US20080078637A1

US20080078637A1 - Cushion device for wheeled luggage

Info

Publication number: US20080078637A1
Application number: US11/535,995
Authority: US
Inventors: Shu-Ling Su
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-09-28
Filing date: 2006-09-28
Publication date: 2008-04-03

Abstract

A cushion device for a wheel of the wheeled luggage contains a seat member for installation to a bottom edge of the wheel luggage. The seat member contains an open compartment having a rotatable pin to a side of the opening of the compartment. The cushion device further contains a buffering member where the wheel of the wheeled luggage is rotatably mounted by the wheel's axle. The buffering member is housed inside the compartment of the seat member and hinged to the pin. A helix spring is provided inside the compartment between the seat member and the buffering member for absorbing the shock of the buffering member. The distance between the pin and the spring is longer than the distance between the pin and the axle of the wheel so that the spring will undergo on;y a fraction of the vibration force exerted on the wheel.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present inventiongenerally relates to the wheeled luggage, and more particularly to a cushion device for a wheel of the wheeled luggage.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Wheeled luggage has been a convenient companion for travelers. Usually, an ordinary type of wheeled luggage has a telescoping handle and a pair of wheels provided at a bottom edge of the luggage. By pulling out the telescoping handle and lifting the luggage to rest the weight of the luggage on the wheels, the luggage can be easily pulled and moved around on the wheels, significantly saving the effort of the luggage owner.
Conveniently, each wheel of the wheeled luggage is rotatably and directly mounted to a seat of the luggage by the axle of the wheel without the provision of any shock absorption mechanism and, therefore, it is quite uncomfortable pulling the luggage over a bumpy surface. R.O.C. (Taiwan) Patent No. 540,338 teaches a type of wheeled luggage where two springs are joined to the axle at either sides of wheel and some buffer space is reserved so that the wheel can rise up and down within the buffer space. As such, the vibration of the wheels is successfully absorbed by the springs. A disadvantage of the forgoing design is that the displacement of the wheel's axle is identical to the amount of compression to the springs. As such, the spring usually soon loose their resilience over a period of usage and the buffering of the wheel vibration still has some room for improvement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a cushion device for a wheel of the wheeled luggage so that the wheel luggage can be operated with more comfort and a long operation life.
The cushion device contains a seat member for installation to a bottom edge of the wheel luggage. The seat member contains an open compartment having a rotatble pin to a side of the opening of the compartment.
The cushion device further contains a buffering member where the wheel of the wheeled luggage is rotatably mounted by the wheel's axle. The buffering member is housed inside the compartment of the seat member and hinged to the pin so that the buffering member can vibrate inside the compartment. A helix spring is provided inside the compartment between the seat member and the buffering member for absorbing the shock of the buffering member. The distance between the pin and the spring is longer than the distance between the pin and the axle of the wheel so that the spring will undergo only a fraction of the force exerted on the wheel.
The forgoing objectives and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in xonjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view showing the various components of a cushion device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the cushion device of FIG. 1 after its assembly.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the cushion device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the cushion device of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The followingdescriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a cushion device for the wheeled luggage according to an embodiment of the present invention contains an L-shaped seat member 10 installed to a bottom edge of the wheeled luggage. The seat member 10 has a concaved right-angled triangular section 12 between the two legs of its L-shaped body, thereby forming a right-angled triangular compartment 11 around the corner of the L-shaped seat member 10. The triangular section 12 is provided such that a further concavity, i.e., a spring room 14, is formed near the top along the side opposite to the right angle of the compartment 11. Additionally, two opposing through holes 13 are provided near the bottommost acute angle of the triangular section 12, allowing a pin 15 to run through a side of the opening of the compartment 11. The pin 15 is provided such that the holes 13 would prevent an end of the pin 15 having a cap to run completely through. Next to the hole 13, there is a rail 16 provided on the side surface of the section 12 where a block 17 can be slid down the rail 16 to lock the cap of the pin 15 so that the pin 15 will not escape from the seat member 10. Additionally, the vertical leg of the seat member 10 is configured such that a wedged shield 18 is formed in front of the compartment 11 for protection purpose.
The cushion device also contains a buffering member 20 having a compatible shape as the compartment 11 so that the buffering member 20 can be housed inside the compartment 11 with the wedged shield 18 in the front to prevent the buffering member 20 from external impact. Corresponding to the holes 13 of the seat member 10, the buffering member 20 has a through channel with a pair of openings 21 at an end of the buffering member 20 so that the pin 15 can hinge the buffering member 20 to the seat member 10. As such, the buffering member 20 can pivot around the pin 15 within the compartment 11. The buffering member 20 also provides a spring room 22 correspondingly to spring room 14 of the seat member 10. As such, a helix spring 23 has its both ends housed inside the spring rooms 14 and 22, respectively. The buffering member 20 also contains a compartment 24 for housing a wheel 25 of the wheeled luggage. The axle 26 of the wheel 25 is fixedly installed across the compartment 24 so that the wheel 25 can freely rotate inside the compartment 24.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the distance between the spring 23 and the pivot, i.e., the pin 15, is longer than the distance between the wheel 25 's axle 26 and the pivot. Therefore, when the wheel 25 vibrates as it runs over a bumpy surface, a lesser amount of force is exerted on the spring 23 than that of the conventional approaches so that the operation life of the spring 23 is effectively extended. Similarly, as lesser vibration is passed to the wheeled luggage through the cussion device of the rpesent invention, the user of the wheeled luggage is therefore able to enjoy an enhanced degree of comfort in operating the wheeled luggage.
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Claims

1. A cushion for a wheeled luggage comprising:

a seat member installed to a bottom edge of the wheeled luggage, said seat member having a L-shaped body, an open compartment formed between the two legs of said L-shaped body, and a rotatable pin located to a side of the opening of said compartment by running through a pair of holes of said seat member; and

a buffering member where said wheel of the wheeled luggage is rotatably mounted by the axle of said wheel, said buffering member being hinged to said pin and housed inside said compartment so that said buffering member is capable of vibrating inside said compartment as said wheel run over a bumpy surface;

wherein a spring is provided inside said compartment between said seat member and said buffering member so that the distance between said pin and said spring is longer than the distance between said pin and the axle of said wheel.

2. The cushion device according to claim 1, wherein the vertical leg of said L-shaped body of said seat member forms a wedged shield in front of said buffering member.

3. The cushion device according to claim 1, wherein said pin has a cap at one end having a larger aperture than that of said holes; and a removable block locks said cap to said seat member.

4. The cushion device according to claim 3, wherein a rail is provided next to one of said holes; said removable block is slid down said rail to lock said cap.