CARTON BOX WITH SLIDING DRAWERS

Abstract: A container box (10) comprising a container body (11) slidably housing at least two trays (12, 14) each movable between a retracted position and an extended position, the trays being interconnected by drive means (20) such that movement of one tray (12) to its extended position causes the other tray (14) to be simultaneously moved to its extended position.

Description: CARTON BOX WITH SLID ING DRAWERS The present invention relates to a container box in which articles may be retained. According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a container box comprising a container body slidably housing at least two trays each movable between a retracted position and an extended position, the trays being interconnected by drive means such that movement of one tray to its extended position causes the other tray to be simultaneously moved to its extended position. Preferably the drive means are arranged such that movement of said other tray from its extended position to its retracted position causes said one tray to be simultaneously moved from its extended position to its retracted position. Preferably the container body includes a first sleeve slidably housing said one tray and a second sleeve slidably housing said other tray. The sleeves are preferably located directly one above the other. The container body and trays may be made of any suitable material. Preferably the container body and trays are fabricated from sheet material such as card. Various aspects of the present invention are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a container box according to the present invention. Figure 2 is a sectional view take along line II-II in figure 1 and showing both trays at their retracted position; Figure 3 is a sectional view similar to figure 2 showing both trays at their extended position; Figures 4a, 4b respectively illustrate movement of the trays to their extended and retracted positions; Figure 5 is a blank (not to scale) suitable for forming a tray for use in the box of Figure 1 ; Figure 6 is a blank (not to scale) suitable for forming a container body for use in the box of Figure 1 ; Figure 7 is a plan view of a drive means suitable for use with the container and tray illustrated in Figures 5 and 6. Referring initially to Figure 1 there is shown a container box 10 comprising a container body 11 and a pair of trays 12, 14 (only one being visible in Figure 1). The container body 11 is partitioned internally (see figures 2 and 3) by an internal dividing wall 15 to define two sleeves 16, 17 each of which slidably contains a tray 12, 14 respectively. The trays 12, 14 are drivingly interconnected by drive means 20 preferably in the form of a flexible inextensible strip 21. The strip 21 is anchored at the inner end 26 of tray 12, passes through a guide opening 23 in wall 15, extends above tray 14 towards its inner end 28 and is anchored adjacent said inner end 28 to tray 14. In Figures 1 and 2, the trays 12, 14 are shown at their retracted positions whereat they are fully housed within their respective sleeves 16, 17. As seen in Figures 3 and 4a, movement of tray 12 out of its sleeve 16 pulls strip 21 upwardly through guide opening 23 and thereby simultaneously pulls tray 14 out of its sleeve 17. Continued movement of tray 12 out of sleeve 16 is permitted until it reaches its extended position whereat the majority of the tray 12 projects from sleeve 16. The extended position is conveniently determined by the drive means 20. In this respect, as illustrated, the strip 21 is preferably trained to pass behind the inner end wall 32 of tray 14 and extended upwardly toward opening 23. Preferably the strip 21 is formed from a relatively stiff resilient material, such as a polyacetate sheet, such that as seen in Figure 3 when end wall 32 approaches a region directly beneath the opening 23, the strip 21 bows downwardly to produce bowed portion 21a which interferes with end wall 32 to restrain further outward movement of tray 14. In order to move both trays 12, 14 from their extended position (as in Figure 3) to their retracted position (as in Figure 2) tray 14 is pushed inwardly into sleeve 17 (as shown in Figure 4b). This causes strip 21 to be pulled downwardly through opening 23 and so simultaneously draws the tray 12 into sleeve 16. In order to ensure that tray 12 is pulled by an operative to its extended position (and not tray 14), the container body side walls 36 are preferably provided with recesses 37 which expose sidewalls 38 of tray 12 for gripping by the operative. The container body 11 and trays 12, 14 are preferably fabricated from a sheet material such as card or other similar sheet material but it will be appreciated that the principles of the invention may be applied to containers and trays made of other types of material. For example the container body 11 and/or trays 12, 14 may be fabricated from wood or may be plastics mouldings. A suitable card blank 50 is illustrated in Figure 5 for forming trays 12, 14. The blank 50 includes a bottom forming wall 51 to which side wall panels 52 and each wall panels 53 are attached by fold lines 55, 56 respectively. A slit 57 is provided through which one end of strip 21 (illustrated in Figure 7) is fed. A suitable card blank 60 for forming the container body 11 is illustrated in Figure 6. The blank 60 includes an anchor strip 61 for gluing internally of the container a partition panel 62 an inner sidewall panel 63, a container bottom wall panel 64, a container sidewall panel 65, a container top wall panel 66 and a second container sidewall panel 67. Bottom wall panel is provided with a half height end wall panel 69 which in use defines the end wall 17a of sleeve 17 and top wall panel 66 is provided with an end wall panel 70 which in use defines end wall 16a of sleeve 16. The panel 70 includes tongues 71 for engagement in slits 72 formed in the partition panel 62. The partition panel 62 is provided with two flaps 73 which are spaced apart to define guideway opening 23 in the assembled container 11. It is envisaged that the container box 10 may be used as a packaging box for packaging items for sale. For example one tray may be filled with Christmas cards and the other tray may be filled with envelopes. After purchase of the container box, it is envisaged that the purchaser will continue to use the box for storage of the cards and envelopes or when these are used up, possible other items. It will be appreciated therefore that after purchase, the container box is still a usable box and does not have to be disposed of.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A container box comprising a container body slidably housing at least two trays each movable between a retracted position and an extended position, the trays being interconnected by drive means such that movement of one tray to its extended position causes the other tray to be simultaneously moved to its extended position. 2. A box according to claim 1 wherein the drive means are arranged such that movement of said other tray from its extended position to its retracted position causes said one tray to be simultaneously moved from its extended position to its retracted position. 3. A box according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein the container body includes a first open ended sleeve slidably housing said one tray and a second open ended sleeve slidably housing said other tray, the first and second sleeves being located directly one above the other. 4. A box according to Claim 3 wherein the first and second sleeves are separated by a partition wall and arranged such that the open end of the first sleeve is located at one end of the container body and the open end of the second sleeve is located at the opposite end of the container body such that the direction of movement of said one tray to its extended position is opposite to the direction of movement of said other tray to its extended position. 5. A box according to Claim 4 wherein the drive means comprises a flexible inextensible strip the strip being connected at one end to the inner end of said one tray and being connected at its opposite end to the inner end of the other tray, the strip being threaded through the partition wall adjacent to one end of the container body. 6. A box according to Claim 5 wherein the strip is formed from polyacetate. 7. A box according to any preceding claim wherein each tray is fabricated from a sheet material such as card. 8. A box according to any preceding claim wherein the container body is fabricated from a sheet material such as card.

Inventors: WILKINS ANDRE PHILIP, WILKINS, ANDRE, PHILIP
Applicants: WILKINS ANDRE PHILIP, WILKINS, ANDRE, PHILIP
Application year: 1997
Main classification: B65D5
IPC codes: B65D5