Abstract:
A packaging container includes a base, a cover including a resilient unit and defining a deformable slot at the resilient unit, and a positioning hinge member provided at the base and rotatably received at the deformable slot to pivotally couple the cover with the base so as to enable the cover being pivotally folded between an opened position and a closed position, wherein the positioning hinge member has a non-circular cross section and is arranged in such a manner that when the positioning hinge member is rotated within the deformable slot, the resilient unit generates a resilient restoring force to assist the cover being folded between the opened and closed positions.

Description:
NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT 
     A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to any reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The prevent invention relates to a packaging container. 
     2. Description of Related Arts 
     China Patent CN201494698U disclosed, on Jul. 8, 2011, a lockable box comprising a box body, a base and a locker, wherein the locker comprises a locking ring, a locking member and a resilient hook. The locking ring is provided at one end of the locking member while the resilient hook is provided at another end of the locking member. The base is provided in the box body, wherein the base has a through hole formed at a sidewall of the base and communicated to an exterior of the box body through a sidewall of the box body. A raised platform is formed at a contact area between the base and the box body, wherein the raised platform has a diameter larger than a diameter of the through hole, such that the resilient hook is detachably inserted into the through hole to lock up the box body. 
     China Patent CN201890435U disclosed, on Jun. 2, 2010, a food packaging box comprising a bowl body, a bowl cover, and a sealing ring. A one-way valve, which is provided on the bowl body, comprises an air outlet, a spring, a silicon sealer, and an air duct. The air duct is engaged with the air outlet. The spring and the sealer are coupled at the air duct at a position that the spring is located on top of the sealer. The bowl cover is clipped on the bowl body via a pressurized clipper to seal the bowl body by the bowl cover. 
     China Patent CN202080500U disclosed, on Dec. 21, 2011, a pullable box comprising an exterior box body, an interior box body, and a sliding arrangement slidably coupled the interior box body with the exterior box body. The front end of the interior box body is coupled at a box cover of the exterior box body at a front end thereof. The pullable box further comprises a positioning unit provided between the sidewalls of the exterior and interior box bodies. The positioning unit comprises an elongated member provided at the sidewall of the interior box bodies, and a plurality of resilient members spacedly provided at the elongated member, and a blocking piece provided at the sidewall of the exterior box body. Accordingly, two ends of each of the resilient members are coupled at the elongated member to bend the resilient member at a curved configuration at the elongated member. When the interior box body is slidably coupled in the exterior box body, the blocking piece is selectively engaged with one of the resilient members to retain the relative position between the exterior and interior box bodies. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the packaging box, including the above three mentioned China Patents, generally comprises a base  11 , a cover  12 , and a metal or plastic made hinge  13  pivotally coupled the cover  12  with the base  11 . The hinge  13  has a circular cross section. In particular, the cover  12  can be pivotally coupled with the base  11  between an opened position and a closed position. There are two mainly closing structures for the packaging box to retain the packaging box at the closed position. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a first closing structure of the packaging box, wherein the hinge  13 , having the circular cross section, is made of either metal or plastic to pivotally couple the cover  12  with the base  11 . A first clipping member  111  and a second clipping member  121  are provided at the base  11  and the cover  12  respectively, wherein each of the first and second clipping members  111 ,  121  can be a fixed or movable clipper. When the cover  12  is pivotally folded to close the base  11 , the first and second clipping members  111 ,  121  are engaged with each other to retain the packaging box at the closed position. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a second closing structure of the packaging box, wherein a first engaging member  211  and a second engaging member  221  are provided at the base  21  and the cover  22  respectively, wherein each of the first and second engaging members  211 ,  221  can be a fixed or movable coupler. When the cover  22  is pivotally folded to close the base  21 , the first and second engaging members  211 ,  221  are engaged with each other to retain the packaging box at the closed position. 
     SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     In order to overcome the above mentioned disadvantages, the present invention provides a packaging container, which does not require any external locking device to lock up packaging container at the closed position. Therefore, the invention is advantageous in that it provides a packaging container to keep the aesthetic appearance without adding any external locking device at the exterior of the packaging container. 
