SUITCASE WITH INTEGRATED ROLLER TROLLEY
A wheeled suitcase with a suitcase body, one or more wheels mounted on the suitcase body and a handle assembly fixed to the suitcase body with at least one telescopic rod with a moving arm of a single piece of carbon fiber tube or material equivalent thereto extendable to a height of at least 1 meter is provided.
1 . A wheeled suitcase comprising:
a suitcase body, said suitcase body comprising a top and a bottom shell, at least a portion of the shells being connected, each shell having an outer and inner side and a top and bottom face;
one or more wheels mounted on the bottom face of one or both shells;
a handle assembly comprising at least one telescopic rod comprising a moving arm, a handle with an actuation button, an actuation means connected to the actuation button for sliding the moving arm away from and toward the top of the suitcase, and a fixed tube sized to fit the moving arm, said moving arm comprising a single piece of carbon fiber tube or material equivalent thereto with an inside, an outside, a center, a top end and a bottom end being connected to the handle via the top end and slidingly fitted into the fixed tube,
wherein the tube is fixed to the bottom shell of the suitcase body and extends longitudinally from the bottom face to the top face of the suitcase body.
2 . The wheeled suitcase of claim 1 wherein the telescopic rod is a telescopic twin rod comprising two moving arms and two fixed tubes with the handle positioned between and connecting the two moving arms.
3 . The wheeled suitcase of claim 1 wherein the telescopic rod is positioned in a recess on the outside of the bottom face of the suitcase.
4 . The wheeled suitcase of claim 1 wherein the moving arm is at least 2 times thinner in thickness than standard aluminum arms.
5 . The wheeled suitcase of claim 1 wherein the moving arm is tapered so that the lower portion of the moving arm is larger in cross section than the upper portion of the moving arm.
6 . The wheeled suitcase of claim 5 where the cross section of the lower portion of the moving arm is 1 to 40% larger in cross-section than the upper portion.
7 . The wheeled suitcase of claim 1 wherein the moving arm is spherocylindrical in shape.
8 . The wheeled suitcase of claim 1 wherein at least one telescopic rod comprises an upper bushing and sliding bushing with offset surface contacts fitted over the bottom end of the moving arm, said upper bushing and sliding bushing being sized to fit inside the fixed tube.
9 . The wheeled suitcase of claim 8 wherein the upper bushing comprises one or more assembly bosses.
10 . The wheeled suitcase of claim 8 wherein the sliding bushing comprises a housing for fitting a lock pin assembly and the bottom end of the moving arm is machined to comprise one or more pin holes and a notch which fits the housing of the sliding bushing.
11 . The wheeled suitcase of claim 8 further comprising an asymmetric lock pin assembly with a lock pin fitted into the sliding bushing so that the lock pin is offset from the center of the moving arm.
12 . The wheeled suitcase of claim 11 wherein the actuation button of the handle comprises a button and pin, which when pressed, activates the actuation means comprising a rod extending inside the moving arm from the top to the bottom which fits into the lock pin assembly.
13 . The wheeled suitcase of claim 12 wherein the handle comprises an aluminum plate extending the length of the handle.
14 . The wheeled suitcase of claim 1 wherein the handle is attached to the moving arm via a biscuit.
15 . The wheeled suitcase of claim 14 wherein the biscuit is bonded to the inside, top of the moving arm and the handle is fixed to the biscuit.
16 . The wheeled suitcase of claim 15 wherein the handle is fixed to at least a portion of the carbon fiber tube or material equivalent thereto of the top of the moving arm.
17 . The wheeled suitcase of claim 1 wherein height of the suitcase when the telescopic rod is deployed is at least 1 meter.