Container assembly
10793172 ยท 2020-10-06
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
B62B1/20
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B25H3/023
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65D21/0212
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B62B5/067
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B25H3/026
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65D21/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B62B1/006
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
International classification
B62B1/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65D21/02
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65D21/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B62B1/20
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B62B5/06
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
Abstract
Provided are container assemblies, including at least two containers detachably attached to one another by locking arrangements.
Claims
1. A containers assembly comprising at least one first container and at least one second container, detachably attachable to one another by a locking arrangement that comprises at least one locking member and a locking receptacle; at least one side wall of the first container comprises said at least one locking member pivotally secured at a top portion of the first container, and said locking receptacle is configured at a base portion of the second container, said locking member configured with at least one locking latch configured for locking engagement within said locking receptacle; the locking member being pivotally displaceable between a locked position in which the at least one locking latch is radially engaged within the locking receptacle, such that the second container is lockingly articulated over the first container, and an unlocked position in which the locking member is outwardly pivoted and the at least one locking latch is disengaged from the locking receptacle such that the second container can be separated from the first container; the first container being configured with a support rim constituting a nesting portion, and wherein at the locked position the at least one locking latch radially projects inwardly through said rim, the second container being configured at a bottom base portion thereof with a nestable portion in register with the support rim; and said locking receptacle is at the nestable portion and has an opening on a face of said nestable portion, wherein at the locked position said opening is disposed opposite a respective locking latch of the locking member, the locking member being configured to serve as a carrying handle, at either the locked position and the unlocked position, and further wherein the locking member is configured with a gripping portion, the gripping portion having a rim-facing surface being spaced apart, at both the locked position and unlocked position, from an opposing wall portion of the first container.
2. The containers assembly of claim 1, wherein the locking member is pivotally displaceable between the unlocked position and the locked position about an axis extending substantially parallel to a top base portion of the container.
3. The container assembly of claim 1, wherein the nesting portion at least partially circumferences a top base portion of the first container.
4. The container assembly of claim 3, wherein said support rim is configured with one or more latch passages, each slidingly accommodating a locking latch of the locking member.
5. The container assembly of claim 4, wherein one or both of the one or more locking member and the latch passages is configured with bulges for substantially reducing or eliminating slack of the locking member and friction arresting thereof; optionally wherein said one or more of the bulges protrude into a respective depression for snapingly arresting the locking member.
6. The container assembly of claim 4, wherein one or more locking latches of a locking arrangement displace through the latch passage between a locked position in which the locking latches project inwards from the support rim, configured to engage with a respective locking receptacle of the second container, and an unlocked position in which the locking latches are retracted in an outward direction, such that they substantially do not project inwards from the support rim, and are disengaged from the locking receptacle of the second container.
7. The container assembly of claim 4, characterized by one or more of the following features: (a) one or more locking latch of the locking member extends below a top surface of the support rim, (b) when at an assembled position, a base portion of the second container is at least partially nested within a support rim of the first container, (c) the nestable portion is shaped and sized for at least partial nesting within boundaries of the support rim of the first container, and (d) wherein the locking member is pivotally restricted between the locked position and the unlocked position; pivotal restriction being facilitated by a restricting projection that is configured to prevent the locking latch from disengaging from the support rim.
8. The container assembly of claim 1, wherein the locking member is configured with several locking latches.
9. The container assembly of claim 1, wherein in the event that a second container is placed over a first container, when the locking member of the first container is at the locked position, positioning the second container over the first container entails spontaneous displacement of the locking member into the unlocked position.
10. The container assembly of claim 1, being configured as a portable container assembly.
11. The container assembly of claim 1, wherein the locking arrangement is configured with an arresting arrangement for arresting the locking member at least at the locked position, regardless if a second container is mounted thereover.
12. The container of claim 11, wherein the arresting arrangement being a snap-type arrangement, wherein one of the at least one locking latch and a top portion of the first container is configured with a projection and the other of the at least one locking latch and a top portion of the first container is configured with a recess, wherein the locking member is snapingly displaceable at least into the locked position.
13. The container assembly of claim 1, wherein a bottom most container of the assembly is fitted with a locomoting arrangement.
14. The container assembly of claim 1, comprising one or more bucket-like containers, one or more drawer containers configured with a drawer-housing container, one or more organizer containers configured with an organizer container, one or more sliding containers, one or more pivoting containers, and/or one or more parallel mechanism containers.
