Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~Q913~8
The present invention relates generally to a
container for a plurality of articles. An
application of the device is as a trunk organizer
for a moving vehicle, it being understood that
the container may have various other uses.
Known containers generally include covered
pouches or compartments, limiting the size of
articles which can be stored and accessibility to
them. Containers have been prone to tipping or
sliding, particularly in a moving vehicle,
causing the contents to be jumbled, or in the
case of open containers, to be lost. Examples of
known containers are shown in U.S. patents
3,430,803; 3,521,808; 4,834,243; 3,601,277; and
3,909,092.
U.S. patent 3,430,803 to Nelson discloses a
semidisposable tray comprising a reusable unitary
foam plastic base member and a discardable
nonfoam film guard for the serving of
comestibles. The base member has an outwardly
and upwardly extending lip which terminates in an
out~ardly and downwardly extendinq exterior wall.
The exterior wall is described as extending
downwardly below the plane formed by the
substantially horizontally disposed bottom
portion, which raises the bottom portion so that
it does not rest upon a substrate upon which the
tray rests. This is said to greatly decrease
sliding or slippage of the tray on a substrate
because of frictional forces tllereby produced.
The base member is disclosed as being molded of
- 2 - 2~1398
any suitable foamed plastic material such as
polyethylene, polyurethane, or polystyrene and is
described as structurally stable. For low
density polystyrene, a thickness of about 80 mils
for the base member is said to be desirable, and
it is stated that larger and smaller thicknesses
can be used.
The tray of Nelson would not be considered
suitable as a trunk organizer or the like for
carrying articles in a vehicle, and it is desired
to reduce the expense of making a slide-resistant
container for a vehicle.
It is accordingly an object of the present
invention to provide a slide-resistant container
for a moving vehicle at a minimum cost.
In order to provide a slide-resistant
container, in accordance with the present
invention a container is provided with an inner
and an outer wall, the inner wall being a
containing wall and the outer wall extending
downwardly beyond the lowermost floor
undersurface. ~he lower edge of the outer wall
digs into a carpeted vehicle floor to provide
slide resistance. In order that the thickness of
the outer wall may be reduced to lower the cost
of manufacture, the distance which the outer wall
extends downwardly beyond the lowermost floor
undersurface is between about 3/16 and 3/8 inch
for the container sizes typically provided for a
vehicle so that, with the outer wall being
composed of a flexible or semirigid material, the
container floor rests on the vehicle floor when
loaded to a predetermined weight with the outer
wall continuing to offer slide resistance as well
as resistance to tipping over. ~hus, the amount
2091398
of force which the outer wall is required to
withstand is minimized so that the thickness of
the outer wall may be reduced for decreased
manufacturing cost.
other objects, features, and advantages of
the present invention will be apparent in the
following detailed description of the preferred
embodiments thereof when read in conjunction with
the accompanying drawings wherein the same
reference numerals denote the same or similar
parts throughout the several views.
Brief DescriPtion of the Drawinqs
FIG. l is a top perspective view of a
container which embodies the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view thereof.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view thereof taken
along lines 3-3 of FIG. l.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of a mat and
illustrating its combination with the container.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the mat taken
along lines 5-5 of FIG. 4.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments
Referring to FIGs. l to 3, there is shown
generally at ll a container which may be used,
for example, as a trunk organizer on a carpeted
floor of a vehicle trunk for retaining various
articles placed therein. The container ll may,
for example, have an overall length of perhaps
about 25 inches, an overall width of perhaps
about 12 inches, and a height of perhaps about
5 lJ2 inches. The thickness may vary within the
container within the neighboorhood of perhaps
l/32 to l/16 inch. For example, at the bottom
inside corners, the thickness may be perhaps
~1398
-- 4
about 0.030 inch. Such a trunk organizer may be
provided to hold a wide variety of products that
may vary in height up to about 12 inches which
may tend to tip over but which may benefit from
the stabilization provided by the dividing walls
20 described hereinafter and the narrow width.
The container 11 is preferably molded as a single
piece and has a containing or inner wall 10 which
extends upwardly from the peripheral edge of a
floor 22 to the upper edge 28 of the container.
The containing wall 10 is substantially
rectangular in a cross-section taken parallel to
the floor 22, with rounded corners, and defines,
with the floor 22, the overall interior space of
the container. The containing wall 10 in this
embodiment is comprised of four sides 12, 14, 16,
and 18. Sides 12 and 16 are opposed, relatively
long, and parallel to each other. Sides 14 and
18 are opposed, relatively short, and parallel to
each other. However, the containing wall 10 may
comprise more or fewer sides or may be one
continuous wall.
