Fastening device for container

Abstract

 A fastening device for use in a container has an engaging piece and a pressing member. The engaging member is formed by bending a material to produce one leg and another leg facing the one leg, an opening portion being formed between the one leg and the another leg, at least one of the lags being formed with an engaging portion protruding outward relative to the opening portion, and both ends of the legs being formed with outwardly bent portions. The pressing member has a protrusion formed at the bottom thereof. The lid body Is formed with an insertion aperture, the engaging piece is inserted into the insertion aperture, the protrusion is engaged with the opening portion, the pressing member is fixedly coupled to the container body, and engaging aperture is formed in the container body.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a fastening device for a container, and more particularly it relates to a fastening device for securely holding a lid to the container which is used for containing such as eyeglasses, stationary, or the like.

[0002] One known device for fastening a lid of a container to the container for containing small articles is a pair of hook and eye. In this case, generally the eye is mounted on a container body while the hook is mounted on a lid. In order to mount the eye and hook on the container body and lid, respectively, receiving members are commonly embedded in the container body and lid for receiving the eye and hook. A special jig is required for attaching the receiving members securely into the container body or the lid. Moreover, it requires a great deal of skill in order for firmly attaching the receiving member into the container body or the lid without incurring any damage to the container body or the lid.

[0003] Furthermore, in the case that a receiving member is attached into a thick container body or a thick lid, a secure and sufficient attachment is hard to be attained. Thus, the thickness of the container body or the lid restricts the use of such receiving member. While on the other hand, in the case that a thin plastic container or lid is used, there is a risk that the portion where the receiving member is attached is broken while the receiving member is being attached. Therefore, the use of receiving members has been limited only to such containers as made of leather, thin metal plate, or the like. Still further, since a fastening device such as a pair of eye and hook requires at any time a constant fastening strength, that is, a fixed force required to close or open the lid, the fastening strength of the container and lid can not be adjusted in accordance with the way it is used or the preference of the user.

[0004] A container made of plastics and integrally formed with an engaging nail on the lid is also known in the art. The container of this type, however, lacks an image of high quality, and it has the same problem as the fastening strength can not be adjusted.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the above disadvantages. In order to achieve the above object, there is provided a fastening device for use in a container having a container body and a lid body mounted on the container body-for- opening and closing the container body, the improvement comprising: an engaging piece which is formed by bending a material to produce one leg and another leg facing the one leg, an opening portion being formed between said one leg and said another leg, at least one of the one and another legs being formed with an engaging portion protruding outward relative to said opening portion, and both ends of said one and another legs being formed with outwardly bent portions; and a pressing member having a protrusion formed at the bottom thereof; wherein said lid body is formed with an insertion aperture at the side remote from the mounting portion of said lid body to said container body, said engaging piece is inserted from the side above said lid body into said insertion aperture , said protrusion being engaged with said opening portion of said engaging piece , said pressing member is fixedly coupled to said container body, and engaging means for engaging with said engaging portion of said engaging piece is formed in said container body.

[0006] The foregoing and other objects are effected by the invention as will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, in which:

FIG.1 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of a fastening device applied to an eyeglasses case, and

FIG.2 is an enlarged cross section of the fastening device mounted in the case.

[0007] The embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0008] Reference number 1 denotes a container body for containing eyeglasses, fountain pen or the like. A lid body 2 is pivotally hinged at a back portion of the container body 1. In a front portion of thee container body 1, an engaging aperture 6 for engaging with an engaging piece 4 as described later is formed.

[0009] At the side of a free end of the lid body 2 opposite to the hinged portion, an insertion aperture 3 for inserting therethrough the engaging piece 4 is formed. At both sides of the insertion aperture 3, step portions 3a and 3a are formed, on which bent portions 4c and 4c of the engaging piece 4 are fitly positioned. The engaging piece 4 is made of an elastic metal plate generally of a U character shape. One leg of the engaging piece 4 extends, from one of the bent portions, protruding outside to form a protrusion portion 4b, while the other leg of the engaging piece 4 extends linearly from the other of the bent portions.

[0010] A pressing member 5 is formed with a projection 5a at the bottom thereof, the projection 5a being inserted into an opening 4a of the engaging piece 4. A display portion 5b, on which a character such as an initial character of the name of the person who possesses the container, is formed on the top of the pressing member 5. The pressing member 5 is fixed to the surface of the lid body 1 by means of adhesive agent or high frequency welding.