15. The container assembly of claim 1, being configured with a handle.
16. The container of claim 1, wherein the carrying handle is configured with a gripping portion, wherein the carrying handle can extend within a recess configured within a side wall of the first container, giving rise to a gripping space facilitating an individual to insert his fingers for gripping said gripping portion.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) In order to better understand the subject matter that is disclosed herein and to exemplify how it may be carried out in practice, embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
(44) Attention is first directed to
(45) The container assembly 10 further comprises a second bucket-like container 20 mounted over container 12, said container 20 being configured with a pivotable lid 22 (the lid 22 being fitted with a carrying handle 24 as will be described with reference to
(46) The arrangement is such that the containers are stacked one over the other and locked with respect to one another so as to provide to a solid, uniformly rolling tool-cart, the containers are securely locked to one another by a sliding type locking mechanism generally designated 60, as will be discussed hereinafter in greater detail. Accordingly, the second bucket-like container 20 is locked over base container 12; organizer-type container 30 is locked over second bucket-like container 20; and cantilever-type organizer container 40 is in turn locked over organizer-type container 30. When the containers are mounted over one another and at the locked position, the container assembly 10 is solid can be safely and easily rolled over the wheels 14.
(47) The sliding locking mechanism 60 comprises a slider member 64 configured at a top portion of each container, and configured for cooperating in conjunction with a locking element 90 (seen in
(48) The slider member 64 is slidingly retained below a guard lip 69 (e.g.
(49) The slider member 64 is configured at its outside face 75 with a finger grip in the form of a depression 78, and a locked indicator (e.g. marking at 82) and an unlocked indicator (e.g. marking at 84), which during use only one of which projects from either side of the accommodating slot, indicative as to the respective locked/unlocked position.
(50) The locking mechanism 60 further comprises a static locking element in the form of an L-shaped locking lug 90 extending at a bottom portion of a second container (i.e. containers 20, 30, 40), giving rise to a relief area 92 above said locking lug 90.
(51) In operation, when a so-called second container (i.e. containers 20, 30, 40) is placed over any other so-called first container (containers 12, 20, 30), with the locking mechanism 60 at its open, unlocked position, the locking lug 90 protrudes into opening 71 of the guard lip 69, with a free end tip 67 of the arresting element 66 disposed opposite the relief area 92 (
(52) Unlocking the container assembly 10 takes place by displacing the arresting element 66 in an opposite direction, i.e. in direction of arrow 93 on
(53) It is noted that the bottom most portion of the locking lugs 90 does not project below a corresponding bottom most portion 89 of the respective second container (e.g. container 30 in
(54) Furthermore, it is shown that the container assembly is configured with two locking mechanisms 60, one disposed at each respective side of the containers. However, it is appreciated that a container assembly can be configured with more or less such locking mechanisms 60.
(55) According to one particular example, the locking mechanisms 60 are disposed symmetrically, whereby the second container can be mounted over the respective first container at either front facing or back facing orientation (i.e. a front face of one container coextends a rear face the container disposed above).
(56) In the disclosed arrangement the arresting elements 66 and the locking lugs 90 extend substantially parallel to one another, and the arresting elements 66 are slidingly displaceable parallel to the locking lugs 90. Likewise, in the illustrated disclosure, the slider members 64 with the arresting elements 66 are displaceable parallel to the respective guard lip 69. Furthermore, as seen best in
(57) Whilst in the illustrated examples the first container (i.e. a bottom container of a pair of a container assembly) is configured with the first locking member (i.e. in form of the slider locking member) and the second container (i.e. a top container of a pair of a container assembly) is configured with the second locking member (i.e. in form of the static locking element), it is noted that these can be otherwise configured, namely with the second locking member configured at the first container and with the first locking member configured at the second containers, respectively.
(58) According to a particular configuration, either or both a surface of the sliding member and of the wall surfaces slidingly supporting the sliding member are configured with protrusions and or depressions (not seen), whereby the sliding member is prevented from spontaneous displacement between its respective locked and unlocked positions, as it requires some degree of force to displace same, optionally in a clicking manner.
(59) Whilst in the illustrated examples the second containers are stacked over the respective first containers, it is appreciated that according to yet an example of the disclosure, the second container can be at least partially nested within the respective first container, however with a projecting portion of the second container extending above a top edge of the respective first container, wherein the second locking member is thus configured at said projecting portion of the second container.