     According to the present invention, the foregoing and other objects and advantages are attained by a packaging container which comprises a base, a cover, a mirror, and a positioning hinge member. The positioning hinge member, which has a non-circular cross section, can be coupled at the base or directly mold-injected to the base to form an integrated structure. The cover is pivotally coupled with the base through the hinge members to pivotally fold between an opened position and a closed position. A folding portion of the cover is self-deformed with respect to the positioning hinge member to generate an opening/closing force to assist the opening/closing movement of the packaging box. 
     In particular, the cover comprises a resilient unit formed at the folding portion of the cover, wherein a deformable slot, which is an opening slot, is provided at the resilient unit to receive the positioning hinge member. The deformable slot has a corresponding cross section matching with the positioning hinge member and can be self-deformed by adjusting a width thereof. In addition, an upper clipping point and a lower clipping point are defined at an upper inner wall and a lower inner wall of the deformable slot respectively. 
     Furthermore, the positioning hinge member has a parallelogram and defines a preloaded corner, a cornering point and a positioning corner. 
     According to the present invention, the structure of the non-circular positioning hinge member of the packaging container is totally different from the structure of the conventional circular axle of the packaging box. The packaging container of the present invention does not require any locking device provided at either the base or the cover in order to lock up the packaging container at the closed position, so as to keep the aesthetic appearance of the packaging container. In addition, when the packaging box is folded between the opened and closed positions, a resilient restoring force is generated to assist the opening/closing movement of the packaging box without any spring installed into the packaging box, so as to substantially reduce the manufacturing cost of the packaging box. The packaging box of the present invention can be formed as a packaging box, packaging case for mobile phone, food packaging container, medication packaging container, which incorporates the positioning hinge member to pivotally couple the cover with the base. 
     Additional advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the description which follows, and may be realized by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particular point out in the appended claims. 
     Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings. 
     These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a conventional packaging box with a first closing structure. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a conventional packaging box with a second closing structure. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a packaging container according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein  FIG. 3   a  illustrates the packaging container at an opened position, wherein  FIG. 3   b  illustrates a pivot structure of the packaging container via a non-circular positioning hinge member, wherein  FIG. 3   c  illustrates the non-circular positioning hinge member of the packaging container. 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of a packaging container according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a sectional view of the packaging container according to the above second preferred embodiment of the present invention illustrating the packaging container at a closed position. 
         FIG. 6  is a partially enlarged view of the hinge member of the packaging container according to the above second preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  illustrates the self-deformed cover of the packaging container according to the above second preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a partially enlarged view of the hinge member of the packaging container according to the above second preferred embodiment of the present invention, illustrating the relationship between the cover and the positioning hinge member. 
         FIG. 9  is a sectional view of the packaging container according to the above second preferred embodiment of the present invention illustrating the packaging container at an opened position. 
         FIG. 10  is a partially enlarged view of the hinge member of the packaging container according to the above second preferred embodiment of the present invention, illustrating the relationship between the cover and the positioning hinge member at an opened position. 
         FIG. 11  illustrates a first installation method of the positioning hinge member of the packaging container according to the above first and second preferred embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG. 12  illustrates a second installation method of the positioning hinge member of the packaging container according to the above first and second preferred embodiments of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The following description is disclosed to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the present invention. Preferred embodiments are provided in the following description only as examples and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The general principles defined in the following description would be applied to other embodiments, alternatives, modifications, equivalents, and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3  of the drawings, a packaging container according to a first embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, wherein the packaging container comprises a base  31 , a cover  32 , a mirror  34 , and one or more positioning hinge members  33 . The positioning hinge member  33 , which has a non-circular cross section, can be coupled at the base  31  or directly mold-injected to the base  31  to form an integrated structure. The cover  32  is pivotally coupled with the base  31  through the hinge members  33  to pivotally fold between an opened position and a closed position. When the cover  32  is pivotally folded to close the base  31 , a folding portion of the cover  32  is self-deformed with respect to the positioning hinge member  33  to generate a closing force to retain the packaging container at the closed position. Likewise, the folding portion of the cover  32  is self-deformed with respect to the positioning hinge member  33  to generate an opening force to retain the packaging container at the opened position. 
