storage chest

Abstract

Storage chest (1) comprising a body (2) and a lid (3), said parallelepiped-shaped body (2) delimiting a cavity (7) accessible through an opening (8) formed in the upper face (4) of the body (2), and the lid (3), positionable to overlap the upper face (4) of the body (2), having at least one movable mounted part between a closed position and an open position providing access to the cavity (7) delimited by the body (2), the lid (3) comprising a blank (9) conformable by folding and forming, in the formed state, a first compartment (10) and a second compartment (11) of polyhedral shape, positionable by resting one of their faces, called the bottom face (12), on the upper face (4) of the body (2) and connected, at the level of their face, called the top face (13) opposite the bottom face (12), by a folding line called the inter-compartment line (14), the blank (9) of the lid (3) includes a layer of synthetic material (15) sandwiched between two layers of metal (16, 17).Figure for the abridged version: Fig. 1.

Description

Title of the invention: storage chest

[0001] The present invention relates to a storage box, in particular for a vehicle to be fitted out, with a view in particular to producing a bench or seat.

[0002] It relates in particular to a chest comprising a body and a cover, said body, of generally parallelepiped shape, having an upper face, a lower face and lateral faces, this body delimiting a cavity accessible through an opening made in the upper face and the cover, intended to at least partially cover the upper face of the body, having at least one part mounted to move between a closed position and an open position for access to the cavity delimited by the body through the opening made in the upper face of said body.

[0003] Such storage boxes are well known and, in the case of use inside converted vehicles, once the lid is covered with a cushion or mattress, can be used as a bench or seat. Until now, such storage boxes have been made from wooden or plywood panels. This results in a significant weight and the need to use reinforcement parts to avoid increasing the thickness of the panels. In addition, complex parts, such as hinges or the like, must be present to allow the lid to be handled.

[0004] An aim of the invention is to propose a storage chest whose design makes it possible to do without complex parts, to reduce the weight of the chest, without harming its mechanical resistance.

[0005] To this end, the invention relates to a storage box, in particular for a vehicle to be fitted out, with a view in particular to producing a bench or seat, said box comprising a body and a cover, said body, of generally parallelepiped shape, having an upper face, a lower face and side faces, this body delimiting a cavity accessible through an opening made in the upper face and the cover, intended to at least partially cover the upper face of the body, having at least one part mounted movable between a closed position and an open position for access to the cavity delimited by the body through the opening made in the upper face of said body, characterized in that the cover comprises a blank which can be shaped by folding and forming, in the shaped state,a first box and a second box of polyhedral shape positionable in support by one of their faces called the bottom on the upper face of the body and connected, at the level of their face called the top opposite the bottom face, by a folding line called inter-box to allow movement of the second box between one, so-called closed position coplanar with the first box in which the second box is arranged to at least partially cover the opening of the upper face of the body and a so-called open position in which the second box forms an angle with the first box to allow access to the cavity of the body, the blank of the cover being a multi-layer composite blank comprising at least one layer of synthetic material sandwiched between two layers of metal, said blank of the cover being thinned at least at the inter-box fold line connecting the first and second boxes together. The use of a multi-layer composite blank makes it possible to do without complex parts for the production of articulations and to reduce the weight of the box.The conformation of the cover in the form of two boxes allows, with a reduced thickness of the blank, to obtain sufficient mechanical resistance while achieving the articulation by means of a simple folding line.

[0006] According to one embodiment of the invention, the blank of the cover is, at least at the level of the inter-box folding line, free of at least one of the metal layers, the omitted metal layer corresponding to the metal layer of the blank of the cover facing the upper face of the body. The removal of one of the metal layers allows easy handling of the movable part of the cover formed by the second box.

[0007] According to one embodiment of the invention, the thickness of the layer of synthetic material of the blank of the cover is, at least outside the fold lines, greater than or equal to 5 times the cumulative thickness of the metal layers. The total thickness of the blank outside the fold lines is generally between 2 and 4 mm.

