LUGGAGE AND GARMENT HANGING COMBINATION ASSEMBLY

Abstract

A luggage and garment hanging combination assembly includes a housing that has a rear wall and a perimeter wall having a front edge defining an opening into the housing. A cover attached to the front edge is used to close or open the opening. The perimeter wall has an access aperture extending therethrough and a panel is mounted on the perimeter wall to open or close the access aperture. A garment bar has a first end, a second end, and an upper surface extending between the first and second ends. A garment may be draped over the garment bar such that the garment rests on the upper surface. The garment bar is mounted in the housing and is accessible through the access aperture.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] Not Applicable.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

[0002] Not Applicable

THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

[0003] Not Applicable

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM

[0004] Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

[0005] Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

[0006] The disclosure relates to suitcases in general and more particularly those which can store garments such as coats, shirts, dresses, suit coats and the like in such a manner that they are easily accessible when needed but which will not be wrinkled when stowed. The assembly will allow a user to, for example, take their sport coat off while in an airport and stow it in such a manner that the user need not be concerned that the sport coat will become wrinkled during transportation within the suitcase. Further the device allows for garment storage which is separated from other portions of a suitcase so that the user need not open their entire suitcase to access the sport coat storage area.

(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

[0007] The prior art relates to suitcase devices which include additional storage means for articles which may be removed quickly and stored when not in use without having to access or open a clothes storage compartment within the suitcase.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a housing that has a rear wall and a perimeter wall which is attached to and extends forwardly of the rear wall. The perimeter wall has a front edge defining an opening into the housing. A cover attached to the front edge is pivotal with respect to the perimeter wall. The cover is positioned in a closed condition covering the opening or in an open condition exposing the opening. The perimeter wall has an access aperture extending therethrough to access an interior of the housing. A panel is mounted on the perimeter wall and closes or opens the access aperture. A garment bar has a first end, a second end, and an upper surface extending between the first and second ends. A garment may be draped over the garment bar such that the garment rests on the upper surface. The garment bar is mounted in the housing and is accessible through the access aperture. A plurality of wheels and at least one handle is mounted on the housing.

[0009] There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

[0010] The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

[0011] The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

[0012] FIG. 1 is a front isometric view of a luggage and garment hanging combination assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0013] FIG. 2 is a front isometric view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0014] FIG. 3 is a front isometric view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0015] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the disclosure taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

[0016] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the disclosure taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

[0017] FIG. 6 is a rear view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0018] FIG. 7 is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0019] FIG. 8 is a front isometric view of an embodiment of the disclosure showing an access aperture in a lateral wall of a housing.

[0020] FIG. 9 is a front isometric view of the embodiment of FIG. 8 of the disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the disclosure taken along line 10-10 of FIG. 8.

[0022] FIG. 11 is a rear cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the disclosure of FIG. 8.

[0023] FIG. 12 is a front isometric view of an embodiment of the disclosure showing an enclosure.

[0024] FIG. 13 is a front isometric view of an embodiment of the disclosure showing the enclosure of FIG. 12 positioned within the housing.

[0025] FIG. 14 a front isometric view of an embodiment of the disclosure showing the enclosure of FIG. 12 positioned within the housing.

[0026] FIG. 15 is a front isometric view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0027] With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 15 thereof, a new suitcase device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

[0028] As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 15, the luggage and garment hanging combination assembly 10 generally comprises a housing 12 having a rear wall 14 and a perimeter wall 16 that is attached to and extends forwardly of the rear wall 14. The perimeter wall 16 has a front edge 18 defining an opening 20 into the housing 12 and a cover 22 is attached to the front edge 18 which is pivotal with respect to the perimeter wall 16. The cover 22 is positioned in a closed condition covering the opening 20 or in an open condition exposing the opening 20. It should be understood that the cover 22 may comprise a cover positioning in a forward wall of the housing covering an opening in the forward wall. A closure 24, such as a conventional zipper, is positioned on the front edge 18 and releasably secures the cover 22 in the closed position. The perimeter wall 16 will typically include a top wall 26, a bottom wall 28, a first side wall 30 and a second side wall 32. A plurality of wheels 34 is coupled to the housing 12 and one or more handles 36 is also attached to the housing 12 wherein one of the handles 36 may comprise a telescoping handle. As such, the above will define a generally conventional suitcase used for holding clothing and personal items while traveling. The plurality of wheels will typically be mounted on the bottom wall 28 though other locations may be contemplated.

