COLLAPSIBLE DRAWER
A collapsible drawer includes a left, a right, a rear, and a front wall being connected at respective lower edge to a left, a right, a rear, and a front edge of a bottom wall to be pivotally turnable relative to the bottom wall between an upright and a folded-down position. A left and a right hook are provided on an inner face of each of the front and the rear wall, and the left and right walls are formed on respective inner face with a front and a rear through hole corresponding to the left and right hooks on the front and rear walls, respectively. By extending the left and right hooks through the front and rear through holes on the left and right walls, the left and right walls are locked to between the front and rear walls in an upright position.
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The present invention relates to a collapsible drawer, which can be folded into a flattened state for easy storage and transport.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONA storage device internally defines a space for receiving articles therein. The inner space of the storage device has direct relation with an overall volume of the storage device. The larger the inner space is, the larger the volume of the cabinet is.
There is a commercially available chest of drawers having a standup outer case and multiple drawers slidably mounted in the outer case. In the event the outer case is of a fixed type that does not allow a user to disassemble it, the chest of drawers would occupy a large volume and is uneasy to transport. Therefore, the outer cases of most currently commercially available chests of drawers are of a knockdown type to enable reduced space and cost needed to store and transport the chests of drawers.
However, the drawers for such chests also have a fixed volume to result in a relatively large packing size. In order to reduce the packing size of drawers, some drawers have been designed with flared walls and accordingly, an expanded top and a reduced bottom to enable easy stacking of the drawers. Due to the flared walls, gaps are created between the outer case and the drawers slidably mounted in the outer case. This leads to a poor appearance and lowered quality of the product.
In view of the problems with the conventional non-foldable drawers, it is tried by the inventor to develop a collapsible drawer, which can have a largely reduced overall volume in a collapsed state to facilitate easy storage, warehousing, and transport thereof. Therefore, the collapsible drawer can be used with various types of sectional racks to largely reduce an overall packing size of the sectional racks to save a large amount of freight cost thereof.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA primary object of the present invention is to provide a collapsible drawer, which can be collapsed from an extended state into a flattened state to minimize the space occupied by the drawer and enable easy storage and transport of the drawer.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a collapsible drawer, which has good structural strength when being fully extended and is therefore reliable for use.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a collapsible drawer, which is usable with a knockdown chest of drawers and sectional rack available in the market. With the collapsibility of the drawers and the easily assembled and disassembled sectional rack and chest of drawer, the whole rack and chest of drawer can be collapsed to largely reduce the total packing size thereof and facilitate easy and economical warehousing and transport thereof.
To achieve the above and other objects, the collapsible drawer of the present invention is convertible between an extended state for use and a flattened state for storage. The collapsible drawer includes a bottom wall, a left wall, a right wall, a rear wall, and a front wall. The front wall, the left wall, the right wall, and the rear wall are pivotally connected at respective lower edge to a front edge, a left edge, a right edge, and a rear edge of the bottom wall, so as to be pivotally turnable relative to the bottom wall between an upright position and a folded-down position.
In the collapsible drawer of the present invention, a left hook and a right hook are provided on an inner face of each of the front wall and the rear wall. The left and right walls are formed on respective inner face with a front and a rear through hole at positions corresponding to the left and right hooks on the front wall and the rear wall. The left and right hooks on the front wall and the rear wall can be extended through the front and rear through holes on the left and right walls, so that the left and right walls are locked to between the front wall and the rear wall when these walls are in the upright position.
In the collapsible drawer of the present invention, the left and right hooks on the front wall and the rear wall respectively have a forked U-shaped distal hooking end with two spaced free ends being compressible toward each other. The distal hooking ends are provided on respective two free ends at two opposite outer sides thereof with a vertically protruded rib each. The left and right hooks are extended through the front and rear through holes on the left and right walls with the protruded ribs abutted on an outer peripheral wall of the front and rear through holes, preventing the left and right walls from separating from the front wall and the rear wall.
The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings, wherein:
A collapsible drawer according to the present invention can be extended for use or collapsed into a flattened state for storage. Please refer to
A raised wall 11, 12, 13 is formed along each of the left, right and rear edges of the bottom wall 10. Each of the raised walls 11, 12, 13 has more than two protruded blocks 111, 121, 131 provided on an inner side thereof. Each of the protruded blocks is formed with a through hole 112, 122, 132. Referring to
Please now refer to
When the left and right walls 30, 40 and the rear wall 50 are extended to the upright position, the lower edges of the left and right walls 30, 40 and the rear wall 50 are respectively abutted against a top of the raised walls 11, 12, 13 at the left, right and rear edges of the bottom wall 10, preventing the left and right walls 30, 40 and the rear wall 50 from being further turned outward and kept in the upright position. When the front wall 20 is in the upright position, the inner face thereof is pressed against the front edge of the bottom wall 10, preventing the front wall 20 from being further turned outward and kept in the upright position. Referring to
As can be seen in
When the drawer 1 is in the extended state for use, front edges of the left and right walls 30, 40 are abutted on the inner face of the front wall 20 to prevent the front wall 20 from turning. In addition, the L-shaped hook 25 provided on the inner face of the front wall 20 at the lower edge thereof is hooked to the downward projected plate 15 at the lower front edge of the bottom wall 10, allowing the front wall 20 to be more securely held to the upright position. In the meantime, rear edges of the left and right walls 30, 40 are abutted on the inner face of the rear wall 50 to prevent the rear wall 50 from turning. Moreover, in the upright position, the left and right walls 30, 40 are locked to the front wall 20 and the rear wall 50 by the left hooks 23, 53 and right hooks 24, 54, respectively, without the risk of being unexpectedly turned and folded to thereby ensure good structural strength and reliable use of the drawer 1 in the extended state.
