Abstract:
A wheeled luggage with a third wheel control mechanism in which release button is disposed within the bezel for controlling the extension of third wheel by actuating a connecting rod attached between release button and third wheel control lever in particularly, the extension of the third wheel is actuated simply by pressing the release button provided within the bezel and the retraction of the same is only to push to third wheel bracket plate into the back plate of luggage and to have it locked thereto. The location of the connecting rod is preferable near the retractable handle. By utilizing this, connecting rod is enhanced in mechanical strength for preventing from being deformed by the weight of luggage during transportation, and an easy assembling and a simplified controlling mechanism are obtained.

Description:
This is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. Ser. No. 09/390,670 which was filed on Sep. 7, 1999 now abandoned. This application is a continuation-in-part application of prior U.S. patent application filed on Sep. 7, 1999 entitled “Wheeled Luggage with Third Wheel Control Mechanism” now is pending. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a wheeled luggage with a third wheel control mechanism for the purpose of controlling the extension of the third wheel unit. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     A wheeled luggage is widely used by travelers at airports to carry personal belongings, which is equipped with wheels and an extendable handle that allows the user to easily and effortlessly carry the luggage by dragging it on its wheels along the ground. The extendable handle is normally retracted and locked in the luggage and can be unlocked to be extended out for the user to drag the wheeled luggage along the ground. 
     Conventional wheeled luggages are typically provided with only two wheels on the bottom. This type of wheeled luggage, however, is inconvenient to use since the wheeled luggage would not stand by itself on two wheels. Moreover, the inclination of the luggage would cause part of the weight of the luggage to be transferred to the user&#39;s dragging hand, thus requiring the user to use more effort to drag the wheeled luggage. As a solution to this problem, newer types of wheeled luggages are provided with a third wheel unit in addition to the main wheel unit. The third wheel unit is normally collapsed to the luggage, and can be expanded to serve an additional wheel unit that allows the wheeled luggage to stand by itself on three wheels. 
     One such wheeled luggage is shown in FIG.  1 . As shown, the luggage A includes an extendable handle B, a main wheel unit C, and a third wheel unit D. The third wheel unit D includes a hinge D 1 , an expandable frame D 2 , a wheel D 3 , and a foldable arm D 4 . When not in use, the third wheel unit D is collapsed into the luggage to facilitate convenient storage. To allow the luggage to stand by itself on three wheels, the third wheel unit D can be expanded to allow the luggage to stand by itself on three wheels. Moreover, the third wheel unit can take on part of the weight of the luggage resulted from the inclination of the luggage, thus allowing the user to drag the luggage with less effort along the way. 
     One drawback to this wheeled luggage, however, is that the expansion of the third wheel unit need to be done by hand. When doing this, the user&#39;s hand may be hurt by the expandable frame if care is not taken. There exists, therefore, a need for a new mechanism that allows the third wheel unit to be automatically expanded from the luggage when it is used. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a luggage with a third wheel control mechanism, which allows the third wheel unit to be extended for use to support the luggage when the handle is being extended for use, and also allows the third wheel unit to be collapsed into the luggage when it is not used, thereby obviating prior art third wheel deficiencies. 
     It is another objective of the present invention to provide a luggage with a third wheel control mechanism having a third wheel unit, which allows the third wheel unit to be effortlessly extended by the user. 
     In accordance with the forgoing and other objectives of the present invention, a third wheel control mechanism for the third wheel unit at the lower portion of the luggage and near the outer tube of retractable handle is provided. 
     A further object of the present invention is to provide a wheeled luggage with a third wheel control mechanism in which release button is disposed within the bezel for controlling the expansion of third wheel by actuating a connecting rod attached between release button and third wheel control lever. In particularly, the location of the connecting rod is preferable near the inner and outer tubes of the retractable handle. By utilizing this, connecting rod is enhanced in mechanical strength for preventing from being deformed by the weight of luggage during transportation, and an easy assembling and a simplified controlling mechanism are obtained. 
     A still further object of the present invention is to provide a wheeled luggage with an improved third wheel control mechanism in which the third wheel is of caster provided on a wheel mount capable of being freely rotated at random thus facilitating to wheel along a supporting surface. 
     A still further object of the present invention is to provide a wheeled luggage with an improved third wheel control mechanism in which the supporting member of the third wheel bracket plate is generally extended into a great invert V shape in contact with supporting surface thus facilitating the bracket plate to be easily collapsed into the main body when not used. 
