Abstract:
An improved hinge particularly suitable for improving a truck tool box such as is conventionally mountable into a bed of a pick-up truck or the like, the hinge of the invention being decorative, less subject to tampering, capable of increased strength as a hinge per se relative to existing structures utilized in the manufacture of truck tool boxes as well as imparting increased strength to such tool boxes in total, and permitting more automated manufacture of such tool boxes, the hinge of the invention being integrally formed with a portion of the tool box lid and with an adjacent portion of the box to connect said lid and box yet allow ease of rotation therebetween to open and close said box.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates generally to hinge structure and particularly to a hinge conveniently formable in adjacent portions of a tool box lid and box portion to facilitate automated manufacture of the tool box and the hinge. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Tool boxes intended for mounting within the bed of a vehicle such as a pick-up truck conventionally are fixedly yet removably mounted within such a truck bed, most often to the rear of the vehicle passenger compartment. Such tool boxes usually comprise the general shape of a rectangular solid open centrally for receiving tools and the like within a “box” portion that is covered by a lid pivotally attached thereto by means of a hinging structure typically taking the form of a “piano hinge” purchased by a tool box manufacturer and affixed to the box portion and to the lid by means of pop rivets and by spot welds respectively. Manufacture of such tool boxes is thus time-consuming and costly due to purchase of a hinge essentially intended for other uses and adaptable for use only with difficulty in the production of the tool box. Substantial time is required to position the piano hinge respectively on the lid and box portion for riveting and welding, the typical tool box requiring drilling of a number of holes in one longitudinally extending portion of the piano hinge formed typically of aluminum for subsequent placement of pop rivets and the formation of a number of spot welds in another longitudinally extending portion of the piano hinge, these operations typically being manually accomplished and thus being subject to inconsistent and unsightly results which cause such tool boxes to exhibit a less than satisfactory appearance especially in a retail show room where most such tool boxes are viewed by prospective buyers. 
     Compounding the thus stated disadvantages of the use of piano hinges as the essential hinge element of such tool boxes, such as cost of the piano hinge and the cost of attaching an obviously add-on element to the tool box with potential workmanship deficiencies, is the lack of strength inherent in the piano hinge itself and the lack of strength imparted to the tool box per se by the piano hinge. Further, the use of piano hinges in the manufacture of such tool boxes and the like renders difficult the automated manufacture and associated consistency of manufacture characteristic of such automated manufacture and particularly such manufacture as can be accomplished quickly and efficiently with the use of tool and die technology which results in precise and consistent formation of a hinge formed integrally with the lid and box portion of a tool box, such as a conventional truck tool box according to the teachings of the present invention. 
     It can therefore be appreciated that a need exists for an improved truck tool box hinge also useful in other similar environments, wherein the hinge and the tool box itself exhibits improved decorative value and improved strength of the hinge itself and the overall tool box per se and which can be more easily and less expensively manufactured. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention provides a truck bed tool box improved by a hinge formed integrally with the tool box with one portion of the hinge being formed in a flange-like skirt portion of a lid of the tool box and a complementary portion of the hinge being formed in an upper edge of the box portion of the tool box adjacent to the lower edge of a downwardly depending skirt portion of the lid, the hinge acting to allow relative movement between the lid and box portion of the tool box to open and close the tool box, automated manufacturing methodology also being disclosed herein for manufacture of the hinge so as to produce a precise hinge with an attractive appearance bespeaking of a finished product rather than of an add-on quality indicative of an unfinished appearance. The hinge of the invention also provides additional strength to the hinge function itself and also to the relatively light weight and inherently unstable nature of such a tool box occasioned by conventional manufacture of such tool boxes from extremely low gauge aluminum metal or other metals such as rolled steel. The tool box is thus capable of withstanding forces not accommodated by tool boxes of conventional manufacture and design such as those tool boxes wherein a piano hinge is mounted often with inconsistent placement between a lid and box portion of such tool boxes by means of pop rivets and spot welds thereby rendering an expensively produced tool box having relatively low strength coupled with a quality of manufacture of a low degree. 
