Abstract:
A purse organizer that allows a purse or a handbag to be organized though the use of multiple modular containers that are each able to be separated and placed back together via a series of releasable fasteners in order to allow configuring the purse organizer to adapt to the size and shape of individual purses.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This patent application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/252,339, filed Oct. 16, 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates to a modular purse organizer for insertion into a conventional man&#39;s or woman&#39;s purse or handbag. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    A conventional man&#39;s or woman&#39;s purse typically includes a large interior compartment with perhaps a few smaller side compartments. In such a conventional purse, multiple items are placed in the purse and carried throughout the day and can include anything from wallets, keys, money/change, lipstick, baby or child items, writing instruments, food, and many other items. Because of the construction of a conventional purse, the above identified items are often simply stored in the large interior compartment. In such a circumstance, difficulty may arise when a person needs to quickly identify and retrieve certain items from a plurality of items in the large interior compartment of his or her purse. 
         [0004]    In the case of a woman&#39;s purse, some women may prefer to have a compartment for their wallet or keys, while other women do not carry cosmetics and would rather have a compartment for writing instruments. Further, not all women carry the same size purse at all times. For example, some days a woman may carry a large handbag because she has the children with her and the amount of purse space she will require must increase accordingly. If the next day, however, she is going to work she may require only a smaller purse in which she carries a lesser number of items. 
         [0005]    Many prior art purse organizers are made of various types of material and may be folded in various ways. Some of the prior art purse organizers use printed markers for keys, lipstick, or other items. Prior art attempts to organize the contents of a conventional purse include compartmented purses and compartmented purse organizer inserts such as those shown in Miceli U.S. Pat. No. 2,911,024 and Newton U.S. Pat. No. 6,945,293. Such prior art purse organizer inserts, however, are constructed with fixed exterior dimensions and fixed compartments. Consequently, such purse organizer inserts may fit in one particular purse owned by an individual but not fit in other purses owned by that individual. Further, the fixed compartments disclosed in the prior art purse organizer inserts do not lend themselves to a variety of items that an individual might want to carry in the purse at any given time. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    In order to overcome the difficulties associated with a conventional purse with a large interior compartment and to overcome the difficulties associated with prior art purse organizer inserts, the present invention comprises a purse organizer constructed from a plurality of modules or modular containers that can be connected together by releasable fasteners to create a purse organizer with a variety of configurations and exterior dimensions. Once the purse organizer has been configured with the plurality of modular containers, the purse organizer is inserted into a woman&#39;s or man&#39;s purse to organize the contents of the purse. 
         [0007]    Each of the modular containers comprises a plurality of sidewalls, a back wall, which engages the sidewalls to form a container volume, and a lid, hinged to one of the sidewalls, to open and close the container volume. In one embodiment of the present invention, all of the sidewalls of the plurality of modular containers are the same height. The back wall and the lid of each modular container are of a regular geometric shape and are congruent. The shape of the back wall and the lid may be that of a square, a rectangle, a triangle, a hexagon, an octagon, or a cylindrical section. The number of sidewalls is selected to match the regular geometric shape of the back wall and the lid. For example, if the lid and the back wall are in the shape of a square, the modular container has four connected sidewalls, and the resulting container volume is cube shaped. If the lid and the back wall are in the shape of a rectangle, the modular container has four connected sidewalls, and the resulting container volume is a rectangular prism shape. If the lid and the back wall are in the shape of a hexagon, the modular container has six connected sidewalls, and the resulting container volume is a hexagonal prism shape. 
         [0008]    Each of the sidewalls has one half of a releasable fastener. The releasable fasteners may include, but are not limited to, hook and loop fasteners, snap fasteners, magnetic fasteners, and zippers. The releasable fasteners allow the user to interconnect a variety of the modular containers together to form the purse organizer having a variety of configurations. The purse organizer may also be configured by starting with a basic core of modular containers to which additional auxiliary modular containers could be added. In addition, a fastener located on the back wall of each modular container could be used to attach smaller modular containers for holding change, paperclips, and other similar items. Because the purse organizer can be configured in a number of ways by means of the interconnection of the modular containers, the resulting purse organizer can be configured with exterior dimensions for easy insertion and removal from a variety of purses. 
