Gift container

A gift container including a lid. Also, included is a bottom member. The bottom member has a base portion with four peripheral side walls integral therewith and interconnected one to another to form a box-like structure that is capable of being covered by the lid. Lastly, a plurality of holders are provided. Each holder has a front wall and a bottom end that is attached to one of the side walls of the bottom member. Each holder has a pair of accordion-like side walls that are connected to the front wall and the side walls of the bottom member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a gift container and more particularly 
pertains to providing a box that holds one large gift and further 
including pockets for holding twelve smaller gifts. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
The use of a box is known in the prior art. More specifically, boxes 
heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of storage are known to 
consist basically of familiar, expected, and obvious structural 
configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the 
crowded prior art which has been developed for the fulfillment of 
countless objectives and requirements. 
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,469 to Seifert discloses a 
multi-sectional storage container. U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,227 to Corey 
discloses a expansion folder with accordian-pleat backbone. U.S. Pat. No. 
5,299,688 to McKay et al. discloses a storage device and system for card 
collections. U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,659 to Jones discloses a collapsible 
container. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,888 to Bryan discloses a closure 
for a container. 
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and 
requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a gift container 
that allows a single box to be used as a container for a plurality of 
gifts to be opened over a period of time. 
In this respect, the gift container according to the present invention 
substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the 
prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for 
the purpose of providing a box that holds one large gift and further 
including pockets for holding twelve smaller gifts. 
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a 
new and improved gift container which can be used for providing a box that 
holds one large gift and further including pockets for holding twelve 
smaller gifts. In this regard, the present invention substantially 
fulfills this need. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of boxes 
now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved 
gift container. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, 
which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a 
new and improved gift container and method which has all the advantages of 
the prior art and none of the disadvantages. 
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a lid that has 
a top portion with four peripheral side walls. Included is a bottom member 
that has a base portion with four peripheral side walls. The bottom member 
has at least four common corner edges that are formed by interconnecting 
adjacent side walls of the bottom member. The four peripheral side wall 
are interconnected at the common corner edges to form the bottom member 
into a box-like structure. The bottom member has a :shelf within an 
interior of the bottom member. The shelf is spaced from the base portion 
and parallel with the base portion. The shelf is attached to the side 
walls and capable of supporting a large gift member within the bottom 
member. Lastly, a plurality of holders are provided. Each holder has at 
least three pocket parts. Each holder has a front wall, a bottom end and a 
pair of dividers. The bottom end of each holder is attached to one of the 
side walls of the bottom member. Each holder has a pair of accordion-like 
side walls connected to the front wall and the pair of dividers. Each 
accordion-like side wall of each holder has a back edge that is attached 
to the common corner edges of the side walls of the bottom member. Each 
accordion-like side wall is attached to the bottom end and capable of 
allowing expansion and retraction of the respective holder. Whereby, when 
the holders is retracted the bottom member is in receipt of the lid. 
Additionally, when the lid is removed form the bottom member the holders 
expand for receipt of smaller gift members. 
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features 
of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that 
follows may be better understood and in order that the present 
contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, 
additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter 
and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention 
in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its 
application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the 
components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the 
drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being 
practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood 
that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose 
of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting. 
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon 
which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the 
designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the 
several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, 
that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions 
insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present 
invention. 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and 
improved gift container which has all of the advantages of the prior art 
boxes and none of the disadvantages. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved 
gift container which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and 
marketed. 
It is further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved 
gift container which is of durable and reliable constructions. 
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and 
improved gift container which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture 
with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then 
susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making 
such gift container economically available to the buying public. 
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a gift 
container for providing a box that holds one large gift and further 
including pockets for holding twelve smaller gifts. 
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and 
improved gift container including a lid. Also, included is a bottom 
member. The bottom member has a base portion with four peripheral side 
walls integral therewith and interconnected one to another to form a 
box-like structure that is capable of being covered by the lid. Lastly, a 
plurality of holders are provided. Each holder has a front wall and a 
bottom end that is attached to one of the side walls of the bottom member. 
Each holder has a pair of accordion-like side walls that are connected to 
the front wall and the side walls of the bottom member. 
