The present invention relates to containers, in particular to hinge fixing structures and hidden hinges used to fix hidden hinges to containers.
As we all know, currently it is very common to employ containers to carry or transport various types of materials, and these containers are of a series of specifications from the big to the small. In the purposes of convenience quickness of production turnover or transportation, and savings of costs, plastic containers become widespread. Such containers mostly have a bottom and integrated or foldable four side plates. When the volume of the container is too large, a door that can be opened is usually provided at one or more side plates for easy access to items at the bottom of the container or for installation or disassembly of some additional components at the bottom of the container. Typically, the door that can be opened flushes with the side plate, and has a locking mechanism ensuring that it would not be accidentally opened. When it is needed to open the door, after being unlocked, the door is flipped outwardly by approximately 180 degrees and then is lean against the side plate substantially, so as to reduce the space it occupies, and makes it more convenient for people to operate through an opening of the side plate.
Chinese patent application No. 201210031893.7 shows a novel method for connecting the door and the side plate, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. As shown in
Although the hidden hinge described above can greatly improve the overall product appearance, however, since there are hinge mounting holes provided at the hinge mounting parts of the side plate and the door, and the hinge mounting holes and the hinge positioning structures will still be seen from the appearance of the container after the hinge is installed. Further, since the hinge mounting holes are provided on the side plate and the door, and therefore, the strength of the hinge mounting parts on the side plate and the door is also affected to some extent.
The object of the present invention is to provide a structure used to hold a hidden hinge on a container, so that after installation, the hinge is completely invisible from the appearance of the container, and the disassembly of the hinge becomes more convenient.
To achieve the above object, according to first aspect of the present invention, there is providing a hinge fixing structure used to hold a hidden hinge on a container, wherein said hidden hinge comprises an upper hinge base, a hinge body and a lower hinge base, and said container comprises a side plate and a door which are respectively provided with grooves formed by the internal and external sidewalls thereof and used to accommodate the hinge bases, characterized in that said hinge fixing structure comprises:
position limiting structures located in said grooves and used to prevent the hinge bases from releasing from mouth portions of said grooves respectively, and
positioning structures provided on said upper hinge base and said lower hinge base and engaged with said position limiting structures respectively; wherein
said position limiting structures are engaged with said positioning structures respectively so that said hidden hinge is held on the said container and said hidden hinge is completely invisible from the appearance of said container when the door is closed.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention,
said position limiting structures comprise positioning ribs located at the bottom of the grooves respectively and hanging protrusions located at the mouth portions of said grooves respectively;
said positioning structures are branches extending from the left and right side of the hinge bases; and
said positioning ribs are used to prevent the hinge bases from moving around, and said hanging protrusions are engaged with said branches so as to prevent the hinge bases from releasing from said grooves.
In the above embodiment, said branches are elastic pieces extending integrally from the left and right side of the hinge base respectively, and projections are provided at the ends of said elastic pieces respectively; and said hanging protrusions are tabs extending from both sides of the mouth portions of the grooves, wherein said tabs are engaged with said projections respectively so as to prevent the hinge bases from releasing from said grooves.
In the above embodiment, said positioning ribs are columnar members extending from the bottom surfaces of the grooves so that said hinge bases are held between two columnar members after installation.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention,
said position limiting structures are hanging slots located at the bottom of said grooves;
said positioning structures comprise elastic pieces extending from the left sides or the right sides of the hinge bases and hanging protrusions provided on the front sides or the rear sides of the hinge bases; and
said hanging slots are engaged with said hanging protrusions respectively so as to prevent the hinge bases from releasing from said grooves.
In the above embodiment, said hanging protrusions are two protrusions extending integrally from one of the front and rear sides of each hinge base, and said hanging slots are two L-shaped slots, wherein said protrusions are engaged with said L-shaped slots to prevent the hinge base from releasing from said groove.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention,
said position limiting structure comprises limiting projections located at the bottom of said grooves and elastic hooks extending downward from the mouth portions of the grooves;
said positioning structure comprises positioning slots and hanging protrusions located at the left and right sides of the hinge bases;
wherein said positioning slots are engaged with said limiting projections respectively and said hanging protrusions are engaged with said elastic hooks respectively so as to prevent the hinge bases from releasing from said grooves.
In the above embodiment,
said limiting projections are columnar members extending integrally from the bottom of the grooves;
said positioning slots are slots provided at the front and rear sides of the hinge base respectively and said columnar members are snapped into said slots respectively; and
said hanging protrusions are ribs projecting integrally from the left and right side of the hinge base respectively and said elastic hooks are L-shaped members, wherein said ribs are engaged with said elastic hooks respectively so as to prevent the hinge bases from releasing from the grooves.