         [0009]    Each of the modular containers can be constructed of any suitable material, such as plastic, but using a velour type material on the outer surface of the modular containers will allow the purse organizer to stay in place within a conventional purse without much movement. Also configuring the purse organizer with its modular containers with a particular exterior dimension will produce a snug fit within a particular conventional purse so that the purse organizer will stay in place within the purse. By using modular containers with curved sides or corners, such as a modular container in the shape of a cylindrical section, the exterior portion of the purse organizer can be configured to fit a particular size purse better than a purse organizer with square external portions. 
         [0010]    In one alteration of the purse organizer, a handle, having compatible fasteners to the fasteners used on the modular containers, can be attached to one or more of the modular containers to assist in the removal of the purse organizer from the purse. 
         [0011]    Further objects, features and advantages will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention when taken in conjunction with the drawings and the appended claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a purse organizer in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 1A  is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the purse organizer in accordance with the present invention inserted into a conventional purse. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a front elevation view of the first embodiment of the purse organizer in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a section view of the first embodiment of the purse organizer in accordance with the present invention as seen along line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the purse organizer in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a front elevation view of the second embodiment of the purse organizer in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is a section view of the second embodiment of the purse organizer in accordance with the present invention as seen along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 5 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0019]    Turning to  FIGS. 1-3 , a first embodiment of a purse organizer  10  is shown. As shown in  FIG. 1A , the purse organizer  10  is inserted into a large interior compartment  15  of a conventional purse  12  in order to organize a variety of items to be carried in the purse  12 . The purse organizer  10  comprises a plurality of interconnected modular containers  14   a - h.  Each of the modular containers  14  is of a regular geometric shape including, for example, cube shaped modular containers  14   a - d,  rectangular prism shaped modular containers  14   e - f,  and cylindrical section (or cylindroid/elliptical) shaped modular containers  14   g - h.  Each of the modular containers  14  has a plurality of sidewalls  16  and a back wall  18  ( FIG. 3 ) interconnecting the sidewalls  16  to form a container volume  34 . A container lid  20  may be hinged to one of the sidewalls  16  of each of the modular containers  14  to open and close the container volume  34 . In some embodiments, the container lid  20  for one or more of the modular containers  14  is omitted to permit quick access to the modular container  14  without the need to open the container lid  20 . In the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1-3 , all of the sidewalls  16  of the plurality of modular containers  14  are the same height. Because all of the sidewalls  16  of the modular containers  14  are of equal height, the resulting purse organizer  10  has a uniform thickness. Specialty modular containers  14 , however, may be provided for the purse organizer  10  of the present invention to accommodate large items, small items, or odd shaped items. 
         [0020]    In some embodiments, the sidewalls  16  of a modular container  14  can have different heights, thus resulting in a modular container  14  where the container lid  20  is not parallel to the back wall  18 , thus producing a modular container  14  with a sloping container lid  20 . In some embodiments, multiple modular containers  14  with sloping container lids  20  can be connected to one another in a geometric configuration to produce a purse organizer  10  with an overall sloping effect. 
         [0021]    With respect to the cube shaped modular containers  14   a - d  shown in  FIGS. 1-3 , the back wall  18  and the container lid  20  are congruent and are square in shape. With respect to rectangular prism shaped modular containers  14   e - f,  the back wall  18  and the lid  20  are congruent and are rectangular in shape. With respect to the cylindrical section shaped modular containers  14   g - h,  the back wall  18  and the container lid  20  are congruent and are in the shape of a section of a circle or an ellipse. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that other regular geometric shaped modular containers  14  can be created where the shape of the back wall  18  and of the lid  20  may include a triangle, a hexagon, or an octagon and the appropriate number of sidewalls  16  are connected to the edges of the back wall  18 . 
         [0022]    The modular containers  14  may be formed of any suitable material including, without limit, plastic, metal, fiber board, etc. In addition, the inside of the modular containers  14  may be lined with fabric to provide cushioning and to produce an aesthetic enhancement. The outside of the sidewalls  16 , the back walls  18 , and the lids  20  may be covered with fabric to provide cushioning and to produce an aesthetic enhancement. The fabric on the outside of the sidewalls  16 , the back walls  18 , and the lids  20  further may be selected to provide frictional engagement between the purse organizer  10  and the inside of the large interior compartment  15  of the purse  12 . In that way, movement of the purse organizer  10  within the interior compartment  15  of the purse  12  can be minimized. 
