PROTECTIVE COVER

Abstract

The invention relates to a protective cover (10) with a base, two side walls (20), a front wall, a rear wall and a lid, wherein the protective cover (10) comprises a blank (12) which is formed integrally and is composed of a plastics material. The blank (12) has a base region (241 a rear wall region (181 a front wall region (161 two side wall regions (20) and a lid region (22), and the blank (12) is folded in a cuboidal shape. Furthermore, it is provided that the protective cover (10) has connecting elements (14) with magnetic elements and optionally counter elements, wherein the connecting elements (14) are designed and arranged in such a manner that the edges of the blank (12) that butt against one another in the folded cuboidal shape are held together by the connecting elements (14) which exert magnetic attraction forces on one another.

Furthermore, the invention relates to a folding sheet (11) which can be folded to form such a protective cover (10).

Claims

1-14. (canceled)

15. A protective cover with a base, two side walls, a front wall, a rear wall and a lid, comprising a blank which is formed integrally and is composed of a plastics material, wherein the blank has a base region, a rear wall region, a front wall region, two side wall regions and a lid region, and the blank is folded in a cuboidal shape, wherein the protective cover has connecting elements with magnetic elements and optionally counter elements, wherein the connecting elements are designed and arranged in such a manner that the edges of the blank that butt against one another in the folded cuboidal shape are held together by the connecting elements which exert magnetic attraction forces on one another, wherein the connecting elements are connected to the blank and a first portion of the connecting elements ends flush with the outer borders of the blank and a second portion of the connecting elements projects beyond the outer borders of the blank, and wherein a connecting element ending flush in each case interacts with a connecting element projecting beyond the outer border.

16. The protective cover of claim 15, wherein at least one connecting element is designed to be foldable.

17. The protective cover of claim 15, wherein the plastics material is selected from at least one polyester.

18. The protective cover of claim 15, wherein the blank is transparent at least in partial regions.

19. The protective cover of claim 15, wherein a magnetic element is arranged on the rear wall region in such a manner that the protective cover can be fastened to a magnetic wall.

20. The protective cover of claim 15, wherein the magnetic elements are designed as permanent magnets.

21. The protective cover of claim 15, wherein the counter elements are not designed to be permanently magnetic.

22. The protective cover of claim 15, wherein, in the case of the blank, the rear wall region and the front wall region are adjacent to the base region, the lid region is adjacent to the front wall region or to the rear wall region, and in that the two side regions are adjacent to the base region, the front wall region or to the rear wall region.

23. The protective cover of claim 15, wherein the connecting elements are connected fixedly to the blank by means of adhesive bonding, welding, sewing, or laminating.

24. The protective cover of claim 15, furthermore comprising illuminating means for illuminating an item accommodated in the protective cover.

25. A folding sheet comprising a blank composed of a plastics material and connecting elements fastened to the blank, wherein the folding sheet is configured in such a manner that the latter is foldable to form a protective cover of claim 23, wherein the folding sheet is held together in the folded shape by magnetic attraction forces.

26. A method for producing a protective cover of claim 15, wherein an item which is to be protected is deposited on a blank and then the protective cover is folded up using connecting elements around the item to be protected to form the cuboidal protective cover, wherein the connecting elements are arranged in such a manner that the edges of the blank that butt against one another in the folded cuboidal shape are held together by the connecting elements which exert magnetic attraction forces on one another.

27. The protective cover of claim 17, wherein the polyester is selected from the group consisting of polyethyleneterephthalate (PET), polyvinylchloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polycarbonate (PC), styrene-copolymers, and mixtures thereof.

28. The protective cover of claim 20, wherein the permanent magnets are a permanently magnetic film and/or a permanently magnetic band.

