The disclosure relates to a multi-purpose container assembly for securely holding and protecting items.
Many types of container assemblies are known and used for various purposes. These container assemblies are frequently formed of separate body parts that are configured to mate and cooperate to allow the assemblies to open and close when the assemblies are assembled into finished products. Some of the container assemblies include one or more handles, so that the container assemblies may be easily carried by hand.
However, many of these container assemblies are inadequate in protecting items from damage, tampering, theft, or the like.
According to an aspect of the disclosure, a container assembly is provided that comprises: a cover that includes a cover perimeter; a base that includes a base perimeter, which is configured to mate with the cover perimeter to form a cavity; a front latch assembly that secures a first portion of the cover to a first portion of the base; a left latch assembly that secures a second portion of the cover to a second portion of the base; a right latch assembly that secures a third portion of the cover to a third portion of the base; a first valve assembly that equalizes pressure between the cavity and outside the base; a second valve assembly that equalizes pressure between the cavity and outside the base; and a hinge assembly that pivotally couples the cover to the base. The container assembly may further comprise a seal and/or insert. The base may comprise an opening that equalizes pressure between the cavity and outside the base. The cover may comprise a channel. The cover perimeter may comprise a channel that is configured to receive a seal. The front latch assembly, left latch assembly and right latch assembly mall be substantially the same, or different. The front latch assembly may comprise: an upper latch portion that engages the first portion of the cover; and a lower latch portion that moves to engage or disengage the upper latch portion. The container assembly may further comprise a third valve assembly that equalizes pressure between the cavity and outside the base, wherein the lower latch portion comprises the third valve assembly. The cover and base may both (or either) comprise a polycarbonate material.
According to a further aspect of the disclosure, a container assembly is provided that has a cavity formed by a cover and a base. The container assembly comprises: a latch assembly that secures the cover to the base in a substantially closed configuration; and a valve assembly that equalizes pressure between the cavity and outside the container assembly, wherein the latch assembly comprises an upper latch grip, and wherein the cover comprises a latch catch that is configured to receive the upper latch grip. The latch assembly may further comprise: an upper latch portion that engages the first portion of the cover; and a lower latch portion that moves to engage or disengage the upper latch portion, wherein the upper latch portion is configured to pivot about a first axis, and wherein the lower latch portion is configured to pivot about a second axis. The container assembly may further comprise: a second valve assembly that equalizes pressure between the cavity and outside the base; and/or a third valve assembly that equalizes pressure between the cavity and outside the base. The base may comprise an opening that equalizes pressure between the cavity and outside the base. The cover may comprise a channel and the cover perimeter may comprise a channel that is configured to receive a seal. The container assembly may further comprise a seal. The first axis and second axis may be substantially parallel. The latch assembly may comprise: an upper latch portion that engages the first portion of the cover; and a lower latch portion that moves to engage or disengage the upper latch portion. The lower latch portion may comprise a second valve assembly that equalizes pressure between the cavity and outside the base. The cover and base may both (or either) comprise a polycarbonate material. The container assembly may further comprise an insert. The valve assembly may be integrally formed with the latch assembly. The latch assembly may comprise: a rib; and a reinforcement section.
According to a still further aspect of the disclosure, a container assembly is provided that has a cover and a base that form a cavity in a closed configuration. The container assembly comprises: a latch assembly that secures the cover to the base in a substantially closed configuration; and an opening that equalizes pressure between the cavity and outside the container assembly, wherein the opening is provided in the base, and wherein the cover comprises a latch catch that receives a portion of the latch assembly.
Additional features, advantages, and embodiments of the disclosure may be set forth or apparent from consideration of the following detailed description and drawings. Moreover, it is noted that both the foregoing summary of the disclosure and the following detailed description are exemplary and intended to provide further explanation without limiting the scope of the disclosure as claimed.
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure, are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the detailed description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. No attempt is made to show structural details of the disclosure in more detail than may be necessary for a fundamental understanding of the disclosure and the various ways in which it may be practiced.
The present disclosure is further described in the detailed description that follows.
