Push-Button Luggage Expansion Mechanism for One-Handed Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing expandable luggage designs require multiple steps or complex mechanisms for volume adjustment, often necessitating two hands and are not user-friendly.
Innovation Solution
A compression-expansion device for luggage that can be operated with a single hand using a push-button mechanism, featuring a latch, biasing members, and a button-actuated system to switch between compressed and expanded configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a push-button mechanism is used for compression-expansion operation, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
A button serves as an intermediary element that the user interacts with to control the expansion mechanism. The button transmits the user's input force through a linkage system to actuate the latch, providing a simple external interface while managing the internal complexity of the expansion mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The biasing member automatically returns the latch to its initial position after expansion, eliminating the need for a separate return mechanism. The system uses the stored elastic energy in the biasing member to self-return the latch, reducing the number of components needed for bidirectional control.
2Reliability
If a latch mechanism with tongue and ridge is used, then reliability of expansion is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tongue acts as an intermediary element between the latch and the ridge. This simple geometric feature provides reliable engagement and disengagement of the expansion mechanism, ensuring consistent operation without requiring complex control systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex electronic or hydraulic control systems with a purely mechanical latch and ridge mechanism. The mechanical interlocking of the tongue with the ridge provides reliable expansion control through simple geometric constraints rather than complex actuation systems.
3Productivity
If biasing members are used to urge expansion, then productivity of expansion operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The biasing member is pre-loaded to continuously urge the latch toward the expanded position. This preliminary action ensures that the expansion mechanism is always ready to deploy quickly when the button is actuated, improving response time and expansion speed without requiring additional power sources.
Solution Approach 2:
The biasing member provides automatic return force that eliminates the need for separate compression and expansion actuators. The same elastic element that compresses the spring during normal use automatically expands it during the return stroke, reducing component count while maintaining bidirectional functionality.
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
Facilitates easy and efficient one-handed adjustment of luggage volume without the need for complex manipulations, enhancing user convenience and simplicity.
Implementation Method 1
a biasing member connecting the latch to the base and urging the latch toward the front face of the base
Implementation Method 2
a pair of bias members, each individually disposed within a respective passageway of the base and its respective conduit member, and each bias member individually urging the expansion body away from the base to an expanded configuration
Data Source
AI summary
A compression-expansion device for an article of luggage and luggage comprising same is disclosed. In one embodiment, the device comprises a base comprising axially-disposed, spaced-apart, parallel passageways; a latch pivotably disposed on the base between the passageways and having a tongue projection; an expansion body comprising conduit members slidably mated to the passageways, bias members located within the passageways and conduit members which urge the expansion body and base away from each other; an opening in the expansion body configured to receive the tongue in a first compressed position; and a button engaged with the opening and moveable to contact the tongue and displace it from the first position to a second position whereby the expansion body and the base assume an expanded configuration as urged by the bias members.