Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to storage boxes and, more particularly, to a combination storage box that can be collapsed when not in use. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Conventional storage boxes occupy much storage space during delivery because they are not folding collapsible. There is known a folding collapsible storage box, which comprises a collapsible fabric box body, four horizontal rod members respectively embedded in the top sides of the four vertical side panels of the box body, two horizontal rod member respectively embedded in the bottom sides of two opposite vertical side panels of the box body, four vertical rod members respectively embedded into the box body in four corners between each two adjacent vertical side panels, and four sets of triangle plates respectively fixedly fastened to the vertical side panels of the box body. When not in use, the box body is twisted into a collapsed condition. The triangle plates guide the twisting action, enabling the box body to be easily twisted into the collapsed condition. This structure of folding collapsible storage box is functional, however it is complicated and expensive to manufacture. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is one object of the present invention to provide a combination storage box, which can easily be set up when in use, or collapsed in a flat manner to minimize space occupation when not in use. It is another object of the present invention to provide a combination storage box, which is easy and inexpensive to manufacture. According to one aspect of the present invention, the combination storage box assembly comprises a collapsible box body made of flexible material, for example, canvas, a hard bottom plate fitted into the box body, a folding collapsible support frame inserted into the box body to support the box body in shape, and hook and loop materials fixedly provided in the box body and adapted for securing the folding collapsible support frame to the inside of the box body in the working position. According to another aspect of the present invention, the folding collapsible support frame is comprised of a rectangular open base frame, and two U-shaped foot frame bars. The rectangular open base frame comprises two pairs of downward lugs respectively downwardly extended from two distal ends of each of two opposite short sides thereof. The U-shaped foot frame bars are respectively pivoted to the downward lugs, and turned relative to the rectangular base open frame between a first position where the U-shaped foot frame bars are closely attached to the rectangular open base frame, and a second position where the U-shaped foot frame bars are maintained perpendicular to the rectangular base frame and arranged in parallel. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a combination storage box constructed according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 1A is an enlarged view of a part of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the present invention showing the combination storage box opened. 
     FIG. 3 shows the collapsing action of the folding collapsible support frame according to the present invention (I). 
     FIG. 4 shows the collapsing action of the folding collapsible support frame according to the present invention (II). 
     FIG. 5 shows an alternate form of the combination storage box. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a combination storage box is shown comprised of a collapsible box body  1 , a folding collapsible support frame  2 , and a hard bottom plate  3 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 1A, the collapsible box body  1  is made of flexible face material (for example, canvas) by stitches, comprising four upright peripheral side panels  11  connected to one another and disposed at four sides, four top flaps  12  respectively extended from the top sides of the four upright peripheral side panels  11 , a hook material  13  fixedly provided at the inner side of each of the top flaps  12 , a loop material  14  fixedly provided at the inner side of each of the four upright peripheral side panels  11  adjacent to the top flaps  12  and adapted for fastening the hook material  13  to secure the top flaps  13  to the inner surfaces of the upright peripheral side panels  11  respectively, and a cover panel  15  extended from the top side of one upright peripheral side panel  11  outside the corresponding top flap  12  and adapted for closing the top opening defined within the four upright peripheral side panels  11 . The folding collapsible support frame  2  is adapted for inserting into the collapsible box body  1  to support the collapsible box body  1  in shape, comprising a rectangular open base frame  21 , and two U-shaped foot frame bars  22  respectively pivoted to the two short sides of the rectangular open base frame  21 . The rectangular open base frame  21  comprises two pairs of downward lugs  210  respectively downwardly extended from the ends of the two opposite short sides. The downward lugs  210  each have a positioning groove  211 . The U-shaped foot frame bars  22  each have two distal ends respectively pivoted to the downward lugs  210  of the rectangular open base frame  21  by a respective pivot  23  (see FIG.  1 A), an engagement portion  221  at each of the two distal ends, and two protruded foot portions  25  at the ends of the transversely extended middle section thereof (see FIG.  1 ). The bottom plate  3  fits the horizontal cross section of the holding space defined within the upright peripheral side panels  11  of the collapsible box body  1 , having four notches  31  in the four corners thereof for the positioning of the protruded foot portions  25  of the folding collapsible support frame  2  (see FIG.  1 ). 
     The assembly process of the present invention is easy and outlined hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 1,  1 A, and  2 . The bottom plate  3  is inserted into the collapsible box body  1  and supported on the bottom panel of the collapsible box body  1 , and then the U-shaped foot frame bars  22  of the folding collapsible support frame  2  are respectively turned outwards from the rectangular open base frame  21  to force the respective engagement portions  221  into engagement with the respective positioning grooves  211 , keeping the U-shaped foot frame bars  22  maintained perpendicular to the rectangular open base frame  21 , and then the folding collapsible support frame  2  is inserted into the collapsible box body  1  to force the protruded foot portions  25  into engagement with the notches  31  of the bottom plate  3 , and then the top flaps  12  are respectively turned inwards and covered over the four sides of the rectangular open base frame  21  to force the hook material  12  into engagement with the loop material  14  and to secure the rectangular open base frame  21  to the inside wall of the collapsible box body  1 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, after removal of the folding collapsible support frame  2  from the collapsible box body  1 , the U-shaped foot frame bars  22  of the folding collapsible support frame  2  are respectively turned inwards and closely attached to the rectangular open base frame  21 , and therefore the folding collapsible support frame  2  is received in a collapsed flat manner to reduce storage space. 
     FIG. 5 shows an alternate form of the present invention. This alternate form eliminates the aforesaid cover panel  15 , and has two hand holes  16  at two sides of the collapsible box body  1  (see also FIG.  1 ). The hand holes  16  form with the two opposite long sides of the rectangular open base frame  21  of the folding collapsible support frame  2  a respective handle through which the combination storage box is conveniently carried with the hands. 
     A prototype of combination storage box has been constructed with the features of the annexed drawings of FIGS. 1 through 5. The combination storage box functions smoothly to provide all of the features discussed earlier. 
     Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.

Technology Category: b