GB2098176A - A device to facilitate the opening of a case having a hinged lid - Google Patents

Abstract

A device 11 to facilitate opening of a tape cassette case 1 and for attachment to a fixed support is in the form of a trough having a rear wall 12, an undulating front wall 13, opposed end walls 14 and a bottom 15. A conventional tape cassette case 1 may be introduced into the trough so that the lid portion 1 is held steady in a narrow channel formed between the rear wall 12 and a part 16 of the front wall 13. The hinged body portion 3 of the case 1 may be pivoted about 8 away from the rear wall 12 and relative to the retained lid portion 1 by single handed manipulation to open the case and permit removal of the cassette. Pivotal opening movement of the case 1 is limited by abutment of the case body portion 3 against inclined parts 16a of the front wall 13. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A device to facilitate opening of a case having a hinged lid Technical field This invention relates to a device to facilitate the opening of a case having a hinged lid and is primarily concerned with such a device for use with relatively small cases of a portable nature and which are conventionally designed to be opened by use of two hands.More particularly, the invention relates to a device to facilitate the opening of a case of the type (hereinafter referred to as "of the type specified") which is in the form of a box-like structure comprising front, base and rear walls, said structure having a lid portion which is hingedly mounted on a body portion for pivotal opening and closing movement of the case, said body portion comprising at least part ofthe rear wall and the lid portion comprising base wall, the front wall and at least part of the rear wall with the case in a closed condition.

Background art Cases of the type specified are well known for holding generally rectangular, flat type cassettes where the cassette is loaded into the case to be received within a channel formed by the lid portion between opposing front wall and rear wall parts of that portion and the base wall. Tape cassette cases of this kind are of conventional design being rather shallow, oblong, rectangular parallelepipedon structures when closed. The removal of a tape cassette from, or its loading into, a case of the type specified normally requires the use of two hands, one to grip the lid portion and the other to pivot the body portion relative thereto and to handle the cassette.

There are occasions however when it is not convenient to use two hands and the opening and closing of the case is then usually achieved by fumbling.

Such an occasion is particularly prevalent in a vehicle fitted with a tape cassette player where the use of two hands to open the cassette case is often inconvenient and dangerous.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device which facilitates the opening of a case of the type specified and which alleviates the aforementioned difficulties and disadvantages.

Statement of invention and advantages According to the present invention there is provided a device to facilitate the opening of a case of the type specified for the removal therefrom or loading of an article into the case, said device being locatable on a fixed support and comprising a holder part for co-operating with the lid portion of the case to retain that lid portion against pivotal movement relative to the fixed support by abutment with the front wall and rear wall part of the lid portion, said holder part being arranged and disposed so that the body portion is clear to pivot by single handed manipulation relative to the retained lid portion to open and close the case.

Although the present invention was primarily developed to facilitate the opening and closing of a case for holding a tape cassette it will be realised that, in its broad concept, the device of the invention may be used to facilitate the single handed opening and closing of cases of the type specified and which may be used to hold any article such as cosmetics or confectionery.Bearing in mind the preferred use for which the invention was developed there is further provided the combination of a tape cassette case of the type specified and a device to facilitate the opening and closing of that case by single handed manipulation in which the device is intended to be mounted on a fixed support and comprises a holder part which co-operates with the lid portion of the case to restrain pivotal movement of the lid portion relative to the fixed support, said holder part being arranged and disposed so that the body portion of the case is clear to pivot relative to the retained lid portion for opening and closing movement of the case.

For convenience the invention will hereinafter be described with reference to a device for use with a tape cassette case of the type specified and it is envisaged that this will usually be in the form of a vehicle accessory having means such as adhesive pads, screws or a malelfemale part for mating with a complementary part by which the device is intended to be mounted on a fixed support such as a wall or facia panel of a vehicle.

In a simple form the holder part of the device may comprise a channel having opposing walls between which the case is intended to be slotted so that the lid portion co-operates with the channel in such manner whereby the front wall and rear wall part of the lid portion respectively abut the opposing walls of the channel to restrain pivotal movement of the lid portion. The channel is arranged to be of such shape and dimensions that the body portion of the case is clear to pivot relative to the retained lid portion to permit access to the interior of the case for loading or removal of a tape cassette. With such a simple arrangement the body portion may be arranged to pivot, say, through 180"from its closed condition.

