Patent ID: 7037165

Claim:
A container for holding components of a construction toy or the like and for facilitating recovery of such components, which comprises (a) a container body comprised of spaced apart front and back walls, opposed side walls joining said front and back walls, a bottom structure having front and back portions for supporting said container in an upright orientation on a support surface, and a top structure including a carrying handle, (b) said container having a first primary orientation, in which said container is supported in an upright position by said bottom structure, and a second primary orientation, in which said container is supported in a horizontal position by its back wall on said support surface, (c) an access cover comprising a first portion formed of portions of said front wall and a second portion formed of front portions of said bottom structure, (d) a hinge structure connecting said second portion of said access cover to back portions of said bottom structure adjacent to said front portions thereof for pivoting movement about a hinge axis of said hinge structure, from a closed position, in which said access cover serves to close said container body, to an open position, in which portions of said front wall and portions of said bottom wall structure are open to provide access to interior portions of said container, (e) said access cover being adapted for a range of pivoting movement about said hinge axis such that, in the open position of said access cover, a free edge portion of said access cover, formed by a portion of said front wall, lies on said support surface, substantially in the plane of said back wall, to form a receiving surface for the reception of components of the construction toy or the like and to facilitate a sweeping movement of said components from said support surface onto the first portion of said access cover, and (f) one or more of projecting support elements forming part of said bottom structure and extending downward, below said hinge axis to provide stable support for said container in its said first primary orientation.