Soft-Side Luggage Panel With Integrated Textile Handle and Resilient Hoop
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Solution Overview
Problem
Luggage cases face a challenge in balancing lightness and perceived robustness, as empty cases are often lightweight but may not accurately represent their durability when packed, making it difficult for consumers to assess their sturdiness for travel.
Innovation Solution
A lightweight construction for luggage panels with integrated carry handles, using flexible laminar body materials and resilient hoops to maintain shape and distribute lifting forces evenly, allowing for robustness without excessive weight.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional rigid handle construction is used, then handle strength is improved, but luggage weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible laminar body material (such as textile or synthetic material) to construct the carry handle, replacing conventional rigid handle constructions. This flexible material is attached to the panel in a manner that allows it to flex and deform under load while still providing sufficient strength to support the luggage weight, thereby reducing overall luggage weight while maintaining handle functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite construction by combining the flexible laminar body material with the panel structure. The handle is formed as an integrated composite structure where the flexible material works in conjunction with the panel's inherent strength, creating a handle system that is both lightweight and sufficiently strong through the synergistic combination of materials.
2Weight of moving object
If lightweight panel materials are used, then luggage weight is reduced, but panel robustness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes flexible laminar body materials (textile or synthetic) for the panel construction. These flexible materials maintain dimensional stability and structural integrity when the luggage is carried, while being lightweight. The flexibility allows the panel to deform under load and then return to its original shape, providing robustness without requiring heavy rigid materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates a resilient hoop positioned around the perimeter of the panel, which may be circular or curved in shape. This curved structural element provides reinforcement to the lightweight flexible panel, distributing stresses evenly around the perimeter and maintaining panel robustness while keeping the overall construction lightweight.
3Device complexity
If integrated carry handle construction is used, then device complexity is reduced, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the carry handle directly into the panel construction, making the handle an inherent part of the panel rather than a separate attached component. The flexible laminar body material forms the handle as a continuous integration with the panel, eliminating the need for separate handle assemblies and reducing overall device complexity while maintaining structural integrity through the unified construction.
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
The solution provides a lightweight yet dimensionally stable luggage case that maintains its shape under load, allowing consumers to perceive it as strong enough for travel while being lighter than conventional designs.
Implementation Method 1
a resilient hoop positioned around the perimeter of the panel
Data Source
AI summary
Luggage cases of the soft-side construction are perceived to be lighter than hard-side cases. However, many rigidifying elements in soft-side cases tend to add to the weight of a soft-side luggage case. This reduces its weight advantage over molded shell luggage cases. Using a textile body in the luggage case to form both the grip of a carry handle and a portion of the outer surface of the luggage helps reduce the weight of the luggage. The textile body may be attached to a thin resilient wire hoop to resist distortion of the luggage case when is it lifted by the handle. This construction saves weight in comparison to conventional luggage case constructions.