[0008] According to one embodiment of the invention, the blank of the cover is formed from a juxtaposition of panels connected at one of their so-called lateral edges by a fold line, the fold lines connecting two lateral edges of panels being parallel to each other, at least two of the panels of the juxtaposition of panels being provided at their so-called end edges, transverse to the lateral edges, with a flap in at least two parts connected by a fold line orthogonal to the fold lines connecting two lateral edges of panels. This results in obtaining the first and second boxes in a simple manner by simply folding the blank.

[0009] According to one embodiment of the invention, the juxtaposition of panels of the blank of the cover comprises ten panels and the first and second boxes of the cover are respectively formed of five panels.

[0010] According to one embodiment of the invention, the box comprises, for holding the blank of the cover in the assembled state, that is to say in the state shaped by folding, connecting members preferably by screwing or by snap-fastening. These connecting members can be formed by simple screws. This results in simplicity of design.

[0011] According to one embodiment of the invention, the body comprises a conformable blank by folding and forming in the shaped state at least the upper face, the lower face and at least part of the lateral faces of the body, said blank of the body comprising a juxtaposition of panels connected at one of their edges called lateral by a fold line, the fold lines connecting two lateral edges of panels of the blank of the body being parallel to each other, the panel of the blank of the body serving to delimit the upper face of the body being a hollow panel to delimit the opening of the upper face of the body, this opening being, at an edge of the opening extending substantially opposite the inter-box fold line, provided with a flap connected to said edge of the opening by a fold line, this flap, foldable inside the cavity, extending, in the folded state,under the non-hollowed out part of the panel used to delimit the upper face of the body and adjoining the fold line connecting the flap to the edge of the opening of said panel, this flap forming with at least one part of the body, in the state maintained in the folded state, a hollow structure for stiffening the body to prevent bending of the cover at the inter-box fold line. By the expression, "an edge of the opening extending substantially opposite the inter-box fold line", it is meant that the edge of the opening is spaced from a plane, orthogonal to the cover in the closed position and passing through the inter-box fold line, by a distance at most equal to one third of the distance separating the edge of the opening from the opposite edge of the opening so as not to limit the size of the opening.

[0012] According to one embodiment of the invention, at least a portion of the panels of the juxtaposition of panels of the body blank are provided at at least one of their non-lateral edges with a wing intended to extend at least partially at a right angle to the panel associated with the wing in the shaped state of the body blank.

[0013] According to one embodiment of the invention, at least some of the panels of the body blank are of different length, taken in a direction parallel to a lateral edge of the panel, to allow, in the state shaped by folding of the body blank, at least partial overlap of at least some of the wings.

[0014] According to one embodiment of the invention, the body blank is a multi-layer composite blank comprising at least one layer of synthetic material sandwiched between two layers of metal, said body blank being thinned at least at the level of at least one of the fold lines.

[0015] According to one embodiment of the invention, the box comprises, for holding the blank of the body in the assembled state, that is to say in the state shaped by folding, connecting members preferably by screwing or by snap-fastening. Such connecting members can be simple screws.

[0016] According to one embodiment of the invention, the trunk is presented in the form of a ready-to-assemble assembly. This results in easy storage and transport. before assembly. Brief description of the drawings

[0017] The invention will be better understood on reading the following description of exemplary embodiments, with reference to the appended drawings in which:

[0018] [Fig-1] represents a perspective view of a storage chest according to the invention in the open position of the second box;

[0019] [Fig.2] represents a perspective view of a storage box according to the invention in the closed position of the second box;

[0020] [Fig.3] represents a sectional view of a storage box according to the invention to visualize the hollow stiffening structure of the body capable of preventing bending of the cover at the inter-box folding line;

[0021] [Fig.4] represents a side view of a storage box according to the invention to show the flap capable of forming, after folding, the hollow stiffening structure of the body intended to prevent bending of the cover at the inter-box folding line;

[0022] [Fig.5] represents a flat view of the blank constituting the cover;

[0023] [Fig.6] represents a top view of the blank constituting the cover after conformation of the second box;

[0024] [Fig.7] represents a view of the blank constituting the body during its conformation by folding;

[0025] [Fig.8] represents a partial sectional view of the cover blank.

[0026] As mentioned above, the invention relates to a storage box 1 of the type shown in [Fig. 1]. Such a storage box 1 can be used as a bench or seat, in particular when it is installed in a vehicle to be converted, such as a camper van.