[0029] Within the general constructs of the above structure of the housing 12, the invention may take the form of one of a plurality of embodiments. In all embodiments the perimeter wall 16 includes an access aperture 40 that extends through the perimeter wall 16 to access an interior of the housing 12. A panel 42 is mounted on the perimeter wall 16 for closing or opening the access aperture. The panel 42 will typically be constructed of the same material as the housing 12 including plastics, fabrics with or without internal frames and other materials typically used for suitcase construction such that the housing 12 is sufficiently rigid to hold its shape. The panel 42 is secured in a closed positioned with a conventional fastener 44 such as a zipper, snaps, hook and loop closures and the like. In one embodiment, the access aperture 40 is positioned in the top wall 26 and extends from the first side wall 30 to the second side wall 32.

[0030] A garment bar 46 is provided which includes, as shown best in FIG. 2, a first end 48, a second end 50, a forward edge 52, a rear edge 54, and an upper surface 56 extending between the first 48 and second 50 ends. While the garment bar 46 may comprise a rod, it may be preferred that the garment bar 46 is formed of an arcuate wall or plate which has a width from the forward edge 52 to the rear edge 54 being greater than 2.5 inches to reduce the chances that a garment 58 positioned therein will wrinkle. The upper surface 56 is convexly arcuate from the rear edge 54 to the forward edge 52 and a garment 58, such as a sports coat, may be draped over the garment bar 46 such that the garment 58 rests on the upper surface 56.

[0031] As can be seen in FIG. 1, the garment bar 46 may extend between the first 30 and second 32 side walls and is spaced from a front edge 60 and rear edge 62 of the access opening 40 so that the garment 58 can easily be positioned on the garment bar 46 even if the garment bar 46 is statically positioned in the housing 12. As shown in FIG. 15, the garment bar 46 may be fixedly mounted in the housing 12 such that it is not movable relative to the housing 12. The embodiment of the garment bar 46 in FIG. 15 may be also be pivotable, relative to the housing 12 while being non-removable from the housing 12. Alternatively, the garment bar 46 may be removably mounted in the housing 12 so that the garment bar 12 can be removed from the housing 12, the garment 58 placed on the garment bar 12, and the garment bar 12 then placed back into the housing 12. This may be accomplished with mounts or couplers on the first 48 and second 50 ends which mate with connectors, catches, sleeves or the like on the housing 12.

[0032] Alternatively, as shown particularly in FIG. 2, the garment bar 46 may be mounted on a carriage 64 mounted in the housing 12 such that the garment bar 46 is movable between a stored condition located within the housing 12 to a deployed condition extended outwardly through the access aperture 40, while remaining attached to the housing 12. This embodiment includes a pair of posts 66, which may be telescopic, that are secured to the first 30 and second 32 side walls with the garment bar 46 attached to and extending between the posts 66. However, a single post 66 may be sufficient for supporting the garment bar 46.

[0033] Shown best in FIG. 4 is a dividing wall 68 that divides the housing 12 into a first compartment 70 and a second compartment 72. The dividing wall 68 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-7 and 15 extends from the first side wall 30 to the second side wall 32 and from the top wall 26 to the bottom wall 28. The garment bar 46 is positioned in the first compartment 70 and may be only accessible through the access aperture 40 where the second compartment 72 is accessible only through the opening 20. Thus, a person may open the panel 42 without clothes or other articles, which are positioned in the second compartment 72, from falling out of the housing 12 or being viewable by onlookers. Depending on the size of the housing 12, the dividing wall 68, instead of extending from the top wall 26 to the bottom wall 28 may instead extend partially down from the top wall 26 and then extend rearwardly to the rear wall 14 so that the second compartment 72 also extends below and is positioned between the bottom wall 28 and the first compartment 70.

