US2606652A - Utility container - Google Patents

Description

ug- 12, 1952 J. w.JAQUET1-E ETAL UTILITY CONTAINER 2 Sl-IEETS--SI-IEET l Filed March 26, 1949 Aug- 12, 1952 J. w. JAQUl-:TTE ET AL UTILITY CONTAINER 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed March 26, 1949 Patented Aug'. 12,h 1952 s `j lainesW't'Jaquetteand irginiav R. Jaquette,

1 n 3'- l s Santa Monica, Calif.

i 'Applieati'ii'rrarh 26, 1931s. serial No. '83,584 y 1' .i 449 Claims.

vinvention' relates't'o afutilityI container and more particularly' to' a' container having one or 'more cover members' which are readilyy'removable for cleaning but Whicharefso constructed 'and arranged' as to'preventinadvertent'di as,- sen'ibly of the partsf if?" The novel' `oontaliner;ic'omprisfesl a ii e d casing member having` an open 'topand having one or more sliding cover `panels adapted toclose'the top and to bemoved to' a: position giving access 'to the contents Without `re'rnoval 'f r "or r`1` the'casing. However, by continued movement in YtheV opening direction the panels may beA readily removed'. to facilitate cleaning. This is ahighl esirable feature in lunch boxes. 'L 0ne of the serious` `d s advantagefs 0f the ordinary lunch 'or `utility box having fa] cover `hinged along one edg'ef'and a 'carryinghandleonjthe upper'su'rface or 'the cover is 'that :the latches frequently disengage, allowing thel bottornj por,- tion to' swing about the hingeLWhereupongthe contents will fall out and any fragile .art'ic1e, s u `ch as a vacuum bottle', willlzie broken .orbadly darn'- ag'edasa'result. p'- L j j In the -presentinvention the pflellmemb'ers and Vtheir carrying 4'handles vare so arrangedlthat the load tends 'to pull the` panels toward-'the fully'closed position and there `is no` possibility o f separation While the container i's'fb'ein'g carried by the handle o r handles..` In fact, it is necessary to exertiorce in the opposite directionftocause op'eie.. 4'-*z'iother disadvantage jof containers' having hinged'lids is that th'eyare clumsy tohandlewhen cleaning and it is diihc'ultlto .clean 'fthe hinge portions. l In 'thefpresent invention'gthe cover portions are readily removableV4 for'. 'ease .Orhandiing and" au' parts can he" ej'tnoro''ghiy cleaned.V Moreovei'l thejcover portions when opened'do not' extendf out fromgthe remainder' of] the., con.- tainer and; hence iti`sg1nuch more convenient to use.` i: The presently' preferred embodiments of. the invention areillustrated 'in'the accompanying drawings in which: j `Figure 1' is a perspective view of one form of the container;

Figure 2 is a sectional viewltaken online 42--2 of Figure 1 with one cover panel in open position; Figure 3- is a transversesectional view'of' a cover panel; Figure 4 is atop plan `view of said panel;

Figure 5 is a frontl elevationalv view off said panel; f '1 Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on line' 6-'-6 ofFigureZ'; l1 .Y

"Figure '7is a sectionalfview taken oni line.` 1-1 of Figure 2;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a modied'form ofpanel; .l

V lii'gure 9 is aperspective View of *.amodied form ofcasing;'and '.1' f Figure 10 is a'perspectivefviewV of a panel adapted for 'use with the casing of-Figure 9.@ The casing 10,' as 'seen in Figures'.v 1` and`2, includes a flat -bottom I2, vertical side walls f4, and Vertical-end-Walls I6. the latter'extendingabove the 'side walls and having arched upperportions I8 which may have any desired curvature; either of constant radius orvarying from point t'opoint. The Avertical 'edges of the end WaIIseitend laterally beyond the' side Walls Aand are' flanged at 20'1to form grooves' o'r guideways'22 'between them and the side Walls as clearly shown in 'Fig'- ilre'i; I' The flanges 20 arecontinuous along Lthe side andupper 'edges `of the 'end walls, and narrow :secondary flanges or ridges 24,'seen` in Figure 6, are'formed on the inner faces' of the end walls in continuation of side Walls I4 to make 'guideway's 22 co'extensive with the flanges 20. Abutments 25 are located in the 'guideways atthemidpoints of the arched portions for a purpose later to be described. I