     The inventive hinge of the invention is also capable of use with tool boxes such as those formed of painted steel including such commercially available products as those known by the trade names of “JOB BOX” and “JOBOX” and which can be carried in the bed of a truck and readily removed therefrom or which can be placed at a work site on at least a semi-permanent basis once delivered thereto, typically in the bed of a truck or the like. Such tool boxes are also typically fabricated with simple, relatively low strength piano hinges as the only structure present on the tool box allowing normal closure function. Piano hinges so used suffer from all of the inadequacies inherent to such use with truck tool box structure fitted with piano hinges even though typically formed of higher gauge aluminum or such metals (except for a stainless steel hinge pin) including cost and difficulty of manufacture of an attractive and easily produced product. 
     Accordingly, it is a primary object of the invention to provide a hinge for a tool box such as a truck bed tool box manufactured with low gauge metal and which hinge increases the finished appearance of such tool boxes relative to conventionally manufactured tool boxes. 
     It is another object of the invention to provide a hinge for a tool box such as a truck bed tool box manufactured with low gauge metal and which hinge increases the strength of the hinging element used in manufacture of the tool box and also of the tool box itself relative to conventionally manufactured tool boxes. 
     It is still a further object of the invention to provide a hinge for a tool box such as a truck bed tool box and which is amenable to manufacture with automated manufacturing procedures capable of precise fabrication of such tool boxes, thereby decreasing manufacturing costs while improving the quality of the manufactured product. 
     It is yet another object of the invention to provide a hinge formed in and disposed between the lid and the box portion of a tool box on which the lid closes and opens the box portion and wherein the hinge replaces a piano hinge as conventionally used therefor and which requires no additional material other than a stainless steel hinge pin beyond that typically required for manufacture of the lid and the box portion and no separate acquisition of a hinge element and no difficult attachment of such acquired hinge element to a lid and box portion of said tool box. 
     Further objects and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent in light of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a prior art truck tool box mountable particularly within the bed of a truck such as a pick-up truck; 
         FIG. 2  is a rear elevational view of a conventional truck tool box with central portions cut away for ease of illustration and showing a prior art piano hinge mounted in a flattened configuration to a rear portion of a lid and a rear portion of the box; 
         FIG. 3  is a rear elevational view of another conventional truck tool box with central portions cut away for ease of illustration and showing a prior art piano hinge mounted in another configuration to adjacent portions of a tool box lid and box; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of one end of a truck tool box formed with the hinge of the invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a detail perspective view of a portion of the hinge of the invention formed integrally of lid and box portions of a truck tool box; 
         FIG. 6  is a plan view of a closed truck tool box according to the invention with a central portion cut away for ease of illustration and illustrating the inability to see the hinge of the invention formed on the tool box from this aspect angle to the tool box; 
         FIG. 7  is a plan view of a truck tool box configured according to the invention with the lid fully open allowing access into the tool box whereby the hinge of the invention is shown; 
         FIG. 8  is a rear elevational view of the invention formed with a truck tool box and with central portions thereof cut away for ease of illustration; 
         FIG. 9  is a side view of the tool box of  FIGS. 4-8 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a side view of the open tool box of  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIGS. 11  A through D are detail sectional views taken through lines  11 A- 11 A and  11 B- 11 B of  FIG. 6  and lines  11 C- 11 C and  11 D- 11 D of  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIGS. 12  A through C are detail views illustrating the forming of a portion of the hinge of the invention on the lid of a truck tool box; 
         FIG. 13  is a detail cut-away perspective view of an upper portion of the box portion of the tool box illustrating a step in the formation of a portion of the hinge in the box; 
         FIG. 14  is a detail cut-away perspective view of portions of a tool box lid and box illustrating a step in the formation of the hinge integral with the tool box; and, 
         FIG. 15  is a rear elevational view of a truck bed tool box illustrating intermittently disposed groups of hinges formed according to the invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to the drawings and particularly to  FIG. 1 , a conventional truck bed tool box is seen at  10  to be fitted with a lid  12  mounted by means of a conventional hinge (not shown) to a box portion  14  and to the lid  12 , the tool box  10  being conventionally outfitted with latches  16  inter alia that may be lockable to preclude unauthorized access to the interior of the tool box  10 . The tool box  10  as shown in  FIG. 1  can be fitted with more than one lid as is also conventional in the art or with the hinging function being otherwise located on the tool box  10  or similar tool box. A tool box such as shown at  10  is typically mounted in the open bed of a vehicle such as a pick-up truck (not shown) immediately to the rear of the passenger compartment and/or may be mounted along sides of said bed or otherwise. The tool box  10  may be outfitted with lift cylinders, detent elements, spacing elements and mounting structure (not shown), these elements facilitating use of the tool box  10  such as for accommodating relatively large and heavy metallic tools and the like useful for effecting various job operations. 
