US20070045311A1

US20070045311A1 - Twist-collapsible storage box

Info

Publication number: US20070045311A1
Application number: US11/213,761
Authority: US
Inventors: Wen-Tsan Wang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-08-30
Filing date: 2005-08-30
Publication date: 2007-03-01

Abstract

A twist-collapsible storage box, which includes a soft rectangular box body, a bottom board mounted inside the box body and closely attached to the horizontal bottom wall of the box body, four horizontal rod members respectively fastened to the four vertical sidewalls of the box body in horizontal at the top, and four vertical rod members respectively fastened to the four angles between each two adjacent vertical sidewalls of the box body in vertical and kept spaced from the ends of the horizontal rod members at a gap.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage box and more particularly, to a twist-collapsible storage box that is folding collapsible through a twisting action.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
A storage box may be made folding collapsible so as to save storage space when not in use. A known folding collapsible storage box comprises a rectangular box body made out of soft fabric, four horizontal top rods respectively fastened to the four sides of the rectangular box body, in horizontal at the top side, two horizontal bottom rods respectively fastened to two opposite bottom sides of the rectangular box body in horizontal, and four vertical rods respectively fastened to the four angles of the rectangular box body in vertical and kept spaced from the ends of the horizontal top rods and the horizontal bottom rods at a gap. The rod members support the rectangular box body in a three-dimensional shape for holding things. When twisting the upper part of the storage box, the storage box is collapsed.
This structure of storage box is complicated. Further, the horizontal top and bottom rods and the vertical rods are rigid rod members that cause an inconvenience to the folding operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a twist-collapsible storage box, which has a simple structure and can easily be twisted into a collapsed status.
To achieve this and other objects of the present invention, the twist-collapsible storage box comprises a soft rectangular box body, the box body having a top opening, four vertical sidewalls, and a horizontal bottom wall, and a supporting structure for supporting the box body in shape for holding things, wherein the supporting structure comprises a bottom board inserted into the inside of the box body and attached to the horizontal bottom wall, four horizontal rod members respectively fastened to the four vertical sidewalls of said box body horizontal at a top side, and four vertical rod members respectively fastened to the box body in between each two adjacent vertical sidewalls of the box body in vertical and kept spaced from the ends of the horizontal rod members at a gap.
Further, the box body has a horizontal insertion slot in one vertical sidewall thereof adjacent to the horizontal bottom wall through which the bottom board is inserted into the inside of the box body and attached to the horizontal bottom wall.
When collapsing the twist-collapsible storage box, it is not necessary to take the bottom board out of the box body, and the user can directly twist the top side of the twist-collapsible storage box to collapse the twist-collapsible storage box smoothly.
The foregoing object and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a twist-collapsible storage box according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an exploded view of an alternate form of the twist-collapsible storage box according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing showing the twist-collapsing action of the present invention (I).
FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing showing the twist-collapsing action of the present invention (II).
FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing showing the twist-collapsing action of the present invention (III).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following descriptions are of exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
Referring to FIG. 1, a twist-collapsible storage box in accordance with the present invention is shown comprising a box body 1 and a bottom board 2.
The box body 1 is made out of a tough and resilient fabric (for example, canvass) of certain thinness by stitching, having a top opening, a bottom wall and four vertical sidewalls. Further, four horizontal rod members 12 are respectively fastened to the four vertical sidewalls of the box body 1 in horizontal at the top. Four vertical rod members 13 are respectively fastened to the four corners in between each two adjacent vertical sidewalls of the box body 1 in vertical and kept spaced from the ends of the horizontal rod members 12 at a gap. According to this embodiment, the horizontal rod members 12 and the vertical rod members 13 are flexible rod members. When the user twists the twist-collapsible storage box, the rod members 12 and 13 can be curved to facilitate the twisting action. The rod members 12 and 13 can be glass fiber rods, carbon fiber rods, spring rods, or other suitable tough and resilient rods.
The rod members 12 and 13 can be fastened to the box body 1 with stitches, i.e., horizontal and vertical pockets are respectively provided at the top side of each of the four vertical sidewalls of the box body 1 and the angle between each two adjacent vertical sidewalls for holding the rod members 12 and 13.
The bottom board 2 fits the horizontal bottom wall of the box body 1, and is inserted into the box body 1 and closely attached to the top surface of the horizontal bottom wall of the box body 1 to keep the vertical rod members 13 in vertical, thereby supporting the box body 1 in shape.
FIG. 2 shows an alternate form of the present invention. According to this embodiment, a horizontal insertion slot 14 is formed in one vertical sidewall of the box body 1 near the bottom side corresponding to the height (thickness) and width of the bottom board 2 so that the bottom board 2 can be inserted through the horizontal insertion slot 14 into the inside of the box body I and closely attached to the top surface of the horizontal bottom wall of the box body.
Referring to FIGS. 3-5, when the twist-collapsible storage box is not used, twisting the top side of the twist-collapsible storage box in clockwise direction or counter-clockwise direction (for example, counter-clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 3) while keeping the bottom side of the twist-collapsible storage box immovable without taking the bottom board 2 out of the box body 1. At this time, the vertical sidewalls of the box body 1 are twisted, and the rod members 12 and 13 are properly curved without damage, allowing smoothly performance of the twist action. When continuing the twisting action, the height of the twisted box body 1 is gradually lowered, and the four vertical sidewalls of the box body 1 are respectively folded into a triangular shape (see FIG. 4). At final, the top and bottom sides of the box body 1 are closely attached together, and the four triangles that are formed of the four vertical sidewalls of the box body 1 are abutted against one another and smoothly attached to the top surface of the horizontal bottom wall of the box body 1 (see FIG. 5). The collapsed status of the twist-collapsible storage box has a flat shape convenient for storage or delivery with less space occupation. When keeping the twist-collapsible storage box in the collapsed status for a certain length of time, folding lines 11 will be formed out of the triangular contour of the collapsed vertical sidewalls of the box body 1 due to the pressure of the weight of the twist-collapsible storage box itself or other loads rested on the collapsed twist-collapsible storage box. These folding lines 11 will facilitate further collapsing action of the twist-collapsible storage box.
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Claims

1. A twist-collapsible storage box comprising a soft rectangular box body, said box body having a top opening, four vertical sidewalls, and a horizontal bottom wall, and a supporting structure for supporting said box body in shape for holding things, wherein said supporting structure comprises a bottom board inserted into the inside of said box body and attached to said horizontal bottom wall, four horizontal rod members respectively fastened to said four vertical sidewalls of said box body in horizontal at a top side, and four vertical rod members respectively fastened to said box body in between each two adjacent vertical sidewalls of said box body in vertical and kept spaced from the ends of said horizontal rod members at a gap.

2. The twist-collapsible storage box as claimed in claim 1, wherein said box body is made out of a fabric.

3. The twist-collapsible storage box as claimed in claim 1, wherein said horizontal rod members and said vertical rod members are flexible rod members.

4. The twist-collapsible storage box as claimed in claim 1, wherein said box body has a horizontal insertion slot in one vertical sidewall thereof adjacent to said horizontal bottom wall through which said bottom board is inserted into the inside of said box body and attached to said horizontal bottom wall.