AV pair of substantially identical vrectangular panel's28 are slidably mounted in g'uideways 22 'for movementv to closed and open positions. 'Each panel has cutaway 'portions'S'D at thecorne'rs'of its inner edge. When a panel is' moved tocldsed position it contacts' ab'tments 26. rThe''cutattili/ay portions are approximately one half the thicknessfo'f the abutments so that the inner edges 32 will reach to the center line of the casing and contact each other. Y Each panel has an extent in' theA direction of the guideways slightly greater than one half the length of the arched Aportions so that their outer edges 34 will slightly overlap the upper edges of the side walls, vas seen atthe left of Figure 2, and complete the closureof the container. 3

Handley portions 36 are provided separately or integrally on the inner edge of each panel and when the container is completely closed they cooperate to ffo'rm a virtual single handle for carrying purposes. It will be apparent, that, when the container is picked up by the handles, the cover panels are positively held in closed postion. Moreover, when one panel is opened, the container canfs'till be fheld in upright position Vby bearing portion of the panel.

the handle on the other panel. To insure against pulling out of the panels in the load carrying positions the anges 20 are widened across the arched portion to provide greater overlap. n

When the container is resting on a support such as a table top and a panel 28 is moved to open position its outer edge 34 will contact the table top, which will prevent its unintentional removal from the guideways.' If it is desiredfaninwardly extending stop 38 may be provided immediately below the handle 36. The stop will normally engage the upper edge of wall I4 but, since thereis 4 general manner as the form previously described.

A partition 58 divides the casing into upper and lower compartments 6u and 62 respectively, the upper compartment being open at the top. A rectangular aperture 64 is formed in at least one side wall 54 to provide access to the lower compartment. Flanges 66 cooperate with the other parts of the casing to form guideways 68 substantially identical with those vof the form of invention illustrated in Figures 1 and 2'.l

The upper portion of panel 'I0 in Figure 10 is similar to panel 28 but it is elongated sufliciently some flexibility in the parts, they may be spread., 3

far enough to allow the stop to pass along the outer surface of the wall to disengage thepanel from the guideways. Y

The curvature of the medial portion. .of the panel when in the closed position gives it sufficient stiffness to resist bending loads. The elongated handle member 36 stifl'ens the inner edge and similar stiffening may be obtained at the outer edge by applying a reinforcing member 40. 'This member also serves as ta handle or abutment for opening the panel by downward pressure on the abutment.rv L

The casing may be made of any desired material, such as metal or plastic. The latter material when sliding on similar material tends to .bind and gall. This difficulty can be overcome by providing anti-friction material 4I on the rllhe material may be of; any type having satisfactory properties such: as metal orjcloth.. One which has been found satisfactory is ,aA flock of fibrous material.

f Althothe container may have any desired general outline the form shown in Figure 2 is relativelywide and low so that when serving as a lunch box it will accommodate rtwo vacuum -bottles side byl side. `These bottles 42,v shown in .phantom lines, are supported on brackets 44, one on each end wall I6. The brackets are double arched to hold the bottles in spaced relation and, as seen in Figure 6, extend inwardly beyond the `flanges 20 so ,that a bottle which will pass the flanges will properly contact the brackets. The latter are located well above the bottom I2 to provide space for sandwiches or other items. When-one panel 28 is opened it provides sufficient space-for the passage of one bottle.

In the more conventional form of box which is higher and narrower a pair of singlev arched 4brackets may be used to hold one bottle. In such form it is also -possible toA utilize a single cover panel with a handle located at its midpoint.

:Such panel may be moved along the guideways in either direction touncover the opening. n

` 1 Vlhile the arrangement shown includes inwardly facing grooves to receive the panel edges itis within the contemplation of the invention to provide any suitable type of guideways such as outwardly facing flanges, and to use. cooperating reversely bent edges on the panels.. A modified cover panel is shown in Figure 8 in which the sheet 46 has relatively heavy and light longitudinally extending sections 48 and 5U connected in smooth curves. This gives comparative stiiness in the direction of the sections 48 and comparative flexibility at right angles thereto.

'I'he embodiment illustrated in Figures 9 and 10 is intended to be substantially larger than the first embodiment andis suited to a Variety of purposes such as a mending box,.clothes hamper, etc. It includes a casing having a bottom 52, side walls 54, and end walls 56 extending somewhat above the'side walls and arched in the same l5 A shape to the aperture 64.

to form a closure over aperture 64 when the panel is in its upper limit position. An aperture I2 is formed in the panel 'I0 corresponding in size and When the panel is in the upper limit position the aperture 'I2 overlies the area 'I4 and hence the container is completely closed. When the panel is lowered until that' various vchanges and modifications may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the invention and it is intended that all such changes and modifications shall be embraced within the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A utility container comprising: a casing having a bottom, side walls, andA end walls; said end walls rising above said bottom a greater distance than said side walls and having curved upper margins; guideways formed von the inwardly facing surfaces of said end walls; and a pair of flexible panels mounted for sliding movement in said guideways; each of said panels being of substantially the same size and their combined extent in the direction of said guideways being suicient to cover the opening at the top -of the casing and to slightly overlap the upper edges of said side walls; said guideways extendingdown the outer faces of the side walls to the bottom of the casing and' being open at their lowerv ends to provide ready removal of said panels.

