GB2262876A - "box" - Google Patents

Abstract

A lockable wall-mountable box includes a housing 1 and a cover 2. The housing has an upright back wall 3, a pair of forwardly extending side walls 6 and 7, and a bottom wall 5, and is open at the front. The cover includes a front wall 10 which closes the front of the housing, together with rearwardly projecting top and side walls, 14, 15. The cover 2 is pivotally coupled at 18 to the side walls 6, 7 of the housing, for pivotal movement from a lowered position to a raised position permitting access to the interior of the housing. The top wall of the cover has a relatively long front part which is upwardly inclined in a rearward direction, and a relatively short rear part which is downwardly inclined in a rearward direction. <IMAGE>

Description

BOX TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to boxes.

BACKGROUND When trades people and delivery people leave milk, bread, post or other items outside a house or other building there is, more often than not, nowhere where items can be left out-of-sight and protected from rain, snow, direct sunlight, cats, dogs, birds or other wildlife. This runs the risk of the item or items either being damaged by the elements, cats, dogs, birds or other wildlife, or being stolen. In addition, the presence of such items in open view acts as a visible indication to potential thieves that the building may be unoccupied.

An aim of the present invention may be viewed as being to provide a form of box which can be used to contain small items out of sight and with a high degree of protection from the elements, cats, dogs, birds or other wildlife in the period between delivery and collection.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention proposes a box comprising: (i) a housing which includes at least an upright back wall, a pair of forwardly extending side walls, and a bottom wall, the housing being open at the front, and (ii) a cover which includes front, top and side walls, the cover being mounted on the housing to close the housing so as to form a box and being pivotally coupled to the housing in the upper region thereof for pivotal movement from a lowered position to a raised position permitting access to the interior of the housing.

The cover is preferably pivotally coupled to the housing for pivotal movement about an axis which passes through the side walls of the cover and housing.

The top wall of the cover preferably includes a relatively long front part and a relatively short rear part which is inclined with respect to the front part.

The front part is preferably upwardly inclined in a rearward direction, and the rear part is preferably downwardly inclined in a rearward direction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention is exemplified in the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a general perspective view of a box of the invention, Figure 2 is a side view of the box, Figure 3 is a similar view to Fig. 2 but showing the box sectioned parallel to the plane of the paper to reveal the interior of the box, Figure 4 is a similar view to Fig. 3 but showing the box in an open position, and Figure 5 shows a mounting arrangement for the box.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring firstly to Fig. 1, the box comprises an inner housing 1 and an external cover 2, both of which may conveniently be formed as integral plastics mouldings of a robust and weatherproof material, preferably also having heat-insulating properties, but any other rigid or semi-rigid materials such as wood, metal, composite or plastics could equally be employed.

Fig. 1 shows the cover 2 in a raised position whereas Fig. 2 shows the cover in a lowered position.

Referring to Fig. 3, the inner housing 1 includes a rectangular rear wall 3 which, in the normal position of use of the box, is disposed vertically. Top, bottom and side walls 4, 5 and 6, 7 respectively, project forwardly from the edges of the rear wall 3 and are disposed substantially perpendicular to the rear wall.

However, the top wall 4 has a small downward inclination towards the rear for water drainage purposes, and the bottom wall 5 similarly has a small downward inclination towards the front, again for drainage purposes. The front of the housing is open at 8. Four spacers 9 (only two of which are visible in the drawings) are secured to the outer rear surface of the rear wall 3, one in each corner.

The outer cover 2 includes a rectangular front wall 10 which is slightly wider than the rear wall 3 and extends below the bottom edge of the rear wall. It will be noted that there is no gap between the front wall 10 and the front edges of the housing 1. The upper edge of the front wall is connected to a top wall 11 which includes a front part 12 which is upwardly inclined in a rearward direction and a narrow rear part 13 which is inclined downwardly in a rearward direction and which terminates above the top wall 4 of the housing 1. The front part 13 clears the top front edge of the housing 1. The shape of this top wall 11 is important to ensure water drainage and to enable the cover to pivot correctly over the housing 1 (see below). The side edges of the front wall 10 and top wall 11 are joined to a pair of side walls 14, 15 (Fig.

1) which extend below the bottom wall 5 of the housing 1. The lower edges 16 of the side walls 14 and i5 are downwardly inclined in a rearward direction, again for water drainage.

The outer cover 2 is pivotally coupled to the inner housing 1 by a pair of aligned pivot pins 18 which are inserted through the adjacent side walls 14, 6 and 15, 7 of the cover and housing adjacent to the corner 20 formed between the upper edge of the rear wall 3 and the rear edge of top wall 4. The pins 18 are positioned such as to allow the rear part 13 of the top wall 11 to move over the corner 20 as the cover 2 is moved angularly towards the fully raised position shown in Fig. 4.

