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  Push-action slide caseUSPTO Application #: 20070247042Title: Push-action slide case Abstract: [Solution] For assembling a storage body 4, first, a second spring 10 is made abut against a rotator 8 which is already engaged with a positioner 6, then a shaft 22 is inserted into the storage body 4 from the side of the second spring 10, and a latch projection 22a of the shaft 22 is fixed to the storage body 4 by a holding piece 24. In addition, first springs 5 are attached in cylindrical parts 21. On the other hand, for a main case body 3, a ceiling part 3a as a separate body is first removed from the main case body 3, then a holding block 13 is fixed into a holding piece 25 at the bottom of the main case body 3, and elastic pieces 18 are attached to their appropriate positions. Then, the ceiling part 3a is put back on the main case body 3 to form a box body shape. After completing assembling each of the storage body 4 and the main case body 3 in this way, the storage body 4 is inserted into the main case body 3 through an opening 2 to finish the assembly of the slide case as a whole. [Object] To provide a push-action slide case having excellent productivity and capable of assuring reliable push-into/eject-out operation of a storage body even for long term use. (end of abstract) Agent: Morrison & Foerster LLP - Mclean, VA, US Inventors: Yukitomo Yuhara, Takayuki Tokushita USPTO Applicaton #: 20070247042 - Class: 312330100 (USPTO) The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070247042. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to a push-action slide case having excellent productivity and capable of assuring reliable push-into/eject-out operation of a storage body even for long term use. BACKGROUND ART [0002] As a slide case which consists of a combination of a main case body and a storage body adapted to be taken into/out of the main case body through an opening of the same, there is known an example disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication of Examined Application No. 7-25297. In this document, a slide-in/out type case mainly comprises a main case body having an opening on its one side, and a storage tray adapted to be slidably taken out of the main case body through the opening and to be pushed into the opening to be contained within the main case body. In this slide case, an urging means for constantly pushing the storage tray outward is provided between the main case body and the storage tray, and a swing arm having an engagement means is swingablly integrally attached in a protruding condition on either surface of the facing sides of the main case body and the storage tray, and on the other corresponding side, a curved guide ditch adapted to guide the swing arm making the arm swing and another engagement means for being engaged with the engagement means are provided. In this structure, guiding the swing arm into the curved guide ditch and engaging the engagement means with the other enable to securely keep the storage tray contained within the main case body, and then further push-into operation of the storage tray moves the swing arm again to disengage the engagement means from the other so that the storage tray can be ejected out of the main case body. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Object [0003] In the above-mentioned related art, there is a problem with its productivity where, in combining the storage tray and the main case body by inserting the storage tray through the opening into the main case body, the swing arm can not be easily guided into the curved guide ditch due to its swing movement. In addition, another problem is pointed out. That is, because the push-into/eject-out operation of the storage tray is repeated many times, the swing arm is easily worn out due to its swing movement repeated along with such operations, resulting in deteriorated engagement function of the swing arm being guided into the curved guide ditch and the pair of engagement means being engaged. Therefore, the functionality of keeping the storage tray contained within the main case body may be lost early, and with this disadvantage, the slide case becomes unsuitable for long term use. [0004] The present invention has been contrived in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstance. It is an object of the present invention to provide a push-action slide case having excellent productivity and capable of assuring reliable push-into/eject-out operation of a storage body even for long term use. Solution [0005] According to the present invention, a push-action slide case comprises a hollow main case body having an opening on one side thereof, a storage body slidably placed in the main case body and adapted to be pushed into the inside of the main case body through the opening toward the other side of the main case body, a first urging member to constantly push the storage body for it to be ejected from the main case body, a cylindrical positioner which is integrally formed on the storage body in a shape protruding in the direction of the push-into operation of the storage body, a positioning ditch which is formed along the periphery of the positioner, a cylindrical rotator which is disposed so as to abut against the positioner along the direction of the push-into operation of the storage body in such a manner to be able to perform relative rotation to the positioner, an engagement projection which is formed along the periphery of the rotator and adapted to be detachably engaged with the positioning ditch to determine an attachment position where the rotator is locked into the positioner by the engagement projection being engaged with the positioning ditch, and then to be disengaged from the positioning ditch by