US2227266A - Luggage case - Google Patents

Description

A. M. LEVIN LUGGAGE CASE Dec. 31, 1940.

Filed Nov. 3, 1938 INVENTOR ABRAHAM M LEV/N ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 31, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LUGGAGE CASE Application November 3, 1938, Serial No. 238,597

5 Claims.

The present invention relates to luggage cases and method of securing a covering thereto.

High grade luggage cases consist usually of laminated frames comprising upper and lower 5 members which are hingedly connected together. These frames are usually covered by a decorative fabric, the fabric being stretched taut and glued to the frame.

It has been the practice in the past to apply the coverings so as to form joints around the top and bottom corners of the case or by forming the joints around the end corners of the case.

These corner joints usually have been covered by a strip of leather being stitched at both edges to 15 the case. This expediency added considerable cost and weight and did not materially improve the appearance of the case, the stitching adding a further undesirable feature in that the case is weakened by the closely spaced piercing of its walls.

An object of the present invention is to apply a single piece of covering to the upper and another piece to the lower section of the case by first cutting pieces from the corners of the coverings whereby they will stretch smoothly over the entire surface leaving joints along the transverse corners of the case.

I provide a groove under this joint and force and hold the adjacent edges of the covering into this grove by means of a metal strip. The groove will preferably extend around the side corners but the depth being gradually decreased so as to terminate before reaching the thin side panels. The strips however, extend preferably for a short distance over the side panels and being secured at their ends to the panels.

To these and other useful ends my invention consists of parts, combinations of parts or their equivalents as hereinafter set forth and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a hand luggage case equipped with the preferred form of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a fractional section of the lower portion of the case taken on line 2--2 of Figure 1.

Fig. 3 is a fractional section of the upper portion taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Fig. 4 is a fractional section of the upper portion of the case taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Fig. 5 is a fractional perspective view of a modification.

Fig. 6 is a transverse section taken on line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Fig. 7 illustrates a piece of covering material having the corners cut-away preparatory to being applied to the upper frame.

Fig. 8 illustrates a further modification.

As thus illustrated the case to which my invention has been applied as illustrated in Figure 1 comprises a lower section which in its entirety is designated by reference character A and an upper section which in its entirety is designated by reference character B.

Sections A and B are hingedly connected together as is the custom in cases of the class having locking clasps llll and a suitable carrying handle which in its entirety is designated by reference character C. It will be understood that when the present invention is applied to a trunk, handle C may be dispensed with and the conventional end handles supplied instead.

The foundation frames of the case are preferably made up of laminated wood panels (see Figure 2) wherein the inside ply of the end panel of the bottom section is designated by reference numeral H, the center ply by reference numeral l2 and the outside ply by reference numeral I 3. Numerals M, l and I6 designate the plys forming the side panels of the bottom frame. The adjacent ends of the laminations are spaced and preferably shaped as illustrated being secured together by meansof a wood strip ll, the joints being glued as is the custom in cases of the class.

It will be noted that the corners of members A and B are rounded as illustrated so as to give the case a pleasing appearance. To strengthen the corners I provide a wood strip l8 which is glued to the laminations and to member H as illustrated thus the panels of the case are, when completed, dove-tailed or interlocked together by members I! and I8 and by the projecting ends of plys II and I l.

Thus far I have described the manner of securing the panels together on the upper and lower sections of the frame. In cases of the class it is necessary to provide a covering, either of a decorative fabric material or leather, the fabric covering being preferable because it may be made in variously woven designs and colors and easily weather proofed and glued to the frame.

In applying the covering 25 to the upper frame the material is cut out at the corners as illustrated in Figure 7 forming flaps 26. Members 25 and 26 are tightly stretched over the frame and glued thereto. The edges formed by the cut-away portion meet midway the corners. Previous to applying the coverings to the frames, I cut a groove 20 in the outer surface of member ll. This groove has a uniform depth for the straight portion of members I! (see Figure 4) but is gradually reduced in depth as it extends around the corner, terminating as at 2| on the front or rear face of the case. The edges of the covering are then glued and folded into groove 20 and securely held therein in the following manner:

I provide a channel 22 having inturned flanges 2323 the channel being adapted to fit snugly into groove 20 and thereby hold .the covering edges into place as illustrated in Figure 2. I provide preferably bolts 28, the heads of which loosely fill the space in the channel and the body of the bolt fitting loosely between flanges 23 thus the bolts are slidably held in the channels and when apertures are made in the case for their reception they may be moved so as to be easily inserted in the apertures and the channels made taut by means of the nuts 24.