     The below description illustrates the operation of the packaging container of the present invention. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , during the opening operation of the cover  32 , the cover  32  is pivotally folded from the base  31 . When the cover  32  is pivotally folded at a predetermined opening angle, the folding portion of the cove  32  is self-deformed to generate the resilient opening force to push the cover  32  at the opening direction until the cover  32  is fully opened. During the closing operation of the cover  32 , the cover  32  is pivotally folded toward the base  31 . When the cover  32  is pivotally folded at a predetermined closing angle, the folding portion of the cove  32  is self-deformed to generate the resilient closing force to push the cover  32  at the closing direction until the cover  32  is fully closed. 
     According to the preferred embodiment, the cover  32  comprises a resilient unit  37  formed at the folding portion of the cover  32 , wherein a deformable slot  371 , which is an opening slot, is provided at the resilient unit  37  to receive the positioning hinge member  33 . The deformable slot  371  has a corresponding cross section matching with the positioning hinge member  33  and can be self-deformed by adjusting a width thereof. In addition, an upper clipping point  372  and a lower clipping point  373  are defined at an upper inner wall and a lower inner wall of the deformable slot  371  respectively. When the cover  32  is pivotally folded between the opened and closed positions, the positioning hinge member  33  is rotated within the deformable slot  371 . Since the positioning hinge member  33  is a non-circular axle, the upper and lower clipping points  372 ,  373  will limit the non-axially movement of the positioning hinge member  33  to prevent any offset between the cover  32  and the base  31  during the opening or closing operation of the cover  32 . 
     According to the present invention, the positioning hinge member  33  has a parallelogram shape and defines a preloaded corner  33   a , a cornering point  33   b  and a positioning corner  33   c . The positioning hinge member  33  is rotated from the preloaded corner  33   a  to the positioning corner  33   c  through the cornering point  33   b  in order to pivotally fold the packaging container from the closed position to the opened position. When the packaging container is at the closed position that the cover  32  covers on the base  31 , the positioning hinge member  33  is received in the deformable slot  371  at a position that the resilient unit  37  is deformed to generate the closing torque to retain the packaging container is at the closed position. The preloaded corner  33   a  of the position hinge member  33  will limit the opening movement of the cover  32 . Accordingly, the closing torque will transform as the resilient closing force to ensure the packaging container at the closed position. During the opening operation, the cover  32  is pivotally folded with respect to the base  31  to rotate the positioning hinge member  33  within the deformable slot  371 . At the same time, the width of the deformable slot  371  is gradually increasing during the rotation of the positioning hinge member  33 . In other words, the resilient restoring force of the resilient unit  37  is gradually increasing as well. When the positioning hinge member  33  is rotated at a position that the coming point  33   b  of the positioning hinge member  33  biases against the inner wall of the deformable slot  371 , the resilient restoring force of the resilient unit  37  will be maximized. It is worth mentioning that the cover  32  will tend to pivotally fold to its opened position when the coming point  33   b  of the positioning hinge member  33  biases against the inner wall of the deformable slot  371 . Once the positioning hinge member  33  is further rotated to pass the coming point  33   b  thereof, the width of the deformable slot  371  is rapidly reduced. Therefore, the resilient restoring force of the resilient unit  37  will force the cover  32  to pivotally fold to the opened position at the positioning corner  33   c  of the positioning hinge member  33 . In other words, the packaging container of the present invention does not require any external opening force manually to open the packaging container. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , a packaging container of a second embodiment illustrates an alternative mode of the first embodiment of the present invention. The packaging container comprises a base  41 , a cover  42 , and a positioning hinge member  43  provided at the base  41 , wherein a mirror  44  is provided at the cover  42 . The positioning hinge member  43 , which has a non-circular cross section, can be coupled at the base  41  or directly mold-injected to the base  41  to form an integrated structure. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , a packaging container of a third embodiment illustrates an alternative mode of the first embodiment of the present invention. The packaging container comprises a base  51 , a cover  52 , and a positioning hinge member  53  provided at the base  51 . The positioning hinge member  53 , which has a non-circular cross section, can be coupled at the base  51  or directly mold-injected to the base  51  to form an integrated structure. The cover  52  further has a resilient unit  521  provided at the folding portion to engage with the positioning hinge member  53 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , a packaging container comprises a base  61 , a cover  62 , and a positioning hinge member  63  provided at the base  61 . The positioning hinge member  63 , which has a non-circular cross section, defines a preloaded corner  63   a . The cover  62  further has a resilient unit  621  provided at the folding portion to engage with the positioning hinge member  63 . The preloaded corner  63   a  of the position hinge member  63  will limit the opening movement of the cover  62  and will generate the closing torque  661  to ensure the packaging container at the closed position. 
