EP0301435A2

EP0301435A2 - Improvements in or relating to containers particularly card index containers

Info

Publication number: EP0301435A2
Application number: EP88111858A
Authority: EP
Inventors: David Cocks
Original assignee: Acco Rexel Group Services Ltd; Ofrex Group Holdings PLC
Current assignee: Acco Rexel Group Services Ltd
Priority date: 1987-07-29
Filing date: 1988-07-22
Publication date: 1989-02-01
Anticipated expiration: 2008-07-22
Also published as: DK418388D0; CA1315215C; GB8718011D0; EP0301435A3; ATE101086T1; AU611464B2; EP0301435B1; AU2013088A; DE3887584D1; DK418388A; DE3887584T2

Abstract

There is provided a card index box having upstanding side and front walls (2, 4) and an open top adapted to be closed by a lid (14) capable of being moved from a closed position over the upper surface of the box to an open position where it is firmly retained in an open condition to the rear of the box.

Description

THIS INVENTION concerns containers and in particular containers for receiving index cards.
Card indexes are used extensively in business and whilst their use has continued for many years, existing containers for the cards still suffer from numerous disadvantages.
An object of this invention is to obviate, or at least reduce, such disadvantages.
According to one aspect of this invention there is provided a card index box having upstanding side, front and rear walls and an open top adapted to be closed by a lid capable of being moved from a closed position over the upper surface of the box to an open position where it is firmly retained in an open condition to the rear of the box.
Conveniently the lid is captive and is hingedly connected to the container and desirably the hinge point is movable so that when the lid has been placed into an open condition the lid may be allowed to slide into a open condition.
To facilitate use of the cards placed in the box the internal surfaces of the front and rear walls of the box may be designed to diverge outwardly and upwardly.
According to another feature of the invention the internal under surface of the box is inclined in the direction extending from the front to the back of the box - desirably in an upwardly direction extending from the front to the back of the box to facilitate movement of, and viewing of, cards placed in the box.
According to yet another feature of the invention the foremost surface of the box is preferably stepped to provide a ledge upon which to stand one or more cards when the box is in use.
According to another aspect of this invention there is provided a card index box having a card-receiving portion having outwardly and upwardly inclined front and rear portions and a base surface which is upwardly inclined in a direction extending from the front wall to the back wall thereof.
In order that the invention may be more readily understood a preferred embodiment of the box will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-

FIGURE 1 is a top perspective view from the front and one side;
FIGURE 2 is a rear elevation of the box of Figure 1;
FIGURE 3 is an elevation of one side of the box of Figures 1 and 2;
FIGURE 4 is an underneath plan view; and
FIGURE 5 is a top perspective view from the rear and other side showing the lid in an open position.

In this embodiment the box is formed as a rigid plastics material moulding which comprises a pair of spaced apart vertical side walls 2, 3 and outer front and rear walls 4, 5 extending substantially in spaced parallelism and being somewhat rearwardly inclined.
Immediately to the front of said outer rear wall 5 is an inner rear wall 6. Immediately behind the outer front wall is an inner front wall 7 which is connected to the inner rear wall 6 by a floor 8 of the box. The floor 8 is inclined upwardly as it extends from the front wall 7 towards the rear wall 6 and is provided on its upper surface with a plurality of ribs (not shown) extending between the side walls 2, 3. The inner front wall 7 diverges upwardly and outwardly away from the floor 8 where it merges with the upper portion of the front wall. Accordingly the side walls 2, 3 and inner front and rear walls 7, 6, in conjunction with said floor 8 provide a substantially rectangular box into which a plurality of index cards (not shown) may be located with their lower edge portions lying against the ribbed floor 8 and with the front face of the front card lying against the inner surface of the inner front wall 7 and with the rear surface of the rear card lying against the inner surface of the inner rear wall 6. The ribs are provided to prevent the cards slipping from a generally vertical condition with the inclined floor 8 causing the cards to the rear of the stack to be located at a slightly higher level so that their upper edge portions may be seen and grasped more readily.
The outward divergence of the inner surfaces of the inner front and back walls 7, 6 allow the stack of cards to be fanned and inspected.
The outer surface of the outer front wall 4 is stepped to provide a ledge 9 upon which one or more cards may be temporarily lodged. The outer surface of the outer front wall may also be provided with a portion 10 to carry information indicating the contents of the box.
The portions of the side walls 2, 3 which bridge the ends of the inner and outer rear walls are each provided with an upwardly and slightly rearwardly inclined straight channel 12, 13 which terminates slightly above the remaining edge portions of the side walls. A generally rectangular lid 14 with downwardly depending side walls 15 is provided - preferably of a transparent or translucent material - which is adapted to close the box. This lid 14 has wings 16, 17 extending rearwardly from its side walls 15 and projecting inwardly from these wings 16, 17, and engaging in the respective slots 12, 13, are hinge pins 18, 19 - ideally integrally moulded with the lid - which engage in the slot. The upper portion of the outer and inner rear walls merge together over a smoothly curved portion 20 and the arrangement is such that the lid 14 may be raised to a position where it is substantially parallel to the outer rear wall 5 which will result in the hinge pins 18, 19 being allowed to slide downwardly along their respective slots 12, 13 with the upper wall of the lid sliding down the outer rear wall of the box and being retained in position as a result of its engagement with the rear wall. In this way the box may be left open and the lid stowed to provide a stable product. To close the box the procedure is reversed with the lid being raised and then pivoted forwardly. The arrangement enables the lid 14 to be placed on to the container during manufacture by placing the lid into position over the outer rear wall 5 and sliding it upwardly and then hinging it downwardly on to the top of the container where it will be retained firmly for subsequent use once the box is placed on to a work surface. A stop member 21 serves to support and retain the lid 14 when in its open and stowed position.
It will be appreciated from the description hereinbefore - which is by way of example only - that in accordance with this invention card index boxes of numerous sizes may readily be moulded each having a simple yet robust and stable construction with a captive lid capable of remaining in a closed or in an open and stowed condition and for the cards to be retained on edge in a condition where they may be readily fanned, searched, moved and, if desired, removed. If appropriate means (not shown) may be provided to retain the cards in a captive condition within the box. The provision of the ledge 9 on the front wall makes it convenient to rest a card whilst viewing or transferring information to or from that card.
The features disclosed in the foregoing description and in the accompanying drawings may, both separately and in any combination thereof, be material for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.
The above described embodiment is shown in the attached illustrations.
The features disclosed in the foregoing description, in the following claims and/or in the accompanying drawings may, both separately and in any combination thereof, be material for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims

1. A card box having upstanding side, front and rear walls and an open top adapted to be closed by a lid capable of being moved from a closed over the upper surface of the box to an open position where it is firmly retained in an open condition to the rear of the box.

2. A card box according to Claim 1 wherein the lid is captive and is hingedly connected to the container and the hinge point is movable so that when the lid has been placed into an open condition the lid may be allowed to slide into said open condition.

3. A card box according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein to facilitate use of cards placed into the box the internal surface of the front and rear walls of the box diverge outwardly and upwardly.

4. A card box according to any one of the preceeding claim wherein the internal undersurface of the box is inclined in a direction extending from the front to the back of the box.

5. A card box according to Claim 4 wherein the undersurface of the box is inclined in an upwardly direction extending from the front to the back of the box to facilitate movement of, and viewing of, cards placed in the box.

6. A card box according to any one the preceeding claims wherein the foremost surface of the box is stepped to provide a ledge upon which to stand one or more cards when the box is in use.

7. A card box according to any one of the preceeding claims substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.