US20080116215A1

US20080116215A1 - Container

Info

Publication number: US20080116215A1
Application number: US11/602,340
Authority: US
Inventors: Chen-Chi Chuang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-11-21
Filing date: 2006-11-21
Publication date: 2008-05-22

Abstract

A container includes a box body having a housing trough, a jutting flange on the top that has buffer ridges on two ends, and an engaging member and a latch member extending outwards from two sides close to the frame rim of the jutting flange and an upper lid. The engaging member has a hook and the latch member has a sloped end. The upper lid has a clipping member and a latch plate having respectively a latch slot corresponding to and engageable with the hook and sloped end so that the upper lid can be anchored on the housing trough in an openable manner, and also can form a sealing condition with the box body. Thereby the upper lid can be lifted and opened to remove goods held in the box body by first hitting the buffer ridges to offset too much lifting force. The clipping member further has a latch flange on one end to lean against the outer side of the box body with one sloped surface of the hook holding the periphery rim of the upper cap.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a container and particularly to a container that has an upper lid which may be opened under a buffered condition and rested as desired, and a box body which has an engaging member engageable with a corresponding latch slot formed on a clipping member of the upper lid to prevent the upper lid from escaping the box body when opened under forces.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are many types of box structures with an openable lid on the market at present. For instance, R.O.C. patent publication No. 587613 entitled “Household container” (referring to FIG. 1) discloses a container A which has a lid A1 dividing by a bend line A10 to form two sections A11 and A12 with a notch A111 on a coupling end. Although the two sections A11 and A12 may be opened independently, when opened at a greater force, the entire lid A1 will be lifted from a latch rim A21 of a jutting flange on one side of the box body A2. Once the lid A1 is fully removed it cannot be latched and positioned easily on the box body A2. As a result, opening activities for the lid A1 is difficult to control.
Moreover, the lid A1 has a latch notch A13 and a latch tongue A14 on two sides bordering the bend line A10. The latch notch A13 has side walls A131, and the latch tongue A14 has jutting studs A141 on two sides corresponding to the latch notch A13. When one section A11 is opened, the jutting studs A141 can be latched on the side walls A131 so that the section A11 can be opened and lean over other section A12 (referring to FIG. 2). But in practice while the section A11 is opened, the other section A12 has an inner rim latched on the latch flange A21. Hence although the section A11 is opened, the opening is too small. To remove goods held in the box body A2 is difficult. It is inconvenient in use.
Furthermore, while the bend line A10 on the lid A1 between the two sections A11 and A12 allows the section A11 to be opened easily, frequent opening and closing of the section A11 tend to rip the lid at the bend line A10 where the thickness is thinner. The bend line also weakens the structure of the lid A1, thus the life span of the lid A1 is shorter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to overcome the drawbacks of the conventional techniques, the present invention aims to provide a construction design of a container that can prevent the upper lid from escaping the box body when opened under forces.
The container according to the invention includes a box body and an upper lid. The box body has an indented housing trough, a jutting flange on the top thereof with buffer ridges formed on two ends, and an engaging member and a latch member extending outwards from two sides close to a frame rim of the jutting flange. The engaging member has a hook on one end. The hook has two sloped surfaces and a protrusive retaining portion. The upper lid is located above the housing trough and coupled with the box body, and may be opened at an anchoring condition or closed to form a sealing condition with the box body. The upper lid also has an upper housing trough on a lower side to be coupled with the jutting flange on the top of the box body. The upper lid further has a latch plate on one side and a clipping member on other side with a connecting portion formed thereon. The clipping member has a vertical latch flange on a distal end. The clipping member and the latch plate have respectively a latch slot corresponding to the engaging member and the latch member. The latch slot has a sloped surface on a lower end. The sloped surfaces of the upper lid can be engaged with the sloped surface of the hook of the engaging member and a sloped end of the latch member. The protrusive retaining portion, sloped end and latch slot may form a latched condition to allow the upper lid and the box body to form a sealing condition after being coupled.
Compared with the conventional containers, the invention has the following advantages:
1. The upper lid does not break away even under forceful opening: When the upper lid of the container with goods held inside is opened, the latch plate can be lifted and opened to hit the buffer ridges first, hence the lifting force on the upper lid is partly offset and buffered. Meanwhile the latch flange of the clipping member on other end leans against the outer side of the box body, and one sloped surface of the hook is leaned by the peripheral edge of the upper lid. The engaging member of the box body and the latch slot of the clipping member of the upper lid form a latching and anchoring condition. Thus the upper lid does not escape the box body even being opened under a great force.
2. Simpler structure: The box body and upper lid are constructed with simple elements. The upper lid can be opened and anchored, or coupled and sealed on the housing trough of the box body. Fabrication cost is lower. It is more desirable for holding goods for consumers.
The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional container.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conventional container in an open condition.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a front sectional view of the invention with the upper lid covering the box body.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the invention with the upper lid covering the box body in a closed condition.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the invention with the upper lid in an opening condition from an outer edge of the box body.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side view of the invention with the upper lid opened and leaning over an outer edge of the box body.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Please refer to FIGS. 3 and 4, the container according to the invention includes a box body 10 and an upper lid 20.
The box body 10 has a housing trough 11 to hold goods such as screws and the like, and a jutting flange 12 on the top that has buffer ridges 121 on two ends thereof to anchor the upper lid 20 and provide offset and buffer effect when the upper lid 20 is opened under a great force. The jutting flange 12 is bordered by a frame rim 13. There is an engaging member 14 extended from one side of the box body close to the frame rim 13. The engaging member 14 has a hook 141 on one end formed like an arrow. The hook 141 has two sloped surfaces 142 and 143 and a protrusive retaining portion 144. The box body 10 also has a jutting rim 15 and a latch member 16 on another side opposite to the frame rim 13 in an up and down manner. The latch member 16 has a sloped end 161.
The upper lid 20 is coupled on the housing trough 11 of the box body 10, and may be opened and anchored on the box body 10, or formed a sealing condition with the box body 10. The upper lid 20 has an upper housing trough 21 and a wedge member 211 on a lower side. The wedge member 211 is bordered by a recess 212 on the periphery. The recess 212 may be coupled with the jutting flange 12 and buffer ridges 121 of the box body 10 to form a covering relationship. One side of the recess 212 has a groove 213 corresponding to and engageable with the jutting rim 15. The upper lid 20 further has a clipping member 23 and a latch plate 24 on two sides that have respectively a latch slot 231 and 241 corresponding to and engageable with the engaging member 14 and the latch member 16. The latch slots 231 and 241 have respectively a sloped side 2310 and 2410 mating the sloped surfaces 142 and 143 of the hook 141 of the hook 141, and the sloped end 161 of the latch member 16. Thus the protrusive retaining portion 144 and the sloped end 161 can form a coupling relationship with the slat slots 231 and 241 to allow the upper lid 20 and the box body 10 to form a sealed condition after coupled. The clipping member 23 and latch plate 24 have respectively a connecting portion 232 and 242 to connect to the peripheral flange 22 of the upper lid 20. The clipping member 23 further has a latch flange 233 close to a distal end formed in a vertical manner. Thereby when the upper lid 20 is lifted and opened and leans over the outer edge of the box body 10, one sloped surface 142 of the hook 141 can be hold the peripheral flange 22 of the upper lid 20 so that while the upper lid 20 is opened and anchored on one side of the box body 10 and it does not tilt.
Moreover, the sloped side 2310 of the latch slot 231 of the clipping member 23 can facilitate insertion and latching of the hook 141. And the protrusive retaining portion 144 of the hook 141 has a width greater than that of the latch slot 231 so that the hook 141 can be latched and retained by the latch slot 231 without escaping.
The upper lid 20 further has a trough 2100 on a lower side above the housing trough 21 with a reinforced rib 210 formed thereon to increase the strength of the upper lid 20. The reinforced rib 210 may be more than one.
Similarly, another sloped side 2410 of the latch slot 241 of the latch plate 24 can facilitate insertion and latching of the sloped end 161 of the latch member 16. And the sloped end 161 has a width greater than that of the latch slot 241 so that the sloped end 161 can be latched and retained by the latch slot 241 without escaping.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, when the box body 10 and the upper lid 20 are coupled, the hook 141 runs through the latch slot 231 with the protrusive retaining portion 144 latched in the latch slot 231 so that the jutting flange 12 of the box body 10 and the recess 212 of the upper lid 20 can be coupled more tightly (referring to FIG. 5).
Referring to FIG. 6, to lift and open the upper lid 20 from the box body 10 which hold goods inside, apply a force to the latch plate 24, the upper lid 20 is lifted to hit the buffer ridges 121 of the jutting flange 12 first, thus the lifting force is offset and buffered before the upper lid 20 is fully opened. With the latch flange 233 leaning against the outer side of the box body 10, and the latch slot 231 of the clipping member 23 latched on the hook 141 of the box body 10, the peripheral flange 22 of the upper lid 20 can rest on the sloped surface 142 of the hook 141 (as shown in FIG. 7). Thus the upper lid 20 can be lifted and anchored on one side of the box body 10 without escaping even under a great lifting force.

