Storage box adapted to be assembled easily for storing substantially flat articles therein

Abstract: A storage box includes a casing (40) and a one-piece frame unit (40). The casing (40) includes a pair of first upright lateral panels opposite to each other, and a substantially flat bottom wall (402) transversely interposed the first upright lateral panels to define a front open chamber. The frame unit (50) includes a pair of second upright lateral panels opposite to each other which define therebetween a width slightly larger than that of the first upright lateral panels so as to be press fitted in the chamber. A flange portion (50a) is formed on a front edge of each of the second upright lateral panels for abutting against a front edge of each of the first upright lateral panels so as to prevent further movement of the frame unit (50) when the frame unit (50) is press fitted into the chamber. A plurality of first parallel ribs (510) are transversely formed on each of the second upright lateral panels so as to define a plurality of flat article receiving slots in the chamber. The lengths of each of the second upright lateral panels as well as each of the first parallel ribs (510) are shorter than one half of a length in a transverse direction of each of the first upright lateral panels.

Description: The invention relates to a storage box, more particularly to a storage box for storing substantially flat articles, like compact discs, therein. A conventional storage box for storing substantially flat articles includes a rectangular outer casing, a rectangular inner casing, and a rectangular frame unit. The outer casing is formed with a frontward extension. The inner casing is disposed inside the outer casing and includes a vertical rear wall, a horizontal upper wall, a horizontal bottom wall, two opposite vertical side walls, and a partition wall formed between the side walls so as to define two compartments on two sides of the partition wall. Each of the side walls and the partition wall is formed with a plurality of ribs which define a plurality of flat article receiving slots in each of the compartments accessible from the front portion thereof. The side walls cooperatively define an inverted L-shaped door sliding groove for accommodation of a vertically movable flexible door panel therein. The frame unit has a peripheral groove press fitted by the frontward extension of the outer casing such that the frame unit prevents disengagement of the inner casing from the outer casing. Note that the conventional storage box includes several parts and therefore requires several steps to assemble the same. For example, the inner casing needs to be assembled before being disposed in the outer casing. During assembly, if the side walls and the partition wall of the inner casing are not carefully arranged and precisely measured, misalignment of the ribs between the side walls and the partition wall may occur, thereby resulting in the formation of inclined receiving slots. one such storage box is described in US-A-5320244, which document is used for the delimitation of claim 1. The object of this invention is to provide a storage box which includes a relatively small number of components so as to facilitate assembly thereof. Another object of this invention is to provide a storage box which has flat article receiving slots that are defined by a plurality of aligned ribs. In accordance with the invention we provide a storage box for storing substantially flat articles, comprising a casing including a pair of first upright lateral panels each having an inner surface and an outer surface, and a substantially flat bottom wall transversely interposed between the first upright lateral panels to define a front open chamber; a one-piece plastic frame unit including a pair of second upright lateral panels each having an inner surface and an outer surface; a plurality of first parallel ribs transversely formed on each of the second upright lateral panels so as to define a plurality of flat article receiving slots in the chamber; characterised in that the outer surfaces of said second upright lateral panels define between them a width slightly larger than the width between the inner surfaces of said first upright lateral panels so as to be press fitted in said chamber; a flange portion disposed on a front edge of each of the second upright lateral panels for abutting against a front edge of each of the first upright lateral panels so as to prevent further movement of the frame unit into the chamber when press fitted; wherein the length of each of the second upright lateral panels as well as the length of each of the first parallel ribs is shorter than one half of the length of each of the first upright lateral panels, all lengths being measured in a transverse direction extending into the chamber. Because the frame unit is separately formed and can be press fitted to the chamber attachment of the frame unit is thus facilitated. Other features and advantages of this invention will become more apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is schematic view of a storage box of this invention; Figure 2 is an exploded view of the preferred embodiment; and Figure 3 is a perspective view of a modified storage box of this invention. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the preferred embodiment of a storage box for storing substantially flat articles is shown to include rectangular casing 40, a one-piece rectangular frame unit 50, and two slide doors 54. As illustrated, the casing 40 includes a pair of first upright lateral panels each of which defines an inner surface 401 and an outer surface, and a substantially flat bottom wall 402 transversely interposed between the inner surfaces 401 of the first upright lateral panels to define cooperatively a front open chamber. An engagement extension 41 projects frontwardly from the front edge of each of the first upright lateral panels. The frame unit 50 includes a pair of second upright lateral panels each of which has an inner surface 501, an outer surface 502 and thus defines a width slightly larger than that of the first upright lateral panels so that the rear section 51 of the frame unit 50 can be press fitted into the chamber of the casing 40. A flange portion 50a is formed on a front edge of the second upright lateral panels and has a rearward engaging groove 50b press fitted by the engagement extension 41 of the casing 40. Thus, the flange portion 50a abuts against the front edge of the first upright lateral panels of the casing 40 to prevent further movement cf the frame unit 50 during the press fit operation. A plurality of first parallel ribs 510 are transversely formed on each of the inner surfaces 501 of the second upright lateral panels so as to define a plurality of flat article receiving slots in the chamber. The frame unit 50 also includes an upright partition plate 52 disposed between the second upright lateral panels to divide the frame unit 50 into two portions 50c. A plurality of second parallel ribs 520 are transversely formed on two opposite sides of the partition plate 52 to define a plurality of flat article receiving slots which are located on two sides of the partition plate 52. The frame unit 50 has two pairs of longitudinal grooves 53 respectively formed in front portions thereof between the inner surfaces 501 of the second upright lateral panels to slidably receive the slide doors 54 so as to close and open the chamber. Note that the lengths of each of the second upright lateral panels, as well as each of the first and second parallel ribs 510, 520, are shorter than one half of a length in a transverse direction of each of the first upright lateral panels. The frame unit 50 can be separately formed, such as by means of an extrusion machine, and can be easily attached to the casing 40 by mere pressing. Misalignment of the ribs 510, 520 on the second upright lateral panels and the partition plate 52 does not occur. Referring to Figure 3, a modified preferred embodiment is shown and has a structure generally similar to that of the previous embodiment except that each of the ribs 510a, 520a in the modified preferred embodiment is provided with an upwardly extending element 55 at a front end thereof. The rear wall 40b of the casing 40a is provided with a plurality of resilient studs 155 which correspond to the slots so as to cushion an inserted flat article in order to prevent damage to a rear side of the flat article when the article is inserted into the receiving slot.

