Abstract:
A roller box assembly includes a roller box and a bedding product contained in the roller box. The roller box includes a cardboard box portion, a pair of fixed-axis wheels, and a handle. The fixed-axis wheels are disposed along a corner edge of a bottom portion of the box portion. The handle portion is attached to the top portion of the box portion. In one embodiment, the bedding product is a mattress that has been compressed and rolled into a cylinder shape. A retail customer can purchase the bedding product at a retail store, and can then transport the purchased product out of the store by pulling the box from the handle such that the box rolls on its rollers.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 from, nonprovisional U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/541,368 entitled “Mattress Transporting Roller Box,” filed on Sep. 30, 2006, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. Application Ser. No. 11/541,368, in turn, is a continuation of, and claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119 from, Chinese Patent Application No. 200620055540.0, filed in China on Feb. 23, 2006, the contents of which are also incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The described embodiments relates to a roller box, and more particularly to a roller box assembly for retaining and transporting a bedding product. 
       BACKGROUND INFORMATION 
       [0003]    In the retail sale of mattresses, it can be difficult for the customer to purchase and take home a mattress due to the size and weight of the mattress. The difficulty and cost of scheduling a delivery to the customer&#39;s home can serve as an impediment to a sale. It is, however, now known to compress a mattress and to provide the mattress to the customer in a compressed state in a box at the retail store. 
         [0004]      FIG. 1  (Prior Art) is a perspective view of the top  1  and the sides  2  and  3  of one such box  4 .  FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the bottom  5  and sides  2  and  3  of the box  4  of  FIG. 1 . Box  4  contains a compressed and rolled foam mattress. Box  4  has a substantially cubical shape that is about three feet on a side. The customer may extend his/her arms forward, and push on the top surface of the box, thereby causing the box to roll on four casters  6 - 9  in front of the customer. In this way, the customer who has purchased the mattress can roll the mattress in box  4  out of the store and to the customer&#39;s vehicle. Provided that the customer has an adequately large vehicle, the customer can transport the mattress home in its box without having to schedule a delivery and to wait for delivery of the mattress. Improvement in this shipping and delivery mechanism is desired. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    A roller box assembly includes a roller box and a bedding product contained in the roller box. The roller box includes a box portion, a pair of fixed-axis wheels, and a handle. In one embodiment, the box portion is made of cardboard. The fixed-axis wheels are disposed along a corner edge of a bottom portion of the box portion. The handle portion is attached to the top portion of the box portion. Each of the fixed-axis wheels has an axis that extends in a line. The line is disposed between the plane of the upper surface of the top portion and the plane of the bottom surface of the bottom portion. The line is parallel to the two planes, and does not intersect either plane. In one embodiment, the bedding product is a coil form innerspring mattress that has been compressed and placed in a first bag. The compressed and bagged mattress is then rolled into a cylindrical shape. The resulting rolled structure is taped to hold the cylindrical shape, and is placed in a cylindrical-shaped second bag to prevent the rolled mattress from unrolling and putting undue outward pressure on the box portion. 
         [0006]    The roller box is used in a novel method whereby a retail customer purchases a mattress in a retail store, and then transports the mattress out of the retail store by pulling on the handle of the roller box assembly and thereby rolling the roller box out of the store on the two fixed-axis wheels of the roller box. 
         [0007]    Further details and embodiments are described in the detailed description below. This summary does not purport to define the invention. The invention is defined by the claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    The accompanying drawings, where like numerals indicate like components, illustrate embodiments of the invention. 
           [0009]      FIGS. 1-2  (Prior Art) are perspective views of a box that contains a compressed foam mattress. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a top portion of a box portion of a roller box assembly in accordance with one novel aspect. 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a bottom portion of the box portion of the roller box assembly of  FIG. 3 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the bottom portion of the box portion of the roller box assembly of  FIG. 3 , showing the first and second bottom flaps opened to reveal the bottom insert portion. 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a view the roller box of the roller box assembly of  FIG. 3 , when the roller box is partially disassembled to reveal how the bottom insert portion is attached to the first sidewall of the box portion. 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of one of the wheels of the roller box assembly. 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  is a side view of the roller box assembly of  FIG. 3 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the bedding product that is contained in the box portion of the roller box assembly of  FIG. 3 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the compressed and rolled mattress of the bedding product of the roller box assembly of  FIG. 3 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]      FIG. 3  is a top-down perspective diagram of a top portion  100  of a box portion of a roller box assembly in accordance with one novel aspect.  FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a bottom portion  101  of the box portion of the roller box assembly of  FIG. 3 . The roller box assembly includes a roller box  102  and a bedding product (not shown, see  FIGS. 9 and 10 ) that is disposed within the roller box. Roller box  102  includes the box portion, a first fixed-axis wheel  107 , a second fixed-axis wheel  108 , and a handle  109 . The box portion includes the top portion  100 , four sidewalls  103 - 106 , and the bottom portion  101 . A linearly-extending corner edge  110  is formed where the bottom portion  101  meets sidewall  103 . Each of the fixed-axis wheels  107  and  108  is disposed along the corner edge  110  such that the axes of wheels  107  and  108  are substantially collinear and extend parallel to corner edge  110 . Top portion  100  includes four flaps, where each of the flaps extends from one of the four sidewalls. The flaps are folded over the enclosed volume of the box to form top portion  100 . In  FIG. 3 , a piece of tape  111  is illustrated holding top flaps  112  and  113  down and in place. The other two top flaps  114  and  115  are not illustrated because they are covered by top flaps  112  and  113  in the view of  FIG. 3 . 