[0034] Alternatively, the access aperture 40 may be in the first side wall 30 as shown in FIG. 8. It should be understood that in the embodiment of FIG. 8 the garment bar 46 may again be mounted in a static condition so that the panel 42 is opened and the garment 58 slid onto the garment bar 46. Alternatively, the carriage 64 in this embodiment may include a longitudinal track 74 supporting the garment bar 46 such that the garment bar 46 extends laterally outwardly away from the housing 12. This embodiment may include a dividing wall 68 as shown in FIG. 4, however, as shown in FIG. 10 no dividing wall may be utilized.

[0035] In one embodiment as shown in FIG. 12-14, the garment bar 46 may be mounted to an enclosure 76 which is mounted within the housing 12. The garment bar 46 is positioned on top of the enclosure 76 and may be statically mounted as described above or can laterally extend out of the housing 12 as shown in FIG. 8. However, the garment 58, when positioned on the garment bar 46, will extend over and abut a front wall 78 and a back wall 80 of the enclosure 76 while the enclosure 76 itself will hold clothes and other personal items. The enclosure 76 may include one or more doors 82, positioned on a side thereof or in the front wall 78 to access the interior of the enclosure 76, or the enclosure 76 may be without a side wall to facilitate access into the enclosure 76. The doors 82 may be secured by a catch, friction fit, or other closures including zippers, snaps and the like depending on the material used to construct the enclosure 76 which may be a rigid material or a flexible material combined framing. As can be seen in FIG. 12, the garment bar 46 may be attached to a guide 84 which engages a track 86 attached to the enclosure 76 though this arrangement may be reversed.

[0036] In each embodiment where the garment bar 46 utilizes a carriage 64 such that it can extend vertically or laterally out of the housing 12, the carriage 64 may be motorized utilizing a conventional electric motor and controls. Such a system would typically include a rechargeable battery for a power supply and the controls may include either actuators on the housing 12 or a remote control using, for example, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth enabled transmitters and receivers to allow a person to use their cellular phone for controlling the carriage 64.

[0037] In use, the assembly 10 is used in a conventional manner as a suitcase is used for transporting clothing and personal articles while traveling. However, the accessible garment bar 46 allows a person to remove their outer covering, i.e. garment 58, whether that is a shawl, sport coat, jacket or the like, and stow it quickly when it is not needed without concern of wrinkling the outer covering. This may be advantageous, for example, when a traveler is at an airport awaiting a flight or wishes to stow the garment 58 safely so that it is not encumbering the traveler while they are seated in an airplane seat. The utilization of separated first 70 and second 72 compartments or an enclosure 76 prevents personal articles falling out of the housing 12 or having the same be viewable while storing or retrieving the garment 58 from the garment bar 46.

[0038] With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0039] Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word "comprising" is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article "a" does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.

Claims

1. A suitcase assembly configured for receiving a sport coat, said suitcase assembly comprising: a housing having a rear wall and a perimeter wall being attached to and extending forwardly of said rear wall, said perimeter wall having a front edge defining an opening into said housing, a cover being attached to said front edge being pivotal with respect to said perimeter wall, said cover being positioned in a closed condition covering said opening or in an open condition exposing said opening; said perimeter wall having an access aperture extending therethrough to access an interior of said housing, a panel being mounted on said perimeter wall and closing or opening said access aperture; a garment bar having a first end, a second end, and an upper surface extending between said first and second ends, wherein a garment may be draped over said garment bar such that the garment rests on said upper surface; said garment bar being mounted in said housing and being accessible through said access aperture; a plurality of wheels being mounted on said housing; and a handle being attached to said housing.

2. The suitcase assembly according to claim 1, wherein said perimeter wall includes a top wall, a bottom wall, a first side wall and a second side wall, said access aperture being positioned in said top wall and said wheels being positioned on said bottom wall, said access opening extending from said first side wall to said second side wall.

