Packing structure for collapsible basket holder

A packing structure for a collapsible basket holder composed of a sheet of rectangular cardboard which is foldable into a box-like structure comprising two main walls--a top wall and a bottom wall--while the two side ends thereof are left opened. It is characterized by said bottom wall being provided with a plurality of lug members and mating slits so that said box-like structure is openable for packaging a collapsible basket holder, and a trough structure located in the upper central portion of said box-like structure for partially revealing a top horizontal member of said collapsible basket holder. It is also characterized in that said collapsible basket holder is portable with one hand, and said packing structure is not weighted with said collapsible basket holder at all.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a packing structure in general, and more 
particularly to the packing structure for a collapsible basket holder. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
It is known to the public that basket holder may be packed by means of 
carton in a general way after having been suitably assembled. 
Alternatively, it may be packed element by element. 
Obviously, packing according to the first conventional technique will make 
a basket holder bulky in volume and takes up much space for storage. Bulky 
volume often results in high costs of transportation. As regards the 
second conventional packing technique, the elements of the basket holder 
must be packed individually. Customers are greatly troubled with the 
frequent occurrence of shortage of packing. Additionally, a basket holder 
packed in this way does not present a pleasing visual configuration, and 
appetite for purchase cannot be promoted. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A packing structure for collapsible basket holder composed of a sheet of 
rectangular cardboard which is foldable into a box-like structure 
comprised of two main walls, a top wall, and a bottom wall, while the two 
ends thereof are left opened. It is characterized by the bottom wall being 
constructed by folding the free bottom ends of the two main walls in a 
laminated relationship, and a plurality of lug members integral with one 
of the free bottom ends of the two main walls may enter into an engagement 
with the meeting slits located on the other one of the free bottom ends of 
the two main walls, a trough structure located in the upper central 
portion of the box-like structure for partially revealing a top horizontal 
member of a collapsible basket holder contained in the box-like structure 
that the collapsible basket holder is portable with one hand and the 
box-like structure is not weighted with the collapsible basket holder. 
In the preferred embodiment, the packing structure of the present invention 
further comprises a tongue member originating from one of the two main 
walls at the bottom of the trough structure, and a mating slit located on 
the other one of the two main walls at the bottom of the trough structure. 
The tongue member straddles the two main walls and is flush with the 
bottom of the trough structure. The tongue member substantially struts the 
central portions of the two main walls in a parallel relationship when the 
free end of the tongue member engages with the mating slit. It is further 
characterized by the mating slit at the bottom of the trough structure 
being lightly indented for facilitating the alignment of the tongue 
member. In addition, lug members at the bottom wall of the box-like 
structure are each bilaterally matched, while the mating slits are each 
indented. The catching structures resulting from the matching lug members 
firmly catch the protrusions resulting from the indention of the mating 
slits when the lug members suitably engage them. 
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, the present invention provides a packing structure for 
collapsible basket holder in the form of a box-like structure which is 
portable for transporting purpose. 
Another object of the present invention so to provide an improved packing 
structure to achieve integral packing for the collapsible basket holder. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved packing 
structure which is simple in construction and convenient for packing 
collapsible basket holder without the help of any tool. 
Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from 
the following description of the preferred embodiment when taken together 
with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, there is shown generally a 
box-like structure 1 comprising main walls 11 and 12, top wall 13, and an 
openable bottom wall 17 for packing a collapsible basket holder 100 (see 
FIG. 3). A trough structure 10 located in the upper central portion of the 
box-like structure 1 for partially revealing a top horizontal member of 
the collapsible basket holder 100 that the same is portable for 
transportation. A detailed description will follow later. For the purpose 
of strutting the main walls 11 and 12 in a substantially parallel 
relationship, a tongue member 19 and mating slit 182 (see FIG. 2) are 
provided at the bottom of the trough structure 10. Additionally, in order 
to provide an openable bottom wall 17 for the box-like structure 1, the 
bottom ends 111 and 121 of main walls 11 and 12 are respectively provided 
with a plurality of lug members 112 and mating slits 123. Detailed 
descriptions will be given later. 
FIG. 2 shows the packing structure 1 of FIG. 1 in an unfolded position. It 
is noted that the packing structure 1 is constructed of a sheet of 
rectangular cardboard 2 which may be folded along lines 14 and 15. The 
trough structure 10 is exactly located in the central portion of cardboard 
2 by cutting along lines 16, 16' and 183 in sequence with known cutting 
apparatus. Further cutting is made along line 20 to obtain a tongue member 
19 integral with main wall 11. The mating slit 182 relative to the tongue 
member 19 is located along foldable line 181 on main wall 12. 
