Compartment box

Application filed February 4, 1929. Serial No. 337,214.

The present invention relates to compartment boxes or receptacles which may be employed for holding various kinds of articles. As an instance of a use to which the β box of the present invention may be advantageously applied, reference may be had to the holding of various forms of lure, such as dry flies. The fisherman may carry his dry flies and similar forms of lure within the 10 box with the assurance that the various flies will not become tangled, while at the same time, the selection of the desired fly may be readily made, and the flies are easily accessible. Obviously, however, the box is adapt15 ed to other uses.

An aim of the invention is to provide an improved structure of compartment boxes admittedly of economical and easy production.

The purpose of this invention is to provide a box or tray which may be made of a one-piece drawn shell of cup shape open at its top, and in which may be easily set a onepiece spider to divide the shell into compart²³ ments between the arms of the spider. The shell may have a transparent cover, seated on the spider and held in place by a slight turning inwardly of the upper edge of the shell, and the cover may have an opening admit30 ting access to the compartments one at a time by turning the cover, the opening being closed by a slide or the like carried on the cover.

Another object of the invention is to pro³⁵ vide a box of this character which has few parts capable of quick and easy assembly, and a box which is strong and durable and capable of rough handling and¹ shipment.

₄₀ The above, and various other objects and advantages of this invention will in part be described in, and in part be understood from, the following detailed description of the present preferred embodiment, the same be45 ing illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a compartment box constructed according to the present invention, and co Figure 2 is a transverse section taken through the compartment box substantially on the line 2—2 of Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings, the body of the box comprises a drawn shell of metal or the like providing a bottom 10 with an up- 55 standing integral side wall 11. The side wall 11 is of desired height depending upon the depth of the box desired, and the upper edge portion of the side wall 11 is turned inwardly to a slight distance to provide a rela- cy tively shallow flange 12.

This shell or casing is divided into a plurality of compartments by a spider 13 from the hub portion of which radiate a plurality of arms 14 providing partitions between cj which separate or individual compartments are formed. The spider 13 with its arms 14 are of a height slightly less than that of the plane of the flange 12, as shown in Figure 2, and the arms 14 may be in any desired num- i 0 ber according to the number of compartments desired within practical limitations in the body portion or shell. The spider 13 with its arms 14 may be made of a solid piece of metal which admits of casting or other- 'it> wise economically and easily constructing the spider, and which admits of the quick and easy assemblage of the spidei· within the shell. As the spider 13 and arms 14 are in one piece, a rigid and substantial structure is su provided and the arms or partitions 14. can not easily be broken, bent or otherwise disarranged.

The top of the body of the box is closed by a transparent disk 15. The disk 15 may 85 be of celluloid or the like to prevent breakage to the disk and admit of the easy handling and the economical manufacture and assembling of the same in the shell. The disk 15 is of sufficient diameter to extend at its 90 outer edge portion beneath the flange 12 a distance sufficient to retain the disk 15 on the upper face of the spider 13. The. disk 15 is fitted sufficiently loose within the side wall 11 of the shell to admit of the easy turning S5 · of the disk by sliding the same around on the upper face of the spider 13. Near one side of the box, the disk 15 is provided with an opening 16 which is of suitable size to admit of easy access through the opening

1,817,668 to one or more of the compartments in the body of the box, and by turning the disk 15 the opening 16 is brought into register with any one or more' of the compartments _e desired.

In order to exclude dust from the body of the box, and to retain articles in the compartments, the cover 15 may be provided with a slide or shutter 17 which is preferably ₁₀ in the form of a flat transparent leaf of celluloid or the like of sufficient size to close and overlap the opening 16 when moved into position over the opening. The slide 17 is pre.fi'cably pivotally mounted upon a bolt ₁₅ 18 secured through the central portion of the disk 15 and through the inner end of the slide 17 by a clamping nut 19 which bears against the under side of the disk 15, and preferably registers with the central opening 20 20 in the hub of the spider 13. The opening 20 merely accommodates the nut 19 so that the disk 15 may lie closely against the upper face of the spider 13. The upper edges of the arms 14 of the spider lie preferably in 25 the same plane as the. hub portion of the spider so that the disk 15 may readily seal or close the various compartments in the body of the box, one from the other. A tension spring 21 may be seated beneath the head. 30 of the bolt 18 and engages the upper face of the slide 17 to yieldingly hold it in close engagement with the upper face of the disk 15.

From the above it will be readily seen that 35 this invention provides a box or tray having a plurality of radially disposed compartments adapted to contain in separate groups quantities of small articles, and that the contents of the compartments are visible at all co times so that the workman or user may readily observe at a glance the relative number and kind of articles which are contained in the compartments. Further, when it is desired to remove one or more articles from ω the compartments, it is only necessary to move the slide 17 to to one side so as to uncover the opening 16. The user then places the thumb or finger against the edge of the opening 16 and moves the disk 15 around on 50 top of the spider 13 until the opening 16 is brought into register with the desired compartment.

The body portion or casing of the box may be constructed of a drawn shell which is intee5 gral and which is a great improvement from the standpoint of manufacture and durability over such structures where the side walls, partitions,’bottom and other parts are made separately and soldered or otherwise united. «'J Also, the partitions disposed in the shell may all be made of a single solid piece of metal which is cast or otherwise constructed to provide the hub and arm portions which constitute the spider or partition member 13, ^C5 and this spider may be quickly and easily in serted in the shell to rest on the bottom thereof and to support the transparent disk which is fitted to the upper face of the spider or partition member and held in place by the slight intumed flanges 12 of the upper wall of the shell or body of the box.

Another importment feature in the structure of the box is that the transparent disk 15 has a loop fixed within the shell so that, the outer edge portion of the disk 15 only lightly fits beneath.the flange 12. This permits the disk 15 to be turned so as to bring the opening 16 into register with the desired, compartment, and at the same time, admits of slight variations or inequalities in the stamping, the expansion and contraction or the like of the disk 15 and of the drawn shell.

It is of course understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction of design of the .above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claims.