WO2002041725A1

WO2002041725A1 - Support leg

Info

Publication number: WO2002041725A1
Application number: PCT/GB2001/004726
Authority: WO
Inventors: Anthony Martinez
Original assignee: Ice 21 Limited
Priority date: 2000-11-23
Filing date: 2001-10-25
Publication date: 2002-05-30
Also published as: AU2002210710A1; GB0028507D0

Abstract

A support leg arrangement for a case comprises a hinged portion mounted on a base of the case and a hinged portion mounted on the lid of the case and a hinged portion mounted on the lid of the casee wherein the two hinged portions are pivotally connected together and wherein, on opening the case, a support leg of the hinged portion attached to the lid extends towards the surface on which the base is located.

Description

Support Leg

The invention relates to a support leg and in particular to a support leg for a case, such as a briefcase or other piece of luggage, the support leg being for maintaining the case in an open condition.

A particular problem which is found in cases, such as briefcases or other items of luggage is the fact that a case, once its' lid has been opened beyond a certain point can tend to be unstable and over-topple, particularly if the lid of the case is being used to store relatively heavy components and the base of the case is relatively lightly loaded.

It is an aim of preferred embodiments of the present invention to provide a support leg which when applied to an external spine of a case (i.e. the hinged edge) enables a lid part of the case to be propped open and to inhibit toppling in the open configuration.

It is another aim to integrate such a support leg with a hinge.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a support leg arrangement for a case, the arrangement comprising

a first, lower, portion mounted on a hinged side of a base part of the case below the hinge line, a second, upper, portion mounted on the hinged side of a lid part of the case, above the hinge line and arranged above the first portion,

an actuating member having first and second ends, the first end of the actuating member being pivotally attached to the first portion by means of a first pivotal connection,

and a support leg having first and second ends, the second end of the actuating member being pivotally attached to the support leg by means of a second pivotal connection and the second end of the support leg being pivotally attached to the second portion by means of a third pivotal connection,

wherein movement of the case from a closed configuration in which the lid part overlies the base part of the case, to an open configuration in which a user has access to the contents of the case and in which open configuration of the lid part is generally at right angles to the base part, the support leg moves from a stowed position in which it is adjacent and generally in line with the first and second brackets, to a deployed position in which the first end of the support leg is in contact with a supporting surface shared with the base of the case and in which the first end of the support leg is spaced apart from the base part of the case so as to support the lid in its open configuration.

Preferably, in the deployed position, the actuating member provides a cross bracing function between the first portion and the support leg so as to prevent further movement of the lid in an opening direction.

Preferably, when the case is in the opened configuration, the lid part is disposed with respect to the base part at an angle within the range of 70° to 110°.

Preferably, the first end of the support leg comprises a foot.

Preferably, in the stowed position the actuating member and the support leg are arranged to substantially conceal a hinge of the case.

Preferably, the actuating member comprises a generally U or V-shaped member, a lower part of which is pivotally attached to the first portion by the first pivotal connection and upper arms of which are pivotally attached to the support leg by means of said second pivotal connection.

Preferably, the actuating member comprises a base part having a pair of upwardly extending arms, said arms being attached to the support leg at their extremeties by means of a pair of said second pivotal connections.

Preferably, the or each second pivotal connection is located on said support leg between said third pivotal connection and the first end of the support leg.

The first portion may form part of the actuating member and be hingedly attached to it by a flexible web. The second portion may form part of the support leg and be hingedly attached thereto by a flexible web. The entire support leg arrangement in particularly preferred embodiments may be formed from a single piece of material with pivotal connections being formed by web portions .

In an alternative embodiment, the first and second portions may form extensions of a hinge of the case, the first and second portions being joined together by a hinge pin about which the lid part is arranged to rotate with respect to the base part during movement of the case from the closed configuration to the open configuration.

