US20040188285A1

US20040188285A1 - Clothes container

Info

Publication number: US20040188285A1
Application number: US10/401,826
Authority: US
Inventors: Toshiyuki Yoshikawa
Original assignee: Yoshikawakuni Kogyosho KK
Current assignee: Yoshikawakuni Kogyosho KK
Priority date: 2003-03-28
Filing date: 2003-03-28
Publication date: 2004-09-30

Abstract

A clothes container for displaying clothes, having a hollow main body 1 with an opening on the front side, and a slidable tray 2 clothes are placed on. The main body 1 has a pair of guide rails 6 and 7 in the longitudinal direction at the bottom of internal sidewalls 1 c and 1 d of the main body 1, with grooves 6 a and 7 a, stoppers 6 b and 7 b, and tray removal sections 6 c and 7 c. Vertical walls 8 and 9 formed in the longitudinal direction extend downward from the tray base. At the rear of the vertical walls are slide pieces 8 a and 9 a projecting horizontally outward. The distance between the outer edges of the slide pieces 8 a and 9 a is shorter than the distance between the two tray removal sections 6 c and 7 c, and longer than the distance between the two guide rails 6 and 7.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a clothes container to be used to display clothes at clothes shops.

2. Description of the Related Art

Clothes containers are used to display clothes as they are folded and contained in clothes containers at clothes shops, especially when the clothes are not very bulky and can be folded. These kinds of clothes containers have trays that are removable from main bodies. The main body is an elongated box with an opening on the front side, and includes tray-supporting members integrally formed in the longitudinal direction at the bottom of internal sidewalls of the main body. The tray, the base of which is placed on the tray-supporting members, is removable and of a size that allows it to be set inside the main body.

This kind of clothes container allows the tray to be drawn forward in order that customers can easily see the clothes placed on the tray. However, as far as conventional cases are concerned, when a tray is drawn out too far, it tends to drop off. As a result, the tray cannot be drawn to an extent that enables full display of the clothes on the tray for the customer. In addition, although conventional clothes containers are stackable, the limited extent to which the trays can be drawn out of the main body makes it inconvenient to use such containers. Thus it is the object of the present invention to provide a clothes container which solves the above-mentioned problems. The clothes container disclosed herein has a tray that can be drawn forward to full extent so as to show the clothes on the tray sufficiently.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a clothes container having a hollow main body with an opening on the front side and a slidable tray that can be contained inside the main body. The main body has a pair of guide rails, a pair of stoppers, and a pair of tray removal sections. The tray has vertical walls and slide pieces. The guide rails are formed at the bottom of each of the internal sidewalls of the main body, extend horizontally in the longitudinal direction, and have grooves. The stoppers block each of the grooves off in the proximity of the opening. The tray removal sections are formed by cutting out part of the guide rails at the rear. The vertical walls extend downward from the back of the tray base and stretch along each of the sides perpendicular to the front side of the tray. The distance between the outside surfaces of both of the vertical walls is shorter than the distance between the two guide rails. The slide pieces, each positioned at the rear end of each of the vertical walls, extend horizontally outward. The distance between the outer edges of the two slide pieces is shorter than the distance between the tray removal sections, and longer than the distance between the guide rails, so that the slide pieces can be supported by the guide rails.

In another aspect of the present invention, the clothes container preferably comprises a peripheral wall on the peripheral of the top surface of the main body, and a connecting hole is formed on the inside of the peripheral wall at the rear, wherein a connecting projection that corresponds to the connecting hole is formed at the rear of the back of the base of the main body.

In still another aspect of the present invention, a clothes container is preferably formed in dimensions that match the shoulder of the folded clothes placed on the tray.

According to the present invention, clothes are placed on the tray and the tray is inserted through the opening into the main body. Both of the slide pieces of the tray are put into the grooves of the guide rails through the tray removal sections. As a result, even when the tray has been pulled forward by holding the front side of the tray, the tray is prevented from dropping at a position regulated by the stoppers, and in addition, the tray is kept generally horizontally because the slide pieces are supported by the guide rails of the main body. Consequently, most of the clothes placed on the tray are exposed, making it possible for customers to see the clothes fully, so that the effect of displaying the clothes can be improved.

