US20030192888A1

US20030192888A1 - Fastening mechanism for package device

Info

Publication number: US20030192888A1
Application number: US10/191,323
Authority: US
Inventors: Chih-Wen Chang
Original assignee: You Mao Shing Plastic Co Ltd
Current assignee: You Mao Shing Plastic Co Ltd
Priority date: 2002-04-12
Filing date: 2002-07-10
Publication date: 2003-10-16

Abstract

A fastening mechanism for a package device is provided, which includes a plurality of first protrusions stagger-arranged in two rows at an edge of a lid of the package device, wherein a gap is formed between the two rows of the first protrusions; a second protrusion formed on an edge of a body of the package device and corresponding in position to the gap; at least a projection formed on the edge of the body and substantially opposed in position to the second protrusion; and at least a recess formed on the edge of the lid and corresponding in position to the projection of the body. By coupling the lid to the body, the second protrusion is engaged with the gap between the first protrusions, and the projection of the body is engaged with the recess of the lid, so as to provide strong fastening effect for the package device.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to fastening mechanisms for package devices, and more particularly, to a fastening mechanism for a clam shell so as to provide strong coupling between a lid and a body of the clam shell.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the market, goods or products are normally enclosed in a variety of clam shells for selling and sealing purposes. For water-containing foods or fruits, it is unsuitable to use paper boxes that hermetically and completely receive the foods or fruits therein; instead, clam shells made of thermoplastic material are more commonly employed. Such a thermoplastic-made clam shell is formed with a plurality of holes on a body thereof, for allowing air to pass through the holes. When the clam shell having holes is packed with fruits and stored in a refrigerator, cold air can enter through the holes into the clam shell for chilling the fruits, and moisture generated from the fruits can be dissipated through the holes to outside of the clam shell, so as to prevent excess humidity in the clam shell and spoiling of the fruits.

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a conventional clam shell made of thermoplastic material. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a fastening mechanism of this clam shell 1 comprises: a protrusion 102 formed on an edge of a body 10; a plurality of grooves 103 respectively formed at front edge corners of the body 10; a plurality of first flanges 104 respectively formed at back edge corners of the body 10; a recess 112 provided on an edge of a lid 11 corresponding in position to the protrusion 102; a plurality of corner-situated projections 113 provided on the lid 11 corresponding in position to the grooves 103; a plurality of corner-situated second flanges 114 formed on the lid 11 corresponding in position to the first flanges 104; and a connecting portion 12 for interconnecting the body 10 and the lid 11.

When the clam shell 1 is closed by coupling the lid 11 to the body 10, the recess 112 is engaged with the protrusion 102, the projections 113 are engaged with the grooves 103, and the second flanges 114 are stacked on the first flanges 104. By stacking of the first and

second flanges

104, 114, a gap or opening can be formed between

corresponding edges

101, 111 of the lid 11 and body 10, for allowing air to pass through the gap or opening of the clam shell 1. However, as the thermoplastic-made clam shell is fabricated to be pretty thin and relatively poor in mechanical strength, when these clam shells are stacked up with each other, weight of package contents would deform the clam shells and cause misalignment between the recess 112 of the lid 11 and the protrusion 102 of the body 10, making the lid 11 not capable of being properly coupled to the body 10. Besides, the recess 112 of the lid 11 is shaped to be of a concave slot corresponding in dimension to the ridge-like protrusion 102 the clam shell; such a shape is hard to be perfectly fabricated by plastic molding, thereby adversely affecting buckling or coupling between the body 10 and the lid 11 of the clam shell 1.

Furthermore, the above conventional clam shell 1 is provided with the connecting portion 12 that interconnects the body 10 and the lid 11. During coupling of the lid 11 to the body 10, in order to stack the second flanges 114 on the first flanges 104, the connecting portion 12 needs to be dimensioned with a width L′ at least equivalent to combined height (i.e. the sum in height) of a pair of the first and

second flanges

104, 114. Such a structure makes the clam shell 1, in an open or closed condition with the lid 11 being uncoupled or coupled to the body 10, occupy relatively more space by virtue of the connecting portion 12; this would lead to difficulty in a packing process due to possible mismatch in dimension between the clam shell 1 and a packing machine.

Therefore, in response to the above drawbacks, the problem to be solved is to provide a fastening mechanism for a clam shell, so as to allow strong buckling between a lid and a body thereof, and to reduce overall structural profile of the clam shell in terms of forming a relatively smaller connecting portion that interconnects the lid and the body.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a fastening mechanism for a package device, so as to allow strong buckling between a lid and a body thereof, and to reduce overall structural profile of the package device in terms of forming a relatively smaller connecting portion that interconnects the lid and the body.