Thus it will be seen that the channels will be held tightly into position by means of a suitable number of spaced bolts which pass entirely through the panel of the case or through the corner assembly (see Figure 2) to thereby add strength to the assembly, particularly to the corners as will be apparent by scrutinizing this figure wherein it will be noted that members I! and I8 are bound together not only by being glued but by means of the bolts.

It will be seen that when the covering is once stretched over the case and the channels secured into position by means of the bolts, a very strong assembly is provided wherein the covering is securely fastened in the grooves and the case is made very decorative in appearance. It will also be seen that the channels are adapted to act as buffers or a protection to the corners of the case and to the covering.

In Figures 5 and 6 I illustrate a modification wherein a leather shield is provided. This shield is preferably made of two pieces of leather 29-29 the outer edges being stitched to the case as at 3i3--3fi the material then being folded over the stitching and into the groove 28 the outer ends terminating near the ends of channels 22 (see Figure 5).

Thus it will be seen that I may provide an additional covering for the corners of the case. Covering 29 may be made of any suitable material and given a color which will provide additional value to the case from an artistic stand-point.

In Figure 8 I illustrate a modification wherein the corner grooves are dispensed with. The edges formed by the cut-away portions are covered by means of a strip 35 having bolts 36 the heads of which are preferably thin as illustrated and plated so as to have the same appearance as the strip or these bolt heads may be concealed in a manner too well known to require further explanation.

The outstanding advantages of my invention are that the case may be made very light but strong, very pleasing in appearance and that since the channels or strips are metal, they provide suitable corner mouldings and protection at the corners for the covering material. A further advantage of the present invention is that the coverings are made from single pieces of material and are secured to the case without stitching.

Clearly many minor detail changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as recited in the appended claims.

Having thus shown and described my invention, I claim:

1. A transverse corner structure for a luggage case comprising panels secured together by means of transverse members being adapted to embrace the ends of the panels, the panels and transverse pieces being giued together, a groove formed in the apex of one of said transverse members, fabric coverings on said panels the edges extending into said groove, a channel having inturned edges adapted to press and hold said covering edges into said groove, spaced securing means having heads embraced by said channel and shanks adapted to extend through said transverse members and secured thereto whereby said channel may be tightly held in said groove.

2. A transverse corner structure for a luggage case comprising panels secured together by means of transverse members embracing the ends of said panels, the panels and transverse members being glued together, a groove formed in the apex of a transverse member, coverings on opposite sides of said corners, the edges extending into said groove, a channel having inturned edges adapted to press and hold said covering edges into said groove, bolts whose heads are embraced by said channels and said bolts having shanks extending through said transverse members whereby said channel will be tightly held into said groove, said panels having a projecting portion on their inner edges, said transverse members comprising an outer piece and an inner piece, the outer piece having grooves into which said panel projections fit, said inner piece having edges that project over said panels to thereby form interlocking joints between panels.

3. A transverse corner structure for a luggage case, comprising laminated panels, the ends being spaced apart and the inner strip of the laminations extending past the ends of the outer strips, an outside corner strip having surfaces adapted to contact said ends and provide a groove for the reception of said projecting strip, an inside strip adapted to contact the inner surface of said first strip and extending a distance over the inner surface of said panels whereby said projecting laminations are embraced by said two strips, said strips being glued together and'to said panels, coverings secured to the outer surface of said panels and outer strips their edges meeting midway said first strip, a metal strip having holding bolts which extend through said corner strips adapted to press the edges of said coverings into said first strip.

4. A curved corner structure for a luggage case comprising side and end panels secured together by means of a transverse member adapted to embrace the ends of the panels, fabric coverings on said panels, the edges of said coverings extending over the curved corner structure, a curved channel having inturned edges adapted to overlie the edges of said fabric coverings, securing means having heads embraced by the inturned edges of said channel and shanks adapted to extend through said transverse member and be secured thereto whereby said channel may be tightly held in position.

5. A curved corner structure for a luggage case comprising side and end panels having spaced ends and a main panel secured thereto by means of a transverse member adapted to contact and be secured to the ends and inside surfaces of said side and end panels and to the inside surface of said main panel, fabric coverings on said panels, the edges of said coverings extending over the corner structure, a curved channel having inturned edges adapted to overlie the edges of said fabric coverings, securing means having heads embraced by the inturned edges of said channel and shanks adapted to extend through said transverse member and be secured thereto whereby said channel may be tightly held in position.

ABRAHAM M. LEVIN.

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