The present invention relates to a foldable storage box and, more particular, to an improved structure of storage box that can be folded into a flat pack and assembled again via a plurality of supporting bars to form a container for storing objects.
In metropolitan areas, the living space is not large, however, each family member has more or less personal things such as clothing, books and magazines to be stored, which requires a clever arrangement. Generally, conventional storage boxes are integrally molded from plastics and thus the occupied space of each box is fixed and cannot be reduced. When they are not in use, they cannot be folded into a compact form and thus have a bad effect on the use of room space. Some storage boxes are made from wood or other material, the problem of unable to reduce the occupied space of a box, when they are not in use, is still existed.
Although there are some foldable storage boxes available in the market these days, due to the factors of the structural designs, the boxes cannot be folded into a flat pack configuration, and this also bring some inconvenience in the storage when the boxes are not in use.
Another conventional storage box employs a soft cloth, within which hard boards are enwrapped, to enable the box to be folded along the boundary of the soft cloth between two hard boards. In structure, they contains two handles at two lateral sides thereof in additional to the folding capability.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a foldable storage box for storing household or personal things; whereby when the box is not in use, the box can be conveniently folded into a flat pack, when a use is required, the flat pack can be conveniently unfolded to a container for storing objects; furthermore, more than one boxes can be held in a stack or side by side to afford more space for storing objects.
According to one feature of the present invention, the foldable storage box includes a soft walled body open at a top end and closed at a bottom end, a top frame being mounted with the soft walled body and contiguous to the open top end, and a bottom being mounted with the soft walled body and contiguous to the closed bottom end. The top frame is provided with an attachment element on a top surface thereof and an attachment element on a side surface thereof. The bottom frame is provided with an attachment element on a bottom surface thereof and an attachment element on a side surface thereof, such that two separate boxes can be held in a stack or side by side with the attachment elements. A plurality of supporting bars are provided within the soft walled body, which can be each operated to serve as a support between the top frame and the bottom frame. When the box is not in use, the supporting bars can be detached from the top and bottom frames to place on the bottom surface of the walled body. When a use is required, the supporting bars can be placed upright between the top frame and the bottom frame to form a container for storing objects.
According to another feature of the present invention, the storage box further includes fastening means, whereby when the supporting bars each serves as a support between the top frame and the bottom frame, the fastening means can further strengthen the support provided by each supporting bar.
Based on the features of the invention, the technical means of the invention includes a walled body, a top frame, a bottom frame, a plurality of supporting bars, and fastening means. The walled body, being made of a soft cloth, is open at a top end thereof and closed at the opposing end to form a bottom surface thereof. The top frame, having a shape of closed loop, is mounted with the walled body and contiguous to the open top thereof and defines a first groove along a bottom surface thereof. The bottom frame, having a shape of closed loop, is mounted with the walled body and contiguous to the closed opposing end thereof and defines a second groove along a top surface thereof. The periphery of the walled body contiguous to the open top end is inserted into the first groove of the top frame. The periphery of the walled body contiguous to the closed opposing end is inserted into the second groove of the bottom frame. The supporting bars can be operated within the walled body to unfold or fold the walled body. Furthermore, each supporting bar has a length not less than the distance between the top frame and bottom frame. When a use is required, the supporting bars can be each placed upright to serve as a support within the walled body between the top frame and the bottom frame to form a container for storing objects. Fastening means can be applied between an inner surface of the walled body and each supporting bar to further strengthen the support provided by each supporting bar to prevent a slip. When the box is not in use, the supporting bars can be detached from the top and bottom frames to place on the bottom surface of the walled body to enable the walled body to be folded into a flat pack.
In the present invention, the magnets are employed as the attachment elements on the top and side surfaces of the top frame or on the bottom and side surfaces of the bottom frame. Therefore, when a box is stacked on another box, the two adjacent magnets respectively on the bottom surface of the top frame of one box and the top surface of the bottom frame of another box can attract each other to hold both boxes together; when two boxes are placed side by side, the two adjacent magnets respectively on the side surface of the top or bottom frame of one box and the side surface of the top or bottom frame of another box can attract each other to hold both boxes together.
In the present invention, fastening means is provided between an inner surface of the walled body, close to the top frame, and a top end of each supporting bar. When the supporting bars each serves as a support between the top frame and the bottom frame, the fastening means can further strengthen the support provided by each supporting bar. The fastening means includes a tab having strip of fastening tape and mounted on the inner surface of the walled body via a sewing techniques or other method, and a corresponding strip of fastening tape mounted on the top end of each supporting bar.
In the present invention, two folded over portions are respectively formed at its periphery contiguous to the open top end and its periphery contiguous to the closed opposing end of the walled body, and are respectively inserted into the grooves of the top and bottom frames.
In the present invention, the supporting bars are connected to the bottom surface of the walled body and can be operated within the walled body to unfold or fold the box.
The technical means, function and effect of the present invention will be more easily understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Furthermore, as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure is made by way of example only and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention hereinafter claimed.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2361743 | Butler | Oct 1944 | A |
5464113 | Ho et al. | Nov 1995 | A |
5671858 | Hsu | Sep 1997 | A |
6015071 | Adomeit et al. | Jan 2000 | A |
6089394 | Ziglar | Jul 2000 | A |
20020079313 | Grayson | Jun 2002 | A1 |
20060049075 | Chen | Mar 2006 | A1 |
20080042533 | Wang | Feb 2008 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20120267366 A1 | Oct 2012 | US |