Jewelry box with a linking assembly which permits hanging of jewelry thereon

A jewelry box includes an upper cover member with a rim and a lower container body with a surrounding wall. The rim of the upper cover member is hinged to a top edge of the surrounding wall of the lower container body in such a manner that the upper cover member is turnable from a closed position in which the upper cover member is superimposed on the lower container body, to an open position in which the upper cover member permits access into the lower container body. The jewelry box further includes a linking assembly having a pair of upper linking arms, a pair of lower linking arms and at least one elongated horizontal hanging bar. Each of the upper linking arms has an upper end pivoted to an inner side of the rim of the upper cover member, and a lower end. Each of the lower linking arms has an upper end pivoted to the lower end of one of the upper linking arms, and a lower end pivoted to an inner side of the surrounding wall of the lower container body. The elongated horizontal hanging bar has two end portions mounted on one of the pairs of upper and lower linking arms. The hanging bar is used to hang jewelry thereon.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a jewelry box, more particularly to a 
jewelry box with a linking assembly which permits hanging of jewelry 
thereon. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional jewelry box 10 which includes an upper 
cover member 12 with a rim 15 and a lower container body 13 with a 
surrounding wall 11. The rim 15 of the upper cover member 12 is hinged to 
a top edge of the surrounding wall 11 of the lower container body 13 in 
such a manner that the upper cover member 12 is turnable from a closed 
position in which the upper cover member 12 is superimposed on the lower 
container body 13, to an open position in which the upper cover member 12 
permits access into the lower container body 13. The lower container body 
is formed with a plurality of compartments for placing jewelry, such as 
rings, earrings, necklaces, etc., therein. Although the conventional 
jewelry box 10 permits the placing of jewelry therein, it has the 
following drawbacks: 
The compartments for receiving jewelry are generally provided in the lower 
container body 13. The upper cover member 12 is only used for covering the 
lower container body 13 and is not efficiently utilized. The capacity of 
the jewelry box 10 is thus severely limited. Certain jewelry, such as 
necklaces and earrings, which are possibly placed in the same compartment 
due to the limited capacity that is provided, are liable to get entangled 
with each other. This results in inconvenience for the consumer. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The main object of this invention is to provide a jewelry box with a 
linking assembly which permits hanging of jewelry thereon. 
Accordingly, the jewelry box of this invention includes an upper cover 
member with a rim and a lower container body with a surrounding wall. The 
rim of the upper cover member is hinged to a top edge of the surrounding 
wall of the lower container body in such a manner that the upper cover 
member is turnable from a closed position in which the upper cover member 
is superimposed on the lower container body, to an open position in which 
the upper cover member permits access into the lower container body. The 
jewelry box is further provided with a linking assembly which includes a 
pair of upper linking arms, a pair of lower linking arms and at least one 
.elongated horizontal hanging bar. Each of the pair of upper linking arms 
has an upper end pivoted to an inner side of the rim of the upper cover 
member, and a lower end. Each of the lower linking arms has an upper end 
pivoted to the lower end of a respective one of the upper linking arms, 
and a lower end pivoted to an inner side of the surrounding wall of the 
lower container body. The hanging bar has two end portions mounted on one 
of the pairs of upper and lower linking arms. The hanging bar is formed 
with means for hanging jewelry thereon. Therefore, the jewelry box 
according to this invention is capable of receiving more jewelry than the 
conventional ones. The jewelry box of this invention achieves not only the 
purpose of receiving jewelry, but also the function of displaying jewelry 
which are hung on the linking assembly thereof. When the upper cover 
member is turned to the open position to permit access into the lower 
container, the jewelry on the linking assembly are displayed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Before this invention is described in greater detail, it should be noted 
that like elements are indicated by the same reference numerals throughout 
the disclosure. 
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the first preferred embodiment of the jewelry 
box 60 according to this invention is shown to include an upper cover 
member 61 with a rim 62 and a lower container body 63 with a surrounding 
wall 64. The rim 62 of the upper cover member 61 is hinged to a top edge 
of the surrounding wall 64 of the lower container body 63 in such a manner 
that the upper cover member 61 is turnable from a closed position in which 
the upper cover member 61 is superimposed on the lower container body 63, 
to an open position in which the upper cover member 61 permits access into 
the lower container body 63. The jewelry box 60 further includes a linking 
assembly (L) with a pair of upper linking arms 20, a pair of lower linking 
arms 30 and an elongated horizontal hanging bar 50. 
Each of the pair of upper linking arms 20 has an upper end pivoted to a 
respective upper mounting plate 21 that is mounted on an inner side of the 
rim 62 of the upper cover member 61, and a lower end pivoted to a circular 
pivot unit 32. Each pivot unit 32 is formed with a peripheral groove 321. 
The lower end of each of the upper linking arms 20 extends into the 
peripheral groove 321 of the respective pivot unit 32. Each of the pair of 
upper linking arms 20 is formed with a through hole 22 and a recess 23 
adjacent to the through hole 22. 
