Suitcase structure

Abstract

A suitcase structure includes a case portion having a case opening and provided with a case-side recess; a cover portion pivotally connected to the case portion to selectively close or open the case opening and provided on a cover-side transitional edge portion and a cover sidewall thereof with a cover-side recess located corresponding to the case-side recess; a latch pivotally connected to the case portion and having an end receivable in the case-side recess and another end receivable in the cover-side recess; and a retainer for retaining the other end of the latch thereto. Therefore, the latch can be located in the case-side and the cover-side recess at the same time to be flush with outer surfaces of the case portion and cover-side transitional edge portion. Therefore, the latch is avoided from colliding with external object and separating from the suitcase structure when the latter is pulled to move around.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A suitcase structure, comprising:
 a case portion including a case bottom wall, a case sidewall enclosing four sides of the case portion, and a case-side transitional edge portion located between and connected to the case bottom wall and the case sidewall; the case sidewall having an end defining a case opening and the case bottom wall being located at another opposite end of the case sidewall to be spaced from the case opening; the case sidewall further having a sunken area formed on one side of the case sidewall near the case opening to provide a case-side recess; the case-side recess defining a case-side receiving space, and an open top of the case-side receiving space flush with an outer surface of the case sidewall;   a cover portion being pivotally turnably connected to the case portion, such that the cover portion can be swung relative to the case portion to selectively open or close the case opening; the cover portion including a cover top wall located spaced from the case bottom wall, a cover sidewall located in alignment with the case sidewall when the cover portion is closed to the case opening, and a cover-side transitional edge portion located between and connected to the cover top wall and the cover sidewall; the cover portion having a sunken area extended from the cover-side transitional edge portion to the case sidewall to provide a cover-side recess; the cover-side recess being aligned with the case-side recess and defining a cover-side receiving space, an open top of the cover-side receiving space flush with an outer surface of the cover sidewall and the cover-side transitional edge portion; and   a latching assembly including a latch capable of straddling across the case-side recess and the cover-side recess, and a retainer formed in the cover-side recess; the latch including a pivoting section corresponding to the case-side recess and a latching section corresponding to the cover-side recess; the pivoting section being pivotally connected to the case sidewall, such that the latch can be swung for the pivoting section to move toward and receive in the case-side recess and for the latching section to move into the cover-side recess to be retained to the retainer; and   wherein, when the latching section is retained to the retainer, the case-side recess and the cover-side recess are covered by the pivoting section and the latching section, respectively, with an outer surface of the pivoting section located flush with the outer surface of the case sidewall and an outer surface of the latching section located flush with the outer surface of the cover-side transitional edge portion.   
     
     
         2 . The suitcase structure as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein a distance between the spaced case bottom wall and case opening is defined as a case thickness, and an end of the cover sidewall farther away from the cover top wall defines a cover opening; the cover top wall being spaced from the cover opening and a distance between them being defined as a cover thickness; and the cover thickness being smaller than the case thickness. 
     
     
         3 . The suitcase structure as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein a ratio of the case thickness to the cover thickness is 7.25˜7.5:1.5˜1.75. 
     
     
         4 . The suitcase structure as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the outer surface of the cover-side transitional edge portion is configured as a cover-side curved surface, and the outer surface of the latching section is configured as a latch-side curved surface; and the latch-side curved surface having a curvature the same as that of the cover-side curved surface. 
     
     
         5 . The suitcase structure as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the retainer includes an extended section extended from the cover portion, and a retaining section further extended from the extended section; the retaining section being located spaced from an inner surface of the cover-side recess, such that a retaining space is formed between the retaining section and the inner surface of the cover-side recess; and the latching section having a length being receivable in the retaining space and retained to the retaining section.