Patent Application
20200122883
The present disclosure relates generally to packing boxes, and more specifically to a new type of reusable packing boxes for shipping and storage.
Corrugated packing boxes are commonly used for shipping and storage. They can be folded into boxes quickly and can be flattened when the content is removed. These boxes are cheap and convenient. They come in different colors and sizes, but they all have the same design: four side walls with four flaps for the bottom and four for the top. The four flaps can be locked to form the bottom for holding the weight or to form the top for closing the box. The bottom can be reinforced by tapes, especially along the edges where the flaps interlock.
However, corrugated boxes are made of cardboard and are not durable. After one or two uses, cardboard boxes become worn and can't withstand any significant weight any more. They have to be discarded. Although the cardboard can be recycled, corrugated boxes are still wasteful and harmful to the environment.
The present disclosure teaches a new type of boxes that are flexible and versatile and can be made of reusable/durable materials for repeated uses. They are easy to manufacture, and more importantly, they are environmentally safe.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present disclosure to teach a new type of packing boxes that can be used for shipping and storage and the method of making and using them.
In some embodiments, an article of manufacture comprises a set of assembly pieces. Each assembly piece comprises a body in the shape of a square, referred to as “square body.” On each side of the square body, there is either a key or a lock. Each key is attached to the square and each lock is a socket inside the square body. In one embodiment, a key is a small tab. The tab may be flat on one side and have some unevenness on the other side. The unevenness can be made of any shape, e.g., a prism. In the set of assembly pieces, any assembly piece can be connected to another assembly piece through insertion of a key of either piece into a lock of the other piece. The set of assembly pieces also comprises a top piece. The top piece differs from the other pieces in that the top piece has an aperture on the square body. The article of manufacture may also include a box opener. The box opener comprises a handle and a lug. The lug can be inserted in the aperture of the top piece to remove the top piece from an assembled box to open the box during disassembling. In some embodiments, every key is of the same shape and size. Every lock is of the same shape and size as a key to allow a key to be securely inserted into a lock.
In some embodiments, the set of assembly pieces includes one or more planar assembly pieces. A planar assembly piece includes one or more keys, all of which are flat and lying in the same plane as the square body. When two planar assembly pieces are connected, they form a flat surface. The set of assembly pieces further includes one or more non-planar assembly pieces. A non-planar assembly piece includes at least one vertical key that is perpendicular to the plane of the square body. When the vertical key of a non-planar assembly piece is inserted into a lock of another assembly piece, the two assembly pieces form a 90° angle. Among the set of assembly pieces, a plurality of pieces can be selected to construct a box. In some embodiments, a top piece is included in the selected pieces for assembling a box. The top piece has an aperture in the square body. The aperture is used to receive a box opener for disassembling.
In some embodiments, the assembly pieces may be made of cardboard, plastic, metal, or other suitable materials. The assembly pieces in the same set may be made of the same or different materials.
In some embodiments, the surface of the square body of each assembly piece may be marked by indentations. An indentation is generally marked above each lock and is used for pushing the key inserted into the lock beneath the indentation to unlock two locked assembly pieces.
The present application further discloses a method of assembling a box using a set of assembly pieces. In the set of assembly pieces, each assembly piece comprises a square body and, on each side of the square body, either a key or a lock. Two assembly pieces connect to each other through insertion of a key of one assembly piece into a lock of the other assembly piece. The set of assembly pieces further comprises a top piece. The top piece has an aperture for receiving a box opener to facilitate disassembling. The set also includes one or more planar assembly pieces and one or more non-planar assembly pieces. A planar assembly piece includes one or more keys, all of them flat and lying in the plane of the square body. A non-planar assembly piece includes at least one vertical key that is perpendicular to the plane of the square body. In the assembling method, a top piece is first selected to form part of the top side of the box. Then one or more planar assembly pieces are connected to the top piece to form the top side of the box. To form a side wall, a non-planar assembly piece is selected to connect to one of the planar assembly pieces in the top side. To finish the box, one or more planar pieces are added to form a larger flat surface and one or more non-planar pieces are added to form corners of a 90° angle.
During disassembling, two locked assembly pieces can be unlocked by pushing an indentation above the lock of one locked assembly piece that receives the key of the other locked assembly piece. Also, during disassembling, a box opener can be used to remove the top piece. The box opener comprises a handle and a lug, and the lug of the box opener can be inserted into the aperture of the top piece for engagement.
