FOLDABLE BASKET

A foldable basket has a basket body and a bottom plate. The basket body has two lateral plates, two folding sets, and a supporting cloth. The two lateral plates and the two folding sets are connected. The supporting cloth is connected to bottom edges of the two lateral plates and the two folding sets. A storage space is enclosed by the lateral plates, the folding sets, and the supporting cloth. The bottom plate is detachably disposed on a bottom of the basket body. Each folding set has multiple end plates connected in sequence. Each two adjacent end plates are connected via a conjoining plate being flexible. Two end plates of each folding set respectively disposed adjacent to the two lateral plates are connected to the two lateral plates via two corner linking plates being flexible respectively.

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Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a basket for storing objects, and more particularly to a basket that is able to be folded smoothly.

2. Description of Related Art

With the progress of technology and the abundance in material possessions and resources, people need more space for living. Therefore, one of the crucial household problems is to store as many objects as possible within a limited space. Traditional furniture or a traditional case for storing objects has a large volume and occupies a lot of living space.

Therefore, a conventional foldable basket is available on the market. The conventional foldable basket has a basket body and a bottom plate. The basket body has six lateral plates, a supporting cloth, and a cover. The six lateral plates overlap at side edges of the lateral plates and are connected in sequence to form a storage space being rectangular. The supporting cloth is connected to bottom edges of the lateral plates. The cover is wrapped on the six lateral plates. The bottom plate is detachably disposed on a bottom of the basket body. When the conventional foldable basket is in use, the six lateral plates are expanded, and the bottom plate is placed inside the basket body. Objects can be stored in the conventional foldable basket accordingly. When the user is to fold the conventional foldable basket, the bottom plate is taken out from the basket body, and then the six lateral plates can be folded to overlap to reduce a volume of the conventional foldable basket.

However, the lateral plates of the basket body of the conventional foldable basket are connected together with the side edges of the overlapped lateral plates and are wrapped by the cover. When folding two of the lateral plates that are disposed adjacent to each other, there may be mutual interference between the two adjacent and overlapped lateral plates, causing difficulty in folding. The two adjacent lateral plates rub against each other easily when being folded. The two adjacent lateral plates may be damaged or broken under repeated folding. Consequently, the conventional foldable basket has a short service life.

In addition, the lateral plates of the conventional foldable basket are usually made of fragile materials such as cardboards or veneers. The lateral plates of the conventional foldable basket are easily deformed when subjected to an external force. The cover wrapped on the lateral plates may be damaged or broken due to moisture, dust, or external forces, such that the service life of the conventional foldable basket is decreased.

To overcome the shortcomings of the conventional foldable basket, the present invention provides a foldable basket to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the present invention is to provide a foldable basket that provides storage and is foldable.

The foldable basket has a basket body and a bottom plate. The basket body has two lateral plates, two folding sets, and a supporting cloth. The two lateral plates and the two folding sets are connected. The supporting cloth is connected to bottom edges of the two lateral plates and the two folding sets. A storage space is enclosed by the lateral plates, the folding sets, and the supporting cloth. The bottom plate is detachably disposed on a bottom of the basket body. Each folding set has multiple end plates connected in sequence. Each two adjacent end plates are connected via a conjoining plate being flexible. Two end plates of each folding set respectively disposed adjacent to the two lateral plates are connected to the two lateral plates via two corner linking plates being flexible respectively.

Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a foldable basket in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the foldable basket in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional top view of the foldable basket in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional top view of the foldable basket in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is another top view of the foldable basket in FIG. 1, showing the basket being folded;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a foldable basket in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of a foldable basket in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the foldable basket in FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a top view of the foldable basket in FIG. 7, showing the basket being folded.

 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, a first embodiment of a foldable basket in accordance with the present invention has a basket body 10A and a bottom plate 20A.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, the basket body 10A has two lateral plates 111, two folding sets 12, and a supporting cloth 14A. The two lateral plates 111 are separately disposed opposite to each other. The two folding sets 12 are disposed between the two lateral plates 111 and are disposed opposite to each other. Each one of the two folding sets 12 has multiple end plates 121 separately disposed in sequence. Each two of the multiple end plates 121 of each folding set 12, which are disposed adjacent to each other, are connected to each other via a conjoining plate 122 being flexible. Two of the multiple end plates 121 of each folding set 12 are respectively disposed adjacent to the two lateral plates 111 respectively connected to the two lateral plates 111 via two corner linking plates 13 being flexible respectively.