3. The suitcase assembly according to claim 1, wherein said perimeter wall includes a top wall, a bottom wall, a first side wall and a second side wall, said access aperture being positioned in said first side wall and extending from said top wall to said bottom wall, said wheels being positioned on said bottom wall, said garment bar being mounted on a carriage and being movable between a stored condition located within said housing to a deployed condition extended outwardly through said access aperture, said garment bar extending laterally from said housing when in said deployed condition.

4. The suitcase assembly according to claim 1, wherein said garment bar includes a forward edge and a rear edge, said upper surface being convexly arcuate from said rear edge to said forward edge.

5. The suitcase assembly according to claim 2, wherein said garment bar includes a forward edge and a rear edge, said upper surface being convexly arcuate from said rear edge to said forward edge.

6. The suitcase assembly according to claim 3, wherein said garment bar includes a forward edge and a rear edge, said upper surface being convexly arcuate from said rear edge to said forward edge.

7. The suitcase assembly according to claim 1, further including at least one dividing wall positioning within said housing such that a first compartment and a second compartment are defined within said housing, said garment bar being in said first compartment.

8. The suitcase assembly according to claim 7, wherein said second compartment is accessible only through said opening.

9. The suitcase assembly according to claim 8, wherein said first compartment is accessible only through said access aperture.

10. The suitcase assembly according to claim 2, further including at least one dividing wall positioning within said housing such that a first compartment and a second compartment are defined within said housing, said garment bar being in said first compartment.

11. The suitcase assembly according to claim 10, wherein said second compartment is accessible only through said opening.

12. The suitcase assembly according to claim 11, wherein said first compartment is accessible only through said access aperture.

13. The suitcase assembly according to claim 12, wherein said garment bar is mounted on a carriage and being movable between a stored condition located within said housing to a deployed condition extended outwardly through said access aperture, said garment bar extending upwardly from said housing when in said deployed condition

14. The suitcase assembly according to claim 3, further including at least one dividing wall positioning within said housing such that a first compartment and a second compartment are defined within said housing, said garment bar being in said first compartment.

15. The suitcase assembly according to claim 14, wherein said second compartment is accessible only through said opening and said first compartment is accessible only through said access aperture.

16. A suitcase assembly configured for receiving a sport coat, said suitcase assembly comprising: a housing having a rear wall and a perimeter wall being attached to and extending forwardly of said rear wall, said perimeter wall having a front edge defining an opening into said housing, a cover being attached to said front edge being pivotal with respect to said perimeter wall, said cover being positioned in a closed condition covering said opening or in an open condition exposing said opening, a closure being positioned on said front edge and releasably securing said cover in said closed position, said perimeter wall including a top wall, a bottom wall, a first side wall and a second side wall; said perimeter wall having an access aperture extending therethrough to access an interior of said housing, a panel being mounted on said perimeter wall and closing or opening said access aperture, said access aperture being positioned in said top wall and extending from said first side wall to said second side wall; a garment bar including a first end, a second end, a forward edge, a rear edge, and an upper surface extending between said first and second ends, said upper surface being convexly arcuate from said rear edge to said forward edge, wherein a garment may be draped over said garment bar such that the garment rests on said upper surface; said garment bar being mounted in said housing and being accessible through said access aperture; a plurality of wheels being mounted on said bottom wall; and a handle being attached to said housing.

17. The suitcase assembly according to claim 16, further including at least one dividing wall positioning within said housing such that a first compartment and a second compartment are defined within said housing, said garment bar being in said first compartment.

18. The suitcase assembly according to claim 17, wherein said second compartment is accessible only through said opening.

19. The suitcase assembly according to claim 18, wherein said first compartment is accessible only through said access aperture.

20. The suitcase assembly according to claim 19, wherein said garment bar is mounted on a carriage and being movable between a stored condition located within said housing to a deployed condition extended outwardly through said access aperture, said garment bar extending upwardly from said housing when in said deployed condition.