GB2174978A - Box - Google Patents

Abstract

A box for holding thin objects such as floppy discs comprises first and second members 1,2 which fit together in the closed configuration of the box generally to define a rectangular parallellopiped. The first and second members 1,2 are interengaged by coupling means of the slot 5 (or groove) and pin 4 form. The first member 1 is moveable relative to the second member 2 by a single continuous motion from the closed configuration, longitudinally relative to said second member generally in the manner of a drawer within a sleeve, and then relatively rotatively through an angle of less than 180 DEG in a sense assisted by the weight of objects supported in the first member 1 to a limit position in which the box adopts an inverted V configuration. The box is self supporting when then placed upon a supporting surface in such inverted V configuration. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Box This invention relates to boxes. More particularly, but not necessarily exclusively, it is concerned with boxes for holding thin objects such as floppy discs for computers, word processors and the like.

With increased automation in the office and wider possession of word processors and personal computers, many of which employ floppy discs as magnetic data storage media, a number of different designs of storage boxes for such thin objects have become available on the market. Most such boxes comprise an inner tray forming a primary support for the floppy discs, the tray being receivable within a more robust outer packaging, and the whole having a generally rectangular parallellopiped construction. In one common such arrangement the outer package is hingedly connected to the inner primary package and on unfolding effectively provides a tray in which the inner packaging is supported somewhat in an "A' shaped configuration.

In another arrangement described, for example, in British Patent Specification 2140781, a box for holding floppy discs has an outer sleeve enclosing a drawer. The drawer can be withdrawn partially from the sleeve to a position where pins moulded inside the sleeve and sliding in grooves in the outer side walls of the drawer limit the withdrawal.

The drawer and sleeve can then be swung relatively with respect to each other through an angle of less than 180 to a position in which the drawer can be moved back on itself to a position in which a stop is reached and the box is self supporting in an inverted "V"configuration. This backward or reverse movement is essential to the embodiments described in British Patent Specification 2140781, the reverse movement either being backwards along the same slot or along a reverse blind slot parallel to the first. In either such arrangement, the mouth or rim of the sleeve abuts against the underneath of the drawer for the arrangement to be self supporting.

We have found that this arrangement is not wholly satisfactory for a number of reasons. Firstly, the manipulation of the drawer relative to the sleeve is not easy to achieve first longitudinally, then rotatively, and finally backwards longitudinally. Secondly, the effect of gravity is such that the weight of objects such as floppy discs in the drawer tends to oppose theobackward movement of the drawer relative to the sleeve. The effect of this is that although the arrangement may be self supporting in an inverted V configuration when stationary, if the user attempts to move the invert V configuration box, as soon as the box is lifted off a support surface, the whole arrangement tends to collapse.

The present arrangement has arisen from our work seeking to overcome these drawbacks inherent in the previous proposals.

In accordance with the present invention, we provide a box suitable for example for holding thin objects such as floppy discs, the box comprising first and second members which fit together in the closed configuration of the box generally to define a rectangular parallellopiped, the first said member being at least partially receivable within the second said member in said closed configuration; the first and second members being interengaged by cou pling means of the slot (or groove) and pin form, the first member being moveable relative to said second member by a single continuous motion from said second member generally in the manner of a drawer within a sleeve, and then relatively ro tatively through an angle of less than 180 in a sense assisted by the weight of objects supported in said first member to a limit position in which the box adopts an inverted V configuration, the box being self supporting when then placed upon a supporting surface in such configuration.

In the preferred arrangement described below the coupling means comprises slots through the side walls of the first member and respective pairs of pins formed on the inside of each of the side walls of the second member. Both members are suitably moulded of plastics materials and the pins can be integrally moulded with the remainder of the second member. It would be equally feasible for the slot to be replaced by a groove of similar configuration formed in somewhat thicker side walls of the first member. Equally well, the config uration may be reversed with the slots or grooves provided in the second member and the pins inte grally moulded on the first member. A mixed con figuration is also feasible with the pins formed on the first member on one lateral side of the box and the pins formed on the second member on the other lateral side of the box.

The first member suitably has a drawer or tray like configuration comprising a bottom and side walls on two sides of the bottom, the top being at least partially closed by a lid which is pivotally moveable when the box is in its open configura tion to a position in which it extends generally ver tically with said box in its inverted V configuration so as to serve as a forward restraining support for thin objects supported on said first member and displayed in said open configuration of the box.

