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US 12,722,850 B2Granted
Stackable bin and method of stacking the same
AssigneeCreative Plastic Concepts, LLC
InventorMatt Shute
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a first storage bin having a main body with a base wall, side walls, a rear wall, and a front wall defining an open top, a partly open front, and a rim with built-in handles. Each side wall has an inner surface with a platform and an outer surface with a channel. The platform has a stacking surface adjacent to the rim. The bin also includes a movable handle attached to the rim, which is movably connected to the main body. The flip handle can be in an opened position, allowing stacking of the first storage bin with a second storage bin, or in a closed position, allowing nesting of the first storage bin with the second storage bin, without any lateral offset between the first and second storage bins so that there is no lean in either the stacked or nested arrangements.
Claims20
A first storage bin, comprising:
- a main body with a base wall, a first side wall, a second side wall opposite the first side wall, a rear wall, a front wall and a rim, the main body having an open top and a partly open front, the rim being on the side walls and the rear wall, each of the first and second side walls having an inner surface and an outer surface, a platform formed on the inner surface of each of the side walls, and a channel formed on the outer surface of each of the first and second side walls opposite the platform;
- a first movable handle attached to the main body adjacent the first side wall;
- a second movable handle attached to the main body adjacent the second side wall;
- each of the first and second movable handles being connected to the main body and movable between an opened position and a closed position, the movable handles in the opened position permitting a stacked arrangement of the first storage bin with a second storage bin identical to the first storage bin, the movable handles in the closed position permitting a nested arrangement of the first storage bin with the second storage bin, with both the stacked arrangement and the nested arrangement permitted without a lateral offset between the first storage bin and the second storage bin;
- the base wall having a first base locking element and a second base locking element, the first movable handle having a first handle locking element, the second movable handle have a second handle locking element,
- the first and second base locking elements and the first and second handle locking elements being arranged and configured such that when the first storage bin is stacked atop the second storage bin, the first storage bin is movable relative to the second storage bin between a locked position and an unlocked position, the unlocked position being a position in which the first storage bin can be lifted off the second storage bin, the locked position being a position in which the first base locking element of the first storage bin inter-engages the first handle locking element of the second storage bin and the second base locking element of the first storage bin inter-engages the second handle locking element of the second storage bin to prevent the first storage bin from being lifted from the second storage bin.
3 more elements
A pair of storage bins, comprising:
- a first storage bin and a second storage bin,
- the first storage bin having a main body with a base wall having a first base locking element and a second base locking element
- the second storage bin comprising a main body, a first movable handle and a second movable handle, the main body having a first side wall and a second side wall, the first movable handle being attached to the main body adjacent the first side wall, the first movable handle having a first handle locking element, the second movable handle attached to the main body adjacent the second side wall, the second movable having a second handle locking element,
- each of the first and second movable handles being connected to the main body of the second storage bin and movable between an opened position and a closed position, the movable handles in the opened position permitting a stacked arrangement of the first storage bin atop the second storage bin, the movable handles in the closed position permitting a nested arrangement of the first storage bin within the second storage bin, with both the stacked arrangement and the nested arrangement permitted without a lateral offset between the first storage bin and the second storage bin;
- wherein the first storage bin is configured to be placed in a stacked arrangement on the second storage bin, wherein in the stacked arrangement, the first and second base locking elements and the first and second handle locking elements are arranged and configured such that the first storage bin is movable relative to the second storage bin between a locked position and an unlocked position, the unlocked position being a position in which the first storage bin can be lifted off the second storage bin, the locked position being a position in which the first base locking element inter-engages the first handle locking element and the second base locking element inter-engages the second handle locking element to prevent the first storage bin from being lifted from the second storage bin.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.