Claims
- 1. A container for holding an item having an upper surface with a contacting portion and a substantially planar non-contacting portion, comprising:
- a base having a lower retaining portion with a depth, the item being removably engagable into the lower retaining portion of said base;
- a cover having an upper surface and a lower surface, the lower surface further including at least one upper retaining portion consisting of a conical contacting portion extending therefrom and a non-contacting portion,
- said cover being removably engagable with said base so that the upper retaining portion of said cover is aligned with the lower retaining portion of said base,
- the conical contacting portion of the upper retaining portion of said cover would engage the contacting portion of the item and the non-contacting portion of the upper retaining portion would be maintained separated from the substantially planar non-contacting portion of the item by a gap.
- 2. The container of claim 1, wherein the contacting portion of the upper retaining portion of said cover would to reasonably engage the contacting portion of the item without the non-contacting portion of the upper retaining portion contacting the substantially planar non-contacting portion of the item.
- 3. The container of claim 1, wherein
- the contacting portion of the upper retaining portion would engage the contacting portion of the item at an angle.
- 4. The container of claim 1, wherein the contacting portion of the upper retaining portion of said cover is dimensioned to contact the contacting portion of the item along a line of contact.
- 5. The container of claim 1, wherein
- the contacting portion of the upper retaining portion has a first incline angle,
- the contacting portion of the item having a second incline angle substantially equal to the first incline angle.
- 6. The container of claim 1, wherein the depth of the lower retaining portion of said base is greater than a height of the item.
- 7. The container of claim 1, further comprising:
- an o-ring disposed within a socket of the lower retaining portion of said base, the o-ring having an interior hole dimensioned accommodate a portion of the item.
- 8. The container of claim 1, further comprising:
- a cushion layer disposed within the lower retaining portion of said base.
- 9. A method for holding an item within a container having a base and a cover, the item having an upper surface with a contacting portion and a substantially planar non-contacting portion, a cover having an upper retaining portion consisting of a conical contacting portion extending therefrom and a non-contacting portion, said method comprising:
- (a) removably engaging the item into a lower retaining portion of said base, the lower retaining portion of said base having a depth; and
- (b) removably engaging said cover onto said base so that:
- (i) the upper retaining portion of said cover is aligned with the lower retaining portion of said base,
- (ii) the conical contacting portion of the upper retaining portion of said cover contacts the contacting portion of the item, and
- (iii) the non-contacting portion of the upper retaining portion is maintained separated from the substantially non-contacting portion of the item by a gap.
- 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
- (c) clamping said cover to said base by a clamping member so that the contacting portion of the item is removably engaged with the contacting portion of the upper retaining portion of said cover without the non-contacting portion of the upper retaining portion of said cover contacting the non-contacting portion of the item.
- 11. The method of claim 9, wherein:
- the contacting portion of the upper retaining portion engages the contacting portion of the item at an angle.
- 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the contacting portion of the upper retaining portion of said cover contacts the contacting portion of the item along a line of contact.
- 13. The method of claim 9, wherein:
- the contacting portion of the upper retaining portion of said cover has a first incline angle,
- the contacting portion of the item has a second incline angle such that it would be substantially equal to the first incline angle.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO A RELATED PATENT APPLICATION
This patent application is related to a commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/244,771 entitled, Vertical Storage and Transport Container filed by the same inventors and is incorporated herein by reference.
US Referenced Citations (22)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0073841 |
Apr 1984 |
JPX |