Patent Application
20060175213
The present disclosure generally relates to utility cases, and more particularly, to a utility case for storage and transport of articles which includes vertically offset holding units.
Conventional utility cases provide receptacles defined in various orientations and configurations for the storage and transport of articles, as discussed in application Ser. No. 10/992,493, which has been incorporated by reference. However, one disadvantage of such conventional utility cases is the lack of receptacle density. Aside from the storage case from which this application claims priority, easy access to a compact, high density configuration of storage receptacles is not found in conventional utility cases. As a result, conventional utility cases are larger than necessary, require the use of more materials (resin if made of plastics), have a lot of unusable space or volume on a percentage basis and have difficulty accommodating articles having a non-standard configuration.
One example of an article having a non-standard shape, which will be used throughout this disclosure, as was in application Ser. No. 10/992,493, which has been incorporated by reference, is a particular variety of artificial fish baits (i.e., lures) that have a relatively large, generally planar element depending from the lure. The depending element is generally called a blade or a spoon, and the lures are commonly referred to as spinner bait, because of the spinning action of the spoon-shaped blade when the lure is pulled through the water by a fisherman. More specifically, the disclosure is directed to discrete storage and transport of articles having a non-standard configuration, so that a given article can be selectively retrieved without risk that the selected article will be entangled with the other articles or without removing other articles to obtain access to the desired article.
Throughout this disclosure, spinner bait fishing lures will be used as an example of an article having a non-standard shape. It is within the teachings of this disclosure and will be recognized by those of skill in the art that any other suitable article having a non-standard or standard configuration or dimension may be substituted therefor. Those of ordinary skill in the art will also recognize that this disclosure shall not be limited to the example of the spinner bait as disclosed. Rather, the spinner bait fishing lure is useful to facilitate description of the utility case disclosed herein. A more detailed description of the structure and function of a spinner bait fishing lure and other conventional storage apparatus is set forth in application Ser. No. 10/992,493, which has been incorporated by reference.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a utility case for storage and transport of articles that provides a compact, high density configuration of storage receptacles and overcomes disadvantages described above but also uses less material, is easier to assemble and is less costly and provides improved performance in use.
Certain embodiments are shown in the drawings. However, it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the arrangements and instrumentality shown in the attached drawings, wherein:
For the purposes of promoting and understanding the principles disclosed herein, reference will now be made to the preferred embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope is thereby intended. Such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device and such further applications are the principles disclosed as illustrated therein as being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which this disclosure relates.
In one aspect of the present disclosure, a utility case for storage and transport of articles includes a first storage compartment defined by a back wall, spaced side walls and a bottom wall extending between the side walls and the back wall. A plurality of vertically offset holding units extend between and are supported by the side walls. In another aspect, each holding unit includes a plurality of walls defining a plurality of receptacles with an open top and a majority of the holding units are moveable from a first orientation to a second orientation.
In another aspect, the back wall of each holding unit has a first greater extent than a second vertical extent of a front wall thereby defining a volume substantially parallelepiped. In still another aspect, each holding unit includes a base to facilitate pivotal connection to the first storage compartment wherein the range of movement is defined by a plurality of guides.
In yet another aspect, the utility case further includes a body element that in cooperation with one wall of the first storage compartment, defines a second storage compartment.
The cover 21 may also further include, have formed thereon or define a plurality of pockets 32 that are generally formed as an additional layer of material connected to the outer surface of the cover 21 so as defined a receptacle space there between conventional enclosures such as a zipper may be provided to facilitate selective access thereto. The cover 21 may be connected the base 22 by any conventional method such as, for example, stitching, adhesive, mechanical fastener, or any other suitable connection method. Preferably, in one embodiment, the cover 21 is formed from a stiffened Notarial and may be made from any other suitable material. The covering 21 may also include a flap 64 configured to provide selectable access to at least one second storage compartment 66 (see
A first storage compartment is defined in the utility case 20 by a back wall 42, spaced sidewalls 44, extending from laterally opposed margins 46 of the back wall 42 and a bottom wall 48 extending between the sidewalls 44 and contiguous with the back wall 42. In one embodiment, the first storage compartment may be formed as an integrally molded element which is connected to the cover 21 by any conventional method or means or combination thereof, such as for example, stitching, adhesive, mechanical fastener or any other suitable means or method.
Each of the back wall 42, sidewalls 44 and bottom wall 48 include a free edge 50 that cooperatively defines an opening 52. A cover 54 is connected to one of the free edges 50 for movement between a closed position (see
The first cover 54 may be connected to one of the free edges by conventional hinging system 60 or any other suitable type of connection, such as, for example living hinge, flexible material, or any other suitable connection methods or means.
A strap 62 may be provided and connected to mounting points 64 to facilitate carrying of the utility case 20 by the shoulder of a user. If within the teachings of the present disclosure that any other suitable shoulder strap or handle or mounting points may be provided to perform the same carrying function.
Each holding unit 70 preferably includes a plurality of walls defining at least one receptacle 72 having an open top defined by the free edge of the plurality of holding unit walls, namely a front wall 74, a back wall 76, opposed side walls 78 and at least one divider wall 80. Preferably, in one embodiment, the back wall 76 has a first vertical extent V1 that is greater than a second vertical extent V2 of the front wall 74.
In one embodiment, each holding unit 70 includes a base 82 to facilitate connection of the holding unit 70 to the side walls 44. Preferably, in one embodiment, such connection would be pivotable. The base 82 may include a pair of opposed lugs 84 for engaging apertures 86 defined in the side walls 44.
In one embodiment, the first storage compartment 40 may also include a plurality of guides 90 disposed on each side wall 44 such that one guide 90 is associated with each end of the holding unit 70 to define a range of movement for such holding units 70. As best shown in
In one embodiment, each receptacle 70 defines a volume configured generally as a parallelepiped. In another embodiment, the holding units 70 are horizontally offset, as best shown in
Each of the plurality of panels includes a free edge 102 that cooperatively define an opening for the second storage compartment 66. In one embodiment, the flap 64 is connected to one of the free edges 102 so as to provide selectable access to the second storage compartment 66. A conventional closure 104, such as for example, a zipper or other mechanical fastener, may be used to detachably secure the flap 64 to any of the several of the free edges 102.
Furthermore, while the particular preferred embodiments have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the teaching of the disclosure. The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only and not as limitation. The actual scope of the disclosure is intended to be defined in the following claims when viewed in their proper perspective based on the related art.
This application is a continuation in part of and claims priority from application Ser. No. 10/992,493, filed Nov. 16, 2004, entitled “STORAGE CASE”, which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10992493 | Nov 2004 | US |
| Child | 11278573 | Apr 2006 | US |
