Connectable Suitcase with Nesting Wheels and Magnetic Locks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Transporting multiple suitcases without a luggage trolley is inconvenient, costly, and potentially dangerous due to the need for physical effort and the risk of strapping coming loose, especially when navigating bumps.
Innovation Solution
A connectable suitcase system with magnetic connectors on the front and rear surfaces allows multiple suitcases to be quickly and securely locked together, eliminating the need for a trolley by enabling smooth movement and reducing physical strain.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If strapping or rope is used to bind luggage items together, then the luggage items can be transported as a unit, but the strapping or string comes loose or rides up and down the luggage items when transporting over bumps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical strapping system with a magnetic connection system. Magnets are embedded in the luggage items to provide automatic attraction and securing, eliminating the need for external strapping materials that can slip or come loose. This substitution of mechanical binding with magnetic fields resolves the reliability issue while maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The magnetic connection system is self-securing and self-aligning. When luggage items are brought close together, the magnets automatically attract and secure the items without requiring manual tightening or adjustment. This self-service mechanism ensures reliable connection even when transporting over bumps, as the magnetic force continuously maintains the connection.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple luggage items are handled as individual units, then each item can be independently managed, but it requires physical effort and can result in a user straining his or her back
Solution Approach 1:
The luggage system is segmented into individually managed items that can be independently handled, yet connected through magnetic fields. Each luggage item retains its independence for management purposes while the magnetic connection enables them to function as a unified transport unit, reducing physical effort when moving multiple items.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple luggage items are merged into a single transport unit through magnetic attraction. The magnetic fields combine the handling of multiple items into one operation, allowing a user to move multiple suitcases as if they were a single unit, thereby reducing physical effort and back strain.
3Productivity
If a luggage trolley is used to transport multiple items of luggage, then the items can be transported efficiently, but it is often necessary to leave the items of luggage to one side in order to find a trolley
Solution Approach 1:
The magnetic connection system enables self-service transportation without requiring external infrastructure like luggage trolleys. Users can directly connect and transport multiple items using the magnetic attraction, eliminating the need to search for or maneuver separate trolleys, thereby improving accessibility while maintaining transportation efficiency.
4Productivity
If a luggage trolley is used to transport multiple items of luggage, then the items can be transported efficiently, but the trolley is typically coin operated and can be difficult to lift and balance multiple luggage items on the trolley
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the connection and transportation function from the external trolley system and integrates it directly into the luggage items through magnetic connectors. This eliminates the need for separate trolley infrastructure, its coin operation mechanism, and its complex lifting and balancing requirements, while maintaining transportation efficiency.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables easy and efficient transportation of multiple suitcases as a single unit, reducing physical effort and the risk of strapping issues, while maintaining stability and ease of movement over uneven surfaces.
Implementation Method 1
the connection portions are magnetic and attract to lock together
Data Source
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AI summary
A suitcase connectable to another suitcase, the suitcase including: a first connecting portion disposed on a front surface of the suitcase; a second connecting portion disposed on a rear surface of the suitcase, the first connecting portion being operatively associated with the second connecting portion to connect at least two suitcases front to rear; a front pair of wheels mounted along a first axis; and a rear pair of wheels mounted along a second axis parallel to the first axis, wherein the front pair of wheels is spaced apart laterally a first distance, and the rear pair of wheels is spaced apart laterally a second distance larger than the first distance, so that when the at least two suitcases are connected front to rear, the front pair of wheels of the rear suitcase nest between the rear pair of wheels of the front suitcase.