Patent Publication Number: US-2007120375-A1

Title: Display box

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
      1. Field of Invention  
      The present invention relates to a box, and more particularly to a display box which comprises an aesthetic locking arrangement for selectively locking up a foldable cover of the display box.  
      2. Description of Related Arts  
      A conventional display box typically comprises a box body and a foldable cover pivotally mounted on the box body to selectively enclose a storage compartment defined within the box body. In many occasions, it is desirable that the foldable cover be locked with the box body.  
      As a result, the conventional display box may further comprise a locking device provided on the box body for allowing a user to manually lock up the foldable cover with the box body. There are several reasons that a user may wish to lock up the foldable cover. For example, he/she may wish to prevent unauthorized access to the storage compartment so as to protect the object stored or displayed in the box body. Another reason may be that the user simply wishes to prevent accidental opening of the foldable cover in order to prevent certain inconvenient or embarrassing scenarios.  
      There are two major disadvantages of this type of conventional display box. First, the locking device usually becomes an aesthetically unsound creature appearing on the display box so as to significantly affect an overall aesthetic impression of the objects displayed in the storage compartment. Consequently, the market value or attractiveness of the object displayed in the display box may be severely undermined.  
      Another problem is that a conventional locking device is usually inconvenient, if not difficult, to operate so that many users of conventional display boxes simply choose not to use those display boxes which have the locking devices. For example, they may put the objects displayed to another container or box for convenient carrying or storage.  
      As a matter of fact, some locking devices require the user to prepare a separate lock for locking the foldable cover with the box body. This is very inconvenient and when the user does not have a separate lock at hands, the display box cannot be locked at all.  
     SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
      A main object of the present invention is to provide a display box which comprises an aesthetic locking arrangement for selectively locking up a foldable cover of the display box.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide a display box which comprises the aesthetic locking arrangement, wherein the aesthetic locking arrangement not only conveniently locks up the foldable cover with a main box body, but also optimally match with an aesthetic appearance of the box body and the foldable cover so as to impute an impressive appearance to the display box even when it is provided with the aesthetic locking arrangement.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide a display box comprising an aesthetic locking arrangement which is easy to operate yet facilitating effective locking of the foldable cover. In other words, the present invention is specifically designed to facilitate widespread applications thereof.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide a display box comprising an aesthetic locking arrangement, wherein the user does not need to prepare his/her own separate lock for locking the foldable cover with the box body.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide a display box which does not involve complicated mechanical structure so as to minimize the manufacturing cost as well as the ultimate selling price of the present invention.  
      Accordingly, in order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a display box, comprising:  
      a box body having a storage compartment and an access opening communicating with the storage compartment;  
      a foldable cover having a locker rim portion and a pivot rim portion pivotally connected to the box body to pivotally fold between an opened position that the foldable cover is pivotally unfolded to expose the storage compartment and a closed position that the foldable cover is pivotally folded at the access opening to enclose the storage compartment; and  
      an aesthetic locking arrangement, which comprises:  
      an aesthetic locker comprising a sliding tongue slidably mounted at the box body and a rim locker which is extended from the sliding tongue and is arranged in such a manner that when the sliding tongue is slid towards the box body, the rim locker is substantially engaged with the locker rim portion of the foldable cover so as to lock up the foldable cover at the closed position, and when the sliding tongue is slid away from the box body, the rim locker is driven to disengage with the locker rim portion of the foldable cover such that the foldable cover is free to pivotally fold between the opened position and the closed position.  
      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  is an exploded perspective view of the display box according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B  are schematic diagrams of the display box according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention, illustrating that the foldable cover is locked at a closed position.  
       FIG. 3A  and  FIG. 3B  are schematic diagrams of the display box according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention, illustrating that the foldable cover is unlocked for folding to an opened position. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
      Referring to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2A ,  FIG. 2B ,  FIG. 3A  and  FIG. 3B  of the drawings, a display box according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, in which the display box comprises a box body  10 , a foldable cover  20 , and an aesthetic locking arrangement.  
      The box body  10  has a storage compartment  11 , and an access opening  12  communicating with the storage compartment  11 .  