To extend the drawer 1 from the collapsed state for use, first turn the front wall 20 and the rear wall 50 from the folded-down position to the upright position as shown in
To change the drawer 1 from the extended state into the collapsed state, the left wall 30 and the right wall 40 are sequentially folded down first. To fold down the left wall 30, first compress the two free ends of both the distal hooking ends 231, 531 toward each other and apply a minor force to pull the left wall 30 outward, so that the left hooks 23, 53 on the front and rear walls 20, 50 are separated from the front and rear through holes 33, 34 on the left wall 30. Then, apply a minor force to pull the front wall 20 and the rear wall 50 outward, allowing the left wall 30 to be inward moved across the left hooks 23, 53 and turned toward the bottom wall 10 into the folded-down position as shown in
As aforesaid, before the left and right walls 30, 40 and the front and rear walls 20, 50 can be folded to collapse the drawer 1, the free ends of the distal hooking ends 231, 531 and 241, 541 of the left and right hooks 23, 53 and 24, 54 must first be compressed toward each other; and then, the left and right walls 30, 40 are outward pulled, and the front and rear walls 20, 50 are outward pulled. It is not able to complete the folding operation if the above procedures are not performed step by step. Therefore, the drawer 1 is safe for use without the risk of automatically becoming collapsed due to any unexpected conditions.
With the above arrangements, the collapsible drawer according to the present invention can be folded down into a flattened state to facilitate easy storage, warehousing, and transport thereof. The collapsible drawer can be used with various types of sectional racks to largely reduce an overall packing size of the sectional racks to save a large amount of freight cost thereof. Thus, the collapsible drawer of the present invention is a novel, practical and ideal design.
The present invention has been described with a preferred embodiment thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiment can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.
Claims
1. A collapsible drawer, comprising a bottom wall, a left wall, a right wall, a rear wall, and a front wall; the front wall, the left wall, the right wall and the rear wall being pivotally connected at respective lower edge to a front edge, a left edge, a right edge and a rear edge of the bottom wall, and therefore being pivotally turnable relative to the bottom wall between an upright position and a folded-down position; the collapsible drawer being characterized in that:
- a left hook and a right hook are provided on an inner face of the front wall, and the left and the right hook each having a distal hooking end being turned leftward and rightward, respectively; a left hook and a right hook are provided on an inner face of the rear wall, and the left and the right hook each having a distal hooking end being turned leftward and rightward, respectively; the left wall is formed on an inner face at positions corresponding to the distal hooking ends of the left hooks on the front and rear walls with a front and a rear through hole, through which the distal hooking ends of the left hooks on the front and rear walls can be extended, respectively; and the right wall is formed on an inner face at positions corresponding to the distal hooking ends of the right hooks on the front and rear walls with a front and a rear through hole, through which the distal hooking ends of the right hooks on the front and rear walls can be extended, respectively.
2. The collapsible drawer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the distal hooking ends of the left and right hooks on the front wall are in a forked U-shape to have two spaced free ends each, the free ends of the distal hooking ends being elastically compressible toward each other; and the distal hooking ends of the left and right hooks being provided on respective free ends at two opposite outer sides thereof with a vertically protruded rib each; whereby when the distal hooking ends are respectively extended through and beyond the front through holes on the left and right walls, the two free ends thereof elastically expand with the protruded ribs thereof being abutted on an outer periphery of the front through holes.
3. The collapsible drawer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the distal hooking ends of the left and right hooks on the rear wall are in a forked U-shape to have two spaced free ends each, the free ends of the distal hooking ends being elastically compressible toward each other; and the distal hooking ends of the left and right hooks being provided on respective free ends at two opposite outer sides thereof with a vertically protruded rib each; whereby when the distal hooking ends are respectively extended through and beyond the rear through holes on the left and right walls, the two free ends thereof elastically expand with the protruded ribs thereof being abutted on an outer periphery of the rear through holes.
4. The collapsible drawer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bottom wall is provided along a left, a right, and a rear edge with a raised wall each, whereby when the left and right walls and the rear wall are located in the upright position, bottom edges of the left and right walls and the rear wall are abutted against a top of the raised walls at the left, right and rear edges of the bottom wall.
5. The collapsible drawer as claimed in claim 4, wherein the raised wall at the rear edge of the bottom wall has a height larger than that of the raised walls at the left and right edges of the bottom wall.
6. The collapsible drawer as claimed in claim 4, wherein each of the raised walls at the left and right edges of the bottom wall has a front end, on a top of which a transverse pin hole is provided for an insertion pin to extend therethrough; and wherein the front wall is provided on the inner face at positions corresponding to the two pin holes with two pairs of lugs, and the lugs each being formed with a through hole; whereby when two insertion pins are separately extended through the through holes on the two pairs of lugs and the pin holes corresponding thereto, the front wall is connected to the bottom wall and is pivotally turnable about the insertion pins relative to the bottom wall.
7. The collapsible drawer as claimed in claim 6, wherein the front wall is provided on the inner face at a lower edge thereof with an L-shaped hook, and a downward projected plate is provided on the bottom wall at a lower front edge thereof corresponding to the L-shaped hook; and the L-shaped hook being able to hook to the downward projected plate to thereby keep the front wall in the upright position.
8. The collapsible drawer as claimed in claim 6, wherein the pin holes on the bottom wall are located at a position higher than that of the raised walls at the left and right edges of the bottom wall.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 10, 2010
Publication Date: Sep 15, 2011
Applicant: Protrend Co., Ltd. (Taipei)
Inventor: Henry Chen (Taipei)
Application Number: 12/720,990
International Classification: A47B 46/00 (20060101); A47B 45/00 (20060101);