     As shown in  FIG. 7 , a packaging container of a fourth embodiment illustrates an alternative mode of the first embodiment of the present invention. The packaging container comprises a base  71 , a cover  72 , and a positioning hinge member  73  provided at the base  71 . The positioning hinge member  73 , which has a non-circular cross section, can be coupled at the base  71  or directly mold-injected to the base  71  to form an integrated structure. The cover  72  further has a resilient unit  721  provided at the folding portion to engage with the positioning hinge member  73 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 8 , a packaging container comprises a base  81 , a cover  82 , and a positioning hinge member  83  provided at the base  81 . The positioning hinge member  83 , which has a non-circular cross section, defines a cornering point  83   b . The cover  82  further has a resilient unit  821  provided at the folding portion to engage with the positioning hinge member  83 . When the positioning hinge member  83  is rotated at the cornering point  83   b  to maximize the resilient restoring force of the resilient unit  821 , the cover  82  is pivotally folded with respect to the base  81  at a threshold angle  861 . When a folding angle between the base  81  and the cover  82 , i.e. the folding operation of the packaging container between the opened and closed positions, is smaller than the threshold angle  861 , the resilient unit  821  will generate the resilient restoring force to push the cover  82  toward the base  82  so as to close the packaging container. When the folding angle between the base  81  and the cover  82  is larger than the threshold angle  861 , the resilient unit  821  will generate the resilient restoring force to push the cover  82  away the base  82  so as to open the packaging container. 
     As shown in  FIG. 9 , a packaging container of a fifth embodiment illustrates an alternative mode of the first embodiment of the present invention. The packaging container comprises a base  91 , a cover  92 , and a positioning hinge member  93  provided at the base  91 . The positioning hinge member  93 , which has a non-circular cross section, can be coupled at the base  91  or directly mold-injected to the base  91  to form an integrated structure. The cover  92  further has a resilient unit  921  provided at the folding portion to engage with the positioning hinge member  93 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 10 , a packaging container comprises a base  101 , a cover  102 , and a positioning hinge member  103  provided at the base  101 . The positioning hinge member  103 , which has a non-circular cross section, defines a positioning corner  103   c . The cover  102  further has a resilient unit  1021  provided at the folding portion to engage with the positioning hinge member  103 . When the positioning hinge member  103  is rotated at the positioning corner  103   c , the resilient restoring force of the resilient unit  821  is minimized. Therefore, the cover  102  can be stably retained at the opened position. 
       FIG. 11  illustrates the first installation structure of the packaging container which comprises a base  111  and a positioning hinge member  112  slidably inserted to the base  11  from a sidewall thereof. Alternatively, a positioning hinge member  113  can be slidably coupled at a base  114  from a bottom thereof. 
       FIG. 12  illustrates the second installation structure of the packaging container, wherein a positioning hinge member  1211  is mold-injected to a base  121  to form an integrated structure. 
     One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting. 
     It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. The embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.