The supporting cloth 14A has a peripheral edge connected to bottom edges of the two lateral plates and bottom edges of the two folding sets, wherein a storage space 15A is enclosed by the supporting cloth 14A, the two lateral plates 111, and the two folding sets 12. With reference to FIG. 2, the bottom plate 20A is detachably disposed on a bottom of the basket body 10A.

The foldable basket of the present invention has a top strip 16 and a bottom strip 17. The top strip 16 is covered with and connected to top edges of the two folding sets 12 and the two lateral plates 111. The bottom strip 17 is covered with and connected to the bottom edges of the two folding sets 12 and the bottom edges of the two lateral plates 111. Further, the foldable basket of the present invention has two handles 30. The two handles 30 are respectively connected to the two lateral plates 111 and disposed outside the basket body 10A. In addition, a pull ring 21 is disposed at an edge of the bottom plate 20A.

Furthermore, with reference to FIG. 6, in a second embodiment of the present invention, the foldable basket of the present invention has a top cover 18 selectively covering the storage space 15A. The top cover 18 has a first side edge and a second side edge being opposite to the first side edge of the top cover 18. The first side edge is pivotally connected to the top edge of one of the two lateral plates 111. An extending plate 181 is pivotally connected to the second side edge of the top cover 18. In the second embodiment, the basket body 10B of the foldable basket of the present invention has an engaging assembly 19. The engaging assembly 19 has a first engaging unit 191A and a second engaging unit 191B. The first engaging unit 191A is connected to the extending plate 181. The second engaging unit 191B is connected to one of the two lateral plates that is disposed opposite to the first side edge of the top cover 18. The first engaging unit 191A and the second engaging unit 191B are detachably engaged with each other.

With reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, a third embodiment of the foldable basket of the present invention has the basket body 10C and the bottom plate 20B.

With reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, the basket body 10C has two lateral plate sets 11 and the two folding sets 12. Each lateral plate set 11 has multiple lateral plates 111 separately arranged in sequence. Each two lateral plates 111 of the multiple lateral plates 111 of each lateral plate set 11, which are disposed adjacent to each other, are connected to each other via a linking plate 112 being flexible. The two folding sets 12 are disposed between the two lateral plate sets 11 and opposite to each other. Similar to the first embodiment and the second embodiment, each folding set 12 also has the multiple end plates 121 separately arranged between the two lateral plate sets 11. Each two adjacent end plates 121 of the multiple end plates 121 of each folding set 12 are connected to each other via the conjoining plate 122 being flexible. Two of the multiple end plates 121 of each end plate set 12, which are respectively disposed adjacent to the two lateral plate sets 11, are connected to a corresponding one of the lateral plates 111 of one of the lateral plate sets 11 and a corresponding one of the lateral plates 111 of the other one of the lateral plate sets 11 via the two corner linking plates being flexible respectively. The peripheral edge of the supporting cloth 14B is connected to the bottom edges of the two lateral plate sets 11 and the bottom edges of the two folding sets 12 of the basket body 10C. The storage space 15B is enclosed by the two lateral plate sets 11, the two folding sets 12, and the supporting cloth 14B as well.

With reference to FIG. 8, the bottom plate 20B is also detachably disposed on the bottom of the basket body 10C.

The foldable basket of the present invention also has the top strip 16 and the bottom strip 17. The top strip 16 is covered with and connected to top edges of the two lateral plate sets 11 and the top edges of the two folding sets. The bottom strip 17 is covered with and connected to bottom edges of the two lateral plate sets 11 and the bottom edges of the two folding sets 12. Further, the foldable basket in the third embodiment also has the two handles 30 respectively connected to the two lateral plate sets 11 and disposed outside the basket body 10C. Moreover, the pull ring 21 is also disposed at the edge of the bottom plate 20B.

With reference to FIGS. 1, 5, 7, and 9, the foldable basket of the present invention may be folded and expanded by a user. With reference to FIGS. 1 and 7, when the foldable basket of the present invention is expanded, objects may be stored in the storage space 15A, 15B within the basket body 10A, 10C. With reference to FIGS. 5 and 9, when the foldable basket of the present invention is not in use, the bottom plate 20A, 20B may be removed from the basket body 10A, 10C. Therefore, the basket body 10A, 10C may be folded for storage.

With reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 5, when the first embodiment is in use, the end plates 121 of the two folding sets 12 are expanded to let the two lateral plates 111 and the two folding sets 12 of the basket body 10A and the supporting cloth 14A form the storage space 15A. Then, the bottom plate 20A is inserted into the basket body 10A and is disposed on the bottom of the basket body 10A. Edges of the bottom plate 20A are abutted against the two lateral plates 111 and the two folding sets 12 to fix an outline of the basket body 10A. When the user is to store the foldable basket of the present invention, the bottom plate 20A is removed, and the two folding sets 12 are folded toward each other to downsize the foldable basket of the present invention for ease of storage.