When the cardboard 2 in FIG. 2 is folded into the box-like structure 1 of 
FIG. 1, the redundant portion 18, 191 and 192 resulted from th afore-said 
cutting may be forced into the box-like structure 1 by hands along 
respective foldable lines 181 and 195, the tongue member 19 is thus 
guidable to the mating slit 182 without retardation. To achieve 
engagement, the tongue member 19 should be folded along line 194 to let 
the free end thereof positioned in alignment with the mating slit 182. The 
indentation of the mating slit 182 is very helpful for the afore-said 
alignment. With finger-tips holding the tongue member 19, a light push is 
then applied until foldable line 194 comes to meet the mating slit 182 and 
the free end of tongue 19 is thus pinched between the inner surface of 
main wall 12 and the redundant portion 18. The portion 193 straddling onto 
main walls 11 and 12 is substantially flush with foldable line 181 and 195 
to strut the central portions of main walls 11 and 12 in a substantially 
parallel relationship by having a width corresponding to the width of top 
wall 13. 
In order to provide an opening between wall 17 for the box-like structure 
1, the bottom end 111 of main wall 11 is provided with a plurality of lug 
members 112 which are foldable along line 113. For the purpose of 
engagement, mating slits 123 relative to the lug members 112 are located 
at the bottom end 121 of main wall 12. The mating slits 123 are similar in 
constructions to the mating slit 182, but they are indented in an opposite 
direction relative to the slit 182. As indicated in FIG. 2, lug members 
112 are each bilaterally matched to form catching structures 112' when the 
bottom ends 111 and 121 of main walls 11 and 12 are folded along foldable 
line 114 and the aligned mating slits 123 respectively in a laminated 
relationship to form the bottom wall 17. Lug members 112 suitably engage 
the associated mating slits 123 as shown in FIG. 1. Because top wall and 
bottom wall 17 are equal in width, main walls 11 and 12 are strutted in a 
substantially parallel relationship in combinations with the tongue member 
19 engaging the mating slit 182. The bottom wall 17 thus formed is 
openable only by the disengagements of lug members 112 from the mating 
slits 123. 
FIG. 3 is a perspective view briefly showing a collapsible basket holder 
100 consisting of symmetric frames 106 and 107, the symmetric frames are 
jointed by means of cross bars 104 in combination with plug-in connectors 
105. In the preferred embodiment, frames 106 and 107 each comprise four 
runners 102 having rough-like cross-section 103 and evenly spaced with 
both ends attached to respective vertical members 101. Apparently, 
pluralities of the basket holder 100 may be stacked vertically for holding 
more baskets (not shown) if desired. 
For packing, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the box-like structure 1 is 
half-opened, while the basket holder 100 of FIG. 3 is collapsed by 
removing the plug-in connectors 105 and the cross boards 104 thereafter, 
the symmetric frames 106 and 107 are then laid to overlap each other in a 
manner that the opposite runners 102 are interlocked with trough 
cross-sections 103 It is appreciated that the interlocked runner 102 in 
the overlapped frames 106 and 107 occupy the same size as the box-like 
structure 1 that the same may be compactly packed with vertical members 
101 left outside the opened side ends of the box-like structure 1 as shown 
in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 also shows the trough structure 10 in the box-like 
structure 1 partially revealing the upper most interlocked runners 102 of 
the packed frames 106 and 107, by which the packed basket holder 100 is 
portable with one hand for transportation. As stated earlier, trough 
structure 10 is centrally located at the top wall 13 of the box-like 
structure 1. This will cause the carrier of the basket holder 100 to grip 
the central portion of the uppermost interlocked runners 102 accordingly, 
the basket holder with the packing structure of the present invention may 
be carried with better balance. 
It can be seen in FIG. 4 that the cross bars 104 are stacked in two groups 
and are going to rest on the lower two interlocked runners 102 
respectively as indicated by the chain lines. The two groups of cross bars 
104 may be secured to the afore-said runners with bindings such as 
adhesive tape; however, to avoid distrubing the afore-said balance, they 
should be first centered with the overlapped frames 106 and 107. Although 
its is not shown in FIG. 4, the plug-in connectors 105 may be remained in 
the open ends of the cross bars 104 to achieve integral packing. FIG. 6 is 
a cross-sectional view of FIG. 5 along line 6--6 clearly showing the 
element disposal of the basket holder in the packing structure of the 
present invention according to the manner disclosed in the preferred 
embodiment. 
From the foregoing descriptions and illustrations, it is evident that the 
present packing structure is coupled with a simplicity of design which 
contributes to a lower cost of manufacture. In addition, the compact 
structure of the present invention thoroughly solves the problem inherent 
in the conventional packing structures. The basket holder with the present 
packing structure is thereby immune from the high cost of transportation. 
Furthermore, the present packing structure is not at all weighted with the 
basket holder contained therein, the present packing structure therefore 
may be remain intact, which is advantageous to promoting purchase.