         [0023]    Each of the sidewalls  16  has one half of a releasable fastener  42 . The releasable fasteners  42  may include, but are not limited to, hook and loop fasteners, snap fasteners, magnetic fasteners, and zippers. The releasable fasteners  42  allow the user to interconnect a variety of the modular containers  14  together to form the purse organizer  10 . If discrete, individual fasteners, such as single snaps, are used, then the snaps must be spaced on the sidewalls  16  of the various modular containers  14  in such a way as to ensure alignment of the fasteners  42  between modular containers  14 . For example, the spacing between fastener  42   a  on modular container  14   a  and fastener  42   b  on modular container  14   b  match the spacing between fasteners  42   f  on modular container  14   f  so that the fasteners  42   a  and  42   b  align with fasteners  42   f.  Alternatively, strips of hook and loop fasteners for fasteners  42   a,    42   b,  and  42   f  provide more flexibility with respect to the alignment and connection of the modular containers  14   a,    14   b,  and  14   f  with each other. In addition, a releasable fastener located (not shown) on the back wall  18  of each modular container  14  provides a point of attachment for smaller modular containers for holding change, paperclips, and other similar items. 
         [0024]    In the first embodiment of the present invention shown in  FIGS. 1-3 , the purse organizer  10  is constructed about a starting basic core of modular containers  14 , such as the four cube shaped modular containers  14   a - d.  Additional modular containers, such as modular containers  14   e - h  are then connected by fasteners  42  to the periphery of the basic core (cube shaped modular containers  14   a - d ) of the purse organizer  10 . The basic core of modular containers provides an organizational starting point for the user in configuring the purse organizer  10 . Alternatively, the second embodiment of the present invention shown in  FIGS. 4-6 , represents a more random configuration for the purse organizer  100  with its modular containers  114   a - h.    
         [0025]    In both embodiments of the present invention, the modular containers  14  or  114  preferably have lids  20  or  120 . The lids  20  or  120  close the modular container volume  34  or  134  to ensure that items placed in the modular containers  14  or  114  to not spill into the large interior compartment  15  of the purse  12 . Each lid  20  or  120  is hinged to a sidewall  16  or  116  by means of a hinge  21  or  121 . In the case of a plastic modular container  14  or  114 , the hinge  21  or  121  constitutes a flexible plastic web extending between one edge of the lid  20  or  120  and the mating edge of the sidewall  16  or  116 . In addition, to ensure that the items in the modular container  14  or  114  do not spill, the lid  20  or  120  is secured to the opposite sidewall  16  or  116  of the modular container  14  or  114  by a latch  22  or  122  at the edge of the lid  20  or  120  opposite the hinge  21  or  121 . In the case of a plastic modular container  14  or  114 , the latch  22  or  122  may constitute a downwardly extending lip to engage frictionally the inside of the sidewall  16  or  116 . A person of ordinary skill in the art would be able to construct other latching arrangements for latching the lid  20  or  120  in place on the modular container  14  or  114 . 
         [0026]    In order to facilitate the insertion and removal of the purse organizer  10  or  100  from the large interior compartment  15  of the purse  12 , a handle (not shown), having releasable handled fasteners compatible with the fasteners  42  or  142 , can be attached to one or more of the modular containers  14  or  114 . 
         [0027]    Because the purse organizer  10  or  100  can be configured in a number of ways by means of the interconnection of the modular containers  14  or  114 , the resulting purse organizer  10  or  100  can be configured with exterior dimensions for easy insertion and removal from the large interior compartment  15  of the purse  12 . By configuring the purse organizer  10  or  100  with particular exterior dimensions, the purse organizer  10  or  100  will fit snugly within a particular purse so that the purse organizer  10  or  100  will remain in place. By using modular containers, such as modular containers  14   g,    14   h,  and  114   h  with curved sides or corners, the exterior portion of the purse organizer  10  or  100  can in some cases fit a particular purse better than a purse organizer with square external portions. 
         [0028]    While this invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that variations and modifications can be affected within the spirit and scope of the invention as described herein and as described in the appended claims.