The aforementioned channel will conveniently receive the case as a close sliding fit and may have its opposed walls of a resilient or spring nature to abut the lid portion. With such a simple device the channel may be open ended but it is desirable that stops are provided at the ends of the channel to restrain sliding movement of the case longitudinally through the channel. It is also desirable that a stop is provided to limit the degree through which the body portion can be pivoted upon opening of the case.

This latter stop together with the stops at the end of the channel may be provided by appropriately disposed walls of the device; more particularly a wall of the device which limits the extent to which the body portion may pivot on opening of the case must be located at a position which ensures sufficient opening of the case to permit access to the interior of the case for easy removal or loading of the tape cassette.

In a preferred construction the device is formed as a generally trough-shaped one piece plastics mould ing which trough has a restricted or narrow portion corresponding to the aforementioned channel for receiving and restraining pivotal movement of the lid portion and relativelywiderportions on each side of said channel which permit pivotal movement of the body portion and limit the extent of such pivotal movement upon opening of the case. The end walls of the trough conveniently retain the case against sliding movement longitudinally through the channel.

Figures in the drawings One embodiment of a device constructed in accordance with the present invention and to facilitate the opening and closing of a tape cassette case of the type specified will now be described, by way of example only with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings, in which:: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a conventional form of closed tape cassette case for use with the device; Figure 2 is a perspective view illustrating the case of Figure 1 received in the device and adjusted to an open condition; Figure 3 is a plan view of the device in part section taken on the line B - B of Figure 4; Figure 4 is a front view of the device in part section taken on the line A - A of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a side elevation of the device; Figure 6 is a side view of the device taken on the line C -C of Figure 4, and Figure 7 is a rear elevation of the device.

Description of the drawings The tape cassette case 1 shown in Figure 1 is of conventional oblong rectangular parallelepipedon box-like structure when closed comprising a plastics (usually opaque) moulded lid portion 2 and a plastics (usually transparent) body portion 3.

The lid portion 2 provides a front wall 4, base wall 5 and part 6 of a rear wall to the box-like structure.

The remaining rear wall part 7 of the box-like structure is provided by the body portion 3 which is pivotally mounted at points 8 to the base wall 5. The body portion 3 is in the form of a shallow tray to provide side walls 9 to the structure and its rear wall part 7 is recessed or cut away at 10 to correspond with the shape of the rear wall part 6 so that the latter is received within the recess 10 in substantially complementary manner when the case is closed as shown. Conventionally a tape cassette (not shown) is housed within the case 1 as a close sliding fit within the channel formed between the opposed wall parts 4 and 6 of the lid portion 2 and removal of the cassette is effected by rotating the rear wall part 7 about the pivots 8 and away from the front wall 4 to clear the side walls 9 from the cassette.

The device 11 to facilitate opening and closing of the case 1 by single handed manipulation is a one piece plastics moulding of generally trough-shape comprising a substantially flat rear wall 12, an undulating front wall 13 which opposes the rear wall 12 and is interconnected therewith by opposed end walls 14 and a bottom wall 15. The undulating front wall 13 has a central portion 16 which opposes and is substantially parallel with the rear wall 12 to form therewith a relatively narrow channel the width of which substantially corresponds with that of the cassette case 1 in its closed condition.The width of the trough on each side of the central portion 16 is, in the mouth of the trough, relatively wider than the aforementioned channel and decreases towards the bottom wall 15; this is achieved by providing the front wall 16 with wall parts 1 6a which are inclined to converge towards the rear wall 12 as they approach the bottom wall 15. The length of the trough shaped device is slightly greater than that of the cassette case 1 so that the latter can be inserted through the mouth of the trough with the base wall 5 leading until the base wall is seated on reinforcing ribs 17 upstanding from the bottom wall 15. In this condition the front wall 4 of the case 1 should lie adjacent to the rear wall 12 of the device 11 while the rear wall part 6 lies adjacent to the front wall part 16.

Preferably the wall parts 6 and 4 are a close sliding fit within the channel formed by the wall parts 12 and 16 and the case 1 is restrained from longitudinal displacement through the aforementioned channel by abutment against the end walls 14.

