Cartridge

A cartridge includes a base, a tray and a latching element. The base has a boss. The tray is slidably mounted on the base. The base has a cartridge spring corresponding to the tray. The cartridge spring provides the tray a resilient force. The latching element has an eccentric hole that receives the boss of the base. A spring connects the latching element to the base so that the latching element can secure the tray to the base or release the tray from the base. It enhances the retaining of the tray so that even when the cartridge is impacted by an external force, the tray can still be kept closed. The cartridge of the invention provides advantages such as being highly stable, having fewer components, is easy to assemble, and costs less than prior art models.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to a cartridge, and more particularly to a cartridge that does not tend to open when subjected to an external impact, and therefore has improved stability.

2. Description of the Related Art

A conventional cartridge, such as Taiwan Patent No. 307148 published on Jun. 1, 1997, discloses an automatic drawer that includes a tray and a handle. The tray has a track piece and a lid engaged with the track piece. The track piece has a track rail with a recess. A block comes to be embedded in the lid by the sliding movement of a resilient element which is mounted between the lid and the block. The handle has a swinging arm which has a sliding rod. By means of securely mounting the tray in a desk, the handle is securely mounted opposite to the drawer and extends into the tray. After the drawer is pushed, the sliding rod first moves along the track rails of the tray and is then positioned in the recess of the track rail so that the drawer can be opened. When the drawer is pushed again, the sliding rod moves out of the recess and withdraws from the track rail so that the drawer can be closed.

However, when the conventional drawer is pushed a first time, the tray cannot be held securely and can be accidentally opened. Specifically, when the drawer is subject to an external impact, the drawer tends to open, resulting in poor stability. Besides, the conventional drawer needs significant number of components, which translates to increased costs and labor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of the invention is to provide a cartridge that can securely hold a tray even when the cartridge is impacted by an external force, and therefore has improved stability.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cartridge that has fewer components, is easy to assemble and therefore costs less.

In order to achieve the above and other objectives, the cartridge of the invention includes a base, a tray, and a latching element. The base has a boss. The tray is slidably mounted on the base. The base has a cartridge spring corresponding to the tray. The cartridge spring provides the tray a resilient force. The latching element has an eccentric hole that receives the boss of the base. A spring connects the latching element to the base so that the latching element can secure the tray to the base or release the tray from the base. It enhances the retaining of the tray so that even when the cartridge is impacted by an external force, the tray can still be kept in a closed status when not being used. The cartridge of the invention provides advantages such as high stability, fewer components, and fast and ease of assembly with an overall lower cost.

To provide a further understanding of the present invention, the following detailed description illustrates embodiments and examples of the present invention, this detailed description being provided only for illustration of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Wherever possible in the following description, like reference numerals will refer to like elements and parts unless otherwise illustrated.

Referring toFIG. 1throughFIG. 4, the cartridge of the invention includes a base10, a tray20, and a latching element30.

The base10can be a base provided with at least one tray20, for example a work desk, a multi-functional processor, or a printer. In a case in which the base10is a multi-functional processor, a spring receiver11is formed inside the base10opposite to the tray20. An opening111is formed at a front end of the spring receiver11to communicate with the interior of the spring receiver11. The spring receiver11further has a cartridge spring12.

The base10has a column-shaped boss protruded from the base10. A slot is formed around the boss13. On a top of the boss13is formed a recess131which has a protrusion132with a slanting top surface133. The base10further has a retainer15having a round-profile fixing hole151.

The tray20can be a drawer or a paper box. In one embodiment of the invention, the tray20is a paper box for holding paper. The tray20is disposed on the base10in a manner in which the tray20is able to slide back and forth along the base10. A rib21protrudes from a rear of the tray20in a manner to correspond to the cartridge spring12so that the rib21is allowed to penetrate through the opening111of the spring receiver11to stretch into the spring receiver11and push against the cartridge spring12. The cartridge spring12applies a forward force to the tray20.

A first rib22and a second rib23are configured to protrude from a bottom of the tray20, spaced away from each other at a distance. The first rib22is an L-shape and has a propping part221corresponding to the latching element30. The second rib23has a bent part231extending along the first rib22. The bent part231has a hook232protruding there from.