The invention is hereinafter more particularly de scribed by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a top plan view of the box in its closed configuration; Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the box in its closed configuration; Figure 3 is a top plan view of the first member; Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in Figures 1 and 2; < Figures 5 to 8 are views generally similar to Fig ure 4 illustrating successive stages in the manipu lation of the box from its closed towards its open configuration; and Figure 9 is a similar view showing the box in its fully open position supported on a support surface.

As will be clear from Figures 1 to 4, the illus trated embodiment of box, which is suitable for storing and displaying floppy discs has a generally rectangular parallellopiped configuration when closed. The box comprises three inter-engaged members, namely a first member or drawer 1, a second member or sleeve 2, and a third member or lid 3. The lid 3 is provided with pins 4 received in slots 5 in the respective side walls 6 of the drawer 1. The drawer 1 has a bottom 7, upstanding sides walls 6 on its two lateral sides, its forward edge and part of its top being closed by the lid 3.

The sleeve 2 has a closed end 8, respective top and bottom surfaces 9 and 10 terminating in respective profiled edges 11 and 12 which match raised profiles on the surface of the lid 3 and on the undermeath of the bottom 7 of the drawer 1 so as to form a neat closed rectangular parallellopiped in the configuration of Figures 1 and 2. The top surface 9 of sleeve 2 has a cut out at 13 in which a latch 14 on the lid 3 is receivable. The latch may be simply disengaged by slight pressure on the lid 3. It will be noted that side walls 15 and 16 of the sleeve extend forwardly beyond the profiled edges 11 and 12 and that in the case of the top surface 9, but not the bottom surface 10, there is a similar extension which overlies the corresponding side walls of the drawer 1. This arrangement allows the drawer to be pivoted relative to the sleeve in one sense only.

We shall now explain further with reference to Figures 4 to 8 how the drawer and sleeve are interengaged and how the drawer can be moved relative to the sleeve by a single continuous motion from the closed configuration of the box shown in Figures 1 to 4 to an open inverted V configuration shown in Figure 8 in which position the box can be placed upon a supporting surface to be self supporting in an inverted V configuration shown in Figure 9.

Each side wall 6 of the drawer 1 has a slot 17 in which are received a respective pair of pins 18 and 19 integrally moulded on the inside of the respective side walls 15 and 16 of the sleeve 2. The slot 17 has a wide portion 20 which extends over the greater part of its length terminating in two slot extensions 21 and 22. The lower of the two extensions, namely slot extension 22 defines a "dog-leg' comprising a first section 23 which extends in the same longitudinal direction, and finally a short blind end section 25 which again extends in the longitudinal direction of the main portion 20 of the slot.The upper narrow portion 21 is generally arcuate over the greater part of its length smoothly merging with the corresponding edge of the main portion 20 of the slot, the arcuate portion terminating in a short extension 26 in the longitudinal direction of the main portion 20 of the slot and a very short locking portion 27 just to the side of the portion 26.

The drawer 1 slides generally longitudinally relative to sleeve 2 from the position shown in Figure 4 to the position shown in Figure 5, the pin 18 sliding along the adjacent upper edge 28 of wide portion 20 of slot 17 and the pin 19 similarly sliding along the corresponding lower edge 29. At the end of this longitudinal sliding movement, pin 19 enters dog-leg slot 22 at longitudinal extension 23, the pin 18 reaching the leading end of arcuate slot 21 slightly later. With pin 19 received in the angle in dog-leg slot 22 defined between longitudinal extension 23 and transverse portion 24, further forward movement of pin 18 in arcuate slot 21 results in relative rotation between the drawer and sleeve as illustrated in Figure 6. As pin 18 reaches the end of the arcuate portion 21, pin 19 begins to move along the transverse portion 24 of dog-leg slot 22, as shown in Figure 7.Finally, to reach the configuration shown in Figure 8, pin 18 travels along longitudinal extension 26, while pin 19 similarly travels along longitudinal blind end section 25 of dog-leg 22.

As will be appreciated, the whole movement from the configuration of Figure 4 to the inverted V configuration of Figure 8 is accomplished by a single smooth continuous motion. When the box is mounting thin objects such as floppy discs accommodated in the drawer 1, the weight of these objects will of course act downwardly and upon the drawer 1 in the same sense as the movement from Figure 5 to Figure 8. There is no reverse movement against the effect of gravity. Figure 8 represents the limit position; no further relative rotational movement between the drawer 1 and the sleeve 2 is possible in the same sens. If the box is placed upon a supporting surface in the inverted V configuration of Figure 8, the only change which will take place is the tendency for pin 18 to move into the very short locking portion 27 terminating the upper slot, as shown in Figure 9.In this position the drawer and sleeve are effectively locked. Neither can move in either sense relative to the other until and unless the box is lifted from the support surface. However, as will be appreciated, the only effect of lifting from the support surface is to move back to the Figure 8 configuration. There is no tendency for the arrangement to collapse, as in the prior arrangements of British Patent Specification 2140781 in which the effect of gravity upon floppy discs supported in the drawer of that box acts in a direction opposite to the direction of backward movement so essential for that prior arrangement to be self supporting at all. We accordingly believe that the embodiment of floppy disc box described and illustrated herein represents a significant and important improvement over prior arrangements such as those of the aforementioned British Patent Specification.

