Non-rigid shoebox

Abstract

A shoebox fabricated from non-rigid, fashionable material which makes it stylish and utilizing more rigid, wall height corner brackets that give it structural definition and functionality.

Claims

1. A box comprising: a substantially rectangular bottom; an opposing pair of substantially rectangular sidewalls that extend both upward from the bottom and longitudinally; an opposing pair of substantially rectangular end walls that extend both upward from the bottom and laterally between the sidewalls, thereby forming box corners; corner brackets for providing structural support to the sidewalls and end walls, wherein the corner brackets are disposed at the box corners and each comprise: a longitudinal panel attached to and extending substantially the height of a sidewall; and a perpendicularly adjoining lateral panel attached to and extending substantially the height of an end wall; and wherein the bottom, sidewalls, and end walls are substantially fabricated of non-rigid material.

2. The box of claim 1, wherein said bottom, sidewalls, and end walls are formed from a unitary sheet of material folded along at least four creases.

3. The box of claim 1, further comprising a lift-off lid configured to fit over the sidewalls and end walls to create a box enclosure.

4. The box of claim 1, wherein said non-rigid material is leather.

5. The box of claim 1, wherein said non-rigid material is a fabric.

6. A box comprising: a substantially rectangular bottom; an opposing pair of substantially rectangular sidewalls that extend both upward from the bottom and longitudinally; an opposing pair of substantially rectangular end walls that extend both upward from the bottom and laterally between the sidewalls, thereby forming box corners; corner brackets for providing structural support to the sidewalls and end walls, wherein the corner brackets are disposed at the box corners and each comprise: a longitudinal panel attached to and extending substantially the height of a sidewall; and a perpendicularly adjoining lateral panel attached to and extending substantially the height of an end wall; a lid that extends from a sidewall and is pivotable between an open position and a closed position that forms a box enclosure; and wherein the bottom, sidewalls, and end walls are substantially fabricated of non-rigid material.

7. The box of claim 6, wherein said bottom, sidewalls, and end walls are formed from a unitary sheet of material folded along at least four creases.

8. The box of claim 6, wherein said non-rigid material is leather.

9. The box of claim 6, wherein said non-rigid material is a fabric.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the primary sheet portion of the shoebox in accordance with the present invention, the sheet shown in an unfolded and planar state;

[0011] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a corner bracket component of the shoebox in accordance with the present invention;

[0012] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the constructed shoebox in accordance with the present invention, its lid shown in an open position; and

[0013] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the same, its lid shown in a closed position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] This disclosure, as defined by the claims that follow, relates to a shoebox construction in which non-rigid, presumably fashionable, material heretofore deemed unsuitable for use as shoebox walls is so used and is kept in taut supporting condition by way of box corner bracket pieces that have greater rigidity.

[0015] As can be seen in FIG. 1, in its simplest form, the present shoebox is formed from a single sheet 1 of leather or other non-rigid material, such as any number of fabrics, that has an outline which appears as one larger rectangle elongated in a longitudinal direction and overlaid by two spaced apart smaller rectangles that are elongated in lateral directions. It should be noted that, within the spirit and scope of the invention, multiple discrete sheets of the chosen material can be sewn together end-to-end to produce the same configuration, but in the discussion that follows, it is assumed that a single sheet of leather material is employed.

[0016] Referring, again, to FIG. 1, the material sheet 1 can be viewed as made up of nine distinct rectangular sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 14, 15, 16 (although, sections 12, 14 and 15 may be ornamentally designed in non-rectangular profile) that are each demarcated from at least one other such section by an imaginary folding line. Hereinafter, all such folding lines may be referred to as various “creases,” and the demarcations are made apparent by introducing a series of perpendicular folds of the sheet material along them.

[0017] To wit, a front sidewall 4 is formed by folding the sheet 1 along a front sidewall crease 20 and raising that section 4 upward. A left end wall 2 is formed by folding the sheet 1 along a left end wall crease 24 and raising that section 2 upward. A right end wall 3 is formed by folding the sheet 1 along a right end wall crease 26 and raising that section 3 upward. Finally, a rear sidewall 5 is formed by folding the sheet 1 along a rear sidewall crease 22 and raising that section 5 upward. All the preceding folding and upright positioning of sheet sections produces a pair of opposing and longitudinally extending sidewalls 4, 5, a pair of opposing and laterally extending end walls 2, 3, and a box bottom surface 6 situated between them all.

[0018] To keep these sidewalls 4, 5 and end walls 2, 3 in upright position and interconnected, each sidewall is joined to an end wall by way of a bracket 7 formed by perpendicular longitudinal panels 9 and lateral panels 8 (see FIG. 2) that are as tall as the height of each wall surface 2, 3, 4, 5. Each bracket 7 is positioned at one of the four corners where a respective end of a side wall and end of an end wall meets. There, each bracket's longitudinal panel 9 is secured (typically, by adhesive, but could be by other fastening means such as sewing, riveting, etc.) to a sidewall, while its lateral panel 8 is identically secured to an end wall. Importantly, the brackets 7 should be rigid pieces (substantially more rigid than the leather sheet, anyway), and they should secure to the entire heights of the sidewalls 4, 5 and end walls 2, 3 in such a way that those walls are not only held upright, they are held in such taut condition that they collectively form a functional shoebox structure.

[0019] As previously alluded to, if sheet sections 12, 14 and 15 were not part of the unfolded sheet design, the above described folding and bracketing would complete an open topped box structure. Then, to complete the box enclosure, a separate lift off type lid (not shown) would be needed to fit over the upper rims of the sidewalls 4, 5 and end walls 2, 3, and it could be similarly formed using a separate sheet of material. However, using a material sheet configured as shown in FIG. 1 enables an integral lid to be formed by introducing a few additional folds.

[0020] Specifically, a box lid 10 that extends from the rear sidewall 5 and pivots between a range of open positions (see FIG. 3) and a closed position (see FIG. 4) that completes a box enclosure is formed by making a fold along a front sidewall crease 20, another fold along a left end wall crease 24, and another fold along a right end wall crease 26. This produces a left lid end wall 14 that hangs down over an upper portion of the box left end wall 2, a right lid end wall 15 that hangs down over an upper portion of the box right end wall 3, and a lid front sidewall that hangs down over an upper portion of the box front sidewall 4. While not shown, a pair of corner brackets configured like those used to support the main structure of the box could also be positioned to join the left and right ends of the lid front sidewall 12 to the lid end walls 14, 15.