PLATE-SHAPED HOLDER

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to R.O.C. Patent Application No. 113,115,873 filed Apr. 26, 2024, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a holder for holding and carrying items, such as keyrings, loops, bead chains and hooks, and more particularly to a holder with a flat, hollow, plate-shaped case appearance which is integrally formed for conveniently and stably holding a number of keyrings, loops, bead chains and hooks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Ordinary people often carry significant quantities of keys with different functions, including among others, keys for the residence gate and the house door, automobile and motorcycle keys, and office keys. For the sake of conveniently carrying these keys, most people tend to use a keyring to hold the keys together. However, conventional keyrings usually include a circular ring body made of resilient metal material and wound several times, wherein the free ends of the ring body are arranged to tightly abut against the ring body. The users have to open the circular ring body with a great strength for inserting a key thereinto and usually repeat several times before the key is successfully inserted. Although the keyrings of this type are easy to manufacture and cost-effective, they are rather inconvenient to use.

Efforts have been made by the related industry, and several solutions have been proposed to address the above-mentioned problems. R.O.C. Patent No. 541877 requires a keyring to be paired with a limiting block, a pivot hole and a pivot shaft. An elastic element and a stopper are installed on the pivot shaft, assembled into the accommodating seat of the elastic clasp plate, and then secured by its stopper block. As a result, the required structural components are relatively numerous and complex. R.O.C. Patent Nos. 198187 and M355591 disclose a keyring set having a main body with an internal movable space. The main body has a top surface formed with a hole-shaped connection area at one side, a pivot hole in the middle, and a groove at the opposite side following the outer contour. An enlarged insertion area extends from one end of the groove, and an elastic stop plate with a joining area is fixed to the connection area. The elastic stop plate is provided on the middle portion thereof with a press stud protruding through a pivot hole, so as to allow the elastic stop plate to elastically abut against the inner wall of the movable space, with one end of the elastic stop plate blocking the insertion area to constitute a barrier surface. The keyring set further includes a holder which is provided at one side with a latch block for engaging the groove and the insertion area and provided at the other side with a hole for holding a ring, thus constituting a keyring capable of flexible assembly and disassembly. However, keyrings of this type still suffer from the drawback of being overly complex in structure, which increases material and processing costs. Additionally, the production process is more labor-intensive due to the required manual assembly, making them cost-ineffective.

Therefore, there is still a need in the relevant art for an integrally formed plate-shaped holder that is highly versatile in use, simple in structure, and easy to manufacture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In response to the above-mentioned need, the inventor has conducted extensive research and development to arrive at the invention. The invention relates to an integrally formed holder, which is configured in form of a flat hollow plate-shaped case and adapted to be manufactured through conventional sheet metal processing processes. The invention comprises at least one first holding groove formed between a first end portion and a first folded portion of the holder, with an enlarged first insertion port extending from one end of the first holding groove, and a second end portion arranged to locate at one side of and partially hinder the first insertion port. In the light of the deformability of the holder herein, the first insertion port can be triggered to be accessible by a small force applied by the user, through which items may be introduced and slide along the first holding groove. The invention is of high durability, versatility and cost-effectiveness accordingly and adapted for conveniently and stably holding a number of keyrings, loops, bead chains and hooks.

Therefore, in one aspect provided herein is a holder, which comprises an integrally formed resilient plate-shaped body, extending from a first end portion through a first folded section and a second folded section and terminated at the second end portion, thus constituting a movable space. The first and second end portions are arranged to be superimposed in an upward-downward direction. At least one first holding groove is formed between the first end portion and the first folded portion, with an enlarged first insertion port extending from one end of the first holding groove. The second end portion is arranged to locate at one side of and partially hinder the first insertion port, so that the first insertion port can be triggered to become accessible by applying an external force to separate the first end portion and the second end portion from each other.

In a preferred embodiment, at least one second holding groove is formed between the second end portion and the second folded section, with an enlarged second insertion port extending from one end of the second holding groove, wherein the first end portion is arranged to locate above and partially hinder the second insertion port.

