Carrying case with a trimming and reinforcement frame on the ends of case

Claim 1

A luggage or carrying case comprising a body having spaced vertical side and end walls and a horizontal bottom all secured together and forming an open top, a closure flap for closing the open top when said closure flap is horizontally positioned over said open top, said closure flap being hingedly connected to one of said vertical side walls, each of said end walls being formed of a substantially rigid material and a sheathing secured thereto, said sheathing being flexible and having opposite side hinging flanges and a bottom flexible hinging flange which hinging flanges are integral with and are continuations of said sheathing and are hingedly bent to extend perpendicular to the plane of the end wall, said sheathing having no top flange, said side and bottom flexible hinging flanges being positioned adjacent the side and bottom walls so that the said flanges extend outwardly and the end wall is recessed or spaced inwardly thereof, an integrally formed channel strip frame formed of metal and substantially rigid and which is of generally U-shaped configuration in end view plan comprising spaced vertical sides connected by a bottom horizontal portion but with an open top, said channel strip also being U-shaped in transverse section with an outer leg and an inner leg and a connecting portion therebetween and extending over the side and bottom flanges and the end edges of the side and bottom walls and not extending over the top of the end walls, said channel strip having inwardly extending pointed ribs on one of said legs biting into The side flexible flanges to secure said end walls to the side and bottom walls without the use of any stitching or other fastening means and solely by the use of said integrally formed channel strip frame, said outer leg and connecting portion of said U-shaped channel strip being flat and each having a recessed flat central portion in the outer surface thereof, said top closure flap when horizontally positioned in closing position, positioned contiguous to and overlying the top free edges of the end walls, and a carrying handle secured to the top closure flap for carrying said case.