29. The protective cover of claim 21, wherein the counter elements are designed in the form of a metal sheet or a metal foil, which are attracted by the respective magnetic elements.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0039] Exemplary embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the drawings and explained in more detail in the description below, in which

[0040] FIG. 1 shows a blank with connecting elements,

[0041] FIGS. 2a and 2b show the folding of a blank with connecting elements to form a protective cover,

[0042] FIG. 3 shows a further variant of a blank with connecting elements,

[0043] FIG. 4 shows a blank without connecting elements,

[0044] FIGS. 5a, 5b, 5c show foldable connecting elements,

[0045] FIG. 6 shows an exploded illustration of a further embodiment of the protective cover, and

[0046] FIG. 7 shows a protective cover with illuminating means in a sectional illustration from the side.

[0047] In the description below of exemplary embodiments of the invention, identical or similar components and elements are denoted by the same or similar reference signs, wherein a repeated description of said components or elements is omitted in individual cases. The figures are only a schematic illustration of the subject matter of the invention.

[0048] FIG. 1 shows a first variant of a blank 12 for a first embodiment of the protective cover 10. The blank 12 is formed integrally and is produced from a plastics material by trimming or punching. The blank 12 comprises a plurality of regions (16, 18, 20, 22, 24), namely a base region 24, to which a rear wall region 18, two side walls regions 20 and a front wall region 16 are adjacent. A lid region 22 is adjacent to the front wall region 16.

[0049] A plurality of connecting elements 14 which, in this embodiment, are all designed as a magnetic film are arranged on the blank 12. The magnetic film is connected to the blank 12 by adhesive bonding. Except for the connecting elements which are arranged on the lid region 22, all of the connecting elements 14 are adhesively bonded to the lower side of the blank 12, wherein said connecting elements each partially project beyond the blank 12. Two connecting elements 14 of the lid region 22 are adhesively bonded to the upper side of the blank 12 and do not project beyond the blank 12.

[0050] The blank 12 and the connecting elements 14 form a folding sheet 11 which can be folded to form a protective cover. The folding sheet 11 is folded here along folding lines 38. This is described below with reference to FIGS. 2a and 2b. The folding lines 38 are illustrated with chain-dotted lines in the figures. FIG. 1 illustrates the folding sheet 11 in a top view, wherein the visible surfaces of the connecting elements 14 are illustrated in shaded form and surfaces concealed by the blank 12 are indicated by dashed lines. It is easily apparent from FIG. 1 that, in the illustrated embodiment of the folding sheet 11, during the folding to form a cuboid, at the points of which two edges of the blank meet, a protruding part of a connecting element 14 in each case interacts with a non-protruding part of another connecting element 14, wherein the respectively protruding part can be folded over in the form of a tab in order to fix the edges in the cuboidal shape.

[0051] FIGS. 2a and 2b show the folding sheet 11 from FIG. 1 in a perspective illustration. In order to fold the folding sheet 11 to form a cuboidal protective cover, an item 32 which is to be protected is deposited onto the base region 24. The item 32 is indicated in FIGS. 2a and 2b as a cuboid shown by dashed lines.

[0052] Subsequently, the rear wall region 18 is folded by 90 such that it lies against the item 32 to be protected. Some of the connecting elements 14 can likewise already be folded by 90 in the direction of the item 32.

[0053] As illustrated in FIG. 2b, after the folding of the rear wall region 18, the side wall regions 20 are folded in the direction of the item 32 such that they likewise lie against the item 32. The side wall regions 20 which form the side walls 20 of the protective cover 10 are fixed by folding of connecting elements 14, which are arranged on the rear wall region 18, by 90, wherein the connecting regions 14 which are involved then lie on one another because of the folding.

[0054] In further steps, not illustrated further, first of all the front wall region 16 and subsequently the lid region 22 are folded in each case by 90 in the direction of the item 32. By way of corresponding folding of the respective connecting elements 14 in each case by 90 in the direction of the item 32, the front wall region 16 and the lid region 22 are fixed in the cuboidal protective cover 10 produced in this manner. The item 32 which is to be protected is now completely encased by the blank 12.

[0055] FIG. 3 illustrates a further variant of a blank 12 which, together with connecting elements 14, forms a folding sheet 11. In contrast to the variant illustrated in FIG. 1, the two side wall regions 20 are adjacent to the front wall region 16. In addition, the connecting elements 14 which are laterally adjacent to the rear wall region 18 do not extend over the entire length, and therefore said connecting elements do not overlap the adjacent connecting elements 14 of the base region 24 during the folding-up operation.