For a better understanding of the invention, and to show how embodiments of the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of a hinge and a support leg according to the present invention mounted on a case, with the case closed;

Figure 2 shows the hinge and support leg of Figure 1 with the case in an open configuration;

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the paths of movement of the elements of the hinge and support leg of Figures 1 and 2 when moving from a close case condition to an open case condition;

Figure 4 is a front plan view of a second embodiment of a hinge and support leg; Figure 5 is a side view of the hinge and support leg of Figure 5; and

Figure 6 shows the hinge and support leg of Figures 5 and 6 in a case open configuration.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, there is shown a first embodiment of a hinge and support leg in accordance with the present invention. In Figures 1 and 2, there is shown a case comprising a base part 1, a lid part 2 and a hinge and support leg arrangement shown generally as reference numeral 3.

The hinge and support leg arrangement 3 generally comprises a first portion or bracket 30, a second portion or bracket 31, a support leg 32 and an actuating member 33. As will be appreciated from Figures 1 and 2, the first bracket 30 forms a bottom hinge plate and is connected to the base 1 of the suitcase, the second bracket 31 forms a top hinge plate 31 connected to the lid 2 of the case, the actuating member 33 is an elongate member having a first end 331 pivotally connected to the first bracket 30 via a first pivotal connection 34 and a second end 332 which is pivotally connected to the support leg 32 by a second pivotal connection 35. The support leg 32, as well as being pivotally connected to the second end 332 of its actuating member 33 is also pivotally connected to the second bracket 31 by means of a third pivotal connection comprising hinge pin 36.

Referring specifically now to Figure 1, there is shown the hinge in a state where the case is closed with the lid 2 on top of the base 1. In that configuration, the support leg 32 is arranged to lie substantially flat against the case generally in line with the bottom and top hinge plates 30, 31. In this closed configuration the actuating member 33 is also arranged to lie substantially flat against the case edge so as to be stowed in line with the hinge plates (first and second brackets 30, 31) which are pivotally connected to one another by hinge pin 37.

As the case is opened, the top half of the case comprising lid 2 pivots with respect to the base 1 about hinge pin 37.

Referring now especially to Figure 3, there is shown a schematic representation complete with hidden detail of how the support leg 32 is deployed automatically as the case opens. In particular, the arc designated by the letter A shows the path of movement of the second end 332 of the actuating member 33 from its initial stowed position (shown in broken lines) in which it lies against the spine of the case (not shown) approximately in line with the first and second brackets 30, 31 to its eventual deployed position (shown in solid lines) in which it abuts the second bracket 31 to inhibit further rotation of the lid part 2 above hinge pin 37 (see Figure 2) .

Movement from the stowed position toward the deployed position is brought about automatically by the opening of the case as follows: as the lid 2 of the case is rotated about its hinge pin 37, the actuating member 33, because it spans the top and bottom hinge brackets 30, 31 must move. Since only the second end of the actuating member 33 can move (as the first end is connected to the bottom hinge bracket 30 by pivotal connection 34) this second end 332 rotates outwardly with movement of the lid about the pivotal connection 34. Now, since the second end 332 of the actuating member 33 is pivotally connected to an upper portion of the support leg 32, the support leg is also forced to move.

Therefore, as the actuating member 33 moves along path A, about its fixed point of rotation defined by pivotal connection 34, the second end 332 of the actuating member 33, being pivotally connected to the support leg 32 via connection 35 acts so as to swing the support leg 32 outwardly from its position in line with the base 1 of the case (that initial position also being shown in broken lines in Figure 3) to a position at which it is fully extended as shown in Figure 3 in solid lines.

At that point, the actuating member 33 acts as a cross brace so as to maintain the top hinge bracket 31 and the bottom hinge bracket 30 at a maximum position at which they are substantially at right angles (i.e. between 70° and 110°) to one another.

The support leg 32 is of such a length and shape that once the actuator is in its cross bracing position, a foot 321 at the lowermost and of the support leg 32 is arranged to be spaced apart from a bottom edge 10 of the base 1 by a predetermined distance "x" as shown in Figure 2 sufficiently far away from the edge 10 to provide a wide enough support base to prevent the combined weight of the lid 2 and its contents from causing toppling. Of course, toppling is caused when the centre of gravity of an object moves outside of its support base - the support leg therefore effectively extends this support base beyond the base 1 of the case by the further distance ^wx" . Further movement of the lid 2 with respect to the base 1 of the case is prevented by the cross-bracing effect of the actuating member 33 as mentioned previously. This opening of the case therefore brings the support leg to its fully open and supporting condition in which the foot 321 is in contact with the flat supporting surface on which the base 1 of the case rests and acts to support the case in its open position.