The present invention further provides a hidden hinge, comprising an upper hinge base, a hinge body and a lower hinge base, as well as said hinge fixing structure according to the above embodiments.
The present invention also provides a container, comprising a bottom, a side plate and a door, wherein, said door and side plate are connected to each other through the hidden hinge described above.
In the present invention, for the container employing the hinge fixing structure and the hidden hinge of the present invention, the hinge is completely invisible from the appearance of the container after installation, and the disassembly of the hinge becomes more convenient.
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings so that the purposes, features and advantages of the present invention will be understood more clearly. It should be understood that the embodiments shown in the drawings are not to limit the scope of the invention, but merely to illustrate the true spirit of the technical solution in the present invention. It should be noted, in this specification, upper, lower, left, right, front, and rear refer to orientations of components and specific configurations therein in the drawings, which are not intended to limit their orientations in practical applications.
As shown in
Groove 1a1 is positioned between two sidewalls 1a20 and 1a21 of the side plate 1a. Positioning ribs 1a11, 1a12 and hanging protrusions 1a13, 1a14 providing position limits are provided in the groove 1a1. As shown more clearly in
Similarly, the side door 2 is provided with a groove 21 between two side walls. The groove 21 has the same structure as that of the groove 1a1, that is, positioning ribs 211, 212 and hanging protrusions 213, 214 are provided therein, and the hanging protrusions 213, 214 are respectively engaged with the branches 311 and 312, which prevents the upper hinge base from releasing from the groove 21.
As shown, the door 2 is provided with a groove 21 between two sidewalls, and L-shaped hanging slots 215, 216 providing the function of position limiting are provided within the groove 21. The side plate 1a is provided with a groove 1a1 between two sidewalls 1a20 and 1a21, and hanging slots 1a15, 1a16 are provided within the groove 1a1. The cross-sectional shape of the hanging slots 215, 216 matches the shape of hanging protrusions, and the distance between the hanging slots 215, 216 is determined by the distance between the hanging protrusions 314, 315, which enables the hanging protrusions 314, 315 to be engaged in the hanging slots 215, 216 and prevent them from releasing from the hanging slots. The hanging slots 1a15, 1a16 have the same structure as that of the hanging slots 215, 216, which will not be elaborated herein.
When the upper hinge base 31 is installed in the groove 21 of the door 2, the upper hinge base 31 will slightly offset to the right at first, enabling the hanging protrusions 314, 315 to enter the hanging slots 215, 216 laterally. At this time, the elastic piece 313 of the upper hinge base 31 will be deformed downward due to the obstruction of lateral structure of groove 21, as shown in
As shown in
When installing the upper hinge base 31 into the groove 21 of door 2, firstly the positioning slots 318a, 318b of the upper hinge base 31 are aligned with the limiting projections 218a, 218b in the groove 21 of the door 2 and the upper hinge base 31 is pressed into the groove 21. Then the hanging protrusions 317a, 317b of the upper hinge base 31 will press the elastic hooks 217a, 217b, which makes the elastic hooks to deform, thereby allowing the positioning slots 318a, 318b to enter the limiting projections 218a, 218b. When the positioning slots have entered the limiting projections completely, the elastic hooks 217a, 217b will restore their free-form. In this way, the elastic hooks 217a, 217b prevent the hinge base 31 from easily releasing from the groove 21, thereby finishing the installation of upper hinge base 31 to door 2. The lower hinge base 33 is installed to the side plate 1a in the same manner.
The fixing structure used to hold hinges on the door or the side plate according to the embodiments described above has advantages of simple structure, easy installation and improved appearance, since the hinge assembly would never been seen from the appearance when the door is closed after installation. Further, since the hinge is completely installed between two sidewalls of the door or the side plate, there are no hinge mounting holes on the sidewalls of the door and the side plate, which increases the strength of the hinge mounting portion of the door and the side plate to some extent.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention has been described in detail above, while it is to be understood that, after reading the above teachings of the present invention, those skilled in the art may make various modifications or amendments to the present invention. These equivalent forms still fall into the scope limited by appended claims of the present application.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2012 1 0279538 | Aug 2012 | CN | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CN2013/081014 | 8/7/2013 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2014/023235 | 2/13/2014 | WO | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20150197971 A1 | Jul 2015 | US |