With the case 1 located in the device 11 as aforementioned the rear wall part 7 of the body portion 3 of the case is clear of the front wall part 16 (in the sense that these wall parts do not overlie each other); consequently the body portion 3 can be rotated within the device 11 and relative to the lid portion 2 by hinged movement about the pivots 8.

This rotation can be effected by single handed manipulation provided that the device 11 is secured relative to a fixed structure. To effect pivotal movement of the body portion 3 the side walls 9 are gripped between thumb and fingers of one hand and drawn away from the rear wall 12 whilst the lid portion 1 is restrained from rotation in sympathy with the body portion by abutment of the lid portion against the front wall part 16 and the rear wall 12 of the device. As the case 1 is opened to the position shown in Figure 2 the parts of the body portion 3 towards the pivots 8 move arcuately through the broader parts of the trough until the rear wall part 7 abuts the inclined front wall parts 16a.In this latter position the said wall parts are preferably in face-toface abutment and the inclination of the wall parts 1 6a is determined appropriately so that sufficient opening of the cassette case is permitted to facilitate removal of a cassette from or its loading into the case 1. As the cassette case is opened it will be seen from Figure 2 that the recess 10 in its rev. wall part 7 moves over the front wall part 16 of the device to overlietriangularly shaped front wall parts 1 6b which interconnect the wall part 16 with the wall parts 16a.

For the purpose of mounting the device 11 to a fixed support such as a facia panel of a vehicle, the rear wall 12 has a dove-tail section recess 18 formed therein; this is intended to mate with a complementary dove tailed male part secured as convenient to thefacia panel.

To facilitate loading of the cassette case 1 into the device 11 and centralise the case within the device the opposed end walls 14 are provided with tapering internal guide ribs 14a (see Figures 3, 4 and 6).

Although the aforegoing description has been concerned with cases of the type specified having a generally rectangular parallelepipedon structure it will be realised that the concept of the device is equally applicable to cases of other shape such as circular or elliptical.

Claims (14)

1. A device to facilitate the opening of a case of the type specified for the removal therefrom or loading of an article into the case, said device being locatable on a fixed support and comprising a holder part for co-operating with the lid portion of the case to retain that lid portion against pivotal movement relative to the fixed support by abutment with the front wall and rear wall part of the lid portion, said holder part being arranged and disposed so that the body portion is clear to pivot by single handed manipulation relative to the retained lid portion to open and close the case.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 and comprising a channel having opposing walls between which the case is intended to be slotted so that the lid portion will co-operate with the channel in such manner whereby the front wall and rear wall part of the lid portion respectively abut the opposing walls of the channel to restrain pivotal movement of the lid portion.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2 in which the channel has its opposed walls of a resilient or spring nature for abutting the lid portion.

4. A device as claimed in either claim 2 or claim 3 in which stops are provided at the ends of the channel for restraining sliding movement of the case longitudinally therethrough.

5. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which a stop is provided for limiting the degree through which the body portion can be pivoted upon opening of the case.

6. A device as claimed in either claim 4 or claim 5 in which said stop or stops are provided by walls which partly define a mouth through which a case is intended to be located within the device.

7. A device as claimed in claim 6 and of generally trough shape, said trough having a restricted or narrow portion corresponding to the channel for restraining pivotal movement of the lid portion and relatively wider portions on each side of said channel which permit pivotal movement of the body portion and limit the extent of such pivotal movement upon opening of the case.

8. A device as claimed in claim 7 in which end walls of the trough retain the case against sliding movement longitudinally through the channel.

9. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the device includes means by which it is intended to be mounted on a fixed support.

10. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and formed substantially as a one piece plastics moulding.

11. A device to facilitate the opening of a case of the type specified and substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings.

12. The combination of a device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and a case of the type specified where said device is attached to a fixed support and the case is located in the device to facilitate its opening and closing.

13. The combination of a tape cassette case of the type specified and a device to facilitate the opening and closing of that case by single handed manipulation in which the device is intended to be mounted on a fixed support and comprises a holder part which co-operates with the lid portion of the case to restrain pivotal movement of the lid portion relative to the fixed support, said holder part being arranged and disposed so that the body portion of the case is clear to pivot relative to the retained lid portion for opening and closing movement of the case.

14. The combination as claimed in claim 13 and substantially as herein described with reference to Figure 2 of the accompanying illustrative drawings.