     The tool box  10  is typically fabricated of relatively rigid metal and particularly aluminum sheet metal of requisite strength and corrosion resistance. Aluminum best used for fabrication of such tool boxes typically is formed of conventional thicknesses within a thickness range of from 0.08 to 0.063 mil being useful, the sheets being formed using conventional techniques and then welded or mechanically fastened to produce the lid  12  and the box portion  14  inter alia. Due to the need for such tool boxes to span the width of a truck bed or some similar dimension, such tool boxes are relatively large dimensionally ranging from 50 to 85 inches or nominally so in length, from 18 to 28 inches in depth and from 13 to 15 inches in height. The lid  12  of a conventional tool box  10  is typically formed of a single flat sheet of aluminum or other metal such as steel and can be formed with a bevel at  18  to impart a more pleasing appearance than would a lid  12  formed with the outward appearance of a rectangular solid. Additionally, the lid is formed with downwardly depending skirts on all four sides of the lid. The box portion  14  is often formed as shown in  FIG. 1  with depending end portions  20  and with corners slanted as at  22  on each lower end portion of the box portion  14  to facilitate mounting between wheel hubs (not shown) of a truck or similar vehicle. The lid  12  and box portion  14  may also be provided as is conventional with a diamond tread plate pattern seen generally at  24  and which can extend over the full outer surfaces of the tool box  10  to provide an aesthetic appeal. 
     Due to destabilizing forces incident to use of such tool boxes and caused by general operation of a vehicle to which such tool boxes are mounted as well as the need to open, close and otherwise use tool boxes in an intended manner, it is critical that these tool boxes exhibit strength requirements not typically provided by the sheet material from which the tool boxes are typically formed. Lid structures, for example, have been reinforced in the art by addition of stabilizing foams to enhance strength and rigidity of an otherwise conventional lid. Welds between sheet metal portions of box portions such as the box portion  14  must also be carefully produced for imparting strength and rigidity as well as for reasons of appearance. 
     As can be appreciated with reference to  FIG. 2 , tool box  10  is also provided with a conventional (portions of the hinge  26  typically being formed of aluminum except for a central stainless steel hinge pin as will be described hereinafter) piano hinge  26  joined to the lid  12  and the box portion  14  to permit egress into the tool box  10  as well as closing of the tool box. As seen in  FIG. 2 , fastening wings  28  and  30  of the piano hinge  26  are typically seen to comprise flat, elongated and planar aluminum elements extending lengthwise of the piano hinge  26 , the wing  28  being affixed to a rearmost, downwardly depending, elongated skirt portion of the lid  12  while the wing  30  is also affixed along an upper portion of the box  14  adjacent to the lid  12 , thereby conveniently and conventionally allowing the tool box  10  to be opened and closed. The piano hinge  26  constitutes an add-on mechanism intended for use in other arts and thus imparts an unfinished ad-hoc appearance to the tool box  10  yet the industry has relied on use of piano hinges essentially since its inception even though a piano hinge must be painstakingly placed between a lid structure and a box structure for mounting therebetween by use of either riveting and/or welding operations capable of causing misalignment of the relative portions of the tool box and hinge. The tool box  10  of  FIG. 2 , due to often having the diamond or similar pattern  24  formed thereon forces use of pop rivets  32  for joining the piano hinge  26  to both the lid  12  and the box portion  14 , an operation typically requiring drilling of numerous aligned apertures (not shown) in the wings  28  and  30  for receipt of said pop rivets  32 . Pop rivets are preferred in the piano hinge  26  mounting of the piano hinge  26  to both the lid  12  and the box portion  14  due to the fact that the “diamonds” of the pattern  24  extend above the plane of the metal sheets forming the lid  12  and box portion  14  respectively thus causing the use of spot welds to be less effective in securing the wings  28 ,  30  respectively to the lid  12  and the box portion  14 . 