[0011] In the above embodiment, although the lid body 2 is hinge mounted on the container body 1, the container body and lid body may be made of relatively flexible leather or plastics so that the opening and closing of the lid body relative to the container body can be attained without a hinge. Also, the engaging aperture 6 is formed at the front-at the container body 1, however, any means which can engage with the engaging piece 4 may be used other than the aperture 6. Still further, the step portions 3a and 3a are formed at the side of the lid body 2 for fitly coupling the bent portions 4c and 4c of the engaging piece 4, however, such step portions may be formed in the bottom of the pressing member 5. More in addition, the shape of the engaging piece 4 is of a U character, however, shapes of a V character or of U shape may be employed and the shape formed by merely folding one leg upon the another may be employee as well. Furthermore, the protrusion portion or engaging portion 4b of the engaging piece 4 is formed at the one leg, however, the protrusion portion may be formed at the other leg or at both legs.

[0012] Still further, the engaging piece 4 is made of a metal plate having elasticity, however, composite material such as fiber reinforced plastics, and ordinary plastics as well may be used as material of the engaging piece 4. In the case that the engaging piece is made of material having in practical use little plasticity, the fastening strength as desired between the engaging piece and the engaging aperture can be obtained by mounting a fastening device selecting a suitable engaging piece among those previously prepared various kind of engaging pieces, different in hardness of material or in the shape of protrusion portion 4b. This enables the manufacturer and retailer to sell at the spot a container having a desired fastening strength.

[0013] More in addition, the display portion 5b of the pressing member 5 is previously provided with a character, symbol, or device, however, the display-portion 5b may be formed of an even plane, and a sheet printed thereon with a character or the like may be attached on the even plane. In this case, the manufacture can supply containers having trade names of retail shops or the like, while the retail shops can sell at the spot containers having an initial character of the user. It is apparent that these characteristics can promote the sales of the container.

[0014] As described above, the fastening device for the container and lid according to the present invention can be assembled in such a way that the engaging,piece 4 is inserted from the above of the lid body 2 into the insertion aperture 3 formed in the lid body 2 and that the projection 5a of the pressing member 5 is engaged with the opening 4a of the engaging piece 4. The projection 5a serves to maintain the fastening force constant during use because the space between one and the other legs can be kept constant regardless of frequent snapping operations of the fastening device. More in addition, any desired fastening strength can be obtained either by permanently changing the shape of the engaging piece made of such as metal or by selectively using an engaging piece 4 having a suitable fastening strength.

[0015] The advantageous effects of the present invention are as follows. With the construction described as above, the structure of the fastening device is simple, and the number of parts required is small to thereby realize a low manufacturing cost. Further, any special jig and skill is required in the assembly so that even an ordinary person can assemble it without failure. More in addition, the fastening strength can be adjusted as desired, and also an image of high quality of the container is hardly injured. In addition, there are no restrictions on the thickness at the portion where the fastening device is mounted.

Claims

1. A fastening device for use in a container having a container body 1 and a lid body 2 mounted on the container body 1 for opening and closing the container body 1, the improvement comprising:

an engaging piece 4 which is formed by bending a material to produce one leg and another leg facing the one leg, an opening portion 4a being formed between said one leg and said another leg, at least one of the one and another legs being formed with an engaging portion protruding outward relative to said opening portion, and both ends of said one and another legs being formed with outwardly bent portions; and

a pressing member 5 ,_\,having a protrusion 5a formed at the bottom thereof;

wherein said lid body 2 is formed with an insertion aperture 3 at the side remote from the mounting portion of said lid body to said container body, said engaging piece 4 is inserted from the side above said lid body into said insertion aperture 3, said protrusion 5a being engaged with said opening portion of said engaging piece 4, said pressing member is fixedly coupled to said container body, and engaging means for engaging with said engaging portion of said engaging piece is formed in said container body 1.

2. A fastening device as set forth in claim 1, in which said outwardly bent portions are embedded in step portions formed in said container body.

3. A fastening device as set forth in claim 1, in which said outwardly bent portions are embedded in step portions formed in the bottom of said pressing member.

4. A fastening device as set forth in claim 1, in which said engaging means is an aperture formed in said container body.

5. A fastening device as set forth in claim 1, in which said material is either one of metal, plastics, composite material.

Drawing