      The foldable cover  20  has a locker rim portion  21  and a pivot rim portion  22  pivotally connected to the box body  10  to pivotally fold between an opened position that the foldable cover  20  is pivotally unfolded to expose the storage compartment  11  and a closed position that the foldable cover  20  is pivotally folded at the access opening  12  to enclose the storage compartment  11 .  
      The aesthetic locking arrangement comprises an aesthetic locker  31  comprising a sliding tongue  311  slidably mounted at the box body  10 , and a rim locker  312  which is extended from the sliding tongue  311  and is arranged in such a manner that when the sliding tongue  311  is sidewardly slid towards the box body  10 , the rim locker  312  is substantially engaged with the locker rim portion  21  of the foldable cover  20  so as to lock up the foldable cover  20  at the closed position, and when the sliding tongue  311  is sidewardly slid away from the box body  10 , the rim locker  312  is driven to disengage with the locker rim portion  21  of the foldable cover  20  such that the foldable cover  20  is free to pivotally fold between the opened position and the closed position.  
      According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the box body  10  is preferably quadrilateral in shape having four sidewalls  15  defining the access opening  12  and the storage compartment  11  within the access opening  12 . Moreover, the box body  10  further has a sliding cavity  13  formed above a bottom wall of the box and underneath the storage compartment  11  thereof, and a sliding opening  14  formed on a sidewall of the box body  10  to communicate with the sliding cavity  13 , wherein the sliding tongue  311  slidably received in the sliding cavity  13  through the sliding opening  14  so as to slidably mount the rim locker  312  with the box body  10  for selectively locking and unlocking the foldable cover  20 .  
      Accordingly, the foldable cover  20  is preferably embodied as planar in shape having a cross section corresponding with the cross section of the box body  10  so that the foldable cover  20  is adapted to fittedly enclose the storage compartment  11  when it is at the closed position. It is worth mentioning that the locker rim portion  21  is substantially aligned with the rim locker  312  of the aesthetic locker  31  for being locked up to prevent the foldable cover  20  from folding to the opened position.  
      In order to pivotally connect the foldable cover  20  with the box body  10 , the display box further comprises a foldable hinge  40  provided on the pivot rim portion  22  of the foldable cover  20  for pivotally connecting the box body  10  with the foldable cover  20 .  
      The rim locker  312  comprises a surrounding wall  3121  and a top engaging rim  3122  integrally extended on top of the two surrounding wall  3121  to define an engaging cavity  3123  within the surrounding wall  3121  and the top engaging rim  3122 , wherein the locker rim portion  21  of the foldable cover  20  is arranged to slidably receive into the engaging cavity  3123  when the foldable cover  20  is at the closed position and is locked up by the rim locker  312 . In other words, the locker rim portion  21  is slidably received in the engaging cavity  3123  for engaging with the top engaging rim  3122  of the rim locker  312 .  
      Thus, the surrounding wall  3121  is upwardly extended from the sliding tongue  311  and the top engaging rim  3122  is integrally extended on top of the surrounding wall  3121  to ride on the locker rim portion  21  of the foldable cover  20  when the sliding tongue  311  is sidewardly slid towards the box body  10  so as to lock up the foldable cover  20  at the closed position.  
      Accordingly, a height of the rim locker  312  is preferably slightly larger than a height of the box body  10  overlapped by the foldable cover  20  so that the box body  10  and the locker rim portion  21  of the foldable cover  20  is adapted to be fittedly received into the engaging cavity  3123  for locking the foldable cover  20  at the folded position. Moreover, a height of the sliding cavity  13  is slightly larger than a thickness of the sliding tongue  311  so that it is capable of smoothly sliding within the sliding cavity  13  for locking and unlocking the foldable cover  20 .  
      The top engaging rim  3122  has a curved gripping portion formed on a top surface of the top engaging rim  3122  at a position above the foldable cover  20  such that the gripping portion of the top engaging rim  3122  is adapted to be held to fold the foldable cover  20  between the opened position and the closed position when the sliding tongue  311  is slid away from the box body  10 .  