     A still further object of the present invention is to provide a wheeled luggage with an improved third wheel control mechanism in which a collar member is further provided to enclose a section of guiding channel of inner supporting plate for further securing each of retractable handle tubes to be smoothly passed therethrough. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     The invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, with reference made to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a side view of a prior art wheeled luggage having a third wheel; 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded view of third wheel control mechanism installed in a luggage according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a rear view of a wheeled luggage with third wheel control mechanism partial in section and third wheel retracted onto luggage in which a release button is provided on the side portion of the bezel; 
     FIG. 3A is similar to FIG. 3, but the release button is provided on the center portion of the bezel; 
     FIG. 4A is an enlarged view of third wheel control mechanism shown in FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 4B is a fragmentary view of FIG. 4A; 
     FIG. 5A is a sectional view of third wheel control mechanism with third wheel retracted onto luggage; 
     FIG. 5B is a fragmentary view of FIG. 5A; 
     FIG. 6A is an enlarged view similar to FIG. 4A with spring compressed due to a downward movement of connecting rod when release button is pressed; 
     FIG. 6B is a fragmentary view of FIG. 6A; 
     FIG. 7A is a view similar to FIG. 5A except that third wheel fully expanded; 
     FIG. 7B is a fragmentary view of FIG. 7A; 
     FIG. 8 is a rear view of third wheel control mechanism of a luggage according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of third wheel control mechanism with third wheel retracted onto luggage, according to second preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 10 is a partial top sectional view of FIG. 8; 
     FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 9 with third wheel extended outward to be in contact with the supporting surface when release button is pressed; 
     FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 11, with third wheel suspended; 
     FIG. 13 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating the swiveled frame of third wheel; and 
     FIG. 14 is an illustrating side view of a wheeled luggage having a third wheel according to the present invention when it is used. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to FIGS. 2-7B, a wheeled luggage comprises a luggage  10 , a bezel  12  provided on top of luggage  10 , and a pair of retractable handles  11  have a pair of supporting tubes  11 A provided within luggage  10 . A third wheel control mechanism  30  is provided below bezel  12  comprising a release button  31  within bezel  12 , a vertically disposed connecting rod  32  actuated by release button  31  a pivotal lever  34  actuated by connecting rod  32 , an anchored spring  33  held by a socket  330  for keeping pivotal lever  34  in a horizontal position normally, a third wheel bracket plate  35  having a third wheel  352  at the lower portion, pivotally attached to a back plate of luggage at the top portion, a resilient hinge  351  attached a third wheel bracket plate  35  to a back plate of luggage  10 , the back plate of luggage  10  having an inner supporting plate  40  and an outer supporting plate  41  for supporting third wheel bracket plate  35 , and a hooking member  37  (see FIGS. 4A,  5 A,  5 B and  7 A) for locking third wheel bracket plate  35  onto back plate of luggage  10  by engaging with pivotal lever  34  when retracted. It is to be understood that the third wheel control mechanism  30  is provided near retractable handle  11  (see FIG. 3) for facilitating the maneuverability of third wheel bracket plate  35 . In detail, the release button  31  is very close to one supporting tubes  11 A. A novel feature of the invention is that a number of supporting collar members  321  equally spaced along the recess  411  of the outer supporting plate  41  for providing an adequate support to and guiding connecting rod  32 . Such simplified support and guiding components for connection rod  32  thus will cause connecting rod  32  to be not susceptible to damage by the weight of luggage  10  during transport. On the other hand, if desired, the release button  31  may be positioned in the center portion of the bezel, as shown in FIG.  3 A. 
     Further, it is to be noted that the third wheel bracket plate  35  is pivotally secured to the top of outer supporting plate  41  as shown in FIGS. 2,  4 A,  3 - 6  specifically. In detail as shown in FIGS. 6-7, third wheel bracket plate  35  is pivotally secured to the outer supporting plate  41  by a resilient hinge  351 . The resilient hinge  351  has a hinge pin  351 A and a twin spring  355  to have the upper portion of the bracket plate  35  hinged to the upper portion of the outer supporting plate  41 , as shown in FIGS. 4A,  5 A and  6 A. The resilient hinge  351  acts as pivotally attaching the upper portion of bracket plate  35  to the upper portion of bracket plate  35  to the upper portion of the outer supporting plate  41 . 
     A foldable two-piece supporting member  36  has one end  363  pivotally attached to a suitable position in third wheel bracket plate  35  by a pin  363 A, the other end  361  pivotally attached to lower part of outer supporting plate  41  by a pin  361 A, and a resilient hinge  362  pivotally attached between a first piece (i.e., the portion between end  363  and resilient hinge  362 ) and a second piece (i.e., the portion between end  361  and resilient hinge  362 ). 