Furthermore, by engaging a connecting projection of one main body to a connecting hole formed on the upper surface of another main body, the stacked clothes containers are maintained upright without the risk of falling or dropping. This not only enhances effective display of clothes to customers but also contributes to better alignment of clothes inside clothes shops.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a clothes container of this invention, depicting a tray contained inside a main body. [0011]
FIG. 2 is a perspective view describing a tray that has been drawn out of a main body of a clothes container of FIG. 1. [0012]
FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view of a tray. [0013]
FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of a tray. [0014]
FIG. 5 is a perspective view depicting how a tray is set inside a main body. [0015]
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing how a main body is connected to another main body. [0016]
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a main body being connected to another main body. [0017]
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a main body stacked onto another main body.[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The invention is described below in detail by using diagrams. FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 illustrate a clothes container in accordance with the present invention. The [0019] clothes container 10 comprises a main body 1 and a tray 2. The tray 2 can be housed inside the main body 1. The tray 2 is slidable in the longitudinal direction. The present invention is used to display clothes at clothes shops with clothes placed on the tray 2. The main body 1 is a hollow box with an opening 1 a on the front side, as shown in FIG. 5.
The [0020] main body 1 has a pair of thin elevated floors 4 and 5, each positioned at the bottom of each of the internal sidewalls 1 c and 1 d, as shown in FIG. 5. The elevated floor 4 and 5 are formed in the longitudinal direction all the way from the opening to the rear. On the elevated floors 4 and 5 are formed a pair of guide rails 6 and 7, a pair of stoppers 6 b and 7 b, and a pair of tray removal sections 6 c and 7 c, all of which will be explained below. The guide rails 6 and 7 are, in fact, projected flat portions of the elevated floors 4 and 5, and continuous from each of the elevated floor 4 and 5, projecting horizontally inward inside the main body 1. The guide rails 6 and 7 stretch from the opening 1 a to the rear. Therefore, a pair of grooves 6 a and 7 a are automatically formed by the space between the projected portions of the guide rails 6 and 7 and a base plate 1 e.
The [0021] stoppers 6 b and 7 b are positioned in the proximity of the opening 1 a and block grooves 6 a and 7 a respectively. The tray removal sections 6 c and 7 c are formed by cutting off the projected flat portions of the guide rails 6 and 7. In short, the tray removal sections 6 c and 7 c are equivalent to the elevated floors 4 and 5 without projected flat portions. The distance between the two tray removal sections 6 c and 7 c is shorter than the distance between the two internal sidewalls 1 c and 1 d inside the main body 1, and longer than the distance between the two guide rails 6 and 7.
The [0022] tray 2 is a rectangular plate of a size slightly smaller than the base of the main body 1, as shown in FIG. 2. Three sides except for a front side 2 a have surrounding walls 2 b that are integral with the base. Clothes are placed on the upper base surface 2 c of the tray 2, and the tray 2 also has at least a pair of vertical walls 8 and 9 on the tray base back surface 2 d, opposite to the surrounding walls 2 b, and slide pieces 8 a and 9 a, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. The vertical walls 8 and 9 are formed vertically downward on the tray base back surface 2 d along both sides in the longitudinal direction. The distance between the outer sides of the vertical walls 8 and 9 is shorter than the distance between the internal edges of projected flat portions of the guide rails 6 and 7.
Each of the [0023] slide pieces 8 a and 9 a is a flat, plate-like piece that extends horizontally outward from each of the vertical walls 8 and 9 at the rear portion thereof. The outer edges of the slide pieces 8 a and 9 a do not exceed the outer surfaces of the surrounding walls 2 b of the tray 2, and the length of the slide pieces 8 a and 9 a are shorter than the length of the tray removal sections 6 c and 7 c. Therefore, the slide pieces 8 a and 9 a do not interfere with the tray removal sections 6 c and 7 c when the tray 2 is inserted into the main body 1 to the rear end, and lowered to be completely set inside the main body 1.
