Patent Publication Number: US-2017355499-A1

Title: Tube packaging box

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to a tube packaging box, and more particularly to a tube packaging box that allows for quick packaging and de-packaging a tube. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     Sales of flexible tubes or hoses is generally conducted by first ordering tubes of desired diameter and length from a manufacturer and various packages that contain and hold therein different lengths of tube are provided for easy purchase by consumers. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , to package a conventional flexible tube, the tube  1  is first wound to be in the form of a coil. And, then, a paper board  2  is provided to cover outside and enclose the coil of the tube  1 . The paper board  2  used to package the conventional tube  1  is generally in the form of a planar board having two opposite ends that have generally circular arc contours with a slot  21  formed in a portion close to each of the two ends. The paper board  2  is bent and folded such as to cover and enclose two opposite sides of the coiled tube  1 , of which the two circular arc ends would match, in outer configuration, with the coiled form of the tube  1 . A plurality of fastening strips  3  is then inserted through the slots  21  to securely fasten and hold the tube  1  and the paper board  2  together thereby having the tube  1  properly packaged with the paper board  2 . The tube  1  so packaged can be positioned flat on the ground or on a top of a fixture, such as a table, for being viewed and purchased by consumers. Or, alternatively, as shown in  FIG. 3 , a support bar  4  of an exhibition rack may extend through the coil of the tube  1  and the slots  21  of the paper board  2  to hold the tube  1  in a suspended fashion for exhibition and displaying. 
     Although the packaging paper board  2  is good for achieving the purpose of packaging a tube  1  that is wound in a coiled form, the packaging of the tube  1  with the packaging paper board  2  can only be achieved with the additionally applied fastening strips  3 . Using the fastening strips  3  makes the component cost increased and also makes the operation time of packaging extended. Further, consumers may wish the unwound the coiled tube  1  for inspection before purchasing. One common way is to cut off the fastening strips  3 . However, the fastening strips  3 , once cut off, lose the original functionality thereof and cannot be reused. New, substitute fastening strips  3  must be used. This causes troubles to both the salesperson and the consumers. 
     Thus, it is a challenge of those working in the art to make packaging and de-packaging of a tube  1  that has been wound in the form of a coil easy and efficient. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a tube packaging box, of which an object is to overcome the shortcomings of the conventional packages that does not provide an easy way of packaging a length of tube that is wound in the form of a coil and are also hard to de-package. 
     To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a tube packaging box. The tube packaging box of the present invention is such that the tube packaging box is generally in the form of a box having an open top. The box comprises at least a front board, a rear board, a bottom board, and two side boards such that the boards collectively form a rectangular receiving space. The front board is connected with a folding board. The folding board is extended to form a first folding section and a second folding section. Further, the rear board comprises a portion extending from connections thereof with the two side boards to for a circular arc contour such that the rear board has a height greater than a height of the two side boards. 
     The efficacy achieved with the technical solution adopted in the present invention is that when a tube is positioned in the receiving space of the present invention, the folding board can be folded inwardly into the receiving space to allow the first folding section of the folding board to cover a top side of the tube and a second folding section fit into and embedded and interposed between the tube and a rear board so as to have the second folding section simultaneously clamped by and between the tube and the rear board, with two opposite lateral edges of the first folding section abutting against the tube, thereby efficiently fixing the tube in the receiving space of the tube packaging box according to the present invention. On the other hand, through lifting up the first folding section of the folding board, the second folding section is pulled out from between the tube and the rear board, making the tube on longer constrained by the folding board, and thus allowing the tube to be easily removed out of the receiving space. As such, the present invention allows packaging and de-packaging of a tube to be conducted through an easy and efficient operation. 
     The foregoing objectives and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts. 
     Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIGS. 1 and 2  are schematic views illustrating a conventional tube package. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic view illustrating an application of the tube package of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic view showing an application of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view showing the application of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic view showing another application of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. 
     Firstly, referring to  FIG. 4 , the present invention provides a tube packaging box, which is generally in the form of a box  5  having an open top. The box  5  comprises at least a front board  51 , a rear board  52 , a bottom board  53 , and two side boards  54  such that the boards collectively form a rectangular receiving space  55 . 
