US20080017463A1

US20080017463A1 - Travel bag

Info

Publication number: US20080017463A1
Application number: US11/459,342
Authority: US
Inventors: Ming-Hsing Huang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-07-22
Filing date: 2006-07-22
Publication date: 2008-01-24

Abstract

A travel bag is disclosed having a wheeled foldaway support pivoted to the back side of the wheeled bag thereof and coupled to the bottom end of the retractable handle thereof through links such that when the retractable handle is pulled out of the wheeled bag, the wheeled foldaway support is turned outwards from the back side of the wheeled bag for supporting the wheeled bag on the floor in a tilted position.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to travel bags and more particularly to a travel bag with a wheeled foldaway support.
2. Description of the Related Art
A regular wheeled travel bag generally comprises a bag for holding things, a plurality of wheels pivotally mounted on the bottom side of the bag to make it easy to move, and a retractable handle mounted in the back side of the bag and alternatively set between a retracted position and an extended position. When in use, the retractable handle is set in the extended position so that the user can carry the extended retractable handle to drag the travel on the floor in a tilted position.
When the user is dragging the travel bag on the floor in the tilted position, the user's hand and the wheels support the weight of the wheeled travel bag and its stored items. Because the user's hand bears much pressure from the load when moving the wheeled travel bag, the user's hand will ache soon.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is the main object of the present invention to provide a travel bag, which is equipped with a wheeled foldaway support so that the user can drag the travel bag stably on the floor with less effort.
To achieve this and other objects of the present invention, the travel bag comprises a bag, wheels, a retractable handle, and a wheeled foldaway support. The bag has a top side, a bottom side, and a back side. The wheels are pivotally mounted on the bottom side of the bag. The retractable handle is mounted in the back side of the bag and alternatively set between an extended position and a retracted position. The foldaway support is pivotally mounted on the back side of the bag and coupled to the retractable handle. The foldaway support comprises a supporting frame, which has a fixed end pivoted to the back side of the bag and a free end opposite to the fixed end, at least one roller respectively pivotally mounted on the free end of the supporting frame, and at least one link each having a first end pivotally coupled to the bottom end of the retractable handle and a second end pivotally coupled to a part of the supporting frame. Therefore, when the user pulls the retractable handle out of the bag from the retracted position to the extended position, the links are forced by the retractable handle to push the supporting frame outwards from the back side of the bag to the extended position for supporting the bag on the ground in a tilted position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing showing a travel bag in operation according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the present invention, showing the retractable handle and the foldaway support extended out.

FIG. 3 is another schematic side view of the present invention, showing the retracted status of the retractable handle and the foldaway support.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1˜3, a travel bag in accordance with the present invention is shown comprising a bag 1, a retractable handle 2, a plurality of wheels 3, and a foldaway support 4.
The bag 1 defines therein an accommodation space for holding things, having a receiving hole 11 vertically extending to the top side thereof.
The retractable handle 2 is mounted in the vertically extending receiving hole 11 of the bag 1 and alternatively set between an extended position and a retracted position.
The wheels 3 are pivotally mounted on the bottom side of the bag 1 to make the bag 1 easy to move.
The foldaway support 4 comprises a pair of rollers 43, a supporting frame 41, which has a fixed end pivotally coupled to a first pivot joint 51 at the back side of the bag 1 and a free end mounted with the rollers 43, and two links 42, each of which is inserted through a respective longitudinal sliding slot 12 on the back side of the bag 1, and has a first end respectively pivotally coupled to a second pivot joint 52 at the bottom end of the retractable handle 2 and a second end respectively pivoted to a part of the supporting frame 41 between the fixed end and free end of the supporting frame 41.
When the retractable handle 2 is pulled to the extended position, the second pivot joint 52 is moved toward the first pivot joint 51, and the links 42 are forced to bias the supporting frame 41, and therefore the supporting frame 41 is turned outwards from the back side of the bag 1 to an extended position where the supporting frame 41 defines with the back side of the bag 1 a contained angle. At this time, the wheels 3 and the rollers 43 support the travel bag on the ground in a tilted position, and the user can drag the tilted travel bag on the ground stably with less effort.
When not in use, the travel bag is kept on the ground in vertical, and then the retractable handle 2 is pushed back from the extended position to the retracted position to move the second joint 52 downwardly away from the first joint 51, and therefore the links 42 and the supporting frame 41 are received together and closely attached to the back side of the bag 1 (see FIG. 3).
A prototype of travel bag has been constructed with the features of FIGS. 1˜3. The travel bag functions smoothly to provide all of the features discussed earlier.
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.

Claims

1. A travel bag comprising:

a bag, said bag having a top side, a bottom side, and a back side;

a plurality of wheels pivotally mounted on the bottom side of said bag;

a retractable handle mounted in the back side of said bag and alternatively set between an extended position and a retracted position; and

a foldaway support pivotally mounted on the back side of said bag and coupled to said retractable handle, said foldaway support comprising a supporting frame, said supporting frame having a fixed end pivoted to the back side of said bag and a free end opposite to said fixed end, at least one roller respectively pivotally mounted on the free end of said supporting frame, and at least one link, said at least one link each having a first end pivotally coupled to a bottom end of said retractable handle and a second end pivotally coupled to a part of said supporting frame.

2. The travel bag as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one roller includes a plurality of rollers arranged in parallel.