Claims

1. A container comprising a box body which has a housing trough and a jutting flange on the top and an upper lid which has an upper housing trough on a lower side and a recess and a wedge member formed on the periphery thereof, wherein:

the box body has an engaging member extended from one side close to a frame rim of the jutting flange, the engaging member having a hook on one end, the hook having two sloped surfaces and a protrusive retaining portion, the box body further having a jutting rim and a latch member which has a sloped end on another side in an up and down manner opposing the frame rim;

the upper lid has a clipping member and a latch plate on two sides adjacent to a peripheral rim thereof that have respectively a latch slot corresponding to and engageable respectively with the engaging member and the latch member, the latch slot having a sloped side on a lower side engageable respectively with the sloped surfaces and the protrusive retaining portion of the engaging member and the sloped end of the latch member, the latch plate and the clipping member having respectively a connecting portion connecting to the peripheral rim of the upper lid, the clipping member having a latch flange close to a distal end thereof formed in vertical manner such that the upper lid is allowed to be opened and anchored on one side of the box body without tilting.

2. The container of claim 1, wherein the latch slot of the clipping member has a width smaller than that of the protrusive retaining portion of the hook.

3. The container of claim 1, wherein the latch slot of the latch plate has a width smaller than that of the sloped end of the latch member.

4. The container of claim 1, wherein the upper housing trough of the upper lid has a reinforced rib.

5. The container of claim 4, wherein the reinforced rib is more than one.

6. The container of claim 1, wherein the jutting flange of the box body has buffer ridges on two ends to be coupled with the recess of the upper lid.