In a preferred embodiment, the first insertion port is located proximal to the first end portion, while the first holding groove is formed on the first upper flat section and extends from the first insertion port towards the first folded section. The second insertion port is located proximal to the second end portion, while the second holding groove is formed on the second upper flat section and extends from the second insertion port towards the second folded section.

In a preferred embodiment, the first end portion and the second end portion are spaced, in part, from each other in the upward-downward direction to create a gap for receiving insertion of an object.

In one preferred embodiment, the first holding groove extends from the first upper flat section to the first folded section, and the second holding groove extends from the second upper flat section to the second folded section.

In one preferred embodiment, the first upper flat section has a shorter length compared to the second upper flat section.

In one preferred embodiment, the holder further comprises an inclined surface formed between the second end portion and the second upper flat section.

In one preferred embodiment, the object to be inserted is selected from keyrings, loops, bead chains and hooks.

In one preferred embodiment, the first folded section and the second folded section are composed of two corners and a side section connecting the two corners, respectively.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above, other objects, features, and effects of the invention will become apparent with reference to the description of the following preferred embodiments with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective diagram of the plate-shaped holder according to the first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the unfolded structure of the plate-shaped holder according to the first embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 3(A)-3(B) are schematic diagrams showing a process of importing an object into the plate-shaped holder according to the first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective diagram of the plate-shaped holder according to the second embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 5(A)-5(C) are schematic diagrams showing a process of importing an object into the plate-shaped holder according to the second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing that the plate-shaped holder according to the second embodiment of the invention is in use;

FIGS. 7(A)-7(C) are schematic diagrams showing another process of importing an object into the plate-shaped holder according to the second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is another schematic diagram showing that the plate-shaped holder according to the second embodiment of the invention is in use; and

FIG. 9(A)-9(E) are schematic structural diagrams of the plate-shaped holders according to the third to the sixth embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Unless specified otherwise, the following terms as used in the specification and appended claims are given the following definitions. It should be noted that the indefinite article “a” or “an” as used in the specification and claims is intended to mean one or more than one, such as “at least one,” “at least two,” or “at least three,” and does not merely refer to a singular one. In addition, the terms “comprising/comprises,” “including/includes” and “having/has” as used in the claims are open languages and do not exclude unrecited elements. The term “or” generally covers “and/or”, unless otherwise specified. The terms “about” and “substantially” used throughout the specification and appended claims are used to describe and account for small fluctuations or slight changes that do not materially affect the nature of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the first embodiment according to the invention, which shows that a plate-shaped holder 1 comprises a plate-shaped body 10 made of resilient material. The term “resilient” as used herein may refer to a characteristic of material to be deformed without occurrence of substantial cracks and damages upon application of an external force and that substantially returns to its original dimensions upon release of the force. The material with suitable resiliency includes but is not limited to plastics, metals, and the like. In preferred embodiments, the resilient material may comprise metallic sheet material made of stainless steel, brass or zinc alloy. More preferably, the metallic sheet material may have a substantially constant thickness and a substantially rectangular cross-section, which may be made into the plate-shaped body by using metal die casting, forging and electroplating processes. The plate-shaped body is integrally formed, which means that it is processed from a single piece of sheet material.

According to the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the plate-shaped body 10 is generally a flat, hollow plate-shaped case which is bent multiple times. It extends from the first end portion 11 through a first folded section 12 and a second folded section 13 and is terminated at the second end portion 14, thus constituting a movable space 15. The first and second end portions 11, 14 are arranged to be superimposed in an upward-downward direction. Specifically, the plate-shaped body 10 starts from the first end portion 11 and extends integrally along a first upper flat plate section 16 to the first folded section 12. The first folded section 12 may be composed of two corners 121 and a side section 122 connecting the two corners 121. The first upper flat plate section 16 continues to extend sequentially through one of the corners 121, the side section 122 and the other of the corners 121 to a lower flat section 17 and then to the second folded section 13 composed of two corners 131 and a side section 132 connecting the two corners 131. Afterwards, the lower flat section 17 continues to extend sequentially through one of the corners 131, the side section 132 and the other of the corners 131 to a second upper flat section 18 and is then terminated at the second end portion 14. The first and the second upper flat sections 16, 18 are positioned above the lower flat section 17. In this embodiment, as shown, the plate-shaped body 10 is generally rectangular, and the movable space 15 is generally rectangular in cross-section.