In this embodiment the floor 22 comprises a
plurality of floor elements 24 separated by
double-walled dividing walls 20, each of the
double walls thereof extending downwardly from an
upper edge 21 of the respective dividing wall 20
to and integral with the adjacent edges of
adjacent floor elements 24 respectively. The
dividing walls 20 divide the interior space
defined by the containing wall 10 and the floor
22 into compartments, each of which can retain
articles. Having a number of compartments in
such a cellular structure allows the user to
place articles in different compartments, each of
091~98
which can retain articles. A number of
compartments is provided to minimize contact
between the articles, reduce movement and tipping
over of the articles, minimize damages and mess
from spills and the like, and allow the user to
better organize the articles. The floor 22 may
be discontinuous, as shown, or continuous.
Each floor element 24 spans between and is
integral with a corresponding pair of dividing
walls 20 or between an end 14 or 18 and the
corresponding dividing wall 20. In this
embodiment, the floor elements 24 close the
bottom of the container 11. However, in other
embodiments, the floor 22 or floor elements 24
may be partially open.
Although the floor elements 24 are shown to
be coplanar, they may, if desired, be provided to
lie on different planes to effectively provide
compartments of different depth.
The floor elements 24 are shown to comprise
corrugations 40 for increased strength. However,
it will be appreciated that the floor elements
may have any other pattern or may even be smooth.
One or more dividing walls 20 may span any
two points along the containing wall 10, or
alternatively only join the containing wall at
one point, or not at all. One or more dividing
walls 20 may alternatively not join the floor 22
but rather be spaced therefrom.
The dividing walls 20 are shown to have
flanged edges 26 to provide essentially smooth,
curved, and continuous joints between the
dividing walls 20 and the containing wall 10 and
floor elements 24. However, the joints may, if
desired, be sharp~
2Q91398
-- 6
In order that the container 11 not be too
stiff so that it may be easier and less costly to
manufacture, the container is preferably
constructed so that its top surfaces are not all
co-planar, i.e., the dividing walls 20 do not
extend the full height of the containing wall 10.
One or more of dividing walls 20 may, if desired,
extend so as to terminate at or higher than the
plane defined by the upper edge 28 of the
containing wall 10.
The article containing space defined by the
floor 22 and inner wall 10 is supported by an
outer or exterior wall 30 which is integral with
and extends from upper edge 28 downwardly below
the lowermost of the floor element undersurfaces
31 a distance illustrated at 33 in FIG. 3 so that
the floor 22 is raised from a vehicle floor,
illustrated at 35, or the like upon which the
container 11 is placed. The outer wall 30
essentially surrounds the inner wall 10, and its
lower edge 38 digs into carpeting 39 which may be
on the vehicle floor 35 or other rough surface or
otherwise reacts with the vehicle floor 35
grippingly to resist slipping or sliding of the
container due to the weight being applied to the
edge 38 and resulting frictional force. This
gripping resistance may be increased as
additional weight is loaded into the container
11 .
The plane of the exterior wall 30 lies at an
acute angle, illustrated at 41, to the containing
wall 10 which is preferably about 8 degrees so as
to provide a good combination of stability,
flexibility, tip resistance, and vertical
35 support. However, the exterior wall 30 could be
~091398
-- 7
disposed to lie substantially parallel to the
containing wall 10.
The exterior wall 30 is shown to comprise
two long and two short sides 32 corresponding to
the interior wall sides 12, 14, 16, and 18
respectively. Each of the two long ones of the
sides 32 is shown to comprise four horizontal
elongate panels 34 joined at exterior ledges 36
to provide greater structural strength and
stiffness, as needed, to the exterior wall 30.
Although three ledges 36 are shown, it will be
appreciated that, depending on the material
emp~oyed in constructing the container and the
strength and stiffness required for a particular
application, there could be more, fewer, or no
ledges 36 and a corresponding reduction in the
number of panels 34. The axes of the panels of
each of the long ones of the sides 32 are all
shown to be substantially parallel to each other
to provide additional strength to the exterior
wall 30.
A rigid container exterior wall may cause
the trunk organizer 11 to tip more readily and
may have the tendency to cause it to "hop" around
the trunk of a vehicle when p~aced under load by
the vehicle. In order to prevent such
instability, the container is preferably molded
or otherwise suitably formed of a semi-rigid,
durable, light-weight, preferably recyclable
material such as high-density polyethylene which
would allow some flexing of the outer wall 30 to
allow it to deflect under load to thereby
increase the gripping resistance of the lower
edge 38 to movement of the container 11 and
increase the stability of the container as it
"floats" on the flexible skirt 30.
~!91398
-- 8 --
A large flat area for the upper edge 28 is
considered to be inefficient in that it requires
more material and therefore more weight and
increases the overall size (particularly the
S footprint) of the container. The upper edge 28
therefore has preferably a rounded shape, as
shown in FIGs. 1 to 3, so as not to have such
inefficiency as well as to permit the sides 32 of
the outer wall 30 to flex in close proximity to
the vertical internal wall 10 to thereby provide
a maximum support to the structure without the
need for additional reinforcing. The inclination
of the flexible outer wall or skirt 30 is also
provided to allow it to flex simultaneously in
multiple directions as dictated by a combination
of vehicle movement and the load placed directly
into the trunk organizer 11.