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various 
features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with 
particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this 
disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating 
advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should 
be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there 
is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1 thereof, 
the preferred embodiment of the new and improved gift container embodying 
the principles and concepts of the present invention and generally 
designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described. 
The present invention, the gift container 10 is comprised of a plurality of 
components. Such components in their broadest context include a lid, a 
bottom and holders. Such components are individually configured and 
correlated with respect to each other so as to attain the desired 
objective. 
Specifically, the present invention includes a lid 12. The lid has a top 
portion 14 with four peripheral side walls 16 that are integral the top 
portion. The lid, as seen in FIG. 1, may be formed of paper, cardboard, 
wood or plastic. 
Also, a bottom member 20 is provided, The bottom member has a base portion 
22 with four peripheral side walls 24 that are integral the base portion. 
The bottom member of FIG. 2 is formed of the same material used to make 
the lid. The bottom member has at least four common corner edges 26 that 
are formed by interconnecting adjacent side walls 24 of the bottom member. 
The four peripheral side walls are interconnected at the common corner 
edges and form the bottom member into a box-like structure. The bottom 
member of the present invention is not limited to the box-like shape as 
depicted in the Figures. The bottom member could have a rectangular shape. 
The bottom member 20 has a shelf 28 within an interior 32 of the bottom 
member as seen in FIG. 6. The shelf is spaced from the base portion and 
parallel. The shelf is attached to the side walls 24 of the bottom member. 
The shelf is capable of supporting a large gift 34 member within the 
bottom member. The present invention depicts the large gift member as a 
coffee mug. The large gift member is not limited to a coffee mug. It is to 
be understood that the gift member is not required to be as large as a 
coffee mug. A foam pad 36 may be placed over the large gift to protect it 
from damage when the lid covers the bottom member. 
As best illustrated in FIG. 2, a plurality of holders 36 are provided. Each 
holder has pocket parts formed within. Each holder has a front wall 38, a 
bottom end 42 and a pair of dividers 44 positioned within each holder. The 
pair of dividers section the pocket parts into at least three pockets 46 
within each holder. Twelve is the total number of pockets formed around 
the side walls of the bottom member. The bottom end of each holder is 
folded under and fixedly attached to one of the side walls of the bottom 
member, as seen in FIG. 3. Each holder has a pair of accordion-like side 
walls 52 connected to the front wall and the pair of dividers. Each 
accordion-like side wall has a back edge 54 that is attached to the common 
corner edges of the side walls of the bottom member. 
Each accordion-like side wall is attached to the bottom end 42 and allows 
expansion and retraction of the respective holder 36. The accordion-like 
side walls are formed from fabric, paper or plastic. Whereby, when the 
holders are retracted the bottom member is capable of receiving the lid, 
and when the lid is removed from the bottom member the holders expand. The 
expansion of the holders allows each pocket part formed by the dividers to 
receive a smaller gift member 58. 
Furthermore, the smaller gift member is in the from of an envelope 58 that 
hold the small gift member. FIG. 4 shows an envelop with a dated 62 on the 
front 64. FIG. 6 shows the envelope being a pouch of coffee. FIG. 5 shows 
the envelop holding a photo 66. These figures depict some of the various 
small gift member types that may be positioned within the holders. One 
small gift may be place in each one of the twelve pockets of the bottom 
member. The bottom member, with the large gift and the twelve small gifts, 
is covered by the lid 12 for presenting to a person. 
The gift container of the present invention is a specialized gift box that 
is used to give a series of gifts. The gifts may be given for opening at 
that moment or for opening twelve months or years later. The bottom member 
has the interior with a shelf for holding the main gift or larger gift. 
Attached to each side wall of the bottom member is a holder that is 
sectioned into a plurality of pockets. Each holder has accordion-like side 
walls that expand and retract as the lid is removed from the bottom member 
or placed over the bottom member. Each pocket of the holder is filled with 
a small gift. The gift giver may imprint the lid with the day, month, and 
year, and the date in each successive year that one of the small gifts is 
to be opened. Each small gift may be imprinted with an opening date. 
As to the manner of usage and operation of the present invention, the same 
should be apparent from the above description. Accordingly, no further 
discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided. 
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the 
optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to 
include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of 
operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to 
one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those 
illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are 
intended to be encompassed by the present invention. 
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the 
principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and 
changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired 
to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and 
described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may 
be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.