In short, when the [0024] clothes container 10 is used, hold the front side 2 a of the tray 2, insert the tray 2 through the opening 1 a into the main body 1, and set the slide pieces 8 a and 9 a into the tray removal section 6 c and 7 c. Then, the slide pieces 8 a and 9 a are positioned at the tray removal section 6 c and 7 c, and the tray 2 is completely housed in the main body 1.
Now, when the [0025] tray 2 is drawn forward by the grip of the front side 2 a, the vertical walls 8 and 9 slide along the guide rails 6 and 7. At this time, the slide pieces 8 a and 9 a are in the grooves 6 a and 7 a of the guide rails 6 and 7. While the slide pieces 8 a and 9 a slide in the grooves 6 a and 7 a toward the opening 1 a, the tray 2 slides forward. When the tray 2 is fully drawn forward, the stoppers 6 b and 7 b positioned in the vicinity of the opening 1 a touch the slide pieces 8 a and 9 a.
Then, travel of the [0026] tray 2 is restricted, and, as shown in FIG. 2, most of the tray 2 staying outside of the opening 1 a of the main body 1. At this point, the slide pieces 8 a and 9 a are located inside the grooves 6 a and 7 a, so that the tray 2 will not fall. Even if clothes are placed on the tray 2, the weight of the main body 1 prevents the tray 2 from leaning downward, and keeps the tray 2 generally horizontal. Therefore, almost all of the clothes placed on the tray 2 held by the main body 1 are exposed, so that it is possible to fully show the clothes to shop customers. The width of the tray 2 is approximately equivalent to the size of the shoulder of the clothes when the clothes are folded. By showing clothes in this way, customers standing in front of a clothes container can see the front side of the clothes when shopping.
In addition, a pair of [0027] main bodies 1 of clothes containers 10 can be stacked up by connecting to each other. The top surface 1 h of the main body 1 has a peripheral wall 1 i as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 6. A connecting hole 1 j that penetrates the peripheral wall 1 i is formed at the center of the rear side of the peripheral wall 1 i. A bottom wall 1 f has a connecting projection 1 g that is complementary to the connecting hole 1 j and is slightly smaller in size than the connecting hole 1 j.
When two [0028] clothes container 10 are stacked vertically, as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, by inserting the connecting projection 1 g of a case 10B, which is placed over another, into the connecting hole 1 j of another clothes container 10A, which is placed lower, the clothes container 10A and 10B can be connected vertically. By drawing the tray 2 of each of the clothes containers 10A and 10B, customers can see the clothes placed inside to the full. In this case, the clothes container 10B is connected to 10A vertically, and the clothes container 10B will be prevented from falling. The above description is focused on storing clothes. However, the present invention can also be used to display cellular phones, bags, and other accessories that need to be shown to customers using trays.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A clothes container having a hollow main body with an opening formed on one front side, and a tray slidable inside the main body, the clothes container further comprising:

a pair of guide rails, each formed at the bottom of internal sidewalls of the main body, stretching in the longitudinal direction, each of the guide rails including a groove;

a pair of stoppers, each blocking off the front end of the groove in the vicinity of the opening;

a pair of tray removal sections, each formed by cutting off part of the guide rail at the rear end thereof;

at least a pair of vertical walls, each extending downward from the lower surface of the tray base and run along each side of the tray base in parallel and in the longitudinal direction, wherein the distance between the outer surfaces of the vertical walls is shorter than the distance between the two guide rails; and

a pair of slide pieces, each extending horizontally outward from each of the vertical walls at the rear end thereof, wherein the distance between the outer edges of the two slide pieces is shorter than the distance between the two tray removal sections, and longer than the distance between the two guide rails, wherein the slide pieces are supported by the guide rails when the tray is pulled forward.

2. The clothes container according to claim 1, further comprising a peripheral wall formed on the upper surface of the main body, wherein:

a connecting hole is formed on the inner side of the peripheral wall at the rear of the main body; and

a connecting projection that is complementary to the connecting hole is formed on the lower base surface of the main body at the rear thereof.

3. The clothes container according to claim 2, wherein the tray is sized so as to match the size of the shoulder of folded clothes.