Attache case

March 28, 1967

H, R. SCHELL ETAL

ATTACHE CASE

3,311,202

Sheets-Sheet 1

Filed July 28, 1965

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Attorneys

March 28, 1967

H. R. SCHELL ETAL

3,311,202

ATTACHE CASE

Filed July 28, 1965

Sheets-Sheet 3

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Attorneys

March 28, 1967

H. R. SCHELL ET AL

ATTACHE CASE

3,311,202

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. Attorneys.

United States Patent Office

3,311,202

Patented Mar. 28, 1S67

3,311,202

ATTACHE CASE

Horace R. Schell and Clarence F. Schell, Cincinnati, and Deo F. Umbenhauer, Dayton, Ohio, assignors to Schell Leather Goods Co., Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio

Filed July 28, 1965, Ser. No. 475,390

Claims. (Cl. 190—16)

This invention relates to a construction of a brief or attache.

An object of this invention is to provide an attache case including an easel which folds into the attache case when not in use and which can be set upright for use in supporting displays.

A further object of this invention is to provide an attache case of this type in which the easel can be set in a plurality of upright positions for supporting the display at various angles.

A further object of this invention is to provide an attache case of this type in which the easel extends upwardly and inwardly from a front edge of a front wall of a lower section of the case and in which a V-shaped trough is formed between the front wall and the easel to receive and hold a lower edge of the display.

A further object of this invention is to provide an attache case of this type in which a stand or leg for supporting the easel is adapted to rest either on the bottom of the main portion of the case, or on a rib attached to a rear wall of the case, or upon a rear wall of an upper section of the case to support the easel in various positions.

A further object of this invention is to provide an attache case of this type in which the front wall of the upper section of the case is adapted to fit over an upper edge of the easel with a flexible strap, which is attached to a front wall of the upper section and extends rearwardly therefrom, overlying the upper edge of the easel, the strap forming a downwardly opening V to receive and hold an upper edge of the display when the support leg is not in use.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains from the following detailed description, and the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an attache case constructed in accordance with an embodiment of this invention, the case being shown open with an easel thereof being shown in lowered position;

FIG. 2 is a view in section taken on the line 2—2 in FIG. 1, the easel being shown in a first raised position;

FIG. 3 is a view in section taken on the same line as FIG. 2 but showing the easel in a second raised position;

FIG. 4 is a view in section taken on the same line as FIG. 2 but showing the easel in a third raised position;

FIG. 5 is a view in section taken on the same line as FIG. 2 but showing the easel in a fourth raised position with an upper section of the case receiving an upper edge portion of the easel;

FIG. 6 is a view in front elevation on an enlarged scale showing the attache case in the fourth raised position of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a view in section on an enlarged scale taken on the line 7—7 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a view in section on an enlarged scale taken on the line 8—8 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a view in section on an enlarged scale taken on the line 9—9 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a view in section taken on the line 10—10 in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of an easel for a case constructed in accordance with another embodiment of this invention, wings thereof being shown in open position, hinge lines therein being shown by dashed lines;

FIG. 12 is a view in section taken on the line 12—12 in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a view in section taken on the same line as FIG. 12 but showing a wing in folded position;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary view in transverse section IQ of a case including the easel of FIG. 11; and

FIG. 15 is a view in section taken on the line 15—15 in FIG. 7.

In the following detailed description, and the drawings, like reference characters indicate like parts.

In FIG. 1 is shown an attache case having a lower open-top box-like section 10 and an upper open-bottom box-like section 12 which are hinged together by hinges 13 and 14 attached to a rear wall 16 (FIG. 2) of the lower section 10 and a rear wall 18 of the upper section 20 12. Links 18α and 186 pivoted to each other and to the upper and lower sections can serve to hold the upper section 12 in the raised position of FIGS. 2, 3, and 4. Latches 19 and 21 (FIG. 1) attached to a front wall 22 of the upper section can cooperate with latch keepers 25 23 and 24, respectively, mounted on a front wall 25 of the lower section 10 to close the case in the usual manner. A handle 25 is hinged'y mounted on the front wall 25 on hinge brackets 26α and 26b for use in carrying the case. An expandable receptacle or envelope 27 is 30 mounted in the upper section and includes a front panel 28 hinged to the rear wall 18 (FIG. 3) and accordiontype side walls 29 (only one of which is shown) attached to the front panel 28 and to a top panel 31 of the upper section. A leather strap 32 is attached to the front wall 35 22 by a rivet 33 and is releasably attachable to the front panel 28 by a snap fastener 34.

