The present invention relates generally to a luggage using a zipper.
In production of the aforesaid conventional luggage, the stitching work is carried out and can be done perfectly only after the three elements, i.e. the fabric tape of the zipper, the end strip and the half shell, are well aligned one to another. However, the correlative positions of the aforesaid three elements can hardly be maintained in a stable manner during the whole stitching work, resulting in that the fabric tape of the zipper may offset away from a predetermined rectilinear path where the tape is supposed to be located, which in turn results in that the slider can not move along the teeth smoothly, lowering the yield rate in production of the luggage. In addition, the fabric tape stitched on the luggage will tend to be torn and then separated from the half shell after a long time of use due to the pull force acting thereon.
The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above-noted circumstances. It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a luggage comprising a zipper which is simple in its construction and has less elements so as to simplify the process of making the luggage.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a luggage comprising a zipper which is durable in use.
To attain the above-mentioned objectives, a luggage is provided, said luggage comprising: a first half shell; a second haft shell, and a zipper installed between the first and second half shells of the luggage, the zipper comprising:
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
As shown in
The first tape 20 is made of plastic material, such as polyvinyl (PVC), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polycarbonate (PC), and the like. The first tape 20 has a shielding section 21, an extension section 23 and a mounting section 25, which are all integrally connected. An end of the shielding section 21 and an end of the mounting section 25 are integrally joined so as to jointly define a C-shaped restriction portion 27 therebetween. The extension section 23 extends outwardly from an outer surface of the joint where the shielding section 21 and the mounting section 25 are integrally connected to each other.
The structure and material of the second tape 30 are the same as those of the first tape 20. That is, the second tape 30 also has a shielding section 31, an extension section 33 and a mounting section 35, and a restriction portion 37 is defined at the joint where the shielding section 31 and the mounting section 35 are integrally connected to each other.
The teeth 40 each have an engageable end 41, through which the teeth 40 can be interlocked, and a mounting end 43, which is mounted either on the extension section 23 of the first tape 20 or the extension section 33 of the second tape 30 by stitching or other appropriate way.
As shown in
Similarly, the second tape 30 can be fastened to the second half shell 3 by the way described in the above paragraph, such that the stitching line L1 for stitching the second tape 30 is also covered and well protected by the shielding section 31 of the second tape 30. As a result, the unprocessed end edges of the first and second half shells 2 and 3 will be respectively hidden between the shielding sections 21 and 31 and the mounting section 25 and 35 of the first and second tapes 20 and 30. In addition, by means of stopping the end edges of the first and second half shells 2 and 3 against the restriction portions 27 and 37 respectively, the first and second tapes 20 and 30 can be precisely aligned with the first and second half shells 2 and 3 respectively and the alignment can be maintained stably during the stitching work.
As indicated above, the zipper provided by the present invention combines the conventional individual end strip and zipper tape into a unit; therefore, the stitching work can be carried out after the alignment of the zipper to the shell of the luggage is simply done. On the other hand, in the process of making the conventional luggage, the stitching work can be carried out only after the conventional zipper, end strip and luggage shell are all aligned one to another. In other words, the zipper of the present invention can effectively minimize the process of assembling the luggage, and the zipper of the present invention can be easily maintained along a rectilinear path upon and after stitching such that the potential problem of unsmooth movement of the slider of the conventional zipper can be prevented so as to enhance the yield rate in production of the luggage. Besides, since the tapes of the zipper of the present invention are made of soft plastic material, the zipper of the present invention will be more durable in use and won't be easily torn upon receiving a pull force under a long time of use.
This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.