Claims: A storage box for storing substantially flat articles, comprising a casing (40) including a pair of first upright lateral panels each having an inner surface (401) and an outer surface, and a substantially flat bottom wall (402) transversely interposed between the first upright lateral panels to define a front open chamber; a one-piece plastic frame unit (50) including a pair of second upright lateral panels each having an inner surface (501) and an outer surface (502); a plurality of first parallel ribs (510) transversely formed on each of the second upright lateral panels so as to define a plurality of flat article receiving slots in the chamber; characterised in that the outer surfaces (502) of said second upright lateral panels define between them a width slightly larger than the width between the inner surfaces (401) of said first upright lateral panels so as to be press fitted in said chamber; a flange portion (50a) disposed on a front edge of each of the second upright lateral panels for abutting against a front edge of each of the first upright lateral panels so as to prevent further movement of the frame unit (50) into the chamber when press fitted; wherein the length of each of the second upright lateral panels as well as the length of each of the first parallel ribs (510) is shorter than one half of the length of each of the first upright lateral panels, all lengths being measured in a transverse direction extending into the chamber. The storage box according to Claim 1, characterized in that the flange portion (50a) of the frame unit (50) is formed with a rearward engaging groove (50b), the casing (40) including an engagement extension (41) which projects frontwardly from the front edge of each of the first upright lateral panels so as to be engaged within the engaging groove (50b). The storage box according to Claim 2, characterized in that the frame unit (50) includes an upright partition plate (52) disposed between the second upright lateral panels to divide the frame (50) unit into two portions (50c), and a plurality of second parallel ribs (520) transversely formed on each of two opposite sides of the partition plate (52), the plurality of second parallel ribs (520) on each side of the partition plate defining a plurality of flat article receiving slots. The storage box according to Claim 3, further characterized by two slide doors (54), wherein the frame unit (50) has two pairs of longitudinal grooves respectively formed in front portions thereof between the second inner surfaces (501) to slidably receive the two slide doors so as to close and open the chamber selectively. The storage box according to claim 4, characterized in that the casing (40a) further has a plurality of resilient studs (155) disposed on a rear wall (40b) thereof and generally corresponding to the slots so as to cushion a read side of the flat article.

Inventors: YU JACKSON, YU, JACKSON
Applicants: YU JACKSON, YU, JACKSON
Application year: 1997
Main classification: G11B33
IPC codes: A47B81, G11B33