An easel receiving strip 36 is mounted on the front wall 25. The strip includes integral blocks 37 (FIGS. 7 and 15) at the ends of the strip to space the body of 4f&gt; the strip from the front wall 25. The blocks 37 are adjacent side walls 39 and 41. A slot 42 (FIG. 8) is formed between the front wall 25 and the strip 36. An arcuate rib 43 (FIG. 10) integral with the strip 36 spaces the central part of the strip from the front wall 25 as 45 shown in FIG. 8. Rivets 43α attach the strip 36 to the front wall 25.

An easel 44 (FIG. 2) is mounted in the case. The easel 44 includes a main plate portion 46 and a lower plate or tab 47 hinged thereto. The lower plate 47 is received in ⁵⁰ the slot 42 (FIGS. 7 and 8). An arcuate cutaway portion 48 (FIG. 10) of the lower plate 47 engages the arcuate rib 43 of the strip 36 for centering the easel. The main plate portion 46 of the easel can swing between a lower position shown in FIG. 1 and various raised positions shown in ⁵⁰ FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and 5. A rib 49 (FIGS. 2 and 3) is attached to the rear wall 16 and supports the rear edge of the main plate portion 46 of the easel 44 when the easel is in the lowered position of FIG. 1. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, an easel support stand or leg 51 is hingedly attached to the rear face of the main plate portion 46 of the easel. Pads 52 and 53 attached to the main plate portion 46 of the easel 44 and to the support leg 51, respectively, can releasably attach the main plate portion 46 of the easel and the support leg 51 together in substantial parallelism, as shown in FIG. 5 when the easel is in lowered position or in the positions of FIGS. 5, 6, and 9. The pads 52 and 53 can be of the material disclosed in Patent No. 2,717,437 and often spoken of as “Velcro.”

When the easel 44 is in use, it can be positioned in any one of the positions shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and 5. In the FIG. 2 position, a lower end of the support leg 51 is received at the intersection of the rear wall 16 and a

3,311,202 bottom wall 56 of the lower section of the case to hold the easel in a first raised position. In the FIG. 3 position, a lower end of the support leg 51 rests on the rib 49 to hold the easel at a second raised position. In the FIG. 4 position, the lower end of the support leg 51 rests on the rear wall IS of the upper section to hold the easel at a third raised position. In the FIG. 5 position, the support leg 51 is held in inoperative position by attachment of the pads 52 and 53 together. The upper end of the main plate 46 of the easel 44 is received in engagenent with the strap 32, a portion of the strap 32 between the rivet 33 (FIG. 9) and the front panel 29 being bent upwardly to form an inverted V thereover. In each of its positions, the easel can support a display. In FIG. 1, a display 58 is indicated in dot-dash lines disposed on the easel in position for storing in the case. When the easel is in one of its raised positions, a lower edge of the display can be received between the panel 46 and the front wall 25 of the lower section of the case as shown in FIG. 8. When the case is in the position of FIGS. 5, 6, and 9, the upper end of the display is received in the inverted V of the strip 32 to hold the display against inadvertent displacement.

In FIGS. 11-14, inclusive, is shown a case 61 (FIG. 14) including an easel 62 constructed in accordance with another embodiment of the invention. The case 61 can be similar in construction to the case already described. As shown in FIG. 11, the easel 62 includes a rectangular main panel 63, along a lower edge of which is hinged a lower plate or tab 64 provided with a central arcuate cutaway portion 66 which functions in the same manner as the tab of the case already described. Side wings 67 and 68 are hinged to the main panel 63 by hinges 69 and 71, respectively. As shown in FIG. 12, the hinge 69 is constructed to hold the wing 67 in position aligned with the main panel 63. However, the side wing 67 can be folded inwardly, as shown in FIG. 13, for storing inside the case when not in use. The side wing 68 and the hinge 71 operate similarly.

A support 74 (FIG. 11) is formed from the material of the main panel, being separated therefrom by lines of cut 76, 77, and 78 and hinged thereto along a hinge line 79. The easel can be formed of appropriate board-like material having a fabric of leather covering which can form the hinges. As shown in FIG. 14, a lower end of the support can hold the easel in selected positions in the same manner as in the construction already described.

The case constructions illustrated in the drawings and described above are subject to structural modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to