics of her handbag with each day&#39;s attire. In addition, a handbag with the desired design characteristics often lacks desired functional characteristics such as size or range of pocket assemblies. A handbag system featuring an interchangeable inner sleeve with the desired pocket assemblies that is expandable to fit handbags within a range of sizes would allow a woman to select both the desired functional and design characteristics of her handbag while minimizing the time required to transfer her effects from one bag to another. 
         [0003]    The related prior art has limitations which prevent it from being applicable to a handbag system that can accommodate changes in the size of the handbag. Owens, U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,573 and Pace, U.S. Pat. No. 7,028,730 disclosed a handbag system that relies on a zipper for attaching the interior pouch to the outer handbag. This method of attachment necessarily limits the size of the exterior shell to which the interior pouch can be attached to one exactly corresponding to the length of the zipper. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,414,033 issued to Tucker provided for attachment of the interior insert to the handbag by means of a strip of nylon tape fastener having the “Velcro” trademark. An early patent issued to Kase, U.S. Pat. No. 2,723,696, disclosed a rigid inner shell over which an interchangeable cover was snapped. Holden, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,975, disclosed a system that allowed the length of the inner sleeve to be varied, but not the width. 
         [0004]    Other patents have issued for handbag organizers which are not attached to an exterior shell. U.S. Pat. No. 4,263,951 issued to Siegel disclosed an organizer system that allowed for the interchange of some but not all of the handbag contents, and was not attached to the exterior shell. Hogan, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,624,385 and Wilson, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,893,457 disclosed removable inserts for a handbag that are not attached to the exterior shell of a handbag. 
         [0005]    Some handbag systems feature variable inserts with a single frame, which does not provide the advantages of the present invention in allowing the user to keep her effects in a single inner sleeve while interchanging the exterior shell. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,971,424, Angevine disclosed a handbag system in which a variable insert is inserted into a single frame. 
         [0006]    Other disclosed handbag systems employ handbags without inner sleeves, and utilize interchangeable cover members that limit the variation in the functional characteristics of the handbag such as size. The patent issued to Baquero, U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,723 disclosed a single purse housing having detachable lid or cover members which can be interchanged, but which lacking an inner sleeve that is interchangeable with a variety of handbag designs and sizes. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The present invention relates to a handbag system comprised of exterior shells of varying sizes with desired design characteristics, and an inner sleeve which has the desired array of pocket and organizational elements and which can be expanded or contracted to fit the range of exterior shell sizes. The expansion or contraction of the inner sleeve is accomplished by means of a sliding bar assembly attached to or contained within the top of the front and back sides of the inner sleeve. The sliding bar assembly is composed of a central bar and two side bars or an inner bar and an outer bar. In one embodiment, the side bars slide back and forth in slots contained in the central bar to change the width of the inner sleeve. Snaps or other discretely located fasteners are attached to the central bar and to the side bars. Mating fasteners are positioned at the top of the front side and the back side of the exterior shell, either attached directly to the exterior shell or located on the inside surface of a mating attachment bar. The user exchanges exterior shells by unsnapping or unfastening the inner sleeve from the exterior shell and removing the inner sleeve, then re-inserting the inner sleeve into a second exterior shell with the desired design characteristics and size, expanding or contracting the inner sleeve as necessary to fit the newly-selected exterior shell and snapping or fastening the inner sleeve into place in the new exterior shell. The height of the inner sleeve can be varied by gathering the inner sleeve along the lateral sides or releasing the gathers. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a front view of the sliding bar assembly of the inner sleeve. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a top cutaway view of the sliding bar assembly of the inner sleeve. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a top cutaway view of another embodiment of the sliding bar assembly. 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a front view of the mating attachment bar of the exterior shell. 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a front perspective view of the inner sleeve. 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a front perspective view of the exterior shell. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0014]    In the following discussion, “top” refers to the edge of the handbag that is closest to the user&#39;s head when the bag is held by the user as in normal use. In the following discussion, “bottom” refers to the edge of the handbag that is closest to the user&#39;s feet when the bag is held by the user as in normal use. In the following discussion, “front” refers to the side of the handbag that is furthest from the user&#39;s body when the bag is held by the user as in normal use. In the following discussion, “back” refers to the side of the handbag that is closest to the user&#39;s body when the bag is held by the user as in normal use. In the following discussion, “outer” refers to the surface of the inner sleeve that is closest to or adjacent to the exterior shell when joined to the exterior shell. In the following discussion, “inner” refers to the surface of the inner sleeve that is furthest from the exterior shell when joined to the exterior shell. In the following discussion, “outside” refers to the surface of the exterior shell that is furthest from the inner sleeve when joined to the inner sleeve and which is visible during normal wear. In the following discussion, “inside” refers to the surface of the exterior shell that is closest to or adjacent to the inner sleeve when joined to the inner sleeve. In the following discussion, “lateral side” refers to the surfaces or seams connecting the front side to the back side. In the following discussion, “width” refers to that dimension that extends from one lateral side of the front side or back side to the other lateral side. In the following discussion, “length” refers to that dimension extending from the top of the handbag to the bottom of the handbag. 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  shows one embodiment of the inner sleeve sliding bar assembly  101 , comprised of a central bar  102  and two side bars  103 . The central bar  102  has at least one snap or fastener  104  on the outer surface. The side bars each have at least one snap or fastener  105  on the outer surface. 