The embodiments of the disclosure and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments and examples that are described and/or illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. It should be noted that the features illustrated in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and features of one embodiment may be employed with other embodiments as the skilled artisan would recognize, even if not explicitly stated herein. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques may be omitted, so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments of the disclosure. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the disclosure may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments of the disclosure. Accordingly, the examples and embodiments herein should not be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure, which is defined solely by the appended claims and applicable law. Moreover, it is noted that like reference numerals represent similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
Although shown in
Additionally, the cover 100 and base 200 may include an insulating material that minimizes, e.g., the transfer of energy, such as, e.g., heat, infrared signals, sound signals, vibration, impact, radio frequency (RF) signals, or the like. The insulating material may withstand pressure variations between the pressure inside the cavity of the container assembly 1 and the pressure outside the container assembly 1. Further, the insulating material may be configured to absorb significant shock due to, e.g., the container assembly 1 being dropped or thrown on to a hard surface. Each of the cover 100, base 200, handle assembly 300, left latch assembly 400, right latch assembly 500, front latch assembly 600 and hinge assembly 700 may be configured to withstand ambient conditions, such as, e.g., rain, ice, fire, or the like.
As seen in
The left latch assembly 400 may include a left upper latch portion 410, one or more ribs 420, one or more reinforcement sections 430, a valve assembly 440 and a lower latch portion 450. The valve assembly 440, or parts thereof, may be integrally formed with the lower latch portion 450. Further, the valve assembly 440 may be manipulated to permit ingress or egress of pressure through an opening (not shown) to the cavity 10 to equalize pressure between the cavity 10 and the pressure outside the base 200 or container assembly 1. The valve assembly 440 may be configured to permit passage of air, while substantially preventing (or minimizing) the passage of moisture.
The left upper latch portion 410 may include one or more receivers 411 for receiving one or more respective lower engaging pins 451 to pivotally fasten the left upper latch portion 410 to the left lower latch portion 450 (e.g., as shown in
To secure the cover 100 to the base 200, the upper latch portion 410 may be pivoted about the longitudinal axis of the lower engaging pin 451 and the upper latch grip 412 placed on or near the left latch catch 120. Then, the handle grip 455 may be pushed toward the base 200, causing the lower latch portion 450 to pivot about the longitudinal axis of the upper engaging pin 452 and secure the cover 100 to the base 200.
It is noted that, instead of (or in addition to) the valve assembly 440, a lock mechanism may be included to secure the latch assembly 400 in a locked configuration (e.g., shown in
The right latch assembly 500 and/or front latch assembly 600 may include substantially the same structures, as seen in the drawings.
The handle assembly 300 may include a handle 320, which may be pivotally coupled to one or more handle supports 240 by means of, e.g., a handle fastener 340 (e.g., a pin, or the like). The one or more handle supports 240 may be affixed to the base 200 by means of, e.g., bolts, screws, nuts, rivets, or the like, or integrally formed with the base 200.
As seen in
The cover perimeter 130 includes a channel along its entire (or partial) length to receive a seal 140. The seal 140 may be formed of a flexible material such as, e.g., silicone, rubber, or the like, to form a tight seal between the cover 100 and base 200 in the closed configuration.
As noted earlier, the latch assembly 600 may have substantially the same structure as the latch assemblies 400, 500. The latch assembly 600 includes a front upper latch portion 610 (410, 510, shown in
As seen, e.g., in
The hinge assembly 700 may include an upper hinge portion 710 and a lower hinge portion 720. The upper and lower hinge portions 710, 720 may be coupled to each other by means of, e.g., a pin 730. The upper hinge portion 710 and lower hinge portion 720 are configured to rotate about the longitudinal axis (e.g., the z-axis) of the pin 730, as the cover 100 (or base 200) is opened or closed. The upper hinge portion 710 may be affixed to, or integrally formed with the cover 100. The lower hinge portion 720 may be affixed to, or integrally formed with the base 200.
As seen in
It is noted that each of the components of the container assembly 1 may be configured to withstand ambient conditions, such as, e.g., rain, ice, fire, or the like. The components may include, e.g., any one or more of the following materials: plastic, rubber, metal, glass, carbon fiber, fiberglass, and the like, without limitation.
While the disclosure has been described in terms of exemplary embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure may be practiced with modifications in the spirit and scope of the appended claims. These examples given above are merely illustrative and are not meant to be an exhaustive list of all possible designs, embodiments, applications or modifications of the disclosure.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/627,511, filed on Nov. 30, 2009, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12627511 | Nov 2009 | US |
Child | 13036500 | US |