According to the invention, at least one first holding groove 21 is formed between the first end portion 11 and the first folded portion 12, with an enlarged first insertion port 22 extending from one end of the first holding groove 21. The first insertion port 22 is located proximal to the first end portion 11, while the first holding groove 21 is formed on the first upper flat section 16 and extends from the first insertion port 22 towards the first folded section 12 and, in some cases, reaches the side section 122 of the first folded section 12. The first holding groove 21 extends in a longitudinal direction defined by the longitudinally extending first upper flat section 16. The second end portion 14 is arranged to locate at one side of and partially hinder the first insertion port 22, so that the first insertion port 22 can be triggered to open up and become accessible by applying an external force to separate the first end portion 11 and the second end portion 14 from each other.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the second end portion 14 is positioned beneath the first insertion port 22. When the user presses down on the second upper flat section 18, the corner 131 above the side section 132 acts as a pivot, and the second upper flat section 18 and the second end portion 14 are forced to move inwardly into the movable space 15, whereby the second end portion 14 is moved away from the first end portion 11, as shown in FIG. 3(A). As a result, the normally partially hindered first insertion port 22 becomes accessible and allows items such as keyrings, loops, bead chains and hooks to be inserted. It is worth noting that the first insertion port 22 may be configured in circular form, through which spherical items, such as bead chains and clips, can enter the first insertion port 22 and slide along the first holding groove 21 for hanging. When the external force is released from the second upper flat plate section 18, the second end portion 14 returns to its original position due to the resiliency of the plate-shaped body 10 and, therefore, partially hinders the first insertion port 22, as shown in FIG. 3(B). At this point, the first insertion port 22 is closed again, thus preventing the inserted items from falling out.

In a preferred embodiment of the plate-shaped holder 1, at least one second holding groove 23 is further formed between the second end portion 14 and the second folded section 13. According to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4, an enlarged second insertion port 24 extends from one end of the second holding groove 23, with the first end portion 11 being positioned above and partially hindering the second insertion port 24. The second insertion port 24 is located proximal to the second end portion 14, while the second holding groove 23 is formed on the second upper flat section 18 and extends from the second insertion port 24 towards the second folded section 13 and, in some cases, reaches the side section 132 of the second folded section 13.

In FIGS. 5(A)-(C), a bead chain 31 composed of multiple spherical beads 33 connected by short rods 32 is taken as an example to illustrate a process of operating the plate-shaped holder 1. As shown in FIG. 5(A), a user may first press the second upper flat section 18, so that the second upper flat section 18 and the second end portion 14 are forced to move inwardly into the movable space 15 in light of the corner 131 located above the side section 132 of the second folded section 13, which functions as a pivot, whereby the second end portion 14 is moved away from the first end portion 11. As a result, the normally partially hindered first insertion port 22 and second insertion port 24 are opened up and become accessible. At this moment, the end-most bead 33 located at one end of the bead chain 31 may be introduced into the first insertion port 22 as shown in FIG. 5(B), so that the short rod 32 can register with and slide into the first holding groove 21. The two beads 33 located on either side of the short rod 32 rest against the side walls of the first holding groove 21, allowing one end of the bead chain 31 to move along the first holding groove 21 without restriction. The end-most bead 33 located at the other end of the bead chain 31 may also be introduced into the second insertion port 24, so as to allow the other end of the bead chain 31 to be held by the second holding groove 23. As shown in FIG. 5(C), once the pressing force is released from the second upper flat section 18, the first end portion 11 and second end portion 14 return to their original positions where the two end portions are in contact with each other. As shown in FIG. 6, following the steps described above, the plate-shaped holder 1 can stably hold the bead chain 31 in place and may, if desired, carry additional items via the bead chain 31. When disassembly is desired, simply press down on the second upper flat section 18 and slide the short rods 32 of the bead chain 31 along the first and second holding grooves 21, 23 to remove the inserted beads 33 out of the first and second insertion ports 22 and 24, thereby disconnecting the bead chain 31 from the holder 1. The structural arrangement herein makes the holder 1 easy to attach or detach various items, providing convenient usability.