With reference to FIGS. 7 to 9, when the third embodiment is in use, the end plates 121 of the two folding sets 12 and the lateral plates 111 of the two lateral plate sets 11 are expanded. The two folding sets 12, the two lateral plate sets 11, and the supporting cloth 14B form the storage space 15B. Then, the bottom plate 20B is inserted into the basket body 10C and is disposed on the bottom of the basket body 10C. The edges of the bottom plate 20B are abutted against the two folding sets 12 and the two lateral plate sets 11 to fix the outline of the basket body 10C. When the user is to fold the foldable basket of the third embodiment, the bottom plate 20B is removed from the basket body 10C, and the basket body 10C is folded to downsize the basket body 10C for storage.

With reference to FIGS. 3, 4, 6, and 7, the foldable basket of the present invention is able to be folded mainly via the conjoining plates 122, the corner linking plates 13, and the linking plates 112 being flexible. The basket body 10A, 10B, 10C can be folded due to the flexibility of the conjoining plates 122, the corner linking plates 13, and the linking plates 112. The end plates 121 and the lateral plates 111 are free from mutual interference or rubbing. Structural damages of the end plates 121 and the lateral plates 111 can be avoided. Service life of the foldable basket of the present invention is prolonged.

Moreover, the end plates 121, the lateral plates 111, the conjoining plates 122, the corner linking plates 13, and the linking plates 112 may be made of plastic materials such as poly(ethylene-vinyl acetate) (PEVA), ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), polyurethane (PU), thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymers (ABS), and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). The end plates 121, the lateral plates 111, the conjoining plates 122, the corner linking plates 13, and the linking plates 112 may be connected via radio frequency heating, gluing, or sewing. The end plates 121, the lateral plates 111, the conjoining plates 122, the corner linking plates 13, and the linking plates 112 connected together not only prolong the service life of the foldable basket of the present invention, but also offer a waterproof effect.

In the embodiments of the present invention, the end plates 121, the lateral plates 111, the conjoining plates 122, the corner linking plates 13, and the linking plates 112 are made of poly(ethylene-vinyl acetate) (PEVA). The foldable basket of the present invention is non-toxic and recyclable accordingly. The foldable basket of the present invention has characteristics of low temperature resistance and ease in cleaning.

In addition, the top strip 16 and the bottom strip 17 not only prevent the top edge and the bottom edge of the basket body 10A, 10B, 10C from damage, but also protect the user from cutting by the end plates 121 and the lateral plates 111. The top strip 16 and the bottom strip 17 promote safety of usage. Furthermore, the pull ring 21 disposed at the edge of the bottom plate 20A, 20B is convenient for pulling out the bottom plate 20A, 20B, and promotes convenience of usage of the foldable basket of the present invention. In conclusion, the end plates 122 and the lateral plates 111 in the present invention are connected via the conjoining plates 122, the corner linking plates 13, and the linking plates 112. Therefore, the end plates 121 and the lateral plates 111 are free from mutual interference or rubbing. Structural damages of the end plates 121 and the lateral plates 111 can be avoided. Service life of the foldable basket of the present invention is prolonged accordingly.

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and features of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.

Claims

1. A foldable basket comprising:

a basket body having two lateral plates separately disposed opposite to each other; two folding sets disposed between the two lateral plates and opposite to each other, each of the two folding sets having multiple end plates separately arranged between the two lateral plates in sequence, each two of the end plates of each of the two folding sets, which are disposed adjacent to each other, connected to each other via a conjoining plate being flexible, and two of the end plates of each of the two folding sets, which are disposed adjacent to the two lateral plates respectively, connected to the two lateral plates via two corner linking plates being flexible respectively; and a supporting cloth having a peripheral edge connected to bottom edges of the two lateral plates and bottom edges of the two folding sets, wherein a storage space is enclosed by the supporting cloth, the two lateral plates and the two folding sets; and
a bottom plate detachably disposed on a bottom of the basket body.

2. The foldable basket as claimed in claim 1, wherein the foldable basket has

a top strip connected to top edges of the two folding sets and top edges of the two lateral plates; and
a bottom strip connected to bottom edges of the two folding sets and bottom edges of the two lateral plates.

3. The foldable basket as claimed in claim 2, wherein the foldable basket has two handles respectively connected to the two lateral plates and disposed outside the basket body.

