Container including variable position compartment dividers

A container such as a tackle box including a plurality of spaced apart partitions defining a plurality of cavities, the faces of the partitions having a plurality of uniformly spaced, generally parallel ribs perpendicular to the container bottom, and divider members extending between the partitions and dividing the cavities, the opposite ends of the divider members having projecting flanges extending in generally opposite directions and having faces adapted to engage the surfaces of the partitions, and the faces having a plurality of uniformly spaced, generally parallel ribs adapted to engage and nest between ribs of the partitions the flanges are each resiliently flexible and each is resiliently biased into engagement with the partitions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to containers, and more particularly to containers 
such as sport tackle boxes having variable position compartment dividers. 
In the manufacture of sport tackle boxes and other similar containers there 
is a need for the container to be divided by partitions which subdivide 
the container into compartments having a size suitable for the articles to 
be placed into the compartments. 
Examples of prior art containers or tackle boxes are illustrated in the 
U.S. Sarver Pat. No. 4,602,715, issued July 29, 1986; the U.S. Cohen Pat. 
No. 3,554,429, issued Jan. 12, 1971; the U.S. LeBlanc Pat. No. 2,718,326, 
issued Sept. 20, 1955; the U.S. Grunwald Pat. No. 2,681,201, issued June 
15, 1954; the U.S. Gollnick Pat. No. 1,666,172, issued Apr. 17, 1928; the 
U.S. Nielson Pat. No. 1,561,351, issued Nov. 10, 1925; and the U.S. Brand 
Pat. No. 710,093, issued Sept. 39, 1902. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The invention provides a container of the type used as a tackle box or the 
like and including at least a pair of spaced apart generally parallel 
partitions defining a cavity, and a divider member extending between the 
pair of partitions and dividing the cavity into a first cavity portion and 
a second cavity portion. The divider member has opposite ends each 
including at least one flange portion having a face in opposed relation to 
one of the partitions, and the flange face having means for engaging the 
partition. The surfaces of the partitions engaged by the flanges of the 
divider member each include a plurality of parallel closely spaced ribs 
and grooves, and the faces of the flanges also each include a plurality of 
closely spaced parallel ribs adapted to cooperate with the opposed ribs of 
the partitions to prevent slideable movement of the dividers in the 
direction of the longitudinal axis of the partitions. The dividers can be 
positioned between the partitions at any one of a large number of 
positions by slideably inserting the divider member in the direction 
perpendicular to the bottom or floor of the container. 
In one embodiment, the opposite ends of the divider member each include a 
pair of flanges extending in opposite directions, each of the flanges 
having a face in opposed facing relation to one of the partitions. 
In one embodiment the flanges of the divider member are resiliently 
flexible and each flange PG,4 is resiliently biased into engagement with 
the partitions. 
It is an object of the invention to provide a compartmentalized container 
or tackle box with means for subdividing the compartments of the container 
or tackle box into spaces of various sizes such that the spaces are well 
suited to hold articles of differing sizes. One of the features or 
advantages of the construction embodying this invention is that the 
divider members engage the partitions such that the dividers will not 
slide out of position in a direction parallel to the length of the 
partitions. The plurality of ribs on the opposed faces of the partitions 
and the flanges cooperate as the divider is inserted between the 
partitions. The cooperation of the ribs prevents the divider member from 
sliding in a direction perpendicular to the ribs. Additionally, the 
plurality of ribs provides the advantage of inserting the divider member 
into innumerable positions such that the compartment may be subdivided 
into compartments of various sizes. 
Various other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent 
to those skilled in the art upon review of the following detailed 
description, claims and drawings. 
Before one embodiment of the invention is explained in detail, it is to be 
understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the 
details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the 
following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is 
capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or being carried out 
in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and 
terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not 
be regarded as limiting.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION 
Shown in FIG. 1 is a compartmentalized container or tackle box 10 including 
a base 11 having a bottom 12, opposite end walls 14 and opposed side walls 
16 and 18. While it will be readily understood that the container 10 could 
have alternative constructions, in the illustrated arrangement, the 
container 10 also includes a cover 20 attached to the base 11 by a 
flexible hinge 22. The container 10 further includes partitions 24 
extending between the side walls 16 and 18 and dividing the volume of the 
base 11 into a plurality of generally parallel compartments 26 of uniform 
width. While the base 11 is illustrated as having four partitions, it will 
also be appreciated that the base 11 could include more or fewer 
partitions 24 and the partitions 24 could be supported in other ways and 
in other arrangements. In the illustrated embodiment, the partitions 24 
include opposite ends joined to the side walls 16 and 18. The partitions 
24 are also illustrated as having a lower edge 30 joined to the bottom 12 
and a linear upper edge 32. The partitions 24 also each have opposite 
generally planar faces 34, the opposite faces 34 each including a 
plurality of closely spaced parallel ribs 36 (FIG. 3) extending from the 
faces 34 of the partitions 24. The ribs 36 are linear and extend generally 
perpendicular to the surface defined by the bottom 12 of the tackle box 
and extend from the lower edge 30 of the partition to the upper edge 32 of 
the partition. The parallel ribs define a plurality of closely spaced 
complementary parallel linear grooves. 
The container 10 also includes at least one divider member 40 which 
subdivides a compartment 26 into two smaller compartments. In the 
preferred embodiment, the divider member 40 includes a planar web 42 
having opposite ends. The opposite ends of the web 42 each support a pair 
of flexible flanges or flange members 44. The flange members 44 each have 
a portion 46 integrally joined to the web 42 of the divider member. Each 
flange 44 also has a free edge 48 which extends away from the web 42 of 
the divider member and in a direction generally away from the flange 
member with which it is paired. In one form of the invention the divider 
members 40 are comprised of a material such as nylon, polypropylene or 
other material which is flexible but which will provide a rigid divider 
when inserted between the partitions. As shown in FIG. 2 when the divider 
members are removed from the container 10, each flange member 44 is 
generally planar and defines an angle greater than ninety degrees 
(90.degree.) with respect to the adjacent face of the web 42. The included 
angle defined by two faces 50 of the flanges 44 is an obtuse angle less 
than 180.degree.. The faces 50 of the flanges 44 each include a plurality 
of closely spaced linear parallel ribs 52 complementary to the ribs 36 of 
the partitions. 
When as shown in FIG. 3, the divider member 40 is inserted between a pair 
of partitions, the resilient flanges 44 are compressed so as to be 
substantially planar such that the divider can be slideably positioned 
between the positions. Because the flanges 44 are resilient and tend to 
flex toward the position shown in FIG. 2, when the divider member 40 is 
positioned between the partitions as shown in FIG. 3, the flanges 44 
resiliently engage the faces of the partitions and the ribs 50 of the 
flanges will engage the implementary ribs 36 of the partitions to prevent 
movement of the divider member 40 in the direction between the sides 16 
and 18. 
Various features of the invention are set forth in the following claims.