     The front board  51  is also connected to a folding board  56 . The folding board  56  is extended to form, at least, a first folding section  561  and a second folding section  562 . The first folding section  561  starts at a portion or an edge of the front board  51  that is lower, in a vertical direction, than an upper end of the two side boards  54  such that a connection thereof with the front board  51  forms a fold. The first folding section  561  has a length that corresponds a width of a space formed between the front board  51  and the rear board  52 . The second folding section  562  has an end connected to the first folding section  561  such that connection thereof with the first folding section  561  form a fold, allowing for folding therebetween. The second folding section  562  has a length that is not greater than a height between the connection of the first folding section  561  with the front board  51  and the bottom board  53 . The rear board  52  comprises a portion extending upward from connections thereof with the two side boards  54  to form an arc contour such that the rear board  52  has an overall height that is greater than heights of the two side boards  54 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , in an application of the present invention, the folding board  56  is opened first and a flexible tube  6  that has been wound in the form of a coil is positioned into the receiving space  55 . Next, the folding board  56  is folded inwardly into the receiving space  55  to be fit therein such that the first folding section  561  of the folding board  56  is folded into the receiving space  55  and covers a top side of the tube  6  to further allow the second folding section  562  to be folded and fit into a location between the tube  6  and the rear board  52 , whereby the second folding section  562  is interposed between and retained by both the tube  6  and the rear board  52 , while two opposite lateral edges of the first folding section  561  are respectively positioned against or in contact engagement with two opposite sites of the tube  6 . In the way, with the folding board  56  being fit and retained, the present invention allows the tube  6  to quickly retained and fixed in the receiving space  55 , such that the present invention may achieve packaging of the tube  6  without assistance made with other accessory parts. Further, in an embodiment, the second folding section  562  may have a width that is slightly greater than a width of the first folding section  561  so that the greater width of the second folding section  562  increases a contact area thereof with the tube  6  and the rear board  52  for clamping thereby enhancing the effect of clamping and improving the result of fixing the tube  6  with the present invention. Further, the rear board  52  is extended upward from the connection thereof with the two side boards  54  to form a circular arc contour, and such a circular arc contour of the rear board  52  may be made matching an outer configuration of the coil formed by winding the tube  6  so that after being packaged, the tube  6  is positioned on the rear board  52  such that the two exhibit similar or identical outer contour or configuration thereby providing an enhanced overall configuration after packaging. 
     On the other hand, when it is desired to de-package the tube  6  that has been packaged according to the present invention, it only needs to lift up the first folding section  561  of the folding board  56  so as to have the second folding section  562  to be pulled out from the location between the tube  6  and the rear board  52 . Consequently, the tube  6  is no longer constrained by the folding board  56  and thus, the tube  6  can be easily removed out of the receiving space  55 . As such, a de-packaging operation can be performed very efficiently and does not cause any damage to any part of the present invention, allowing the present invention to be reused. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , in a different application of the present invention, a hollowed section  521  can be formed in the rear board  52  according to the present invention. With the hollowed section  521  so formed, when the coiled tube is to be suspended on an exhibition rack, a support bar  7  of the exhibition rack is allowed to extend through the hollowed section to support the tube  6  thereon in a suspended fashion thereby achieving a purpose of suspended exhibition. Further, the hollowed section  521  is preferably formed to have at least an upper part thereof in the form of a circular arc so that the circular arc hollowed section  521 , in addition to helping suspend the tube for exhibition, matches, in outside configuration, with the coiled tube  6  to provide better visual perception. 
     The efficacy of the present invention is that the present invention provides a front board  51  that is connected with a folding board  56 , so that when a tube  6  is positioned in a receiving space  55  of the present invention, the folding board  56  can be folded inwardly into the receiving space  55  to allow a first folding section  561  of the folding board  56  to cover a top side of the tube  6  and a second folding section  562  fit into and embedded and interposed between the tube  6  and a rear board  52  so as to have the second folding section  562  simultaneously clamped by and between the tube  6  and the rear board  52 , with two opposite lateral edges of the first folding section  561  abutting against the tube  6 , thereby efficiently fixing the tube  6  in the receiving space  55  of the tube packaging box according to the present invention and the present invention and the tube  6  combined together. On the other hand, through lifting up the first folding section  561  of the folding board  5 , the second folding section  562  is pulled out from between the tube  6  and the rear board  52 , making the tube  6  on longer constrained by the folding board  56 , and thus allowing the tube  6  to be easily removed out of the receiving space  55 . With such an arrangement, the present invention allows a tube  6  to be packaged and de-packaged in an easy and efficient way, requiring no additional assistive accessary to help the packaging operation and not damaging any part of the present invention so as to allow the present invention to be reused. 
     It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above. 
     While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the claims of the present invention.