[0027] This chest 1 comprises a body 2 and a lid 3. The final shape of the storage chest 1 is a generally parallelepiped shape. The body 2 is also of generally parallelepiped shape and has an upper face 4, a lower face 5 and lateral faces 6. The lateral faces 6 extend between the upper face 4 and the lower face 5. Each of these faces can be solid or at least partially hollowed out.

[0028] In the example of [Fig.l], the lower face 5 of the body 2 and certain side faces 6 are solid. The upper face 4 is an at least partially open face. Indeed, the body 2 delimits a cavity 7 accessible at least through an opening 8 provided in the upper face 4 of the body 2. The cover 3 of the box 1 is configured to at least partially cover the upper face of the body 2 to partially or completely close the opening 8 provided in the upper face upper 4 of body 2.

[0029] The body 2 and the cover 3 each comprise at least one blank that can be shaped by folding. This blank forms, in the shaped state, all or part of the body 2 or the cover 3. The blank 25 of the body 2 is shown in [Fig.7] while the blank 9 of the cover 3 is shown in [Fig.5].

[0030] The body 2 comprises, in addition to the blank 25, two added finishing panels shown at 36 in [Fig. 1], each finishing panel completely closing one of the lateral faces of the body 2. Each blank is a multi-layer composite blank comprising at least one layer of synthetic material sandwiched between two layers of metal. Each fold line is produced by machining at least a portion of one of the layers of metal. The synthetic material is for example chosen from the group of synthetic materials formed by polyolefins, polyesters, polyurethanes, mineral polymers, polycarbonates and the metal is preferably aluminum. The multi-layer composite blank is thinned at each fold line. For example, one of the two layers of metal has been machined at each fold line.Preferably, the synthetic material has also been machined between 60 and 100%, more preferably between 70 and 80%, such as approximately 75% of its thickness. In this embodiment, folding is extremely easy. The physical integrity of the blank is ensured by the layer of metal folded at the fold line.

[0031] Generally, such a composite blank has a thickness of between 2 and 4 mm. Advantageously, for easy folding, the thickness of the folding line is 0.8 millimeters, i.e. for example 0.2 mm of a metal layer and 0.6 mm of synthetic material.

[0032] Preferably, the metal layer that has been machined is a non-continuous layer of metal, called the inner layer, and the second metal layer is a continuous layer, called the visible layer. Thus, after folding the blank, the continuous metal layer ensures the aesthetic appearance and physical integrity of the blank. Ideally, the thicknesses of the metal layers are identical between the folding lines.

[0033] The thickness of the layer of synthetic material 15 of the blank 9 of the cover 3 is, at least outside the folding lines, greater than or equal to 5 times the cumulative thickness of the metal layers.

[0034] Preferably the thickness of the layer of synthetic material is between 7 and 8 times greater than the cumulative thickness of the layers of metal.

[0035] In a particular embodiment, the thickness of the layer of synthetic material is 2.6 Y and the cumulative thickness of the layers of metal is 0.4 Y, Y representing a length, such as one mm. Preferably, the thickness of each layer of metal is 0.2 mm, ± 0.05 mm and the thickness of the layer of synthetic material is 2.6 mm, ± 0.05 mm. The total thickness of the composite blank is preferably typically between 2 and 4 mm, such as 3 mm.

[0036] As illustrated in Figures 5 and 8, the blank of the cover is represented at 9, the outer metal layer at 16, the inner metal layer which is machined at the fold lines of the blank at 17 and the layer of synthetic material at 15.

[0037] As illustrated in [Fig.7], the blank of the body 2 is represented at 25 with the layers of metal at 33 and the layer of synthetic material at 32. The detail of the blank 9 of the cover is provided in [Fig.5] and a partial conformation of the blank 9 after folding is represented in [Fig.6]. This cover 3, intended to at least partially cover the upper face 4 of the body 2, has at least one part mounted to move between a closed position and an open position for access to the cavity 7 delimited by the body 2 through the opening 8 formed in the upper face 4 of the body 2. This movable part of the cover 3 is here formed by the second box 11 of the cover 3, as illustrated in figures 1 and 2. Indeed, the conformable blank 9 of the cover 3 forms in the conformed state, that is to say at least after folding, a first box 10 and a second box 11.

