US20070158222A1

US20070158222A1 - Toolbox for holding power hand tool and accessories thereof

Info

Publication number: US20070158222A1
Application number: US11/327,474
Authority: US
Inventors: Wen-Yao Chi
Original assignee: Mobiletron Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Mobiletron Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2006-01-09
Filing date: 2006-01-09
Publication date: 2007-07-12

Abstract

A toolbox includes a housing and a holder base. The housing has a top retaining recess for the positioning of a power hand tool, and a receiving space. The holder base is detachably coupled to the housing for holding accessories to be used with the power hand tool positionable in the top retaining recess in the receiving space of the housing. A battery charger is mounted in the housing and has two conductive terminals located at the top retaining recess of the housing for charging the power hand tool that is positioned in the top retaining recess.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to power hand tools and more specifically, to a toolbox for holding a power hand tool and its accessories.
2. Description of the Related Art
Regular electricity-powered hand tools include two types, namely, the battery-operated hand tools (mobile power hand tools) and the city power-operated hand tools. Following the development of Do-It-Yourself industry, battery-operated hand tools are widely accepted by consumers.
An electricity-powered hand tool may be used with different tool accessories, such as different sizes of adapters and different sizes of screwdriver and/or drill bits. It is necessary to use a box to carry these tool accessories. Therefore, a consumer needs to buy different tool accessories and a toolbox when purchasing an electricity-powered hand tool.
Further, when the battery power of a battery-operated hand tool is low, the user must use a specific battery charger to charge the battery of the hand tool. Therefore, when buying a battery-operated hand tool, the consumer shall also have to buy a battery charger.
It is expensive to prepare a power hand tool, a battery charger and a set of tool accessories respectively. Further, it is inconvenient to carry the prepared power hand tool with the related battery charger and tool accessories.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a toolbox, which accommodates a power hand tool as well as the related tool accessories.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a toolbox, which accommodates a battery-operated hand tool and the related tool accessories and can simultaneously charge the battery of the storage battery-operated hand tool.
To achieve these objects of the present invention, the toolbox comprises a housing and a holder base. The housing has a top retaining recess for the positioning of a power hand tool, and a receiving space. The holder base is detachably coupled to the housing for holding accessories to be used with the power hand tool positionable in the top retaining recess in the receiving space of the housing. A battery charger can be provided and mounted in the housing. The battery charger has two conductive terminals located at the top retaining recess of the housing for charging the power hand tool that is positioned in the top retaining recess.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a toolbox according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the toolbox according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing showing a status of use of the toolbox according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a toolbox according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a toolbox 100 in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing 10, a battery charger 20, and a holder base 30.
The housing 10 comprises a top cover shell 11 and a bottom shell 12. The top cover shell 11 has a top retaining recess 111 adapted to positively accommodate a power hand tool such as a battery-operated hand tool, a plurality of receiving grooves 114 respectively formed in the two opposite lateral sidewalls, an inside chamber 115, two through holes 112 formed in the top wall and disposed in communication between the top retaining recess 111 and the inside chamber 115, a bottom opening 116 in communication with the inside chamber 115 and the outside space, a bottom coupling groove 117 extending around the bottom opening 116, and a hook hole 113 formed in the inside wall at one end near the bottom opening 116. The top retaining recess 111 has a profile fitting the profile of the power hand tool to be positioned therein.
The bottom shell 12 has a peripheral coupling flange 124 for fastening to the bottom coupling groove 117 of the top cover shell 11, a hook 121 disposed at one end for hooking in the hook hole 113 of the top cover shell 11, two coupling holes 122 disposed near the two distal ends, two rows of vertically extending recessed bottom grooves 125 and a rectangular bottom receiving chamber 126. The bottom grooves 125 and the bottom receiving chamber 126 are respectively formed by recesses that are respectively upwardly recessed from a bottom of the bottom shell 12, such that the bottom grooves 125 and the bottom receiving chamber 126 define a receiving space at the bottom side of the bottom shell 12 and a plurality of top protrusions 123 at the top side of the bottom shell 12.
The top cover shell 11 is fastened to and covered on the bottom shell 12 to force the hook 121 and the peripheral coupling flange 124 of the bottom shell 12 into engagement with the hook hole 113 and bottom coupling groove 117 of the top cover shell 11. At this time, the bottom shell 12 blocks the bottom opening 116 of the top cover shell 11, and the top protrusions 123 of the bottoms hell 12 are received in the inside chamber 115 of the top cover shell 11.
The battery charger 20 is adapted to charge the battery of a battery-operated hand tool that is positioned in the top retaining recess 111 of the top cover shell 11. The battery charger 20 comprises a charging circuit board 22 and two parallel conductive terminals 21 respectively electrically connected to the circuit board 22. The battery charger 20 is fixedly mounted on the top side of the bottom shell 12. When the top cover shell 11 and the bottoms hell 12 are fastened together, the battery charger 20 is received in the inside chamber 115 of the top cover shell 11, and the two conductive terminals 21 of the battery charger 20 extend through the through holes 112 of the top cover shell 11 and are exposed in the top retaining recess 111.
The holder base 30 comprises a spring hook 31 and a coupling tongue 33 disposed at the two distal ends corresponding to the coupling holes 122 of the bottoms hell 12, and a plurality of top receiving holes 32 and receiving portions 34 for holding different tool accessories such as adapters 35 and bits 36. The spring hook 31 and the coupling tongue 33 are respectively forced into engagement with the coupling holes 122 of the bottoms hell 12 to secure the holder base 30 to the bottom side of the bottoms hell 12, keeping the storage adapters 35 and bits 36 be received in the rectangular bottom chamber 126 and the recessed bottom grooves 125 of the bottom shell 12.
Referring to FIG. 3, the toolbox 100 can carry a battery-operated hand tool A in the top retaining recess 111 of the top cover shell 11 of the housing 10. After insertion of the battery-operated hand tool A into the top retaining recess 111 of the top cover shell 11 of the housing 10, the charging terminals of the battery (not shown) of the battery-operated hand tool A are kept electrically connected to the conductive terminals 21 of the battery charger 20, and therefore the battery of the battery-operated hand tool A is charged by the battery charger 20. Further, the toolbox 100 can also receive different adapters 35 and bits 36. When wishing to use the adapters 35 and/or the bits 36, the user can easily detach the holder base 30 from the bottom shell 12 of the housing 10 by disengaging the spring hook 31 from the respective coupling hole 122.
FIG. 4 shows a toolbox 200 constructed according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. According to this embodiment, the toolbox 200 is comprised of a housing 40, a battery charger (not shown), and a holder base 50. The structure of the toolbox 200 is substantially similar to the aforesaid first preferred embodiment with the exception of the following features.
The holder base 50 has one end pivotally coupled to the housing 40. Therefore, the holder base 50 can be turned in and out of the receiving space 41 of the housing 40. Further, the holder base 50 has a hook 51 disposed at the free end for hooking in an inside wall of the housing to hold the holder base 50 in the close position.
Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A toolbox for holding a power hand tool and accessories thereof, the toolbox comprising:

a housing having a top retaining recess for the positioning of a power hand tool, and a receiving space; and

a holder base coupled to said housing for holding accessories to be used with the power hand tool positionable in said top retaining recess in said receiving space of said housing.

2. The toolbox as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a battery charger mounted in said housing and provided with two conductive terminals located at said top retaining recess of said housing for charging the power hand tool that is positioned in said top retaining recess.

3. The toolbox as claimed in claim 2, wherein said housing comprises two through holes disposed in communication between said top retaining recess and an inside of said housing; said battery charger comprises a charging circuit board and said two conductive terminals respectively electrically connected to said charging circuit board; wherein said two conductive terminals respectively extend through the two through holes of said housing into said top retaining recess.

4. The toolbox as claimed in claim 1, wherein said housing comprises two coupling holes; said holder base comprises a spring hook and a coupling tongue respectively fastened to the coupling holes of said housing.

5. The toolbox as claimed in claim 1, wherein said top retaining recess has a profile fitting the profile of the power hand tool to be positioned in said top retaining recess.

6. The toolbox as claimed in claim 1, wherein said housing comprises a top cover shell and a bottom shell detachably coupled to said top cover shell;

wherein said top cover shell has an inside chamber, a bottom opening in communication with said inside chamber, a bottom coupling groove extending around said bottom opening, and a hook hole disposed at one end thereof near said bottom opening;

wherein said bottom shell has a peripheral coupling flange engaged with said bottom coupling groove of said top cover shell, and a hook hooked in said hook hole of said top cover shell such that the bottom opening of said top cover shell is covered by said bottom shell.

7. The toolbox as claimed in claim 6, wherein said receiving space is recessed upwardly from a bottom of said bottom shell such that a plurality of protrusions are formed at a top side of said bottom shell; wherein the protrusions of said bottom shell are located in the inside chamber of said top cover shell when said top cover shell and said bottom shell are coupled together.

8. The toolbox as claimed in claim 1, wherein said holder base has an end pivotally fastened to said housing, and a hook for hooking in a part inside said housing to detachably lock said holder base to said housing.