In FIGS. 7(A)-(C), a keyring 34 having a ring structure with a through hole 35 is taken as an example to illustrate an alternative process of operating the plate-shaped holder 1. In FIG. 7(A), a user may first press the second upper flat section 18, so that the second upper flat section 18 and the second end portion 14 are forced to move inwardly into the movable space 15 in light of the corner 131 located above the side section 132, which functions as a pivot. As a result, the first end portion 11 and the second end portion 14 are spaced, in part, from each other in the upward-downward direction to create a gap 25 for receiving insertion of the keyring 34. As shown in FIG. 7(B), the keyring 34 may be rotated, so that the through hole 35 thereof is brought to register with the first end portion 11 or the second end portion 14. For the purpose of illustration, the through hole 35 is shown in the drawing to register with the first end portion 11, and then the keyring 34 is sleeved onto the free end of the first end portion 14. As shown in FIG. 7(C), once the second upper flat section 18 is no longer subjected to an external force, the first end portion 11 and second end portion 14 return to their original positions where the two end portions are in contact with each other. As shown in FIG. 8, through the operating process above, the plate-shaped holder 1 can stably hold a lot of keyrings 34, loops or hooks 36, and additional items may be hung up subsequently through the keyrings 34, loops or hooks 36 which have already been held.

FIGS. 9(A)-(E) illustrate the third to sixth embodiments of the invention, showing certain variations of the invention. In these embodiments, the plate-shaped body 10 is similar in shape to the first and second embodiments and have a generally flat, hollow, plate-shaped case. Referring to FIGS. 9(A) and 9(B), the third and the fourth embodiments differ from the first and second the embodiments in having multiple first grooves 21 or multiple second grooves 23, which allows for further increased capacity for hanging items. Referring to FIGS. 9(C) and 9(D), the fifth embodiment differs from the first and the second embodiments in the shape of the plate-shaped body 10, which can be further modified into other shapes. In the fifth embodiment, the first and the second upper flat sections 16, 18, as well as the lower flat section 17, are configured in trapezoidal shape, and the first groove 21 may be arranged to extend laterally on the side portion 122. As shown in FIG. 9(D), the first groove 21 may have an end portion shaped like a “T.” Referring to FIG. 9(E), the sixth embodiment differs the first embodiment in that the second end portion 14 is located above the first insertion port 22. Therefore, the user can directly press the first upper flat section 16 to force the first upper flat section 16 and the first end portion 11 to move inwards into the movable space 15, causing the first end portion 11 to move away from the second end portion 14, thereby enabling the normally hindered first insertion port 22 to open. Additionally, the first holding groove 21 may extend from the first folded section 12 to the lower flat section 17 and may further extend to the second folded section 13.

Furthermore, in the first to the fifth embodiments, the first upper flat section 16 has a shorter length compared to the second upper flat section 18, as shown in FIG. 4, thereby facilitating the pressing operation by the user. In addition, an inclined surface 181 may be formed between the second end portion 14 and the second upper flat section 18, so that the first upper flat section 16 and the second upper flat section 18 appear to be coplanar.

While the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments above, it should be recognized that the preferred embodiments are given for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention and that various modifications and changes, which will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art, may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.