Patent Application
20190283234
The present invention relates to a toolbox.
A conventional toolbox is applied to accommodate multiple tools. Preferably, the toolbox and the multiple tools are packed together for sale.
The toolbox is made of plastic or rubber in injection molding manner so as to obtain exact structure and appearance and silky touch. Preferably, the toolbox is made in multi-shot sequential injection molding or bi-injection molding so as to achieve multiple hardness and colors.
However, in producing toolboxes with injection molding, precise molds are necessary, causing increasing of production cost of the toolboxes. To scatter the cost of the molds, the toolboxes have to be produced in mass production. Therefore, the manufacturers are forced to deal with increasing inventory pressure. Affordable variations of models of the toolboxes are limited. When a new model is published on the market, manufacturers and retailers are unable to prompt change their productions lines to follow the market.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a toolbox which may be manufactured in various manners except for injection molding so as to reduce production cost.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a toolbox which can be produced with a minimized quantity of each batch with an affordable cost scattered on each single product. With a minimized quantity of each production batch, manufacturers may be able to change appearance of the toolbox flexibly.
To obtain above-mentioned objectives, a toolbox provided by the present invention includes two covers which are rotatably connected with each other and are rotated away from or close to each other so as to open or close the toolbox.
At least one of the two covers includes a shell, a frame, and a tool rack. The shell includes a bottom wall and an annular wall, and the annular wall extends upward from and surrounds the bottom wall so as to define a hollow receiving space with the bottom wall. The frame surrounds the annular wall and connect with the tool rack. The shell is clipped between the frame and the tool rack.
Thereby, the toolbox contains the two covers, and each cover includes the shell, the frame, and the tool rack, wherein the shell has the bottom wall and the annular wall which are made of the plate in various manners except for injection molding so as to reduce fabrication cost and the quantity of the stock material and to change appearance of the toolbox by replacing the shell, thus enhancing production flexibility.
With reference to
Referring to
The shell 11 is a thin-walled structure and includes a bottom wall 111, an annular wall 112, and a locking lip 113, wherein the annular wall 112 extending upward from and surrounding the bottom wall 111 so as to define a hollow receiving space 114 with the bottom wall 112. The hollow receiving space 114 faces the other cover 20. The locking lip 113 extends outward from one end of the annular wall 112 away from the bottom wall 111, wherein the locking lip 113 is perpendicular to the annular wall 112 and is parallel to the bottom wall 111 so that the annular wall 112 connects between the locking lip 113 and the bottom wall 111. The shell 11 further includes multiple bend sections formed on the bottom wall 111 and the annular wall 112 so as to reinforce the bottom wall 111 and the annular wall 112. The plate of the shell 11 is made of any one of polycarbonate (PC), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), PC composites, and ABS resin composite, wherein the PC composite and ABS resin composite combine with cloth material or fabric material. In some cases, the plate of the shell 11 may be made of aluminum or aluminum alloy. The shell 11 may be made of the plate in any one of stamping, extension, hot forming, and blow molding manners.
Referring to
The tool rack 13 includes a body 131, a joining fringe 132, and an engagement fringe 133, wherein the body 131 is accommodated in the receiving space 114 and configured to detachably receive and storage the tools 91 on the body 131, wherein the body 131 has a rotatable fixer on which a plurality of orifices are formed so as to accommodate the multiple tools 90 individually. With reference to
Accordingly, the shell, the frame, and the tool rack are produced separately, thereafter the frame and the tool rack are engaged so that the shell can be retained between the frame and the tool rack. The connection portion 126 and the connection portion 226 of the two frames are rotatably coupled, thus assembling the toolbox. Appearance of the toolbox is mainly performed on the shell which is made of plate. The shell and the plate have simplified structure which can be processed and treated easily.
Thus, change or improve of the appearance of the toolbox can be easily completed by replacing a new designed shell.
The shell is made of the plate with any one of the stamping, extension, hot forming, and blow molding manners. Cost for equipment and molds can be reduced. Quantity for each batch of mass production can thus be reduced, shrinking manufacturers' and retailers' inventory pressure. When changing an appearance of the toolbox, merely the plate or the shell should be replaced. Thus, change or improve of the appearance of the toolbox can be easily completed by replacing a new designed shell. Therefore, production flexibility is enhanced.
In this embodiment, a number of the multiple retaining portions 125 and slots 134 are four. The retaining portions 125 are located on the external fence 123 of the frame 12. The slots 134 are formed on the engagement fringe 133 of the tool rack 13. However, number of the retaining portions and slots may be changed. Positions of the retaining portions and the slots are interchangeable. Number and position of the retaining portions and the slots may be changed based on using requirements.
Furthermore, a position of the connection portion 126 and the connection portion 226 is changeable, for example, the connection portion 126 and the connection portion 226 can be formed on the tool racks 13, 23.
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiments of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to covering assembly all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.
