Receptacles – Sectional – Container formed of only two similar sections
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-05
2003-08-26
Young, Lee (Department: 3727)
Receptacles
Sectional
Container formed of only two similar sections
C220S004240, C220S835000, C220S839000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06609623
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage box, and more particularly to a storage box having a fastening mechanism that enables easy and quick opening and re-closing of the storage box.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of packaging products, such as food wraps, storage boxes, storage bags, etc., that are made of materials suitable for using with microwaves have been developed for use in a wide range of fields. Among these packaging products, the storage boxes for containing instant foods are particularly welcome due to their ability of keeping food fresh for a prolonged time without leaving any bad plastic smell. These storage boxes also have the advantages of easy to clean, resistant to high and low temperatures, not easily corroded by acids and alkalis, and particularly, useable with microwaves.
FIG. 1
shows a conventional storage box A
1
widely used by instant food stores to hold hamburgers, fried chickens, etc. As shown, the conventional storage box A
1
typically includes an upper cover A
2
and a lower cover A
3
integrally connected at a rear edge of the box. In early stage, marginal belts A
21
, A
31
of the upper and the lower covers, respectively, are directly stapled together to close the upper cover A
2
to the lower cover A
3
. This manner of closing the storage box A
1
is bothersome because a stapler is needed to close the storage box A
1
and the staples must be removed before the storage box A
1
could be opened. And, once the storage box A
1
is opened, it could not be closed again without a stapler.
To solve the above-mentioned problems, a fastening mechanism has been developed for the conventional storage box A
1
. As shown in
FIG. 1
, the fastening mechanism includes two fastening portions A
4
correspondingly provided at proper positions on the marginal belts A
21
, A
31
of the upper and the lower covers A
2
, A
3
, respectively. Please refer to FIG.
2
. The two fastening portions A
4
are integral parts of the marginal belts A
21
, A
31
of the upper and the lower covers A
2
, A
3
, respectively, and are so shaped that the lower fastening portion A
4
is tightly fitted into the upper fastening portion A
4
when the upper cover A
2
is fully closed onto the lower cover A
3
. That is, the two fastening portions A
4
are tightly joined together in a mortise-and-tongue relation. This type of mortise-and-tongue joint has the following disadvantages:
1. For the two fastening portions A
4
to provide a good fastening effect, the upper fastening portion A
4
provides a mortise that is slightly smaller than a tongue provided by the lower fastening portion A
4
, so that the mortise and the tongue could firmly engage with each other. Thus, there is not any fit clearance between the two fastening portions A
4
. In this tight fit relation, the lower fastening portion A
4
tends to become stuck in the upper fastening portion A
4
. When a force that is applied to separate the two tightly joined fastening portions A
4
is too strong, the fastening portions A
4
would inevitably become deformed and lose their fastening function, preventing the upper and the lower covers A
2
, A
3
from closing again via the fastening portions A
4
. In a worse condition, the entire storage box A
1
is deformed, broken or careless turned over.
2. Since the upper and the lower marginal belts A
21
, A
31
are designed to completely contact with one another when the upper cover A
2
is fully closed onto the lower cover A
3
, and there is a contact stress produced at the time the storage box A
1
is closed, a user encounters increased difficulties in separating the upper marginal belt A
21
from the lower marginal belt A
31
. Some users might try to open the storage box A
1
by extending fingernails into the tight joint between the upper and the lower marginal belts and unfortunately get injured at the fingers.
It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop a storage box that has a fastening mechanism enabling the storage box to be easily opened and re-closed without becoming damaged.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a storage box that eliminates the problem of tightly contacted upper and lower marginal belts and injured fingernails attempting to separating such marginal belts from one another.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a storage box that omits the conventional tight-fit fastening portions to avoid the problem of deformed storage box due to an overlarge force applied to open the fastening portions.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a storage box having retreated portions for a user to stably hold thereat to close or open the storage box without causing a turned-over box.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a storage box having expanded antislip areas, at where a user may apply forces to instantly and stably close or open the storage box.
To achieve the above and other objects, the storage box of the present invention mainly includes an upper cover integrally connected at a rear edge to a lower cover. The upper and the lower covers are provided along their peripheral edges with a recess and a flange, respectively, that engage with each other when the upper cover is closed onto the lower cover.
Upper and lower marginal belts surrounding the recess and the flange, respectively, are provided at front corners with coarse areas, on which projections are provided so that a gap always exists between the two marginal belts to facilitate easy opening of the upper cover relative to the lower cover. The coarse areas provide good antislip effect when a user's fingers contact with them.
The recess and the flange are provided with tongues. The tongue on the recess goes to abut a lower side of the tongue on the flange when the upper cover is fully closed onto the lower cover, and thereby locks the upper cover to the lower cover. The tongues allow a fit clearance between the recess and the flange, so that the upper and the lower covers would not become stuck at the recess and the flange when they are closed to each other.
The upper cover is provided at two front corners with two retreated portions, so that two expanded areas are formed at the two front corners immediately in front of the two retreated portions to provide good places at where the user may conveniently apply forces to close the upper and the lower covers
2
,
3
together. Antislip strips are provided on the expanded areas to ensure stable contact of the user's fingers with the expanded areas to apply the forces. By applying forces at the expanded areas, the tongues on the recess and the flange could be quickly brought into place to lock the two covers together.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5377860 (1995-01-01), Littlejohn et al.
patent: 5860549 (1999-01-01), Allers et al.
patent: 5979687 (1999-11-01), Hayes et al.
patent: 6047819 (2000-04-01), Borst et al.
patent: 8-72909 (1996-03-01), None
Bacon & Thomas
Chou Hsin-Hung
Merek Joseph C.
Young Lee
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