<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Look up rollaboard or roll - aboard in Wiktionary, the free dictionary . </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Look up rollaboard or roll - aboard in Wiktionary, the free dictionary . </Td> </Tr> <P> Luggage carriers--light - weight wheeled carts or harnesses on which luggage could be temporarily place or that can be temporarily attached to luggage--date at least to the 1930s, such as in US patent 2,132,316 "Luggage carrier" by Anne W. Newton (filed 1937, published 1938). These were refined over the following decades, as reflected in patents such as US patent 2,650,105 A "Luggage carriage" (filed 1949, published 1953) and US patent 2,670,969 "Luggage carriage harness, both by Kent R. Costikyan . However, the wheels were external to the suitcases . Patents were published for wheeled luggage--a wheeled trunk in 1887, and a wheeled suitcase in 1945--but these were not successfully commercialized . </P> <P> The first commercially successful rolling suitcases was invented in 1970, when Bernard D. Sadow applied for a patent that was granted in 1972 as United States patent 3,653,474 for "Rolling Luggage". The patent application cited the increase in air travel, and "baggage handling (having) become perhaps the single biggest difficulty encountered by an air passenger", as background of the invention . Sadow's four - wheeled suitcases, pulled using a loose strap, were later surpassed in popularity by suitcases that feature two wheels and are pulled in an upright position using a long handle . These were invented in 1987 by US pilot Robert Plath, and initially sold to crew members . Plath later commercialized them, after travelers became interested after seeing them in use by crew members, and founded the Travelpro company, which marketing the suitcases under the trademark "Rollaboard". The terms rollaboard and roll - aboard are used generically, however . While initially designed for carry - on use (to navigate through a large terminal), as implied by the analogous name, similar designs are also used for checked baggage . </P>

When was the first suitcase with wheels invented