Portable Tethered Carrier and Method

Abstract

The carrier system of the present invention includes an enclosable case for stowing items, a tether to extend and retract the enclosable case and an anchoring element for quick and easy fastening and removal of the carrier system to something, for example, a piece of luggage.

1 . A portable carrier system for small articles and travel documents carried by a person who is traveling, comprising:
 a flexible lightweight fabric carrier case generally planar in form with a thin thickness having an interior defined therein adapted to receive and enclose items to be carried, including generally planar travel documents, said carrier case being foldable upon itself for storage and having an access opening to said interior along a side edge and a closure device for said access opening extending along said access opening,   an automatically retractable tether mechanism separate from said carrier case,   an anchor device in the form of a clasp having a releasable clasp closure, said anchor device being releasably engageable with an exterior part of an article to which said clasp can be attached, and   connections between said carrier case, tether mechanism and anchor device uniting them together, one of said connections being between said carrier case and said tether mechanism, and the other of said connections being between said tether mechanism and said anchor device, whereby, with said clasp engaged with said article, said carrier case can be pulled away from a first position closely adjacent to said article by extension of said tether to a second and more remote position relative to said article for easier access to said carrier case interior, as by the traveler, and then automatically retracted from said second position to said first position.   
     
     
         2 . The portable carrier system of  claim 1  wherein said connection between said tether mechanism and said carrier case is a releasable connection. 
     
     
         3 . The portable carrier of  claim 1  wherein said connection between said tether mechanism and said carrier case is a non-releasable connection. 
     
     
         4 . The carrier system of  claim 1  wherein said first connection includes a fixed mount on said carrier case. 
     
     
         5 . A portable carrier system for small articles and planar items, such as travel documents, carried by a person, comprising:
 a flexible lightweight fabric carrier case generally planar in form with a thin thickness having an interior defined therein adapted to receive and enclose items to be carried by a person, including generally planar documents, said carrier case being foldable upon itself for storage and having an access opening to said interior along a side edge of said carrier and a closure device for completely closing said access opening,   an automatically retractable tether mechanism separate from said carrier case,   an anchor device in the form of a clasp having a releasable clasp closure, said anchor device being releasably engageable with an exterior part of an article to which said clasp can be attached, and   connections between said carrier case, tether mechanism and anchor device uniting them together, one of said connections being between said carrier case and said tether mechanism and being located on said carrier case and not part of said closure device, and the other of said connections being between said tether mechanism and said anchor device, whereby, with said clasp engaged with said article, said carrier case is suspendable on said article by said tether and can be pulled away from a first position closely adjacent to said article by extension of said tether to a second and more remote position relative to said article for easier access to said carrier case interior by a person, and then automatically retracted from said second position to said first position.   
     
     
         6 . The portable carrier system of  claim 5 , wherein said carrier case is specifically adapted to attach to an article of luggage which is then scanned by security instrumentation, said carrier case being transparent to scanning instrumentation.