A container 11 as shown in FIGs. 1 to 3 is
constructed so that one may nest with another for
cost savings in transportation. Thus, for
example, 25 of the trunk organizers each having
an overall height of 5 1/2 inches may be nested
into a stack having a height of perhaps only
about 25 1/2 inches.
In order to minimize the weight that must be
supported by the exterior wall 30 so that its
thickness may be reduced for cost savings, the
distance 33 is selected so that the exterior wall
30 flexes to allow the container floor 22 to move
downwardly to engage the floor 35 on which the
container 11 lies for support of the container 11
when loaded to a predetermined load. If this
distance 33 is too little, the container floor 22
takes over to become the skid surface with the
outer wall 30 losing its effectiveness. As the
2Q91398
g
distance 33 increases, the thickness, illustrated
at 43, of the outer wall 30 must be increased to
accommodate the increased load before the
container floor 22 engages the vehicle floor 35.
Should the outer wall 30 have to carry all of the
load typically placed in a trunk organizer, it
may have to be considerably heavier in
constuction and therefore may not adequately flex
to absorb vehicle movement. In order to minimize
the thickness of the outer wall 30 while
maintaining the effectiveness of the outer wall
30 so that it flexes during vehicle movement and
prevents the container from "hopping" around the
vehicle when partially loaded, in accordance with
the present invention the distance 33 is within
the range of about 3/16 to 3/8 inch, and such
distance is suitable for the typical sizes of
trunk organizers. Thus, the skirt 30 is provided
to "give" under a predetermined load placed in
the trunk organizer allowing the container floor
to contact the vehicle floor to carry the
majority of the load placed in the container.
Thus, the skirt 30 may provide a large degree of
stabilization without carrying all of the load.
The texturing or corrugations 40 are also
provided for increased gripping of the floor 22
for increased resistance to sliding movement of
the container ll.
The above range of distance 33 allows the
outer wall thickness 43 to be reduced to a range
of perhaps about 0.06 to 0.07 inch when the
container is composed of high-density poly-
ethylene to thereby provide adequate support and
flexibility at smaller loads. It should of
course be understood that this thickness 43 may
~091398
-- 10 --
vary depending on the material of which the
container is made.
Referring to FIGs. 4 and 5, a mat,
illustrated generally at 50, may be provided to
alternatively secure the trunk organizer ll so
that it resists movement on a vehicle floor. The
mat 50 is composed of low-density polyethylene or
other suitable flexible material, low-density
polyethylene having greater flexibility than that
of the high-density polyethylene of which
container ll is made. The material for mat 50
may be supplied, for example, in a roll in a tube
for the customer to trim to the desired size with
a scissors or knife.
The mat 50 is molded or otherwise suitably
formed to have a generally uniform thickness,
illustrated at 52, of perhaps about 0.08 to
0.l inch, and has a quantity of uniformly spaced
and sized bosses 54 on its upper surface 56. The
bosses 54 may, for example, have a diameter of
perhaps l/2 inch and are spaced apart a distance
sufficient to receive two container outer walls
30 therebetween with suitable clearance. The
boss height, illustrated at 58, is slightly less
than the distance 33 to maximize boss
effectiveness while allowing clearance between
the bosses 54 and the floor 22.
Gripping members 60, having the shapes of
pyramids, are provided on the lower mat surface
62 intermediate the positions of the bosses for
engaging the vehicle floor for providing slide
resistance of the mat. Such grippers 60 may be
similar to those conventionally found on domestic
runners. Other suitable means for providing
slide resistance may alternatively be provided.
209i398
Returning to FIG. 3, the lower portion 42
(lowermost of panels 34) of outer wall 30 may be
said to be flared outwardly to define an inner
ledge 44 which is spaced from lower edge 38 a
distance, illustrated at 46, which is equal to or
slightly greater than distance 33. Inner ledge
44 thus corresponds to lowermost outer ledge 36.
In accordance with the present invention it
is important that the bosses 54 be uniformly
sized and spaced and that the inner perimeter of
the lower edge 38 be precisely shaped in
accordance therewith so that the container ll may
be "clicked" onto the mat 50 with the
corresponding bosses 54 lying under the inner
ledges 44 and engaging the inner surface of lower
outer wall portion 42 over its perimeter. It
should be understood that the container ll may be
otherwise suitably shaped to "click" onto the
mat. The corners 48 of the lower portion 42 may
be suitably rounded to receive the rounded bosses
54 respectively.
Thus, the trunk organizer ll may be securely
"clicked" onto a slide-resistant mat 50 on a
vehicle floor or may be free-standing on a
carpeted vehicle floor or otherwise for slide
resistance.
It should be understood that while the
invention has been described in detail herein,
the invention can be embodied otherwise without
departing from the principles thereof, and such
other embodiments are meant to come within the
scope of the present invention as defined by the
appended claims.