In the case of a sufficiently small and lightweight box the cover can simply be held in the raised position by hand in order to insert an item or items into the housing 1 or remove it or them therefrom. In the case of a larger and heavier box, one or more stay elements may be mounted inside the box in order to retain the lid in the raised position. In order to optimise the free space inside the box the stay elements are preferably mounted adjacent to one or both of the side walls 6 and 7, although they could be mounted in any intermediate position between the side walls 6, 7 if desired. The position of these stay elements is indicated by the dashed lines 22. A suitable stay element may, for example, take the form of a tube and coil spring, a gas strut, a friction strut, an overcentre locking arm or the like.Each stay is coupled between the lower portion of the front wall 10 and a position just over half way up the rear wall 3.

For added security a cylinder lock 25 (Fig. 3) or similar device may be mounted on the inside of the front wall 10 which, on application of moderate rearward pressure, can be engaged with a detent 26 mounted on the bottom wall 5. After being thus engaged the box can only be opened by means of the appropriate key. Thus, when empty, the box can be left unlocked with the cover 2 resting under its own weight, but when a delivery takes place and one or more items are left in the box the cover can be made secure by pressing the lock and detent into engagement.

By way of example, the box can be mounted on the external wall of a building, or other vertical surface, by means of the channel member 28 shown in Fig.s 3 and 5. The channel member has a pair of spaced threaded studs 29 projecting forwardly from its open mouth and contains a pair of apertures 30 in its rear wall through which screws may be inserted to attach the channel member to the wall or other vertical surface.

One of the apertures 30 may be slotted vertically to permit easy alignment of the box into a horizontal plane, if required. A bearing plate 31 is then placed over the studs externally of the housing. The rear wall 3 of the housing contains holes which receive the studs 29, following which a second bearing plate 32 is placed over the studs within the housing and a pair of wing nuts 32 are finally threaded onto the projecting ends of the studs.

Claims (20)

1. A box comprising: (i) a housing which includes at least an upright back wall, a pair of forwardly extending side walls, and a bottom wall, the housing being open at the front, and (ii) a cover which includes a front wall for closing the front of the housing, and rearwardly extending top and side walls, the cover being pivotally coupled to the housing in the upper region of the housing for pivotal movement from a lowered position to a raised position permitting access to the interior of the housing.

2. A box according to Claim 1, in which the cover is pivotally coupled to the housing for pivotal movement about an axis which passes through the side walls of the cover and housing.

3. A box according to Claim 2, in which the said pivot axis is disposed adjacent to the upper edges of the side walls of the housing, towards the rear of the housing.

4. A box according to any preceding claim, in which the top wall of the cover includes a relatively long front part and a relatively short rear part which is inclined with respect to the front part.

5. A box according to Claim 4, in which said front part of the cover is upwardly inclined in a rearward direction.

6. A box according to Claim 4 or 5, in which said rear part of the cover is downwardly inclined in a rearward direction.

7. A housing according to any preceding Claim, in which the bottom edges of the front and side walls of the cover extend below the bottom wall of the housing.

8. A box according to any preceding claim, in which the bottom edges of the side walls of the cover are downwardly inclined in a rearward direction.

9. A box according to any preceding claim, in which the housing includes a forwardly projecting top wall joined to the back wall and the side walls.

10. A box according to Claim 9, in which the top wall of the housing is downwardly inclined in a rearward direction.

11. A box according to any preceding claim, in which the bottom wall of the housing is downwardly inclined in a forward direction.

12. A box according to any preceding claim, in which one or more stay elements are mounted between the side walls of the housing to extend between the housing and the cover for retaining the cover in a raised position.

13. A box according to Claim 12, in which the or each stay element is connected between a lower portion of the cover and the mid region, in a vertical direction, of the housing.

14. A box according to any preceding claim, in which a locking device is mounted on the cover for engagement with a detent mounted on the housing for locking the cover in a lowered position.

15. A box according to any preceding claim, in which the rear wall of the housing is provided with rearwardly projecting spacer means.

16. A box according to Claim 15, in combination with a mounting member for attachment to a wall.

17. A box according to Claim 16, in which the mounting member comprises a channel member.

18. A box according to Claim 16 or 17, in which the mounting member includes forwardly projecting threaded studs for insertion through the rear wall of the housing, such that nuts can be threaded onto projecting ends of the studs inside the housing to secure the housing to the mounting member.

19. A box according to Claim 18, in which the rear wall of the housing is sandwiched between a pair of bearing plates through which the studs are inserted.

20. A box which is substantially as described with reference to the drawings.