4. The foldable basket as claimed in claim 3, wherein a pull ring is disposed at an edge of the bottom plate.

5. The foldable basket as claimed in claim 1, wherein the foldable basket has a top cover selectively covering the storage space and having

a first side edge pivotally connected to a top edge of one of the two lateral plates;
a second side edge being opposite to the first side edge of the top cover; and
an extending plate pivotally connected to the second side edge of the top cover.

6. The foldable basket as claimed in claim 2, wherein the foldable basket has a top cover selectively covering the storage space and having

a first side edge pivotally connected to the top edge of one of the two lateral plates;
a second side edge being opposite to the first side edge of the top cover; and
an extending plate pivotally connected to the second side edge of the top cover.

7. The foldable basket as claimed in claim 3, wherein the foldable basket has a top cover selectively covering the storage space and having

a first side edge pivotally connected to the top edge of one of the two lateral plates;
a second side edge being opposite to the first side edge of the top cover; and
an extending plate pivotally connected to the second side edge of the top cover.

8. The foldable basket as claimed in claim 4, wherein the foldable basket has a top cover selectively covering the storage space and having

a first side edge pivotally connected to the top edge of one of the two lateral plates;
a second side edge being opposite to the first side edge of the top cover; and
an extending plate pivotally connected to the second side edge of the top cover.

9. The foldable basket as claimed in claim 5, wherein the foldable basket has an engaging assembly having a first engaging unit connected to the extending plate and a second engaging unit connected to one of the two lateral plates disposed opposite to the first side edge of the top cover, and the first engaging unit and the second engaging unit detachably engage with each other.

10. The foldable basket as claimed in claim 6, wherein the foldable basket has an engaging assembly having a first engaging unit connected to the extending plate and a second engaging unit connected to one of the two lateral plates disposed opposite to the first side edge of the top cover, and the first engaging unit and the second engaging unit detachably engage with each other.

11. The foldable basket as claimed in claim 7, wherein the foldable basket has an engaging assembly having a first engaging unit connected to the extending plate and a second engaging unit connected to one of the two lateral plates disposed opposite to the first side edge of the top cover, and the first engaging unit and the second engaging unit detachably engage with each other.

12. The foldable basket as claimed in claim 8, wherein

the foldable basket has an engaging assembly having a first engaging unit connected to the extending plate and a second engaging unit connected to one of the two lateral plates disposed opposite to the first side edge of the top cover, and the first engaging unit and the second engaging unit detachably engage with each other.

13. A foldable basket comprising:

a basket body having two lateral plate sets disposed opposite to each other, each of the two lateral plate sets having multiple lateral plates separately arranged in sequence, and each two of the multiple lateral plates of each of the two lateral plate sets, which are disposed adjacent to each other, connected to each other via a linking plate being flexible; two folding sets disposed between the two lateral plate sets and opposite to each other, each of the two folding sets having multiple end plates separately arranged between the two lateral plate sets in sequence, each two of the end plates of each of the two folding sets, which are disposed adjacent to each other, connected to each other via a conjoining plate being flexible, and two of the multiple end plates of each of the two folding sets, which are disposed adjacent to the two lateral plate sets respectively, connected to a corresponding one of the multiple lateral plates of one of the two lateral plate sets and a corresponding one of the lateral plates of the other lateral plate set via two corner linking plates being flexible respectively; and a supporting cloth having a peripheral edge connected to bottom edges of the two lateral plate sets and bottom edges of the two folding sets, wherein a storage space is enclosed by the supporting cloth, the two lateral plates and the two folding sets; and
a bottom plate detachably disposed on a bottom of the basket body.

14. The foldable basket as claimed in claim 13, wherein the foldable basket has

a top strip connected to top edges of the two folding sets and top edges of the two lateral plate sets; and
a bottom strip connected to the bottom edges of the two folding sets and the bottom edges of the two lateral plate sets.

15. The foldable basket as claimed in claim 14, wherein the foldable basket has two handles respectively connected to the two lateral plate sets and disposed outside the basket body.

16. The foldable basket as claimed in claim 13, wherein a pull ring is disposed at an edge of the bottom plate.

17. The foldable basket as claimed in claim 14, wherein a pull ring is disposed at an edge of the bottom plate.

18. The foldable basket as claimed in claim 15, wherein a pull ring is disposed at an edge of the bottom plate.

Patent History
Publication number: 20210235828
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 4, 2021
Publication Date: Aug 5, 2021
Inventor: Su-Chiu YEH (Kaohsiung City)
Application Number: 17/167,537
Classifications
International Classification: A45C 7/00 (20060101); A45C 13/30 (20060101); B65D 21/08 (20060101);