The latching element30has a free front end and a resilient hooking part31extending from the free front end. The latching element30further includes a stopper32and a ring part33. The stopper32has a triangle shape and is connected to one side of the latching element30. A guiding face321extends from the stopper32toward the resilient hooking part31at a certain angle from the direction of the resilient hooking part31. The ring part33has a substantially ellipse shape, and is connected to the latching element30at the opposite side to the stopper32. The ring part33has an eccentric hole331on an interior of which a flange332is formed. When the eccentric hole331receives the boss13, the flange332comes to abut against the boss13so that the latching element30is pivotally connected to and rotated against base10. A slanting face333is formed on a bottom of the flange332to correspond to the slanting top surface133.

An L-shaped leg34extends from a bottom of the ring part33. The leg34has a round-profile fixing hole341. The leg34penetrates through the slot14and the fixing hole341to reach one end of the spring16. The other end of the spring16connects to the fixing hole151of the retainer15. The latching element30thereby fixes the tray20to the base10or the released tray20from the base10.

Referring toFIG. 5, from a top view of the cartridge of the invention, the leg34of the latching element30connects to the spring16. The spring16drives the latching element30to resiliently move, forcing the latching element30to move back and forth on one predetermined path.

Referring toFIG. 6andFIG. 7, when the tray20is to be closed, the tray20is pushed toward a rear of the base10so that the first rib22of the tray20is driven to be against the guiding face321of the stopper of the latching element30. The first rib22drives the latching30to move along the guiding face321so that the latching element30pivotally rotates against the boss13clockwise. After the flange332of the latching element30rotates over the protrusion132of the boss13, the latching element30is drawn by the spring16so that the slanting face333of the flange332cooperates with the slanting top surface133of the protrusion132to engage the flange332with the protrusion132. Thereby, the latching element30is securely propped onto the boss13. After the first rib22passes by the stopper32, the propping part221stops the latching element30from rotating.

Referring toFIG. 8, when the latching element30is securely propped by the boss13and stopped by the first rib22, the tray20keeps sliding backward until the bent part231comes to contact the resilient hooking part31of the latching element30and makes the resilient hooking part31resiliently deformed. At this time, the hook232of the bent part231comes into one side of the latching element30. Meanwhile, the rib21at the rear of the tray20comes into the spring receiver11through the opening111to reach against the cartridge spring12.

Referring toFIG. 9, when the tray20is released, the rib21of the tray20is applied with a resilient force by the cartridge spring12so that the whole tray20is driven to move forward. At this moment, the latching element30lies against the propping part221of the first rib22, and the second rib23drives the latching element30to move forward. Thereby, the flange332of the latching element30departs from the protrusion132of the boss13, and the hook232of the bent part231comes to engage with the resilient hooking part31of the latching element30. The popping part221of the first rib22remains stopped by one side of the latching element30. Thereby, the latching element30forces the tray20to be secured inside the base10.

Referring toFIG. 10andFIG. 11, when the tray20is to be withdrawn from the cartridge, the tray20is pushed again to slide backward and thus to press the cartridge spring12. When the first rib2of the tray20is back to the rear of the latching element30and thus releases the latching element30, the latching element30is drawn by the spring16to rotate counterclockwise. The resilient hooking part31of the latching element30is released from the hook232of the bent part231and thereby the tray20is released. The latching element30which is drawn by the spring16returns to its original position as shown inFIG. 5. At this moment, the cartridge spring12at the rear of the tray20applies a resilient force to the tray20to force the tray20to move forward a certain distance. In this way, the base10is driven to open.

Thereafter, the tray20can be drawn out of the base10. When the tray20is drawn out, the first rib22is pushed to be against the rear of the stopper32to drive the latching element30to rotate counterclockwise, which allows the tray20to be easily drawn out. After the first rib33completely passes the latching element30, the latching element30is driven to rotate clockwise by the spring16to return to its original position as shown inFIG. 5.

Therefore, the cartridge of the invention can be closed when the tray20is pressed at first time, and opened when pressed a second time. The cooperation of the latching element30with the ribs22,23of the tray20offers the releasing and securing of the tray20. The spring16provides a resilient force to the latching element30to force the latching element30to move on a predetermined path. When the tray20is closed, the resilient hooking part31of the latching element30engages with the hook232of the second rib23, and the propping part221of the tray20is stopped by one side of the latching element30. This enhances the retaining of the tray20so that even when the cartridge is impacted by an external force, the tray20can still be kept in a closed status. The cartridge of the invention provides advantages such as being highly stable, has fewer components, and is fast and easy to assembly.

It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the above description is only illustrative of specific embodiments and examples of the present invention. The present invention should therefore cover various modifications and variations made to the herein-described structure and operations of the present invention, provided they fall within the scope of the present invention as defined in the following appended claims.