     As shown in FIGS. 2,  4 A,  4 B, the pivot lever  34  is pivotally secured to the outer and inner supporting plates  41  and  40  by a pivot pin  341 , one end of pivot lever  34  is extended into the recess  411  of outer supporting plate  41 , the other end thereof is supported by a spring means  33  held by a socket  330  such that the pivot lever  34  will be kept in a normal horizontal position. 
     Further, the top surface of the other end of said pivot lever  34  will be actuated by the bottom end of said connecting rod  32 . In this manner, the pivot lever  34  functions as a latch for the hook member  37 . 
     If a user wants to use third wheel  352  he/she should press release button  31  to actuate connecting rod  32  to force pivotal lever  34  to pivot about its pivot point, i.e., left portion of pivotal lever  34  is up while right portion thereof is down, as shown in FIGS. 6A,  6 B. As such, the hooking member  37  releases the pivotal lever  34 . Consequently, third wheel bracket plate  35  will be expanded outwardly about resilient hinge  351  by the aid of expanding of the resilient hinge  351  and two-piece supporting member  36  (see FIG.  7 ). As a result, third wheel  352  is automatically extended to an operating position. On the other hand, if not used, all you have to do is only to push the third wheel bracket plate  35  together with the two-piece supporting member  36  into the outer supporting plate  41  of back plate of luggage  10  and the hooking member  37  provided at third wheel bracket plate  35  will be locked at the pivotal lever  34 , as shown in FIGS. 3,  4 A and  5 A. As a result, the third wheel bracket plate  35  is collapsed into the luggage  10 . 
     Referring further to FIGS. 8-13, a wheeled luggage constructed in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described, in which elements corresponding to those described above with respect to the third wheel control mechanism  30  of FIGS. 2 to  7 B are identified by same reference numbers, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted herein for the shake of brevity. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, a collar member  402  is provided to enclose a section of guiding channel  401  of inner supporting plate  40  for securing each of supporting tubes  11 A to be smoothly and stably slided therethrough. The collar member  402  includes a U shape body having a latched member  404  at one opening end of said body and an extension member  403  with an opening thereon, at the other opening end of said body, that is, the latched member  404  is protruded on the one opening end of collar member  402  for further snapping on guiding channel  401 . A fastener  405  such as screw or rivet is employed to secure the extension member  403  formed as a whole with collar member  402  to outer supporting plate  41 . Further, a through spring means  354  (shown in phantom in FIGS. 11-12) is further provided through whole length of supporting member  36  to connect hinge pin  362  and two ends  361  and  363 . As such, third wheel bracket plate  35  received in recess  411  in a retracted position is extended outwardly by the aid of extending of two-piece supporting member  36  (see FIG.  11 ). it is seen that in this manner, with an aid of the through spring means  364 , the two-piece supporting member  36  is generally extended into a great invert V shape when third wheel  352  is in contact with supporting surface FL. As a result, third wheel  352  is automatically extended to an operating position when use, as shown in FIG.  14 . 
     Referring to FIG. 12 specifically, if user wants to retract the third wheel  352  onto main body  10 , user should first lift third wheel  352  to let it suspend in the air a little which in turn causes two-piece supporting member  36  to retract a little due to the compression force of spring means  364  in the supporting member  36  to form into a generally invert V shape. Then simply push the third wheel bracket plate  35  attached together with the two-piece supporting member  36  into the recess  411  of outer supporting plate  41  of back plate of main body  10  until hook member  37  provided at third wheel bracket plate  35  snaps over and catches the pivotal level  34  as shown in FIG.  9 . As a result, the third wheel bracket plate  35  is collapsed into the main body  10 . 
     In FIG. 13, the swiveled frame of third wheel  352  is shown. It is designed that third wheel  352  is of caster provided on a wheel mount  353  in one end of third wheel bracket plate  35  in order to facilitate user to wheel luggage along a supporting surface. A bracket  354  is provided between one end of third wheel bracket plate  35  and wheel mount  353 . Further, a number of ball bearings  355  is provided between bracket  354  and wheel mount  353 , thereby enabling third wheel  352  to be vertically and axially rotated about third wheel bracket plate  35 . It is understood that whenever third wheel  352  is suspended in the air it will automatically rotate and align with recess  411  so as to facilitate to retract into recess  411 . 
     While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.