Ergonomically designed wheeled luggage

Abstract

An ergonomically designed piece of wheeled luggage for being transported by a user across a floor surface is disclosed. The wheeled luggage includes a luggage body having at least a bottom surface, a back surface, and a top surface, the back surface intersecting both of the bottom and the top surfaces, respectively, at least two spaced and parallel wheels rotatably supported on the bottom surface of the body with a longitudinal axis extending through the wheels, the axis being parallel to the intersection of the back surface and the bottom surface of the body. The wheeled luggage also has a handle assembly mounted on the body, the handle assembly including an elongate handle grip for being grasped by the user when the wheeled luggage is rolled across the floor surface. The handle assembly has a first retracted position in which the handle grip is flush with the luggage body and a second extended position in which the handle grip extends for a selectively adjustable distance above the body and within which the handle grip, when grasped by the user, is positioned perpendicularly with respect to the axis of the wheels and substantially parallel to the floor surface. So constructed, the user may adopt a more natural position to pull such wheeled luggage, thereby increasing user comfort and reducing user fatigue.

I claim:  
     
         1 . A piece of wheeled luggage for being transported by a user across a floor surface, comprising: 
 a luggage body, said body including a bottom surface, a back surface, and a top surface, the back surface intersecting both of the bottom the top surfaces, respectively;    at least two spaced and parallel wheels rotatably supported on said body;    a longitudinal axis extending through said wheels, said axis being parallel to the intersection of the back surface and the bottom surface of said body; and    a handle assembly mounted on the body, said handle assembly including a handle grip for being grasped by the user when the wheeled luggage is rolled across the floor surface, said handle assembly having a first retracted position in which the handle grip is flush with the luggage body and a second extended position in which the handle grip extends for a selectively adjustable distance above the top surface of the body and within which the handle grip, when grasped by the user, is positioned perpendicularly with respect to the said axis.    
     
     
         2 . The wheeled luggage of  claim 1 , said handle assembly being constructed and arranged to be locked in said second extended position.  
     
     
         3 . The wheeled luggage of  claim 1 , said handle assembly being constructed and arranged so that said second extended position thereof may be selectively varied with respect to the height of the user.  
     
     
         4 . The wheeled luggage of  claim 1 , wherein in said second extended position said handle grip is essentially parallel to the floor surface as the wheeled luggage is being transported thereover by the user.  
     
     
         5 . The wheeled luggage of  claim 1 , said handle assembly comprising a fixed outer tube mounted to said body and a movable inner tube slidably received within the outer tube, said handle grip being attached to an end of said inner tube extending out of said outer tube.  
     
     
         6 . The wheeled luggage of  claim 5 , said handle grip comprising an elongate handle shaft attached to the end of the inner tube extending out of the outer tube.  
     
     
         7 . The wheeled luggage of  claim 5 , said inner tube being constructed and arranged to be selectively moved within said outer tube for varying the length of said handle assembly.  
     
     
         8 . The wheeled luggage of  claim 5 , said inner tube having a series of spaced markings thereon and extending along at least a portion of the length thereof, said markings being constructed and arranged to gauge the movement of the inner tube with respect to the outer tube.  
     
     
         9 . The wheeled luggage of  claim 1 , wherein said handle assembly comprises a fixed outer tube and a movable inner tube, said handle grip being attached to the movable inner tube such that adjustable distance of the handle assembly is selectively varied by the movement of the movable inner tube within said outer tube.  
     
     
         10 . The wheeled luggage of  claim 9 , wherein the inner tube has a series of spaced markings thereon and extending along at least a portion of the length thereof, said markings being constructed and arranged to gauge the movement of the inner tube with respect to the outer tube.  
     
     
         11 . The wheeled luggage of  claim 1 , further comprising a bubble level indicator mounted on the luggage body for use in establishing a handle assembly length appropriate to the user.  
     
     
         12 . The wheeled luggage of  claim 1 , further comprising a bubble level indicator mounted on the luggage body for use in positioning the handle assembly and said handle grip in said second extended position.  
     
     
         13 . The wheeled luggage of  claim 1 , wherein in said second extended position said handle grip is spaced from and substantially parallel to the floor surface as the wheeled luggage is being transported thereover by the user.  
     
     
         14 . The wheeled luggage of  claim 5 , wherein in said first retracted position said inner tube is folded over and positioned substantially parallel to said outer tube.  
     
     
         15 . The wheeled luggage of  claim 5 , wherein in said first retracted position said inner tube is substantially enclosed within said outer tube.