Pivotal handle for towable baggage

Abstract

A towing member for a piece of towable baggage is provide with towing handle that is pivotal in two dimensions relative to an arm portion of the towing member and can be locked into a plurality of predetermined positions. The pivotal relation of the towing handle and the arm potion enables the towing handle to be rotated into a position where a person can grasp the towing handle in a comfortable position by his or her side when the piece of baggage is being towed and also improves the maneuverability of a towable piece of baggage by reducing the need for a person to twist his or her wrist when steering the piece of baggage. The invention also allows the towing handle of retractable towing members to be pivoted into an appropriate position relative to the piece of baggage such that the towing handle lies flush with the baggage and will not become snagged on other items.

1 . A hand towed piece of baggage comprising: 
 a piece of baggage;    at least one wheel connected to the piece of baggage, said wheel having a wheel rotation axis;    an arm portion having a length with opposite proximal and distal ends, said proximal end of said arm portion being operatively secured to said piece of baggage;    a towing handle operatively connected to said distal end of said arm portion for pivoting movement of said towing handle about at least two pivot axes relative to said arm portion; and    a locking mechanism for unlocking and locking said towing handle relative to said arm portion.    
     
     
         2 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 one of said at least two pivot axes being oriented substantially parallel to said wheel rotation axis.    
     
     
         3 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 said at least two pivot axes comprising a first axis and second axis that intersect each other in generally perpendicular relation.    
     
     
         4 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 said arm portion being movable between extended and retracted positions relative to the piece of baggage such that the towing handle is closer to the piece of baggage when the arm is in said retracted position than when the arm is in said extended position.    
     
     
         5 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 4 , further comprising: 
 said arm portion being comprised of at least two telescoping sections that are slidably attached to each other for relative telescoping movement, the relative telescoping movement allowing said arm portion to be movable between said extended and said retracted positions.    
     
     
         6 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 4 , wherein 
 said locking mechanism is further operatively connected so said arm portion can be locked in said extended position.    
     
     
         7 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 6 , further comprising: 
 an intermediary member operatively connecting said handle to said arm portion, the intermediary member being pivotally connected to said arm portion for pivotal movement of the intermediary member and said handle about a first one of said at least two pivot axes relative to said arm portion, said intermediary member also being pivotally connected to said stem of said handle for pivotal movement of said handle about a second one of said at least two pivot axes relative to said intermediary member and said arm portion.    
     
     
         8 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 7 , further comprising: 
 said first one of said at least two pivot axes being oriented substantially parallel to said wheel rotation axis and the second one of said at least two pivot axes being oriented in a plane substantially perpendicular to said first one of said at least two pivot axes.    
     
     
         9 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 4 , wherein 
 said locking mechanism is further operatively connected so said arm portion can be locked in said retracted position.    
     
     
         10 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 4  wherein 
 said arm portion is curved away from said piece of baggage.  
 
     
     
         11 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 an intermediary member operatively connecting said handle to said arm portion, said intermediary member being pivotally connected to said arm portion for pivotal movement of said intermediary member and said handle about a first one of the at least two pivot axes relative to said arm portion, said intermediary member also being pivotally connected to the handle for pivotal movement of said handle about a second one of said at least two pivot axes relative to the intermediary member and said arm portion.    
     
     
         12 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 11 , further comprising: 
 said first one of said at least two pivot axes being oriented substantially parallel to said wheel rotation axis and said second one of said at least two pivot axes being oriented in a plane substantially perpendicular to the first one of said at least two pivot axes.    
     
     
         13 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 12 , further comprising: 
 said first one of said at least two pivot axes intersecting said second one of said at least two pivot axes.    
     
     
         14 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 13 , further comprising: 
 said arm portion being movable between extended and retracted positions relative to said piece of baggage such that said towing handle is closer to said piece of baggage when said arm portion is in said retracted position than when said arm portion is in the extended position.    
     