the rotator performing the relative rotation to the positioner, a second urging member to constantly push the rotator toward the positioner along the direction of the push-into operation of the storage body in order to engage the engagement projection with the positioning ditch to lock the rotator into the positioner at the attachment position, at least one rotation-generating projection formed on the rotator, adapted to make the rotator perform the relative rotation to the positioner against the urging force of the second urging member, a holder which is fixedly attached to the main case body and has a cylindrical inner surface where at least one control projection adapted to work with the rotation-generating projection is formed in order to realize keeping the storage body contained within the main case body against the urging force of the first urging member in such a manner to be able to unlock that state anytime, through the positioner and the rotator which move in accordance with the push-into operation of the storage body. The control projection has a pair of end faces to define, on the cylindrical inner surface, a guide passage which guides the rotation-generating projection from the entrance to the exit along the direction of the push-into operation of the storage body. On either one of the two end faces, at the entrance of the guide passage, there is formed a first abutting face which leads, into the guide passage, the rotation-generating projection which moves from the entrance of the guide passage to the exit according to the push-into operation of the storage body, pushing the rotation-generating projection for the rotator to perform the relative rotation in a normal direction against the second urging member. At the exit of the guide passage, there is formed a latch ditch with which the rotation-generating projection is locked against the urging force of the second urging member after passing through the guide passage from the entrance to the exit, and from which the rotation-generating projection is unlocked in response to the further push-into operation of the storage body. On the other out of the two end faces, at the exit of the guide passage, there is formed a second abutting face which guides, into the guide passage, the rotation-generating projection which receives the urging force of the first urging member and goes through the guide passage from the exit to the entrance after being unlocked from the latch ditch, pushing the rotation-generating projection for the rotator to perform the relative rotation in a reverse direction against the urging force of the second urging member. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0006] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of a push-action slide case according to the present invention; [0007] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional plan view of the push-action slide case shown in FIG. 1; [0008] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of the push-action slide case shown in FIG. 1; [0009] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view with regard to main parts of the push-action slide case shown in FIG. 1; [0010] FIG. 5 is a plan view of the push-action slide case shown in FIG. 1 with the main parts enlarged, in a state of a storage body kept contained; [0011] FIG. 6 is a plan view of the push-action slide case shown in FIG. 1 with the main parts enlarged, in a state of the storage body ejected out. DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMBERS [0012] 1 Push-action slide case [0013] 2 Opening [0014] 3 Main case body [0015] 4 Storage body [0016] 5 First spring [0017] 6 Positioner [0018] 7 Positioning ditch [0019] 8 Rotator [0020] 9 Engagement projection [0021] 10 Second spring [0022] 11 Rotation-generating projection [0023] 12 Control projection [0024] 12a, 12b A pair of end faces on the control projection [0025] 13 Holding block [0026] 14 Guide passage [0027] 15 Fist abutting face [0028] 16 Latch ditch [0029] 17 Second abutting face BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION [0030] In the following, a preferred embodiment of a push-action slide case according to the present invention is described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, a push-action slide case 1 of the present embodiment basically comprises a hollow main case body 3 having an opening 2 on its one side, a storage body 4 slidably placed in the main case body 3 and adapted to be pushed into the inside of the main case body 3 through the opening 2 toward the other side of the main case body 3, first springs 5 as first urging members to constantly push the storage body 4 for it to be ejected from the main case body 3, a cylindrical positioner 6 which is integrally formed on the storage body 4 in a shape protruding in the direction of the push-into operation of the storage body 4, positioning ditches 7 which are formed along the periphery of the positioner 6, a cylindrical rotator 8 which is disposed so as to abut against the positioner 6 along the direction of the push-into operation of the storage body 4 in such a manner to be able to perform relative rotation to the positioner 6, engagement projections 9 which are formed along the periphery of the rotator 8 and adapted to be detachably engaged with the positioning ditches 7 to determine an attachment position where the rotator 8 is locked into the positioner 6 by the engagement projections 9 being engaged with the positioning ditches 7, and then to be disengaged from the positioning ditches 7 by the rotator 8 performing relative rotation to the positioning member 6, a second spring 10 as a second urging member to constantly push the rotator 8 toward the positioner 6 along the direction of the push-into operation of the storage body 4 in