In the abovementioned embodiment, the support leg arrangement is shown as being effectively an add-on attachment positioned to one side of an existing hinge (consisting of bottom hinge plate 30, top hinge plate 31 and hinge pin 37) . It will be appreciated that in that particular embodiment, there may also be provided a second support leg with actuating member positioned to the other side of the hinge, so as to provide twin support legs around the hinge. It will further be appreciated that in this embodiment although it is most convenient to mount the support leg arrangement to top and bottom hinge brackets, such a support leg arrangement may be mounted on separate dedicated brackets which may be located at the hinge area and additionally or alternatively away from that area.

Referring now to Figures 4 to 6, there is shown a second embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, similar or like members to those of the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, but indicated with a prime ( ' ) . In general, the layout of the second embodiment is similar to that of the first embodiment of the present invention. One of the main differences however is that there is a single central supporting leg 32' and a single actuating member 33' located over the hinge (30', 31', 37'). The lowermost part (i.e. first end 331') of the actuating member 33' is pivotally attached by a flexible portion 34' to a first portion comprising bottom mounting bracket 38'. In similar fashion to the first embodiment, the second end 332' of the actuating member 33' is pivotally attached to the supporting leg 32' via pivotal connections 35' which may comprise a flexible web. The supporting leg 32' has a pivotal attachment 36' (which again may comprise a flexible web) at its uppermost end 322' to flexibly attach it to a second portion comprising top mounting bracket 39' .

During movement from the case closed position (Figure 4, 5) the support leg 32 swings down and out from its stowed position to a deployed position in an identical manner to that described in relation to the Figure 1 to 3 embodiment .

As will be appreciated, the general layout of the support leg of the first embodiment and second embodiment is geometrically the same. The difference between the first and second embodiments is generally that in the second embodiment, the support leg is arranged to cover the hinge portion of the case so as to provide a neater, more integrated, appearance. The single support leg 32' of the second embodiment is hinged to the single actuating member 33' in two co-linear positions 35' so that the lower portion including the foot 321' of the support leg 32' comprises an extended tongue of material located between these two co-linear pivotal attachments 35' . It will be appreciated that preferably support leg arrangements as shown in Figures 4 to 6 are provided over each hinge on the spine of the case. It will also be appreciated that in similar fashion as was discussed in relation to Figures 1 to 3, one or more support legs may be provided at or away from the hinge area of the case on dedicated mounting brackets .

The second embodiment may advantageously be formed from a single piece of relatively rigid material, the pivotal connections being formed by removal (or other processing) of parts of the single piece at the connection areas to form vestigial flexible webs .

The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) , and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment (s) . The invention extend to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) , or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims

CLAIMS :

1. A support leg arrangement for a case, the arrangement comprising

a first, lower, portion mounted on a hinged side of a base part of the case below the hinge line,

a second, upper, portion mounted on the hinged side of a lid part of the case, above the hinge line and arranged above the first portion,

2. A support leg arrangement as claimed in claim 1, in which, when the case is in the opened configuration, the lid part is disposed with respect to the base part at an angle within the range of 70° to 110°.

3. A support leg arrangement as claimed in either claim 1 or claim 2, in which the first end of the support leg comprises a foot.

4. A support leg arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim, in which ϊn the stowed position the actuating member and the support leg are arranged to substantially conceal a hinge of the case.

5. A support leg arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the actuating member comprises a general U or V-shaped member.

6. A support leg arrangement as claimed in claim 5, in which a lower part of the U or V-shaped member is pivotally attached to the first portion by the first pivotal connection and upper arms of which are pivotally attached to the support leg by means of said second pivotal connection.

7. A support leg arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the or each second pivotal connection is located on said support leg between said third pivotal connection and the first end of the support leg.

8. A support leg arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the first portion forms part of the actuating member and is hingedly attached to it by a flexible web.

9. A support leg arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the second portion forms part of the support leg and is hingedly attached thereto by a flexible web.

10. A support leg arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the entire support leg arrangement is formed from a single piece of material with pivotal connections being formed by web portions .