     
         15 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 14 , further comprising: 
 said opposite free ends of said hand grip defining a hand grip axis that extends from one of said opposite free ends to the other of said opposite free ends, the pivotal movement between the towing handle and the arm portion about the at least two pivot axes allowing said hand grip axis to be oriented horizontally in a plane perpendicular to said wheel rotation axis when said arm portion is in the extended position and said piece of baggage is being hand towed, said pivotal movement between said towing handle and said arm portion about said at least two pivot axes also allowing said hand grip axis to be oriented parallel to said wheel rotation axis when said arm portion is in said retracted position.    
     
     
         16 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 A button mechanism within said towing handle wherein a portion of said button mechanism extends through at least a portion of said towing handle.    
     
     
         17 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 16  wherein 
 when said button mechanism is depressed said locking mechanism is unlocked, and when said button mechanism is released said locking mechanism is biased to being locked.  
 
     
     
         18 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 16  further comprising 
 A pivot shaft with a depression pin extending therethrough, wherein depression of said button mechanism results in linear displacement of said depression pin.  
 
     
     
         19 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 18  further comprising 
 A paddle rotatably attached to said depression pin, the linear displacement of said paddle resulting in the locking or unlocking of said locking mechanism.  
 
     
     
         20 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 16  wherein 
 said towing handle being T-shaped and comprising an elongated hand grip with opposite free ends and a stem that intersects and projects from said hand grip between the opposite free ends, said stem operatively connecting said towing handle to the arm portion.  
 
     
     
         21 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 20  wherein 
 said button mechanism extends through one of said opposite free ends.  
 
     
     
         22 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 said towing handle being T-shaped and comprising an elongated hand grip with opposite free ends and a stem that intersects and projects from said hand grip between the opposite free ends, said stem operatively connecting said towing handle to the arm portion.    
     
     
         23 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 1  wherein: 
 said locking mechanism either locks or unlocks said at least two pivot axes simultaneously.  
 
     
     
         24 . The hand towed piece of baggage of  claim 1  wherein: 
 said locking mechanism unlocks said first of said at least two pivot axes separately from said second of said at least two pivot axes.  
 
     
     
         25 . A hand towed piece of baggage comprising: 
 a piece of baggage;    at least one wheel connected to the piece of baggage, the wheel having a wheel rotation axis;    an arm portion having a length with opposite proximal and distal ends, the proximal end of the arm portion being operatively secured to the piece of baggage;    a towing handle operatively connected to said distal end of said arm portion in a manner that allows said towing handle to pivot about at least two pivot axes relative to the arm portion; and    means for locking said towing handle to prevent movement about said at least two pivot axes.    
     
     
         26 . A method of operating a hand towed piece of baggage, the method comprising: 
 providing a piece of baggage having: 
 at least one wheel,  
 an arm portion, and  
 a towing handle,  
 wherein, the at least one wheel is connected to the piece of baggage for rotation about a wheel rotation axis, the arm portion having a length with opposite proximal and distal ends, the proximal end of the arm portion being operatively secured to the piece of baggage, the towing handle being operatively connected to the distal end of the arm portion in a manner that allows the towing handle to pivot about at least two pivot axes relative to the arm portion, the arm portion being movable between extended and retracted positions relative to the piece of baggage such that the towing handle is closer to the piece of baggage when the arm portion is in the retracted position than when the arm portion is in the extended position, the towing handle comprising an elongated hand grip that defines a hand grip axis;  
 pivotally moving the towing handle relative to the arm portion about the at least two pivot axes into a first position such that the hand grip of the towing handle is oriented with the hand grip axis extending parallel to the wheel rotation axis when the arm portion is in the retracted position;  
 locking said towing handle in said first position;  
 unlocking said towing handle;  
 pivotally moving the towing handle relative to the arm portion about the at least two pivot axes into a second position such that the hand grip of the towing handle is oriented with the hand grip axis extending horizontally in a plane perpendicular to the wheel rotation axis when the arm portion is in the extended position and the piece of baggage is being hand towed; and  
 locking said towing handle in said second position.