Each of the pair of lower linking arms 30 has an upper end that is pivoted 
to the respective pivot unit 32 and that extends into the peripheral 
groove 321 of the pivot unit 32, and a lower end pivoted to a respective 
lower mounting plate 31 that is mounted on an inner side of the 
surrounding wall 64 of the lower container body 63. 
The elongated hanging bar 50 has two end portions, each of which is formed 
with a mounting hole 51 and is provided with a positioning member 40 that 
is mounted on one of the pairs of upper linking arms 20. The hanging bar 
50 has an upper longitudinal edge formed with a plurality of notches 52 
for retaining jewelry therein. 
Each of the positioning members 40 has a rear wall part 45 formed with a 
positioning hole 44 that is registered with the mounting hole 51 in a 
respective end portion of the elongated hanging bar 50. The rear wall part 
45 of each of the positioning members 40 is mounted on a respective end 
portion of the hanging bar 50 by means of a screw 53. Each of the 
positioning members 40 further has a side wall part 46 that is connected 
to the rear wall part 45 to form a substantially L-shaped structure. The 
side wall part 46 of each of the positioning members 40 is formed with a 
screw hole 41 that is registered with the through hole 22 formed in a 
respective one of the upper linking arms 20, and a protrusion 42 that is 
received in the recess 23 formed in a respective one of the upper linking 
arms 20. The side wall part 46 of each of the positioning members 40 is 
mounted on an inner side of a respective upper linking arm 20 by means of 
a bolt 24. The rear wall part 45 and the side wall part 46 of each of the 
positioning members 40 have bottom edges. Each of the positioning members 
40 further includes a base plate 43 which interconnects the bottom edges 
of the rear and side wall parts 45, 46 for supporting a respective end 
portion of the hanging bar 50 thereon. 
To assemble the jewelry box 60 according to this invention, the positioning 
members 40 are respectively brought to the inner sides of the upper 
linking arms 20 such that the screw holes 41 are respectively registered 
with the through holes 22 and that the protrusions 42 are respectively 
received in and engage the recesses 23. The bolt 24 is passed through the 
through hole 22 to engage the screw hole 41 so as to mount one of the 
positioning members 40 on the inner side of a respective one of the upper 
linking arms 20. The upper and lower mounting plates 21 and 31 provided on 
the upper and lower linking arms 20 and 30 are respectively fastened to 
the inner sides of the rim 62 of the upper cover member 61 and the 
surrounding wall 64 of the lower container body 63 in such a manner that 
the each pair of upper and lower linking arms 20 and 30 are disposed 
oppositely at the inner side of the jewelry box 60. The upper and lower 
linking arms 20 and 30 are folded when the jewelry box 60 is closed and 
are unfolded when the jewelry box 60 is opened. The two end portions of 
the elongated hanging bar 50 are subsequently disposed on the base plates 
43 of the positioning members 40 and are mounted thereon by means of screw 
fasteners 53, each of which extends through the positioning hole 44 and 
engages the mounting hole 51. The hanging bar 50 is now ready for hanging 
jewelry, such as earrings 54, thereon. 
Therefore, when the upper cover member 61 is turned to the open position, 
the upper and lower linking arms 20 and 30 are unfolded so as to display 
the earrings 54 on the hanging bar 50, as shown in FIG. 3. In contrast, 
when the upper cover member 61 is turned to the closed position, as shown 
in FIG. 4, the hanging bar 50 is folded together with the upper and lower 
linking arms 20 and 30. During the folding and unfolding of the linking 
assembly (L), the rear walls 45 of the positioning members 40 are kept 
substantially vertical so that the earrings 54 on the hanging bar 50 do 
not drop off. 
FIG. 5 illustrates a second preferred embodiment of the jewelry box 60A 
according to this invention. Instead of notches, the hanging bar 70 is 
formed with a plurality of forwardly extending hook projections 71 for 
hanging jewelry, such as necklaces, thereon. 
FIG. 6 shows a third preferred embodiment of the jewelry box according to 
this invention. Note that the linking assembly of the jewelry box of this 
embodiment includes both the hanging bar 50 for hanging earrings and the 
hanging bar 70 for hanging necklaces. In this situation, two pairs of 
positioning members 40 are necessary for mounting the hanging bars 50, 70 
on the upper linking arms 20. Moreover, it is possible to mount a 
plurality of hanging bars 50 or 70 on both the upper and lower linking 
arms 20 and 30 if sufficient space is provided in the jewelry box. 
With the use of the jewelry box of this invention, the upper cover member 
is efficiently used to increase the capacity of the jewelry box. The 
jewelry box according to this invention also achieves the function of 
displaying jewelry and is therefore more convenient and practical to use. 
With this invention thus explained, it is apparent that numerous 
modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope 
and spirit of this invention. It is therefore intended that this invention 
be limited only as indicated in the appended claims.