order to engage the engagement projections 9 with the positioning ditches 7 to lock the rotator 8 into the positioner 6 at the attachment position, at least one rotation-generating projection 11 provided on the rotator 8, adapted to make the rotator 8 perform relative rotation to the positioner 6 against the urging force of the second spring 10, a holding block 13 as a holder which is fixedly attached to the main case body 3 and has a cylindrical inner surface where at least one control projection 12 adapted to work with the rotation-generating projection 11 is formed in order to realize keeping the storage body 4 contained within the main case body 3 against the urging force of the first springs 5 in such a manner to be able to unlock that state anytime, through the positioner 6 and the rotator 8 which move in accordance with the push-into operation of the storage body 4. The control projection 12 has a pair of end faces 12a and 12b to define, on the cylindrical inner surface, a guide passage 4 which guides the rotation-generating projection 11 from the entrance to the exit along the direction of the push-into operation of the storage body 4. On the end face 12a, which is either one of the two end faces, a first abutting face 15 is formed at the entrance of the guide passage 14. The first abutting face 15 leads the rotation-generating projection 11 into the guide passage 14 when the projection 11 enters into the entrance of the guide passage 14 toward the exit according to the push-into operation of the storage body 4, pushing the projection 11 for the rotator 8 to perform relative rotation in a normal direction against the urging force of the second spring 10. In addition, at the exit of the guide passage 14, there is formed a latch ditch 16, with which the rotation-generating projection 11 is locked against the urging force of the second spring 10 after the projection 11 passes through the guide passage 14 from the entrance to the exit, and from which the projection 11 is unlocked in response to the further push-into operation of the storage body 4. Meanwhile, on the end face 12b, which is the other face from the end face 12a, a second abutting face 17 is formed at the exit of the guide passage 14. The second abutting face 17 guides the rotation-generating projection 11 into the guide passage 14, when the projection 11 receives the urging force of the first springs 5 to go through the guide passage 14 from the exit to the entrance after being unlocked from the latch ditch 16, pushing the projection 11 for the rotator 8 to perform relative rotation in a reverse direction against the urging force of the second spring 10. [0031] The main case body 3 is formed in a hollow cuboid shape, and has the opening 2 formed at its front wall. In addition, near the opening 2 of the main case body 3, a pair of elastic pieces 18 are respectively disposed so as to slightly protrude from the left and right walls of the main case body 3 toward the inside. The storage body 4 is formed in a flat plate-like rectangle shape having a storage part 19. A handle projection 20 is formed on the front end face of the storage body 4, on the end face exposed from the opening 2 when the storage body 4 is contained in the main case body 3, while on the back end face of the storage body 4, cylindrical parts 21 are formed as a left and right pair, so that the front edges of the first springs 5 formed as a left and right pair are detachably inserted into the pair of the cylindrical parts 21 respectively. The storage body 4 is disposed in such a manner to be slidable into the main case body 3, being guided with the elastic pieces 18 which elastically push the storage body 4 from the left and right sides. [0032] Specifically, the storage body 4 is adapted to be ejected from the opening 2 of the main case body 3 or to be contained within the main case body 3, by pushing the handle projection 20 to push the body 4 into the main case body 3, like pushing commonly used in a push-action ballpoint pen. The rear ends of the pair of the first springs 5 are made separably abut against the back wall of the main case body 3. The first springs 5 are pressed against the main case body 3, gaining the reactive force so as to become able to constantly push the storage body 4. With receiving the urging force from the first springs 5, the storage body 4 becomes usually urged outward from the main case body 3 through the opening 2. [0033] On the back center of the storage body 4, the positioner 6 is integrally formed in a hollow cylindrical shape protruding in the direction of the push-into operation of the storage body 4. On the tip of the protruding positioner 6, concaves and convexes are formed in a shape of saw teeth along the outer periphery of the positioner 6, and these concaves and convexes define the plurality of positioning ditches 7. That is, each of the positioning ditches 7 is defined with a gullet made up of a pair of slope faces, which constitutes concaves and convexes in a shape of saw teeth. In addition, on the back wall of the storage body 4, a shaft 22 is disposed so as to penetrate the positioner 6 and protrude from the part 6. The shaft 22 has a latch projection 22a on one side and a latch flange 22b on the other side, and is fixed to the storage body 4 by the latch projection 22a protruding from the positioner 6, being inserted into the storage part 19 through a penetrating hole 23 on the back wall of the storage body 4, and being held by a holding piece 24 which is attached in the storage part 19. Continue reading... Full patent description for Push-action slide case Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Push-action slide case patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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