[0056] In order to fold a protective cover from the folding sheet 11 of FIG. 3, the procedure is analogous to that described with respect to FIGS. 2a and 2b, wherein first of all the front wall region is applied to the item 32 by folding, then the two side regions are folded by 90 toward the item 32 and the side regions are then fixed by folding of the two connecting elements 14 arranged on the base region 24. The rear wall region 18 is subsequently folded and finally the lid region 22.

[0057] FIG. 4 shows a blank 12 without connecting elements connected thereto. The blank 12 has a front wall region 16 to which two side wall regions 20, a base region 24 and a lid region 22 are adjacent. A rear wall region 18 is adjacent to the base region 24.

[0058] FIGS. 5a, 5b and 5c show foldable connecting elements 14 which are not connected to a blank 12.

[0059] FIG. 5a illustrates a blank 26 which is foldable to form a frame. The blank 26 which is foldable to form the frame has 4 folding lines 38 which divide said blank into five regions, of which four are identical in size.

[0060] FIG. 5b shows a blank 28 which is foldable in an L shape. Said blank can be folded by 90 along a folding line 38 such that the L shape arises.

[0061] FIG. 5c shows a blank 30 which is foldable in a U shape and has two mutually parallel folding lines 38. Said folding lines 38 each define a region of the U shape which arises when said regions are folded on one another by 90.

[0062] FIG. 6 shows the closing of a second embodiment of the protective cover 10 which is folded from a blank 12 without fixedly connected connecting elements 14.

[0063] First of all, a connecting element 26 which is foldable to form a frame and is designed as a magnetic element is placed around the side surfaces of the item 32 to be protected and, in the process, is folded to form a frame which substantially covers the side surfaces of the item 32. The item 32 is deposited together with the frame onto the front wall region 16 of a blank 12, and the lid region 22, the side wall regions 20 and the base region are applied to the item 32 by folding. Subsequently, the rear wall region 18 can also be applied to the item 32 by folding. Respective L-shaped connecting elements 28, which are designed as magnetic elements, are placed on the edge of the cuboid which has been produced from the blank and at which the side wall regions 20 butt against the rear wall region 18. Said connecting elements interact with the frame-shaped connecting element 26 and fix the blank 12 at these points in the cuboidal shape. Finally, a U-shaped connecting element 30, which is likewise designed as a magnetic element, is placed on, wherein the two limbs of the U substantially cover the lid region 22 and the base region and likewise interact here with the frame-shaped connecting element 26. The protective cover 10 is then closed and is fixed in the cuboidal shape by the magnetic forces of the connecting elements 14. In addition, the gaps in the regions of the cuboid at which two surfaces of the blank 12 butt against each other are closed in a dust-proof manner by the connecting elements 14.

[0064] FIG. 7 shows a protective cover 10 with an illuminating means 36, in a sectional illustration from the side. The illuminating means 36 is designed here as an LED strip and illuminates the interior of the protective cover 10 and therefore the item 32 which is accommodated in the interior of the protective cover 10. In this variant, the dimensions of the protective cover 10 are preferably selected to be larger than the item to be protected. In order to be able to present the item 32 in an esthetically attractive manner, in the variant illustrated in FIG. 7 the protective cover 10 additionally comprises a pedestal 34 on which the item 32 is accommodated. The pedestal 34 is produced, for example, from the same plastics material as the blank and can be connected to the base 24, in particular via magnetic elements.

[0065] In order to be able to fasten the protective cover 10 to a magnetic board, in the embodiment illustrated the rear wall 18 has a connecting element 14 designed as a magnetic element. Said connecting element 14 is arranged on the outer side of the protective cover 10.

[0066] The invention is not restricted to the exemplary embodiments described here and the aspects which are emphasized therein. On the contrary, a multiplicity of modifications which lie within the scope of expert action in the art are possible within the range indicated by the claims.