     The strength of the tool box  10  is not appreciably enhanced through use of a piano hinge  26  as shown in  FIG. 2  in addition to a failure of the piano hinge  26  to enhance the appearance of the tool box  10 . Further, the use of a separately manufactured and costly add-on as is a piano hinge  26  as well as the difficulties and costs associated with attaching the piano hinge  26  to the tool box  10  and further requiring manual efforts to attach the piano hinge  26  to the lid  12  and box portion  14  lead to higher costs due to sourcing of the piano hinges and due to manufacturing processes that are inherently inconsistent resulting in undesirable appearance as well as low strength of the tool box  10  per se as well as at the points of attachment between the lid  12  and the box portion  14  and also leading to increased costs. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a tool box essentially identical to the tool box  10  of  FIGS. 1 and 2  and which is provided with a piano hinge  26  essentially identical to the piano hinge of  FIG. 2  although mounted differently to the lid  12  and to the box portion  14 . In the mounting arrangement of the piano hinge  26  to the tool box  10  as seen in  FIG. 3 , one wing  28  of the hinge  26  is mounted by pop rivets to an upper edge of the box portion  14  since the surface of said box portion  14  is typically covered by a pattern such as the diamond pattern  24 , thereby rendering weldable contact difficult. The other wing  30  of the piano hinge  26  contacts a flat, unpatterned undersurface of a depending skirt of the lid  12  thereby allowing the use of spot welds (not shown) to attach the piano hinge  26  to the lid  12 , spot welds typically being manually effected and thus being time-consuming to produce as well as subject to errors in effectuation. Further, spot welding is subject to “burn thru” to the outside visible surface. The cost of mounting the piano hinge  26  to the tool box  10  as conventionally seen in  FIG. 3  inter alia is therefore costly, does not contribute to a pleasing appearance and is not adaptable to automation with attendantly resulting efficiencies, hinge and tool box strength and consistent and enhanced appearance. 
     As can be appreciated from the foregoing discussion of the prior art, it can be generally stated that conventional manufacture of these tool boxes such as the tool box  10  now produced by virtually every manufacturer of same worldwide can be seen to involve cutting of a flat sheet of metal, typically aluminum sheet, using a conventional laser, turret punch or die to form a blank from which sheet various amounts of metal have been removed to allow bending and folding operations to be accomplished to result in a tool box of a particularly intended conformation. 
     Typically, an hydraulic press brake of conventional design is used to bend each straight side of the blank at a time. In doing so, the blank is rotated after a first operation and successively bent to shape the blank in a desirable manner. In such a process, various bends can be of different lengths and a different bending tool must be mounted into the press brake or the blank taken to a second and/or then third or more press brakes. On completion of all of the required bends, the variously shaped blanks are mounted in a conventional clamping device or welding jig for welding of all corners and locations where the several edges closely oppose each other. Hardware, such as latches, gas shocks, etc., and including a piano hinge  26 , is then attached to the skeleton of the tool box. With particular reference to the piano hinge  26 , the piano hinge  26  is clamped to the box portion  14  of the tool box  10  and aligned therewith and manually drilled and pop riveted one hole at a time in a number of places, typically 12 to 15 places. As noted herein, portions of the piano hinge  26  having flat, elongated surfaces which must be mounted to a bumpy diamond surface of the tool box when diamond tread plate pattern is used requires tedious manufacture. Manufacture of a tool box or the like utilizing the present hinge obviates this tedious manufacture. Welding is utilized conventionally in the form of numerous spot welds where flat portions of the piano hinge  26  contact and abut flat, unpatterned surfaces of the tool box. 