2. A container comprising: a casing havi bottom, side walls, and end walls, and being open at the top; said end walls rising above the top edges of said side walls; guideways on said end walls having arched upper portions; cover ypanels slidably engaging said guideways and movable to cover anduncover the openy upper end of said casing; a handle member on each of said panels adjacent their meeting edges and adapted to cooperate to form a virtual single'handle when said panels arein juxtaposition toeach other.

3. A container comprising: a casing having a bottom, side walls, and end walls, and being. open at the top; guideways on said end walls extending substantially vertically adjacent and exterior to said side walls and being open at their lower ends for removal of said panels; cover panels slidably engaging said guideways and adapted;y in lowered position, to lie closely adjacent and exterior to said side walls; and abutments carried by the inner faces of said panels adapted normally to engage the upper edges of said side walls to prevent inadvertent removal of said panels from said casing.

4. A container as claimed in claim 3; said panels being deflectab-le to disengage said abutments from said side walls for disassembly of said panels.

5. A container comprising: a casing having a bottom, side walls, and end walls, and being open at the top; guideways on said end walls having arched upper portions traversing the open top of said casing; cover panels slidably engaging said guideways and adapted to cover said open top when located in the upper portions of said guide- Ways and to uncover said open top when located in the lower portions of said guideways; handle portions adjacent the upper edges of said panels to pull them to closed position; and abutments adjacent the lower edges of said panels to push them to open position.

6. A container comprising: a casing having a bottom, side walls, and end walls, and being open at the top; guideways on said end walls; supporting brackets extending from a medial portion of the inner face of each end Wall to support a container of somewhat smaller lateral and longitudinal dimensions within said casing and in spaced relation to the bottom thereof; and cover means slidably engaging said guideways and movable to one position to close the open top` of said casing and to another position t0 provide a sufficiently large opening for removal of said second container.

7. A container comprising: a casing having a Ibottom, side Walls, and end walls, and being open at the top; guideways formed on said end walls, each guideway being formed with a pair of upright, relatively straight and parallel portions joined at their upper ends by an arched portion; a shelf within said casing intermediate the top` and bottom of said side walls and dividing the casing into upper and lower compartments; at least one access opening formed in a side wall for access to the lower compartment; and a pair of cover panels slidably engaging said guideways; at

least one of said cover panels being of sufficient vertical extent to reach from the bottom of the access opening to the midpoint of said arched portions; and an opening formed in an intermediate portion of said panel and adapted to register with said access opening in one position of said panel.

8. A utility container comprising: a casing having a bottom, side walls, and end walls; said end walls rising above said bottom a greater distance than said side walls; guideways formed on said end walls and having arched upper portions; and a pair of iexible panels mounted for sliding movement in said guideways; each of said panels being of substantially the same size and their combined extent in the direction of said guideways being sufficient to cover the opening at the top of the casing and to slightly overlap the upper edges of said side Walls; and a handle member on each panel adjacent their meeting edges; .said members combining to form a virtual single handle for carrying purposes.

' 9. A utility container comprising: a casing Ihaving a bottom, side walls, and end walls; said end walls rising above said bottom a greater distance than said side walls; guideways formed on said end walls and having arched upper portions; ,and a pair of flexible panels mounted for sliding movement in engagement with said guideways; each of said panels being of substantially the same size and their combined extent in the direction of said guideways being sufficient to cover the opening at the top of the casing and to slightly overlap the upper edges of said side walls; said guideways extending down the outer faces of the side walls to the bottom of the casing and being unobstructed at their lower ends to provide ready removal of said panels.

JAMES W. JAQUET'IE.

VIRGINIA R. JAQUETTE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 298,340 Berghofer May 13, 1884 655,926 Freed Aug. 14, 1900 1,107,985 Moskowitz Aug. 18, 1914 1,510,103 Perkins Sept. 30, 1924 2,107,997 Horsley Feb. 8, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 287.977 Great Britain Apr. 5 1928

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