US20070158222A1 - Toolbox for holding power hand tool and accessories thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A toolbox includes a housing and a holder base. The housing has a top retaining recess for the positioning of a power hand tool, and a receiving space. The holder base is detachably coupled to the housing for holding accessories to be used with the power hand tool positionable in the top retaining recess in the receiving space of the housing. A battery charger is mounted in the housing and has two conductive terminals located at the top retaining recess of the housing for charging the power hand tool that is positioned in the top retaining recess.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
• 1. Field of the Invention
• The present invention relates to power hand tools and more specifically, to a toolbox for holding a power hand tool and its accessories.
• 2. Description of the Related Art
• Regular electricity-powered hand tools include two types, namely, the battery-operated hand tools (mobile power hand tools) and the city power-operated hand tools. Following the development of Do-It-Yourself industry, battery-operated hand tools are widely accepted by consumers.
• An electricity-powered hand tool may be used with different tool accessories, such as different sizes of adapters and different sizes of screwdriver and/or drill bits. It is necessary to use a box to carry these tool accessories. Therefore, a consumer needs to buy different tool accessories and a toolbox when purchasing an electricity-powered hand tool.
• Further, when the battery power of a battery-operated hand tool is low, the user must use a specific battery charger to charge the battery of the hand tool. Therefore, when buying a battery-operated hand tool, the consumer shall also have to buy a battery charger.
• It is expensive to prepare a power hand tool, a battery charger and a set of tool accessories respectively. Further, it is inconvenient to carry the prepared power hand tool with the related battery charger and tool accessories.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
• The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a toolbox, which accommodates a power hand tool as well as the related tool accessories.
• It is another object of the present invention to provide a toolbox, which accommodates a battery-operated hand tool and the related tool accessories and can simultaneously charge the battery of the storage battery-operated hand tool.
• To achieve these objects of the present invention, the toolbox comprises a housing and a holder base. The housing has a top retaining recess for the positioning of a power hand tool, and a receiving space. The holder base is detachably coupled to the housing for holding accessories to be used with the power hand tool positionable in the top retaining recess in the receiving space of the housing. A battery charger can be provided and mounted in the housing. The battery charger has two conductive terminals located at the top retaining recess of the housing for charging the power hand tool that is positioned in the top retaining recess.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a toolbox according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the toolbox according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing showing a status of use of the toolbox according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a toolbox according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
• As shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, atoolbox100 in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises ahousing10, abattery charger20, and aholder base30.
• Thehousing10 comprises atop cover shell11 and abottom shell12. Thetop cover shell11 has atop retaining recess111 adapted to positively accommodate a power hand tool such as a battery-operated hand tool, a plurality of receivinggrooves114 respectively formed in the two opposite lateral sidewalls, aninside chamber115, two throughholes112 formed in the top wall and disposed in communication between thetop retaining recess111 and theinside chamber115, a bottom opening116 in communication with theinside chamber115 and the outside space, abottom coupling groove117 extending around the bottom opening116, and ahook hole113 formed in the inside wall at one end near the bottom opening116. Thetop retaining recess111 has a profile fitting the profile of the power hand tool to be positioned therein.
• Thebottom shell12 has aperipheral coupling flange124 for fastening to thebottom coupling groove117 of thetop cover shell11, ahook121 disposed at one end for hooking in thehook hole113 of thetop cover shell11, twocoupling holes122 disposed near the two distal ends, two rows of vertically extendingrecessed bottom grooves125 and a rectangularbottom receiving chamber126. Thebottom grooves125 and thebottom receiving chamber126 are respectively formed by recesses that are respectively upwardly recessed from a bottom of thebottom shell12, such that thebottom grooves125 and the bottomreceiving chamber126 define a receiving space at the bottom side of thebottom shell12 and a plurality oftop protrusions123 at the top side of thebottom shell12.
• Thetop cover shell11 is fastened to and covered on thebottom shell12 to force thehook121 and theperipheral coupling flange124 of thebottom shell12 into engagement with thehook hole113 andbottom coupling groove117 of thetop cover shell11. At this time, thebottom shell12 blocks the bottom opening116 of thetop cover shell11, and thetop protrusions123 of thebottoms hell12 are received in theinside chamber115 of thetop cover shell11.
• Thebattery charger20 is adapted to charge the battery of a battery-operated hand tool that is positioned in thetop retaining recess111 of thetop cover shell11. Thebattery charger20 comprises acharging circuit board22 and two parallelconductive terminals21 respectively electrically connected to thecircuit board22. Thebattery charger20 is fixedly mounted on the top side of thebottom shell12. When thetop cover shell11 and thebottoms hell12 are fastened together, thebattery charger20 is received in theinside chamber115 of thetop cover shell11, and the twoconductive terminals21 of thebattery charger20 extend through the throughholes112 of thetop cover shell11 and are exposed in thetop retaining recess111.
• Theholder base30 comprises aspring hook31 and acoupling tongue33 disposed at the two distal ends corresponding to thecoupling holes122 of thebottoms hell12, and a plurality oftop receiving holes32 and receivingportions34 for holding different tool accessories such asadapters35 andbits36. Thespring hook31 and thecoupling tongue33 are respectively forced into engagement with thecoupling holes122 of thebottoms hell12 to secure theholder base30 to the bottom side of thebottoms hell12, keeping thestorage adapters35 andbits36 be received in therectangular bottom chamber126 and therecessed bottom grooves125 of thebottom shell12.
• Referring toFIG. 3, thetoolbox100 can carry a battery-operated hand tool A in thetop retaining recess111 of thetop cover shell11 of thehousing10. After insertion of the battery-operated hand tool A into thetop retaining recess111 of thetop cover shell11 of thehousing10, the charging terminals of the battery (not shown) of the battery-operated hand tool A are kept electrically connected to theconductive terminals21 of thebattery charger20, and therefore the battery of the battery-operated hand tool A is charged by thebattery charger20. Further, thetoolbox100 can also receivedifferent adapters35 andbits36. When wishing to use theadapters35 and/or thebits36, the user can easily detach theholder base30 from thebottom shell12 of thehousing10 by disengaging thespring hook31 from therespective coupling hole122.
• FIG. 4 shows atoolbox200 constructed according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. According to this embodiment, thetoolbox200 is comprised of ahousing40, a battery charger (not shown), and aholder base50. The structure of thetoolbox200 is substantially similar to the aforesaid first preferred embodiment with the exception of the following features.
• Theholder base50 has one end pivotally coupled to thehousing40. Therefore, theholder base50 can be turned in and out of thereceiving space41 of thehousing40. Further, theholder base50 has ahook51 disposed at the free end for hooking in an inside wall of the housing to hold theholder base50 in the close position.
• Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.

