Patent Publication Number: US-6662949-B2

Title: Package for mechanical or electrical components

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The present invention relates to a package, and particularly to a package for packaging mechanical or electrical components. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Referring to FIG. 3, a conventional package  40  for packaging a plurality of mechanical components  42  (only one being shown) includes a base  44  and a cover  46  to be secured together. The base  44  includes a top wall  48  defining a plurality of spaced component retaining slots  48   a  for retaining the components  42  therein, and four side walls  50  integrally formed with the top wall  48  and having securing edges  50   a  at bottoms thereof. The cover  46  includes a top wall  52  defining a plurality of depressed walls  52   a  therein to press the components  42  against the base  44 , and four side walls  54  integrally formed with the top wall  52  and having securing edges  54   a  to engage to a top edge of the base  44 . Each component  42  includes an insulating portion  56  to be placed into the component retaining slots  48   a  of the base  44 , and a metal shell  58  assembled with the insulating portion  56 . 
     However, the conventional package  40  has two obvious shortcomings. The first is that the cover  46  of the package  40  is only provided for assisting the base  44  to package the components  42  but not for receiving components  42 . On the other hand, the component retaining slots  48   a  of the base  44  are separated from one another so that base  44  is not able to retain more components  42  therein. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide a package having a relatively low stacked profile to decrease the occupying space. 
     A second object of the present invention is to provide a package capable of packaging more mechanical or electrical components. 
     To fulfill the above-mentioned object, a package for packaging mechanical or electrical components comprises a plurality of bases and covers alternatively stacked with each other. Each base defines plural rows of component retaining slots to retain components therein, and securing edges around an outside thereof. Each cover defines a plurality of component retaining slots to retain components therein, and securing edges around an outside thereof. The component retaining slots of the bases and the covers are out of alignment so that an upper one of adjacent base and cover engage a lower one of the adjacent base and cover. 
     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a base and a cover of a package of the present invention containing a mechanical component; 
     FIG. 1A is a top view of the cover of FIG. 1 wherein the mechanical component is retained in the cover; 
     FIG. 1B is a top view of the base of FIG. 1 wherein the mechanical component is retained in the base; 
     FIG. 1C is an enlarged view of the mechanical component of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 2 is an assembled view of the package of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 along line  2 A— 2 A; and 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a conventional package wherein a mechanical component is retained in a base of the package. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the present invention in detail. 
     Referring to FIG. 1, a package  10  for packaging a plurality of mechanical or electrical components  12  includes a base  14  and a cover  16  to be placed one upon the other. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 1B, the base  14  includes a top wall  18  defining plural rows of component retaining slots  18   a  therein, and four side walls  20  integrally formed with the top wall  18  and having securing edges  20   a  at bottoms thereof. Each row of component retaining slots  18   a  define a plurality of retaining shoulders  18   b  stepped with the top wall  18  and spaced by a plurality of ribs  18   c  protruding into the retaining slots  18   a . The base  14  further includes spacing bars  18   d  protruding from bottom walls of the retaining slots  18   a . A tab receiving space  22  (FIG. 2A) is defined between each two adjacent component retaining slots  18   a  and opening at a bottom of the base  12 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 1A, the cover  16  includes a top wall  24  defining a plurality of component retaining slots  24   a  therein, and four side walls  25  integrally formed with the top wall  24  and having securing edges  25   a  at bottoms thereof to engage to a top outside of the base  14 . The cover  16  defines a plurality of retaining shoulders  24   b  in the component retaining slots  24   a  and stepped with the top wall  24  and spaced by a plurality of ribs  24   c . The cover  16  further defines spacing bars  24   d  protruding from bottoms of the retaining slots  24   a . A tab receiving space  26  (FIG. 2A) is defined between each two adjacent component retaining slots  24  and opening at a bottom of the cover  16 . 
     Referring to FIG. 1C, the mechanical component  12  includes a metal piece  28  and a plurality of insulating portions  30  insert molded with the metal piece  28 . The metal piece  28  has a pair of retaining portions  28   a  at two elongate ends thereof and a pair of tabs  28   b  upwardly extending from two lateral sides thereof. The insulating portions  30  extend opposite to the tabs  28   b  and being divided into two groups by a recess  32 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 1,  2  and  2 A, in assembly, the mechanical components  12  are arranged in the base  14  and the cover  16  of the package  1 . The cover  16  is downwardly assembled to the base  14  by engaging the securing edges  25   a  of the cover  16  to an upper side of the base  14 . The tabs  28   b  of the components  12  retained in the base  14  extend into the tab receiving space  26  of the cover  16 . The spacing bars  18   d  and  24   d  of the base  14  and the cover  16  extend into the recesses  32  of the mechanical components  12  to prevent misorientation. The bottoms of the retaining slots  24   a  properly pressing against two opposite retaining portions  28   a  of the metal piece  28  of the mechanical components  12 . Thus, the components  12  are securely retained in the base  14  and the cover  16 . 
     It can be understand that the base and the cover of the present invention can be alternately stacked in succession wherein an upper one of adjacent base and cover engages a lower one of the adjacent base and cover. Accordingly, the cover  16  of the present invention not only assists the base  14  to secure the components  12  but also retains components  12  to enable the package  10  to retain more components  12  while having a relatively low profile after stacked. In addition, the present invention does not have spacing portions otherwise present between the component retaining slots according to prior art to retain more components  12  therein. 
     It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.