In accordance with the above and other objectives, the present invention proposes a fastening mechanism for a package device such as a claim shell. The fastening mechanism comprises: a plurality of first protrusions stagger-arranged in two rows at a coupling edge of a lid of the package device, wherein a gap is formed between the two rows of the first protrusions, and the coupling edge of the lid is to be coupled to a corresponding coupling edge of a body of the package device for fastening the package device; at least a second protrusion formed on the coupling edge of the body and corresponding in position to the gap between the first protrusions; at least a projection formed on the coupling edge of the body and substantially opposed in position to the second protrusion; at least a recess formed on the coupling edge of the lid and substantially opposed in position to the first protrusions, wherein the recess corresponds in position to the projection of the body; and a connecting portion for interconnecting the coupling edges of the body and the lid at positions substantially opposed to the first and second protrusions. By coupling the lid to the body, the second protrusion of the lid is engaged with the gap formed between the first protrusions of the body, and the projection of the body is engaged with the recess formed on the lid, so as to provide strong fastening effect for the package device.

Engagement of the first and second protrusions provides sufficient clamping force between the lid and the body, and prevents the package device from being opened up even if the body and the lid are deformed by weight of package contents in the package device when a plurality of package devices are stacked up. This thereby achieves desirable closed-packing effect through the use of the package device.

Moreover, the projection of the body engaged with the recess of the lid, has its to protruding height equal to recessed depth of the lid, such that the connecting portion only needs to be dimensioned in width at least equivalent to the protruding height of the projection, making overall structural profile of the package device desirably reduced by virtue of reduced dimension of the connecting portion. Therefore, the package device would occupy relatively less space in an open or closed condition with the lid being uncoupled or coupled to the body, as compared to a conventional package device shown in FIG. 1A. This is favorable for making the package device suitably used in a standard automated packing machine equipped with guiding rails that are designed for accommodating particularly sized package devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, with reference made to the accompanying drawings, wherein: [0011]
FIG. 1A (PRIOR ART) is a perspective view of a conventional clam shell; [0012]
FIG. 1B (PRIOR ART) is another perspective view of the clam shell of FIG. 1A; [0013]
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a clam shell with a fastening mechanism according to an embodiment of the invention; and [0014]
FIG. 3 is another perspective view of the clam shell of FIG. 2.[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate a clam shell with a fastening mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the fastening mechanism of the [0016] clam shell 2 comprises: a plurality of first protrusions 212 arranged in a stagger two-row manner at a coupling edge 211 of a lid 21, wherein a gap h is formed between two rows of the first protrusions 212; a second protrusion 202 formed on a coupling edge 201 of a body 20 corresponding in position to the gap h between the first protrusions 212; a plurality of projections 204 respectively formed at back edge corners of the body 20; a plurality of corner-situated recesses 214 corresponding in position to the projections 204; and a connecting portion 22 for interconnecting the body 20 and the lid 21. By coupling the lid 21 to the body 21, wherein the second protrusion 202 is engaged with the gap h between the first protrusions 212, and the projections 204 are respectively engaged with to the recesses 214, the clam shell 2 can form a closed space for receiving goods or products therein.
The [0017] coupling edges 201, 211 of the body 20 and lid 21 refer to portions of the body 20 and lid 21 to be in contact with each other when the lid 21 is coupled to the body 20 for closing the clam shell 2. The first protrusions 212 are illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 with a number of three, and stagger-arranged in a manner that, one first protrusion 212 forms a front row relatively close to inside of the lid 21 and the other two first protrusions 212 form a back row relatively close to outside of the lid 21, with a gap h being formed between the front and back rows. Alternatively, the three first protrusions 212 can be arranged with two of them being arrayed at the front row and the other one being positioned at the back row. And, it should be understood that, the number of the first protrusions 212 is not limited to three, other numbers of the first protrusions 212 that are stagger-arranged in two rows to form a gap h, are also suitably adopted herein. Optionally, the first protrusions 212 on the lid 21 and the second protrusion 202 on the body 20 can be switched in position with each other; that is, the plurality of first protrusions formed with a gap therebetween are to be formed on the body 20, and the single second protrusion is to be formed on the lid 21. Further, the gap h formed between the front and back rows of the first protrusions 212 on the lid 21 is dimensioned in conformity to the second protrusion 202 of the body 20. And, the first and second protrusions 212, 202 are each shaped as a pyramid for facilitating strong coupling between the first and second protrusions 212, 202. Such structural arrangement provides sufficient clamping force between the first and second protrusions 212, 202, and prevents the clam shell 2 from being opened up even if the body 20 and the lid 21 are deformed by weight of package contents in the clam shell 2 when a plurality of clam shells 2 are stacked up; this thereby achieves desirable closed-packing effect through the use of the clam shell 2. And, when heavy weight acts on the lid 21 of the clam shell 2 to in turn deform the body 20, strong coupling or clamping between the first and second protrusions 212, 202 helps reduce extent of deformation of the body 20, such that more clam shells 2 can be stacked up in favor of economical space usage.
Moreover, coupling between the [0018] body 20 and the lid 21 is further facilitated by provision of a plurality of buckling holes 203 and buckling pillars 213, wherein the buckling holes 203 are formed at front edge corners of the body 20, and the buckling pillars 213 formed on the lid 21 are corner-situated and corresponding in position to the buckling holes 203, such that the buckling pillars 213 can be engaged with the buckling holes 203 as the lid 21 is coupled to the body 20. Since this structural arrangement of the buckling pillars 213 and the buckling holes 203 are well known in the art, it is not to be further detailed herein.
The [0019] lid 21 and the body 20 of the clam shell 2 are interconnected by the connecting portion 22, as shown in FIG. 3. When the lid 21 is coupled to the body 20, the convex projections 204 of the body 20 are engaged in dimension with the concave recesses 214 of the lid 21, and thus combined height of a pair of the engaged projection 204 and recess 214 is equal to height of the sole projection 204. Therefore, the connecting portion 22 needs to be dimensioned with a width L at least equivalent to the combined height of the engaged projection 204 and recess 214 i.e. height of the projection 214. Compared with the conventional clam shell 1 illustrated in FIG. 1A, the connecting portion 22 of the clam shell 2 is beneficial of having a width L smaller than a width L′ of a connecting portion 12 of the conventional clam shell 1, wherein the width L′ is equal to the sum in height of a pair of stacked first and second flanges 104, 114. With reduced dimension of the connecting portion 22, the clam shell 2 can be fabricated in relatively low structural profile, such that space occupied by the clam shell 2, in an open or closed condition with the lid 21 being uncoupled or coupled to the body 20, can be reduced. This is favorable for making the clam shell 2 suitably used in a standard automated packing machine equipped with guiding rails that are designed for accommodating particularly sized clam shells.
The invention has been described using exemplary preferred embodiments. However, it is to be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements. The scope of the claims, therefore, should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements. [0020]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A fastening mechanism for a package device, the fastening mechanism, comprising:

a plurality of first protrusions stagger-arranged in two rows at a coupling edge of a lid of the package device, wherein a gap is formed between the two rows of the first protrusions, and the coupling edge of the lid is to be coupled to a corresponding coupling edge of a body of the package device for fastening the package device;

at least a second protrusion formed on the coupling edge of the body and corresponding in position to the gap between the first protrusions;

at least a projection formed on the coupling edge of the body and substantially opposed in position to the second protrusion; and

at least a recess formed on the coupling edge of the lid and substantially opposed in position to the first protrusions, wherein the recess corresponds in position to the projection of the body;

wherein by coupling the lid to the body, the second protrusion of the body is engaged with the gap formed between the first protrusions of the lid, and the projection of the body is engaged with the recess formed on the lid, so as to provide strong fastening effect for the package device.

2. A fastening mechanism for a package device, the fastening mechanism comprising:

a plurality of first protrusions stagger-arranged in two rows at a coupling edge of a body of the package device, wherein a gap is formed between the two rows of the first protrusions, and the coupling edge of the body is to be coupled to a corresponding coupling edge of a lid of the package device for fastening the package device;

at least a second protrusion formed on the coupling edge of the lid and corresponding in position to the gap between the first protrusions;

wherein by coupling the lid to the body, the second protrusion of the lid is engaged with the gap formed between the first protrusions of the body, and the projection of the body is engaged with the recess formed on the lid, so as to provide strong fastening effect for the package device.

3. The fastening mechanism of claim 1, further comprising:

a connecting portion for interconnecting the coupling edges of the body and the lid at positions substantially opposed to the first and second protrusions.

4. The fastening mechanism of claim 2, further comprising:

5. The fastening mechanism of claim 3, wherein protruding height of the projection is equal to recessed depth of the recess, allowing the connecting portion to be dimensioned at least equally to the protruding height of the projection.

6. The fastening mechanism of claim 4, wherein protruding height of the projection is equal to recessed depth of the recess, allowing the connecting portion to be dimensioned at least equally to the protruding height of the projection.

7. The fastening mechanism of claim 1, wherein three first protrusions are formed on the lid in two rows, with two of the first protrusions being arrayed at one row, and the other one of the first protrusions being positioned at the other row.

8. The fastening mechanism of claim 2, wherein three first protrusions are formed on the body in two rows, with two of the first protrusions being arrayed at one row, and the other one of the first protrusions being positioned at the other row.

9. The fastening mechanism of claim 1, wherein the gap is dimensioned in correspondence with the second protrusion.

10. The fastening mechanism of claim 2, wherein the gap is dimensioned in correspondence with the second protrusion.

11. The fastening mechanism of claim 1, wherein the first and second protrusions are each shaped as a pyramid.

12. The fastening mechanism of claim 2, wherein the first and second protrusions are each shaped as a pyramid.