         [0016]    Now referring to  FIG. 2 , the width of the sliding bar assembly  101  can be adjusted by pulling the side bars  103  outwards or pushing the side bars  103  inwards into an inner void  201  extending from one distal end of the central bar  102  to the other distal end. 
         [0017]    Now referring to  FIG. 3 , in another embodiment of the invention, the inner sleeve sliding bar assembly  301  can be configured so that the central bar  302  has two offset slots  306  into which the side bars  303  are disposed so that the side bars  303  slide past one another during compression of the sliding bar assembly  301 . This embodiment allows a large variation in the widths of the sliding bar assembly  301 . 
         [0018]    Now referring to  FIG. 4 , a mating attachment bar  401  has at least one central snap or fastener  404  and at least two side snaps or fasteners  405  corresponding to and mating with the inner sleeve snaps or fasteners  104  and  105 . Other embodiments feature mating attachments  404 ,  405  fastened or inserted directly into the inside surface of the handbag body. 
         [0019]    Now referring to  FIG. 5 , the sliding bar assemblies  101  are inserted into the top of the front side and the back side of the pouch  502 , the pouch  502  and sliding bar assemblies  101  together forming the inner sleeve  501 , with the pouch  502  being adjusted by inserting holes in the pouch fabric or making other adjustments so that the snaps or fasteners  104 ,  105  function as designed. The pouch  502  is of a sufficient width to accommodate the sliding bar assembly  101  at its fully-extended position. If the desired handbag is of a lesser width than the width represented by the fully-extended sliding bar assembly  101 , then the pouch fabric  502  will be compressed as necessary in the width adjustment area  503  between the central bar snaps or fasteners  104  and the side bar snaps or fasteners  105 . Elastic strips  505  secured to the pouch fabric  502  over the width adjustment area  503  may aid in gathering the pouch fabric  502  when the inner sleeve  501  is in the contracted position. 
         [0020]    The height of the inner sleeve  501  can be adjusted by means of elastic strips  504  inserted into the pouch fabric  502  along the lateral sides. In one embodiment, fasteners  506  located at or near the bottom of the pouch  502  and on the inside of the handbag body secure the bottom of the inner sleeve to the bottom of the exterior shell. Alternatively, cords running along the laterals sides of the pouch  502  can be pulled to gather the pouch fabric  502  along the laterals sides to gather the pouch fabric and shorten the inner sleeve  501  for use with shorter handbag bodies. 
         [0021]    Referring to  FIG. 6 , the mating bar assemblies  401  are inserted into the top edges of the front side and back side of the handbag body  602 , with the mating fasteners  404 ,  405  exposed on the inside surface. The handbag body  602  and mating attachment bars  401  or fasteners together form the exterior shell  601 , which is joined with the inner sleeve  501  to form the completed handbag system. 
         [0022]    The fastening means by which the inner sleeve  501  and exterior shell  601  are joined can include snaps, buttons, magnets, discrete segments of hook and loop fastener material such as is sold under the trademark “Velcro,” toggle switches in which the fastening is accomplished by rotating a member after inserting it into a void in the mating surface to secure two surfaces, a hook and eye assembly where the inner sleeve is attached by inserting hooks into receptacles located on the inside surface of the exterior shell, a knob or raised button disposed on the outer surface of the central bars and side bars and corresponding slots in the mating attachment bars into which the knob or button slides, or any other means by which a discrete point on the outer surface of the inner sleeve can be joined or attached to a discrete point on the inside surface of the exterior shell. 
         [0023]    Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiment but as merely providing illustrations of one or more of the presently preferred embodiments. Thus the scope of the embodiment should be determined by the claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.