         [0019]    Bottom portion  101  includes a first bottom flap  116 , a second bottom flap  117 , and a bottom insert portion  118 . First bottom flap  116  extends from sidewall  104 . Second bottom flap  117  extends from sidewall  105 . The first and second bottom flaps  116  and  117  are folded over and into the same plane so as to form a planar bottom surface of the box portion. Bottom insert portion  118  (also referred to as the “inner plate” of the bottom portion) may be made of a cardboard material that is more rigid than the plurality of sidewalls. In  FIG. 4 , a piece of tape  119  is illustrated holding first and second bottom flaps  116  and  117  folded over and in place. 
         [0020]      FIG. 5  is a perspective diagram that shows the tape  119  removed and that shows the first and second bottom flaps  116  and  117  opened to reveal bottom insert portion  118 . Bottom insert portion  118  has a bottom surface disposed in a first plane. This first plane is parallel to the planar bottom surface of the box formed by the first and second flaps  116  and  117  when flaps  116  and  117  are folded down. Notches  120  and  121  are provided in flaps  117  and  116 , respectively, to accommodate and fit around wheels  107  and  108 , respectively. Tab extension portions  122  and  123  of sidewall  106  fit into accommodating receiving slits  124  and  125  in bottom insert portion  118 . A top surface (not shown) of bottom insert portion  118  forms the actual inside bottom surface of the roller box. 
         [0021]      FIG. 6  is a view of roller box  102  when it is partially disassembled. In the view of  FIG. 6 , the flaps of the top and bottom portions are opened, and a glued joint between sidewalls  104  and  106  is broken such that the various panels ( 103 - 106 ,  112 - 117 ) can be unfolded. In the presently described embodiment, the panels  103 - 106  and  112 - 117  are different parts of a single piece of cardboard as illustrated in  FIG. 6 . A lip extension  126  is provided along the edge of sidewall  106  for attaching sidewall  106  to sidewall  104 . 
         [0022]    In the view of  FIG. 6 , the bottom insert portion  118  is shown attached to sidewall  103 .  FIG. 7  is a perspective view of wheel  107 . Wheel  108  is identical to wheel  107 . Wheel  107  is made of hardened plastic and includes a wheel  127 , a wheel housing  128 , and an axle  129 . Wheel housing  128  includes two attachment extensions  130  and  131 , each of which is provided with a hole for receiving a retaining bolt. Attachment extension  130  forms a flat surface that extends in a first plane, and attachment extension  131  forms a flat surface that extends in a second plane, where the two planes are perpendicular to each other. Bottom insert portion  118  includes folded up edge portions  132  and  133  for engaging sidewalls  103  and  106 , respectively. Bottom insert portion  118  is attached to sidewall  103  by placing the attachment extension  130  of wheel  107  on the underside side (in the position illustrated) of panel  103 . The threaded shaft of a bolt is extended up through the hole in attachment portion  130 , through a hole in sidewall  103 , through a hole in edge portion  132 , and up through a hole in a rigid strip member  134 . A nut  135  engages threads on the shaft of the bolt such that a washer on the top side (as illustrated) of rigid strip member  134  sandwiches rigid strip member  134 , edge portion  132 , and sidewall  103  between the washer and attachment extension  130 . The combination of edge portion  132  and rigid strip member  134  serve to distribute the force due to the weight of the box and its contents from wheels  107  and  108  into sidewall  103 . A second rigid strip member  136  and sets of nuts and bolts attach the wheels  107  and  108  to the base portion  137  of bottom insert portion  118  as illustrated. A third rigid strip  138  and sets of nuts and bolts attach the handle  109  to top flap  112  as illustrated. 
         [0023]      FIG. 8  is a side view of the roller box assembly of  FIG. 3 . Distance A between the plane  139  of the upper surface of top portion  100  and the plane  140  of the bottom surface of bottom portion  101  is at least three feet in this embodiment. The axis  141  of wheels  107  and  108  extends in a line parallel to plane  139  and parallel to plane  140  such that the line is located between the two planes but does not intersect either plane. In the embodiment of  FIG. 8 , the line of axis  141  is also located between the vertically-extending plane of sidewall  103  and the vertically-extending plane of sidewall  106 . 
         [0024]      FIG. 9  is a diagram of bedding product  142  that is contained in roller box  102  of the roller box assembly of  FIG. 3 . Bedding product  142  in this example includes a compressed and rolled up pocket coil innerspring mattress  143  and a cylindrical-shaped bag  144 . In one example, the mattress is placed in a first bag  145 , and the mattress is compressed between two surfaces so that it appears as a flattened mattress disposed in the first bag. Air is prevented from reentering the first bag, thereby facilitating keeping the mattress in its flattened compressed state. The flattened compressed mattress in first bag  145  is rolled into a cylinder form. Pieces  146  and  147  of tape are applied to prevent the roll from unrolling. The result appears as illustrated in  FIG. 10 . The roll of  FIG. 10  is then placed in second bag  144 . Second bag  144  has a cylindrical-shape that has a diameter substantially equal to the width of the panels  103 - 106 . Second bag  144  has a drawstring (not shown) for pulling the upper end of the bag closed. The resulting bedding product  142  is illustrated in  FIG. 9 . Bedding product  142  is slid into the open top of the roller box, and the flaps  112 - 115  are folded down and taped in place so that the roller box assembly appears as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . For additional information on one example of bedding product  142 , see: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/458,359, filed Jul. 18, 2006, entitled “Method Of Packaging An Innerspring Mattress”, published as U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2007/0204566 (the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference). 
         [0025]    Although certain specific embodiments are described above for instructional purposes, the teachings of this patent document have general applicability and are not limited to the specific embodiments described above. Accordingly, various modifications, adaptations, and combinations of various features of the described embodiments can be practiced without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.