US20030006155A1

US20030006155A1 - Toolbox with flippable upper lid

Info

Publication number: US20030006155A1
Application number: US09/899,045
Authority: US
Inventors: Hsu Ching-Hui
Original assignee: TEST-RITE PRODUCTS Corp
Current assignee: TEST-RITE PRODUCTS Corp
Priority date: 2001-07-06
Filing date: 2001-07-06
Publication date: 2003-01-09

Abstract

The present invention relates to a toolbox, particularly a toolbox with a flippable upper lid in which to place tools; the upper lid and the lower lid are respectively installed with protruding axles and grooves, enabling the user to flip the upper lid and slide the upper lid into position in the middle of the lower lid; or the upper lid can be detached from the lower lid. The present invention thus reduces the space occupied by the toolbox, and, with the drawer-like function of the lower and upper lids, enables the user to easily assemble the toolbox and retrieve tools and items from the toolbox conveniently.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a toolbox, particularly a toolbox with a flippable upper lid in which tools may be placed; the upper lid and the lower lid are respectively installed with protruding axles and grooves, enabling the user to flip the upper lid and slide the upper lid into position in the middle of the lower lid, thus reducing the dimensions after extension; or the upper lid can be detached from the lower lid for placement of various types of tools. The present invention thus reduces the space occupied by the toolbox, and, with the drawer-like function of the lower and upper lids, enables the user to easily assemble the toolbox and retrieve tools and items conveniently.

2. Description of the Prior Art

As shown in FIG. 1, the folding toolbox of the prior art is comprised of an

upper lid

1, a lower lid 2, and an elastic strip 40. The foregoing elastic strip 40 in the prior art is used to connect both the upper lid 1 and the lower lid 2 and enable the opening and closing movements as well as the extension of both lids, therefore the toolbox employing the prior art contains the upper and lower lids that are joined together and which are not detachable, thus causing the problem of bulkiness when utilized by the user. The present invention addresses this problem and improves this condition with the design.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the present invention is to provide a toolbox having a flippable upper lid that can be slid into position in the middle of the lower lid, as both lids form an integral part; when not in use, the flipped upper lid forms the outer layer of the toolbox. In addition, the upper lid can be used to place tools and other items, and with the design of the protruding axles and grooves, the user can conveniently retrieve tools from both the upper and lower lids thus reducing the space occupied by the toolbox as well as enabling the user to retrieve tools conveniently with the drawer-like design formed by both the upper and lower lids.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a toolbox having a detachable upper lid; with the design of the protruding axles of the upper lid and the lugs at the end points of the grooves of the lower lid, the user can detach the upper lid from the lower lid with ease, thus enabling the user to categorize tools conveniently, or enable a second user to retrieve tools at the same time without the need to go back and forth when different tools are needed. The present invention therefore not only makes the toolbox easily assembled, but also expands the operational dimension of the toolbox.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings where: [0007]
FIG. 1 is a front view of the folding toolbox embodied in the prior art. [0008]
FIG. 2 is a front view of the toolbox in the first embodiment of the present invention. [0009]
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the toolbox in the first embodiment of the present invention. [0010]
FIG. 4 is a side view of the protruding axles of the toolbox in the first embodiment of the present invention. [0011]
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the toolbox in the first embodiment of the present invention. [0012]
FIG. 6 is a side view of the protruding axles and lugs in the second embodiment of the present invention. [0013]
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the toolbox in the second embodiment of the present invention.[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As shown in FIG. 2, the toolbox of the present invention comprises an [0015] upper lid 10, a lower lid 20, and a handle 30, with both lids of the toolbox being made of plastics molded by the air-filling process, thus reducing the weight and cost of the toolbox. FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the toolbox with the upper lid already flipped, and as shown in FIG. 3, the crust body of the toolbox is of a concave design that enables the user to place the tools and other items in the concave spaces of the crust body, thus the tools placed inside the concave are securely held. In addition, at the midsections of the two paralleled sides 21, the grooves 22 are installed so that the upper lid 10 after being flipped can be slid through the middle of the lower lid 20, thus enabling the user to retrieve tools conveniently from both the upper and lower lids 10 and 20 because of the drawer-like design.
FIG. 4 is a side view of the protruding axles of the toolbox in the first embodiment of the present invention, wherein two [0016] grooves 22 are installed respectively at both sides of the lower lids 20, and two protruding axles 11 are also installed respectively at both sides of the upper lid 10. As such, with the intermeshing of the protruding axles 11 and the grooves 22, the upper lid 10 after being flipped can be slid through the middle of the lower lid 20, thus, as shown in FIG. 5, the user can retrieve tools conveniently from both the upper lid 20 and the lower lid 10 having the drawer-like functions. As a result, the size of the toolbox is reduced without diminishing the efficiency of the toolbox.
Both FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 show the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein, as shown in FIG. 6, all the essential parts of the first preferred embodiment are included, which further is comprised of [0017] lugs 221 installed at the end points of the grooves 22 in the lower lid 20. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, with the designs of the lugs 221 and the protruding axles 11 of the upper lid 20, when the upper lid 10 is being pulled and slid toward the end point of the grooves 22 of the lower lid 20, the upper lid 10 can be attached from the lower lid 20 by using a gentle pulling force, thus the second embodiment of the present invention achieves the effect of inventiveness by enabling the user to detach the upper lid 10 from the lower lid 20 and to utilize both lids without the spatial limitations caused by conventional toolboxes, and enabling multiple users to use the toolbox with ease.
Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to two preferred embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art can easily understand that all types of alterations and changes can be made within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, the number of lids is not to be limited to two, for extra lids containing protruding axles and grooves can be installed; also by employing the characteristics of the flippable lids and protruding axles, all upper lids can be extended or detached. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiments contained herein. [0018]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A toolbox with flippable upper lid, comprising an upper lid installed with protruding axles, and a lower lid installed with grooves; the inside of the crust body of said upper lid and said lower lid can be shaped into specific forms of concavity in which to fit tools; the design of said toolbox, with said protruding axles of said upper lid and said grooves of said lower lid, enables said upper lid, after being flipped, to be slid into position in the middle of said lower lid, thus expediting the process of retrieving tools and items from both said upper lid and said lower lid.

2. A toolbox with a flippable upper lid, comprising an upper lid installed with protruding axles, and a lower lid installed with grooves; the inside of the crust body of said upper and lower lids can be shaped into specific forms of concavity in which to fit tools; the design of said toolbox, with said protruding axles of said upper lid and lugs at the end point of said grooves of said lower lid, enables said upper lid, after being flipped, to be detached from said lower lid, thus expediting the process of retrieving tools and items from both said upper lid and said lower lid without any spatial limitations.

3. A toolbox with a flippable upper lid as in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein a fastening device is installed at one end point of the side of said upper lid to fasten together both said crust bodies of said upper lid and said lower lid.

4. A toolbox with a flippable upper lid as in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein a handle is attached at one side of said lower lid to enable user to carry said toolbox with ease.