[0038] Each box is of polyhedral shape. The first and second boxes can be positioned so that one of their faces, called the bottom 12, rests on the upper face 4 of the body 2 and are connected, at their so-called bottom 13 face opposite the bottom 12 face, by a so-called inter-box fold line 14 to allow movement of the second box 11 between a so-called closed position coplanar with the first box 10 in which the second box 11 is arranged to at least partially overlap the opening 8 of the upper face 4 of the body 2 and a so-called open position in which the second box 11 forms an angle with the first box 10 to allow access to the cavity 7 of the body 2, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0039] To enable the production of these first and second boxes, the blank 9 of the cover 3 is formed from a juxtaposition of panels 18 connected at their lateral edge 19 by a fold line 20. One of the fold lines forms the inter-box line 14. The fold lines 20 connecting two lateral edges 19 of panels 18 are parallel to each other. At least two of the panels 18 of the juxtaposition of panels 18 are provided, at their so-called end edge 21 transverse to the lateral edges 19, with a flap 22 in at least two parts 221 and 222 connected by a fold line 23 orthogonal to the fold lines 20 connecting two lateral edges 19 of panels 18.

[0040] In the example shown in [Fig. 5], the juxtaposition of panels 18 of the blank 9 of the cover 3 comprises ten panels 18 and the first and second boxes 10 and 11 of the cover 3 are respectively formed of five panels 18. These five panels 18 forming one or the other of the boxes are contiguous and extend on one side of the inter-box folding line 14 which separates the two series of five boxes each.

[0041] A panel of each series is equipped with two flaps 22. It is noted that the blank 9 of the cover 3 is at least, at the level of the inter-box folding line 14, free of at least one of the metal layers 16 or 17, the omitted metal layer corresponding to the metal layer of the blank 9 of the second cover facing the upper face 4 of the body 2. The same applies to all the folding lines of the blank 9 of the cover 3.

[0042] To help maintain the blank 9 of the cover 3 in the assembled state, the first part and the second part of each flap 22 are folded at right angles towards the panel 18 to which the flap 22 is connected to form, using said flaps 22, two opposite lateral faces of the box. The panels used to produce a box are also each time folded at right angles towards the inter-box folding line 14 to form the top face opposite the bottom face and two lateral faces of the box, the other two lateral faces being formed by the flaps 22.

[0043] The last panel of the series forms a fixing wing from a lateral face to the face of the top of the box to help maintain the blank 9 of the cover 3 in the assembled state.

[0044] For maintaining the blank 9 of the cover 3 in the assembled state, various possibilities can be envisaged. In the examples shown, the storage box 1 comprises connecting members 24 formed of screwing or snap-fastening members. Double-sided adhesive, glue, self-gripping elements or others could also have been used.

[0045] Similarly, the body 2 comprises a blank 25 which can be shaped by folding and which forms, in the shaped state, at least the upper face 4, the lower face 5 and at least part of the lateral faces 6 of the body 2. This blank 25 of the body 2 comprises a juxtaposition of panels 26 connected at one of their edges, called the lateral edge 27, by a fold line.

[0046] As for the blank 9 of the cover 3, the blank 25 of the body 2, which is a multi-layer composite blank comprising at least one layer of synthetic material 32 sandwiched between two layers of metal 33, is thinned at least at the level of at least one of the folding lines 34, in this case each of the folding lines 34, by removing preferably at least one of the layers of metal and at least part of the layer of synthetic material.

[0047] The fold lines 34 connecting two lateral edges 27 of panels 26 of the blank 25 of the body 2 are parallel to each other. The panel of the blank 25 of the body 2 used to delimit the upper face of the body 2 is a hollow panel to delimit the opening 8 of the upper face of the body 2. This opening 8 is, at an edge of the opening 8 extending substantially opposite the inter-box fold line 14, provided with a flap 28 connected to the edge of the opening 8 by a fold line 29. This flap 28, foldable inside the cavity 7, extends in the folded state under the part not hollowed out of the panel 26 serving to delimit the upper face 4 of the body 2 and adjoining the folding line 29 connecting the flap 28 to the edge of the opening 8 of the panel 26. This flap 28 forms with at least one part of the body 2 in the state maintained in the folded state, a hollow structure 30 for stiffening the body 2 to prevent bending of the cover 3 at the level of the inter-box folding line 14.

