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Live Luggage’s powered and non-powered suitcase ranges have unique wheel technology designed to keep on rolling forever...

 

November 2009:   Live Luggage, innovators in the field of power-assisted and “anti-gravity” luggage, manufacture a comprehensive range of suitcases, with a bag designed to suit everyone, whether they travel for business or leisure.  Classic hard cases protect their contents from the worst the elements or baggage handlers can inflict; the Hybrid series multi-bag soft business case is a boon to the business traveller with its zip-off laptop bag and weekend bags; the recently-launched 2012 Sports Bag includes a removable rucksack and weekend case.  Live Luggage uses the latest technology in its designs, including the wheels, which incorporate a highly-durable and exclusive lightweight bespoke wheel bearing.  Designed to military specifications, this breakthrough in ball-bearing technology is unique to Live Luggage products and allows the wheels in Live Luggage’s range of luxury power-assisted and non-powered cases to take the weight of the case and roll on for miles and miles.

Both the Live Luggage PA (power assisted) range and the AG (anti-gravity) non-powered range have large flat wheels and a patented “Anti-Gravity” handle which make them so much more stable and easier to pull compared to conventional luggage, so strain and effort are minimal and a fully-packed Live Luggage case can be moved with ease. The PA ranges power up automatically when sensors detect gradients and kerbs.  The AG ranges offer the advantages of the patented handle’s wishbone design which pivots from the base of the case and puts 85% of the weight on the wheels, not on the user’s arm.  The combination of the special and unique wheel design and the anti-gravity handle makes it essential that the wheels themselves are robust and durable.

Live Luggage’s power-assisted ranges obviously contain more components than a normal suitcase; these additional components could have been heavy and taken up valuable space in the case.  However, the company’s clever design minimized both these problems by placing all the power-assist components into large, flat wheels.  During the product development phase, Live Luggage found it needed a bearing component which would adhere to very strict weight and space parameters and yet be very strong, as most of the total bulk and weight of the case is over the wheels.  The answer lay in thermoplastic bearings, which are typically 20% of the density of steel and a lightweight alternative to steel bearings, so Live Luggage approached world leaders in moulded thermoplastic bearing design and manufacture at the design stage.  One UK company demonstrated how injection moulding techniques could integrate components and custom-shape the final assembly to fit Live Luggage’s exacting requirements.  An acetal bearing design uses a double row of balls to maximize load-carrying ability and the raceways are integrated into the assembly by moulding them onto other components, thereby eliminating some original parts which secured the bearing onto the wheels and motor.  The non-magnetic SS316 steel balls used within the plastic bearing solution do not distort magnetic fields or interfere with the effective operation of the motor.  The wheels are therefore extremely quiet, due to the sound-deadening properties of the thermoplastic material.  The real breakthrough in the Live Luggage design is the fact that the hub of the wheel is bolted directly onto the luggage injection moulding and is fixed.  The only moving part is the acetal race bearings, ensuring smooth, strong, long-lasting product life and performance.  There is a life-long seal to the wheels, ensuring miles and miles of use, and the cases have been rigorously tested to withstand baggage handling.