In some embodiments, an article of manufacture includes a plurality of assembly pieces. Each assembly piece comprises a square body and, on each side of the square body, either a key or a lock. A key is a tab attached to a side of the square body. A lock is a socket inside the square body. The plurality of assembly pieces forms a set and the set comprises assembly pieces of seven different shapes. A first shaped assembly piece comprises a flat key and three locks. A second shaped assembly piece comprises two flat keys on two adjacent sides of the square body and two locks on the other two sides of the square body. A third shaped assembly piece comprises a flat key and a vertical key that are on two adjacent sides of the square body and two locks that are on the other two sides of the square body. A fourth shaped assembly piece comprises two flat keys on two adjacent sides of the square body, and a vertical key and a lock on the other two sides of the square body. A fifth shaped assembly piece comprises two vertical keys on two adjacent sides of the square body, and a flat key and a lock on the other two sides of the square body. A sixth shaped assembly piece comprises a vertical key and a flat key on two opposing sides of the square body, and two locks on the other two sides of the square body. The set also includes a top piece that comprises a flat key on one side of the square body, and three locks on the other sides of the square body, and an aperture on the square body. The article of manufacture further includes a box opener. The box opener comprises a handle and a lug. The box opener is used to remove the top piece by engaging the lug into the aperture of the top piece. In one embodiment, each assembly piece further comprises one or more indentations on the surface of the square body. Each indentation is marked on the surface of the square body above a lock that is inside the square body. Indentations are used for pushing to unlock a key locked in a lock.
These and other features of the present disclosure will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the views. Moreover, components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure.
Embodiments of the disclosure are described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the disclosure are shown. The various embodiments of the disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.
The present application discloses a new type of boxes that can be assembled and disassembled and reused as storage or shipping containers. A set of different assembly pieces are provided for construction of a box. The assembly pieces can be made of cardboard, plastic, metal, nylon, or any other suitable materials. Each assembly piece comprises a flat square referred to as a square body. The square body has four sides. On each side, there is either a key or a lock. In some embodiments, the key resembles a tab and is attached to a side of the square body. A lock is a socket inside the square body. In some embodiments, all assembly pieces have a same body and the keys are of the same uniform shape and size. The shape and the size of the locks closely resemble the shape and the size of the keys. A key of an assembly piece can therefore be inserted into a lock of another assembly piece and stay securely locked.
In some embodiments, the key or keys of an assembly piece are in the shape of a tab. The keys can be flat keys, lying in the same plane of the square body. The keys can be vertical keys, standing perpendicular to the plane of the square body. When an assembly piece comprises only flat keys, the assembly piece is referred to as “planar assembly piece.” When an assembly piece has at least one vertical key, the assembly piece is referred to as “non-planar assembly piece.”
In
The planar assembly piece 20 in
The two planar assembly pieces, 10 and 20, in
The non-planar assembly piece 40 in
The exemplary assembly pieces shown in
Among the assembly pieces selected to construct a complete box, it is preferable that a top piece is included in the selection.
In a completed box, all sides are finished and the box is enclosed. To disassemble the box, a box opener may be provided to open the enclosed box.
Generally, a finished box may include a top piece 300 for ease of opening during disassembling. The top piece 300 may be on the top side of the box when the box is not empty, or on any other side. To construct a complete box, a variety of assembly pieces are needed.
In
In
In constructing the box shown in
The large box 700 is a cuboid (4×3×4 pieces) and is constructed with 90 assembly pieces. The top side and the bottom side of the box 700 each include 12 assembly pieces, all of which are planar assembly pieces such as the first shaped and the second shaped assembly pieces. The top side of the box 700 also includes a top piece marked as T. The sidewall on the backside of the box 700 comprises 12 assembly pieces, each of the shape as marked in the drawing. By way of symmetry, the sidewall on the frontside of the box 700 (not shown) comprises the same pieces. The sidewall on the left-hand side of the box 700 comprises 16 assembly pieces that include both planar and non-planar pieces. The shapes are also marked as shown in
In the large box 700, assembly pieces of all seven configurations are utilized during construction. In some embodiments, the configurations illustrated in
Finally, it is noted that the interior surface of each assembly piece in an assembled box generally faces towards the interior of the box. In some embodiments, the exterior surface of an assembly piece may comprise structures such as handles, pockets, etc. The exterior surfaces may be decorated as well, or printed with trademarks, logos, taglines, etc.
Although the disclosure is illustrated and described herein with reference to specific embodiments, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the details shown. Rather, various modifications may be made in the details within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims and without departing from the disclosure.