     Referring now particularly to  FIGS. 4 through 14 , a tool box  34  essentially identical to the conventional tool box  10  is seen to be fabricated with a hinge seen at  36  and formed essentially with the tool box  34 , thereby allowing greater use of automation with resultant consistencies of appearance and strength inherent in the configuration of the hinge  36  and in the mode of manufacture thereof. With particular reference to  FIG. 4 , the tool box  34  is seen to comprise a lid  38  and a box portion  40  that are essentially identical to the conventional lid  12  and box portion  14  of prior art  FIGS. 1-3  with the exception of formation of the hinge  36  in adjacent portions of the lid  38  and box portion  40 . Referring now also to  FIG. 5 , the hinge of the invention seen at  36  is formed of interdigitated knuckles  42  as will be described herein, the lid  38  and the box portion  40  essentially comprising the tool box  34  being operable for opening and closing the tool box  34 . However, the hinge  36  is formed without the necessity for a separately obtained and costly piano hinge as seen at  26  in  FIGS. 2 and 3  as is standard in the industry. Moreover, the hinge  36  of the invention is more easily and less costly fabricated as a portion of both the lid  38  and the box portion  40  relative to the prior art piano hinge  26  which is obtained and affixed to the conventional tool box  10  typically through the agency of pop rivets and spot welds. The hinge  36  of the invention exhibits an improved appearance occasioned at least by the “finished” appearance thereof, yields a hinging element of increased strength and which is more readily manufactured such as through use of automated methods than is a tool box conventionally manufactured using a conventional piano hinge such as the piano hinge  26 , manual labor being reduced substantially in the manufacture of the improved hinge  36  and the improved tool box  34 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 6 , the tool box  34  of the invention is seen in a plan view and is seen in this figure as in others to have a conventional diamond tread plate pattern  44  or similar raised pattern formed of individual raised diamonds  46 , the lid  38  being the only portion of the tool box  34  seen in  FIG. 6 . Such raised patterns are commonly employed in tool boxes of the kind shown in the drawings, use of the invention being particularly amenable to accommodation of such patterns during manufacture.  FIG. 6  also provides reference to detail sectional views shown in  FIGS. 11A and 11B  as will be described hereinafter. 
       FIG. 7  is seen to illustrate a plan view of the tool box  34  shown with the lid  38  rotated relative to the box portion  40  as exists in the open position of the tool box  34 , the improved hinge  36  being seen in finished position between the lid  38  and the box portion  40 . The hinge  36  permits an opening of the lid  38  to a degree greater than 90° relative to the box portion  40 .  FIG. 7  also provides reference to  FIGS. 11C and 11D  as will be described hereinafter. 
       FIG. 8  is also seen to provide a view of the tool box  34  with central portions cut away for ease of illustration and showing a rear view of the tool box  34  thus illustrating the attractive and finished appearance of the improved hinge  36  and improved tool box  34  of the invention. 
       FIG. 9  is a simple illustration of the tool box  34  having the lid  38  in closed position relative to the box portion  40 .  FIG. 10  illustrates the lid  38  in a fully open position relative to the box portion  40 ,  FIGS. 9 and 10  illustrating the clean appearance of the improved tool box  34  and the fact that the improved hinge  36  of the invention is not visible from views of side elevations of the toolbox  34  in both open and closed configurations. 