Claims (8)

1. A toolbox for holding a power hand tool and accessories thereof, the toolbox comprising:

a housing having a top retaining recess for the positioning of a power hand tool, and a receiving space; and

a holder base coupled to said housing for holding accessories to be used with the power hand tool positionable in said top retaining recess in said receiving space of said housing.

2. The toolbox as claimed inclaim 1, further comprising a battery charger mounted in said housing and provided with two conductive terminals located at said top retaining recess of said housing for charging the power hand tool that is positioned in said top retaining recess.

3. The toolbox as claimed inclaim 2, wherein said housing comprises two through holes disposed in communication between said top retaining recess and an inside of said housing; said battery charger comprises a charging circuit board and said two conductive terminals respectively electrically connected to said charging circuit board; wherein said two conductive terminals respectively extend through the two through holes of said housing into said top retaining recess.

4. The toolbox as claimed inclaim 1, wherein said housing comprises two coupling holes; said holder base comprises a spring hook and a coupling tongue respectively fastened to the coupling holes of said housing.

5. The toolbox as claimed inclaim 1, wherein said top retaining recess has a profile fitting the profile of the power hand tool to be positioned in said top retaining recess.

6. The toolbox as claimed inclaim 1, wherein said housing comprises a top cover shell and a bottom shell detachably coupled to said top cover shell;

wherein said top cover shell has an inside chamber, a bottom opening in communication with said inside chamber, a bottom coupling groove extending around said bottom opening, and a hook hole disposed at one end thereof near said bottom opening;

wherein said bottom shell has a peripheral coupling flange engaged with said bottom coupling groove of said top cover shell, and a hook hooked in said hook hole of said top cover shell such that the bottom opening of said top cover shell is covered by said bottom shell.

7. The toolbox as claimed inclaim 6, wherein said receiving space is recessed upwardly from a bottom of said bottom shell such that a plurality of protrusions are formed at a top side of said bottom shell; wherein the protrusions of said bottom shell are located in the inside chamber of said top cover shell when said top cover shell and said bottom shell are coupled together.

8. The toolbox as claimed inclaim 1, wherein said holder base has an end pivotally fastened to said housing, and a hook for hooking in a part inside said housing to detachably lock said holder base to said housing.

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