      On the other hand, the aesthetic locking arrangement further comprises a locker unit  35  for locking the sliding tongue  311  with the box body  10 , wherein the locker unit  35  has a locking slot  3111  formed on the sliding tongue  311  and comprises a locking actuator  32 , having a locking latch  322  supported within the sliding cavity  13 , movably mounted on the bottom wall of the box body  10  and arrange in such a manner that when the sliding tongue  311  is slid towards the box body  10 , the locking latch  322  is engaged with the locking slot  3111  to lock up the sliding tongue  311  at the box body  10  so as to retain the rim locker  312  at the locker rim portion  21  of the foldable cover  20  so as to lock up the foldable cover  20  at the closed position.  
      Thus, the locker unit  35  is supported within the sliding cavity  13  to operatively connect the locking actuator  32  with the aesthetic locker  31  in such a manner that when the locking actuator  32  is actuated, the locker unit  35  is arranged to activate a sliding movement of the aesthetic locker  31  in the sliding cavity  13  so as to disengage the rim locker  312  from the foldable cover  20  for allowing the foldable cover  20  freeing folding between the opened position and the closed position.  
      In other words, the locking actuator  32  is operatively provided on the box body  10  to couple with the aesthetic locker  31  for allowing a user to selectively unlock the aesthetic locker  31  by actuating the locking actuator  32 .  
      The aesthetic locking arrangement further comprises a slider track  331  elongatedly formed on a top wall of the sliding cavity  13 , and a sliding guider  333  elongatedly extended on the sliding tongue  311  to align with the slider track  331 , in such a manner that the sliding guider  333  is adapted to engage with the slider track  331  so as to mount the aesthetic locker  31  with the box body  10  in a slidably movable manner along the slider track  331 .  
      In other words, when the locking actuator  32  is actuated, the aesthetic locker  31  is capable of sliding away from the box body  10  so as to disengage the rim locker  312  from the foldable cover  20 .  
      According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the locker unit  35  further comprises two spring holders  332  mounted on the sliding tongue  311 , and a resilient element  334 , which is preferably embodied as a compressive spring, mounted in the sliding cavity  13  for normally exerting an outward pushing force towards the holding shaft so as to normally push the sliding tongue  311  away from the box body  10 , wherein one of the spring holders  332  is embodied as a holding shaft which is substantially parallel with the sliding track  331 . The holding shaft is arranged to insert into the resilient member  334  which exerts the normal pushing force to the holding shaft for sliding along the sliding track  331 . It is worth mentioning that the other spring holder  332  is embodied as an end blocker for retaining the resilient element  334  within the holding shaft.  
      Thus, the resilient element  334  of the locker unit  35  is supported within the sliding cavity  13  for applying an urging force against the sliding tongue  311  so as to normally push the sliding tongue  311  away from the box body  10 . Moreover, the two spring holders  332  are mounted at the sliding tongue  311  and a ceiling of the sliding cavity  13  to securely hold two ends of the compression spring of the resilient element  334  in position respectively.  
      The aesthetic locking arrangement further comprises a first stopper  36  mounted within the sliding cavity  13 , and a second stopper  37  which is mounted on the sliding tongue  311  and is aligned with the first stopper  36  such that when the sliding tongue  311  is slid away from the body box  10 , the second stopper  37  is blocked by the first stopper  36  so as to prevent the sliding tongue  311  from sliding out of the sliding cavity  13 .  
      In order to retain the aesthetic locker  31  within the sliding cavity  13  when the locking actuator  32  has not yet been actuated, the locking actuator  32  is embodied as a resilient actuation button provided on the box body  10 , wherein the locking latch  322  has one end coupled with the actuation button and another end movably extended within the sliding cavity  13 .  
      In other words, when the resilient actuation button  321  is depressed, the locking latch  322  is upwardly pulled to disengage from the locking slot  3111 , wherein the sliding tongue  311  is then allowed to be pushed by the resilient element  334  for disengaging the rim locker  312  with the locker rim portion  21  of the foldable cover  20 , as shown in  FIG. 3B  of the drawings. As a result, the foldable cover  20  is free to pivotally fold between the opened position and the closed position.  
      It is important to mention at this point that the aesthetic locker  31  is specifically designed to form an aesthetically sound and consistent appearance to match with the box body  10  in such a manner that the display box forms an aesthetically sound entity.  
      From the forgoing descriptions, it can be shown that the above-mentioned objects have been substantially accomplished. The present invention provides a display box which comprises an aesthetic locking arrangement for selectively locking up a foldable cover of the display box.  
      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. It 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.