     With reference again to  FIGS. 4 through 14 , the box portion  40  of the improved tool box  34  is welded together from sheet metal blanks as is conventional and so also is the lid  38 . The welded-together box portion  40  and the lid  38  are then respectively positioned in “punch and form dies” (not shown) as is constructed by a person of skill in the art of design and fabrication of forming die structures, the die being designed and fabricated for a tool box  34  of specific dimensions. The punch and form die cuts the material of the metal blank (not shown) at the rear upper edge surface  48  of the box portion  40  after the metal located at this elongated location has been bent in two locations to form a double-bend channel  50  that extends essentially the length of the rear upper edge surface  48  of said box portion  40 . This double-bend channel  50  imparts strength to the box portion  40  and additionally bolsters the structural integrity of the box portion  40  to better facilitate the cutting of the edge surface  48  by the punch and form die while in the same stroke forming a series of tabs  41  in the box portion  40  and a spaced series of tabs  41 . The tabs  41  are deformed outwardly of the edge surface  48  of the box portion  40  with each having an opening  54  subtended one each of the tabs  41 . As the tabs  41  are crimped, each of the tabs  41  is caused to bend inwardly of the edge surface  48  and toward one each of the openings  54  to curl over a hinge pin  58  which is supported in position by distally and inwardly curving portions of similar tabs  51  formed in the lid  38  formed in another punch and form die in depending rear skirt  39  of the lid  38 , the inwardly curving distal portions of the tabs  51  acting to cradle and support the hinge pin  58  immediately prior to crimping of the tabs  41  and the tabs  51  about the hinge pin  58 . The crimped knuckles  42  and  52  are disposed in an offset relation to outer surfaces of the box portion  38 , the crimped knuckles  42  and  52  along with the hinge pin  58  being aligned longitudinally along the longitudinal axis of the hinge pin  58 . Spaces  56  formed in the skirt  39  of the lid  38  receive the crimped knuckles  42  of the box portion  38 . The crimped knuckles  42  and  52  thus are disposed in interdigitating relation. 
     A clamping fixture (not shown) is designed and fabricated for these functions by a person of skill in the art, the knuckles  42  and  52  as well as the pin  58  being curled into cooperative relation using a conventional hydraulic curling/crimping punch (not shown) that moves in an up and down fashion to crimp the tabs  41  and  51  at an exact force, the crimped knuckles  42  and  52  of the hinge  36  being seen in detail sections in  FIGS. 11A and 11B  taken through lines  11 A- 11 A and  11 B- 11 B referred to in  FIGS. 6, and 11C-11C and 11D-11D  of  FIG. 7 . The crimping operation is conducted at a force as will be known to a person of skill in the art to provide smooth operation of the hinge  36 . 
     As is best seen in  FIG. 4 , a notch  62  is seen to be formed in the skirt  39  at an end thereof. The notch  62  relieves the structure to allow the last knuckle  42  to curl around the hinge pin  58 , thereby allowing transition between flat and curled conformations. 
     The improved hinge  36  resulting from the fabrication operations thus described can be formed with differing dimensions of the knuckles  42  and  52  and with differing spacing therebetween as is desired given the exigencies of a given tool box design. For example, spaced end groupings  74  and a central grouping  76  of crimped knuckles  70  (formed from lid  66 ) and crimped knuckles  72  (formed from box portion  68 ) are seen in tool box  64  of  FIG. 15 . Each of the groupings  74 ,  76  include a hinge pin (not seen in  FIG. 15 ) similar to the pin  58  although of a sufficient length to fit the groupings  74 ,  76 . Portions of the lid  66  between the groupings  74 ,  76  can be trimmed as necessary to accommodate a desired degree of opening of the lid  66  and can be accomplished during forming of the lid  66  such as generally discussed hereinabove. Groupings formed of crimped knuckles  70  (from material in the lid  66 ) and crimped knuckles  72  (from material in the box portion  68 ) can be formed of fewer crimped knuckles or a greater number of crimped knuckles as desired. Accordingly, groupings of the crimped knuckles  70 ,  72  can be spaced apart such as at either end of the tool box  34  and in the middle of a hinge also formed according to the invention. Such “spaced” hinge portions can be formed in a single tool box and can be formed at a favorable cost, easy assembly and of a different appearance relative to the hinge  36  seen expressly in certain of the drawings. In general, the nominal dimensions of the spaces  54  and  56  and of the crimped knuckles  42  and  52  inter alia are taken to be on the order of 1.0 inch although such dimensions are exemplary and not intended to limit the scope of the invention as is defined by the recitations of the appended claims.