[0048] This stiffening structure 30 is visible in [Fig. 3] and the flap 28, in the unfolded state before forming a stiffening structure, is visible in [Fig. 4]. The stiffening structure 30 thus obtained is here a structure of triangular cross-section. This stiffening structure 30 extends mainly vertically from the first box 10 of the cover 3. This first box 10 of the cover 3 is, once the cover 3 is positioned on the upper face of the box of the body 2, fixed in a stationary manner to the body 2.

[0049] As illustrated in [Fig.7], at least a portion of the panels 26 of the juxtaposition of panels 26 of the blank 25 of the body 2 are provided, at one of their non-lateral edges, with a wing 31 intended to extend at least partially at a right angle to the panel 26 associated with the wing 31 in the shaped state of the blank of the body 2.

[0050] It is noted that at least some of the panels 26 of the blank 25 of the body 2 are of different lengths, taken in a direction parallel to a lateral edge 27 of the panel 26, to allow, in the state shaped by folding of the blank 25 of the body 2, at least partial overlapping of at least some of the wings 31. The wings 31 arranged on the same side of the juxtaposition of panels 26 of the blank 25 of the body 2 are foldable at right angles to the panel to which they are connected to form, in the assembled state of the blank, a frame forming one of the lateral faces of the body 2, a finishing panel 36 being attached to this frame to close the opening made by said frame. These finishing panels 36 can be omitted when the dimensions of the wings allow a solid lateral face to be obtained. The panels 26 are also folded at right angles towards the internal face of the adjacent panel.The inner face of a panel is the face of the panel adjoined by at least one fold line at which at least part of the metal layer is omitted.

[0051] In a similar manner to what has been specified for the blank 9 of the cover 3, the blank 25 of the body 2 comprises, for its maintenance in the assembled state, that is to say in the state shaped by folding, connecting members 35, such as screwing or snap-fastening members, as in the example shown.

[0052] Again, other connection solutions can be envisaged without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0053] Given its design essentially from blanks, the storage box 1 can be presented in the form of a ready-to-assemble assembly. Thus, the blank 9 of the cover 3 and the blank 25 of the body 2 can be delivered flat before being shaped by folding and maintained in the assembled state, as mentioned above. The first box 10 of the cover 3 is fixed to the upper face 4 of the body 2 and the second box 11 of the cover 3 is pivotally coupled to the first box 10 via the inter-box folding line 14 forming a hinge connection to allow the second box 11 to pass from the closed position to the open position or vice versa. In the open position, the cavity 7 of the body 2 is accessible through the opening 8 provided in the upper face 4 of the body 2.

Claims

Claims

1. Storage box (1), in particular for a vehicle to be fitted out, in particular for the production of a bench or seat, said box (1) comprising a body (2) and a cover (3), said body, of generally parallelepiped shape, having an upper face (4), a lower face (5) and side faces (6), this body (2) delimiting a cavity (7) accessible through an opening (8) made in the upper face (4) and the cover (3), intended to at least partially cover the upper face (4) of the body (2), having at least one part mounted movable between a closed position and an open position for access to the cavity (7) delimited by the body (2) through the opening (8) made in the upper face (4) of said body (2), characterized in that the cover (3) comprises a blank (9) conformable by folding and forming, in the conformed state,a first box (10) and a second box (11) of polyhedral shape positionable in support by one of their faces called the bottom (12) on the upper face (4) of the body (2) and connected, at the level of their face called the top (13) opposite the bottom face (12), by a fold line called inter-box (14) to allow movement of the second box (11) between a so-called closed position coplanar with the first box (10) in which the second box (11) is arranged to at least partially overlap the opening (8) of the upper face (4) of the body (2) and a so-called open position in which the second box (11) forms an angle with the first box (10) to allow access to the cavity (7) of the body (2), the blank (9) of the cover (3) being a multilayer composite blank (9) comprising at least one layer of synthetic material (15) sandwiched between two layers of metal (16, 17),said blank (9) of the cover (3) being thinned at least at the level of the inter-box folding line (14) connecting the first and second boxes (10, 11) together.,

2. Storage box (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the blank (9) of the lid (3) is, at least at the level of the inter-box folding line (14), free of at least one of the metal layers (16, 17), the omitted metal layer corresponding to the metal layer of the blank (9) of the lid (3) facing the upper face (4) of the body (2).