(60) In order to ensure smooth and easy locking of the locking mechanism, it is required that the second locking member, namely the static locking lug 90 extend in place opposite the relief area 72 below said arresting elements 66. This is facilitated by providing true positioning arrangement of the second container over first container, whereby location arrangements are configured, namely groove 135 (
(61) According to a different example of the disclosure, the slider member is normally biased into the locking position, whereby displacing it into the open position requires overcoming the biasing force. This can be facilitated by manually displacing the slider member into the open position, or by configuring facing edges of the corresponding free end tip 67 of the arresting element 66 (
(62) Reverting now to
(63) One example of modular assembly is shown in
(64) In
(65) Another example is illustrated in
(66) Turning now to
(67) With further reference to
(68) The disclosed arrangement thus illustrates three containers mounted on top of one another, wherein the base container 204 is referred to as a first container and the tool box container 214 mounted thereover is referred to as a second container. However, when referring to the relation between the tool box container 214 and the organizer container 220, then the tool box container 214 is referred to as a first container and the organizer container 220 mounted thereover is referred to as a second container. That being said, it is appreciated that the disclosed locking arrangement refers to locking engagement between any first container and second container mounted thereover. It is also noted that the container assembly is modular in the sense that any container may be mounted and locked over any other container, even without the base container 204 (with the exception that the base container always serves as a first container).
(69) As can be seen in the annexed figures, each first container (in the present example each of the three containers 204, 214 and 216) is fitted with a top base portion 230 and a bottom base portion 234 (save for the base container 204). Each of the three containers is configured with an upwardly projecting support rim 238, at least partially encircling/circumferencing a top face thereof, however extending at least at side wall portions of the respective containers. The support rim thus constitutes a nesting portion, at least partially circumferencing the top base portion of the containers.
(70) The tool box container 214 and the organizer-type container 220 are configured at their base with a nestable portion 240 (i.e. a downward extending basin like portion) shaped and sized for at least partial nesting within boundaries of the nesting portion defined by the support rim 238, however wherein at the assembled position a shoulder seat portion 242 of the nestable portion 240 bears over at least portions of the support rim 238.
(71) Each of the three containers 204, 214 and 216 is configured at two opposite side walls with a locking mechanism generally designated 245, comprising a locking member 248 pivotally secured at the top portion 230 of the so-called first container (however seen in each of the illustrated containers), said locking member 248 configured with at least one locking latch 250 configured for locking engagement within a locking receptacle 254 formed at the base portion 234 of each second container (containers 214 and 216 in the present case).
(72) The locking member 248 is pivotally displaceable between a locked position (
(73) The locking latches 250 are displaceable through latch passages 280 extending through the support rim 238, wherein the locking latches 250 are displaceable between the locked position at which they radially project inwardly from an inner edge of the support rim 238, and the unlocked position wherein the latches 250 are concealed, i.e. do not project from the support rim 238, so that the latches are protected and are not exposed to undesired impact.
(74) As can be seen, pivotal displacement of the locking member 248 is translated into radial displacement of the locking latch 250. Further, in the illustrated example each locking member is configured with two locking latches 250. The locking member 248 is articulated at the top portion of the containers and is pivotable about a horizontal axis designated X (when the respective container is placed over a leveled surface, parallel to the top/bottom base thereof).
(75) In order to facilitate easy and smooth placing of a second container over a first container, in the nesting arrangement as disclosed herein above, the nestable portion 240 and the support rim 238 of the nesting portion are configured with chamfered gliding surfaces 260 and 262, respectively.
(76) The locking member 248 has also a carrying handle 266, and is configured with an gripping portion, whereby a container can be carried at either the locked position and the unlocked position, the carrying handle 266 extends within a recess 268 formed at the side wall of the container, thus providing to a griping space facilitating an individual to insert his fingers for gripping said gripping portion.
(77) The locking latches 250 are configured with an upward projection 270 and the top face of the support rim at the vicinity of the latch passages 280 is configured with an arresting opening 274, wherein pivotal displacement of the locking member 248 is restricted at its unlocked position and the locking member is prevented from dispositioning. Furthermore, the locking member 248 is configured at a top face thereof with several bulges 278 for substantially reducing or eliminating slack of the locking member and friction arresting thereof, and wherein at least one bulges is configured for protruding into a respective depression 280 configured at an inner top wall of the support rim, for snapingly arresting of the locking member at the locked position, and preventing spontaneous displacement of the locking member into the unlocked position.
(78) Reverting now to the locking receptacle 254 configured at the respective bottom base portion 234 of each second container, it is noted that said locking receptacle 254 is configured at the seat portion and has an opening 284 on a side face of said seat portion, said opening disposed in alignment with a respective locking latch 250 of the locking member 248. Further, the locking latch 250 is configured at a fore bottom end portion thereof, with a projection 288 (best seen in
(79) With further reference to