As will also be apparent from Figure 9, the lid 3 of drawer 1 can be opened by movement of pins 4 of lid 3 in the slots 5 so that the lid 3 may take up a generally vertical position as shown in Figure 9 allowing floppy discs supported in the drawer 1 to be displayed and withdrawn or inserted in position by a user as desired. At the same time, the lid 3 serves as a forward restraining support preventing floppy discs from falling out of drawer 1.

As will be clear, for example from Figure 4, the drawer and the sleeve have substantially the same longitudinal dimension. In the final configuration of Figure 9, this means that the two limbs of the inverted "V' have similar lengths. Putting it another way, the drawer and the sleeve make substantially similar angles to the vertical. In fact, since the pins 18 and 19 are inset some way from the leading end of the sleeve, the drawer makes a slightly larger angle with respect to the vertical than does the sleeve in the embodiment shown in Figure 9.

As will be appreciated, the greater is the angle from the vertical for the drawer, the less likely is there to be a tendency for thin objects such as floppy discs located in the drawer to fall forwardly and for the arrangement to topple over forwardly.

This marks a further contrast with the prior proposals of for example British Patent Specification 2140781 in which a drawer is withdrawn from a sleeve of approximately similar dimension, then rotated through an angle and then pushed back on itself. It must follow from an arrangement where the drawer is pushed back on itself that the angle which the drawer makes to the vertical will be less than the angle which the sleeve makes to the vertical, with the inevitable result that the arrangement illustrated in the aforesaid prior patent proposal will have a tendency to topple over forwardly and to spill floppy discs contained therein.

Claims (7)

1. A box suitable for example for holding thin objects such as floppy discs, the box comprising first and second members which fit together in the closed configuration of the box generally to define a rectangular parallellopiped, the first said member being at least partially receivable within the second said member in said closed configuration; the first and second members being interengaged by coupling means of the slot (or groove) and pin form, the first member being moveable relative to said second member by a single continuous motion from said closed configuration, longitudinally relative to said second member generally in the manner of a drawer within a sleeve, and then relatively rotatively through an angle of less than 180 in a sense assisted by the weight of objects supported in said first member to a limit position in which the box adopts an inverted V configuration, the box being self supporting when then placed upon a supporting surface in such configuration.

2. A box according to Claim 1, wherein the coupling means comprises slots through the side walls of the first member and respective pairs of pins formed on the inside of each of the side walls of the second member.

3. A box according to Claim 2, wherein the first and second members are each moulded of plastics materials, the pins being integrally moulded with the remainder of the second member.

4. A box according to Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein each said slot has a relatively wide portion extending longitudinally along the said side wall over the greater part of its length and terminating in two relatively narrower slot extensions, the arrangement being such that the respective pins slide along the parallel upper and lower edges of the wide portion of the slot as the said first member is moved longitudinally relative to said second member in the manner of the drawer within a sleeve.

5. A box according to Claim 4 wherein one said narrow slot extension defines a dog-leg comprising a first section extending in the same longitudinal direction as the wide portion of the slot and continuing the lower edge of said wide portion, a second section extending transversely to the first said section and a final blind end section extending in the longitudinal direction of the wide portion of the slot; and wherein the other said narrow extension is generally arcuate over the greater part of its length smoothly merging with the upper edge of the wider portion of the slot, the said arcuate portion terminating in an extension in the longitudinal direction of the wider portion of the slot and a locking portion just to the side of the said extension.

6. A box according to any preceding claim, wherein the first said member has a drawer or tray-like configuration comprising a bottom and side walls on the two lateral sides of the bottom, the top being at least partially closed by a lid which is pivotally moveable when the box is in its open configuration to a position in which it extends generally vertically with said box in its inverted V configuration so as to serve as a forward restraining support for thin objects supported on said first member and displayed in said open configuration of the box.

7. A box suitable for example for holding thin objects such as floppy discs, the box being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.