3. Storage box (1) according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the thickness of the layer of synthetic material (15) of the blank (9) of the cover (3) is, at least outside the fold lines, greater than or equal to 5 times the cumulative thickness of the metal layers (16, 17).

4. Storage box (1) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the blank (9) of the cover (3) is formed from a juxtaposition of panels (18) connected at one of their so-called lateral edges (19) by a fold line (20), the fold lines (20) connecting two lateral edges (19) of panels (18) being parallel to each other, at least two of the panels (18) of the juxtaposition of panels (18) being provided at their so-called end edges (21), transverse to the lateral edges (19), with a flap (22) in at least two parts (221, 222) connected by a fold line (23) orthogonal to the fold lines (20) connecting two lateral edges (19) of panels (18).

5. Storage box (1) according to claim 4, characterized in that the juxtaposition of panels (18) of the blank (9) of the cover (3) comprises ten panels (18) and in that the first and second boxes (10, 11) of the cover (3) are respectively formed of five panels (18).

6. Storage box (1) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it comprises, for holding the blank (9) of the cover (3) in the assembled state, that is to say in the state shaped by folding, connecting members (24) preferably by screwing or by snap-fastening.

7. Storage box (1) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the body (2) comprises a blank (25) conformable by folding and forming in the shaped state at least the upper face (4), the lower face (5) and at least part of the lateral faces (6) of the body (2), said blank (25) of the body (2) comprising a juxtaposition of panels (26) connected at one of their edges called lateral (27) by a folding line (34), the folding lines (34) connecting two lateral edges (27) of panels (26) of the blank (25) of the body (2) being parallel to each other, the panel of the blank (25) of the body (2) serving to delimit the upper face (4) of the body (2) being a hollow panel to delimit the opening (8) of the upper face (4) of the body (2), this opening (8) being, at the level of an edge of the opening (8) extending substantially opposite the inter-box folding line (14),provided with a flap (28) connected to said edge of the opening (8) by a folding line (29), this flap (28), foldable inside the cavity (7), extending, in the folded state, under the non-hollowed out part of the panel (26) serving to delimit the upper face (4) of the body (2) and adjoining the folding line (29) of, connection of the flap (28) to the edge of the opening (8) of said panel (26), this flap (28) forming with at least one part of the body (2), in the state maintained in the folded state, a hollow structure (30) for stiffening the body (2) to prevent bending of the cover (3) at the inter-box folding line (14).

8. Storage box (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that at least a portion of the panels (26) of the juxtaposition of panels (26) of the blank (25) of the body (2) are provided at at least one of their non-lateral edges with a wing (31) intended to extend at least partially at right angles to the panel (26) associated with the wing in the shaped state of the blank of the body (2).

9. Storage box (1) according to claim 8, characterized in that at least some of the panels (26) of the blank (25) of the body (2) are of different length, taken in a direction parallel to a lateral edge (27) of the panel (26), to allow, in the state shaped by folding of the blank (25) of the body (2), at least partial overlap of at least some of the wings (31).

10. Storage box (1) according to one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that the blank (25) of the body (2) is a multi-layer composite blank comprising at least one layer of synthetic material (32) sandwiched between two layers of metal (33), said blank (25) of the body (2) being thinned at least at the level of at least one of the folding lines (34).

11. Storage box (1) according to one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that it comprises, for holding the blank (25) of the body (2) in the assembled state, that is to say in the state shaped by folding, connecting members (35) preferably by screwing or by snap-fastening.

12. Storage chest (1) according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that it is in the form of a ready-to-assemble assembly.

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