Claims:We Claim:
1. A storage box (100) for a vehicle interior comprising:
a housing (10) defining a storage space (20),
a lid (30) mounted on the housing (10), the lid is movable between a close position (75) and an open position (175) for closing and opening the storage space (20) of the housing (10), characterized in that
the lid (30) has a carrier part (40), movably mounted thereon
wherein the carrier part (40) is movable between a retracted position (250) within the lid (30), and a deployed position (350) away from the lid (30), for receiving an article(s) therein, in both the close position (75) and the open position (175) of the lid (30).

2. The storage box (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the retracted position (250), the carrier part (40) is in a same plane of the lid (30) and the carrier part (40) moves vertically downwards below the lid (30) when in the deployed position (350).

3. The storage box (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the carrier part (40) in the deployed position (350) forms a base part to retain and hold articles thereon.

4. The storage box (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the carrier part (40) is movably connected to the lid (30) by an extending member (35)
5. The storage box (100) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the extending member (35) is a rollable member which is rolled on a spring loaded roller (45).

6. The storage box (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the article is placed on the carrier part (40) of the lid (30) the carrier part (40) automatically moves to the deployed position (350) to receive and retain the article(s) therein.

7. The storage box (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lid (30) is generally in horizontal position in both the close position (75) and the open position (175) such that the extending member (35) can be rolled down to configure the deployed position (175) of the carrier part (40) for receiving an article therein.

8. The storage box (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lid (30) is movably connected to the housing (10) by a pivotable leg (150) to rotate away the lid (30) from the housing (10) at the open position (175) to a predefined height higher than the close position (75) of the lid (30) and also maintaining the lid (30) substantially horizonal so that it can receive and retain the article(s) therein.

9. The storage box (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the storage box (100) is a portion of central console (1000) of the vehicle interior.

10. The storage box (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the carrier part (40) is of a round shape to receive a cup-shape article(s) like cup(s) or bottle(s) thereon.
, Description:Field of the Invention

[0001] The present invention relates to a storage box for a vehicle interior. More specifically, the present invention relates to an arrangement for using a portion of a lid of the storage box for receiving and / or retaining articles such as a beverage container therein.

Background of the Invention

[0002] Some existing storage box of a vehicle interior is provided with a lid to cover a housing of the storage box. These storage box lid has a separate tray for holding article(s) such as a beverage container like a cup or a bottle. Construction elements for these tray holding arrangements are cumbersome and may consume more space inside the storage box. These tray holding arrangements also includes additional number of constructive elements therein.

[0003] Therefore, there is a need for a simple lid construction for a storage box, which overcomes the problems of the prior art.

Objects of the Invention

[0004] An object of the present invention is to propose a storage box which overcomes the drawback explained above.
[0005] Another object of the present invention is to provide an easy to use and easy to operate storage box with an article such as a beverage container holding arrangement with minimum additional components add-on.

[0006] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a structurally simple means of receiving cup on a lid portion of the storage box.

[0007] One more object of the present invention is to accommodate the cup on the lid portion of the storage box semi-automatically.

Summary of the invention

[0008] According to the present invention, a storage box for a vehicle interior in accordance with the present invention is provided. The storage box includes a housing defining a storage space which is covered by a lid. The lid is movable from a close position to an open position for closing and opening the storage space of the housing. The lid has a carrier part which is movably mounted on the lid. The carrier part is movable between a retracted position within the lid, and a deployed position away from the lid for receiving an article(s) such as a beverage container therein in both the close position and the open position of the lid. Multiple number of carrier part can be arranged on the lid.

[0009] The carrier part can be in a same plane of the lid when it is in the retracted position and the carrier part is at a lower height below the lid when in the deployed position forming a base part to receive article thereon. When the carrier part is moved to the deployed position a cavity is formed on the lid to receive and retain the article(s) therein.

[0010] The carrier part is movably connected to the lid by an extending member. In this embodiment, the extending member is a rollable member which is rolled on a spring-loaded roller. When the article is placed on the carrier part of the lid the carrier part may automatically moves to the deployed position to receive and retain the article(s) therein due to the self-weight of the article(s) placed thereon. The spring-loaded roller can be actuated by an electric motor to move the rollable member between the retracted position to deployed position.

[0011] The lid is generally in horizontal position in both the close position and the open position such that the rollable member can be rolled down to configure the deployed position of the carrier part in both the close position and the open position of the lid for receiving an article therein.

[0012] The lid is movably connected to the housing by a pivotable leg to rotate away the lid from the housing at the open position to a predefined height higher than the close position of the lid and maintaining the lid substantially horizontal so that the lid can receive and retain the article such as beverage container therein in both the close position and the open position of the lid.

[0013] The storage box can be a portion of a central console of the vehicle interior. The carrier part can be of a round shape to receive a cup-shape article(s) like cup or bottle therein.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014] Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent when reading the detailed description given below, purely by way of example and in a non-limitative manner, referring to the following figures:

[0015] Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a storage box for a vehicle in the close position in accordance with the present invention;

[0016] Figure 2 shows another perspective view of a storage box for a vehicle in an open position in accordance with the present invention;

[0017] Figure 3 shows perspective view of a storage box in a close position and a portion of a lid in a deployed position for receiving articles therein in accordance with the present invention;

[0018] Figure 4 shows perspective view of a storage box in an open position and a portion of a lid in a deployed position for receiving articles therein in accordance with the present invention;

[0019] Figure 5 shows cross-sectional view of a storage box in a close position in accordance with the present invention;

[0020] Figure 6a shows cross-sectional view of a storage box in a close position and a portion of a lid in a deployed position for receiving articles therein in accordance with the present invention,

[0021] Figure 6b shows cross-sectional view of a storage box in an open position and a portion of a lid in a deployed position for receiving articles therein in accordance with the present invention,

[0022] Figure 7a shows perspective view of a storage box in a close position arranged on a central console of the vehicle interior in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention, and

[0023] Figure 7b shows perspective view of a storage box in an open position and a portion of a lid in a deployed position arranged on a central console of the vehicle interior in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention.
Detailed Description of the Invention

[0024] An embodiment of this invention, illustrating its features, will now be described in detail. The words "comprising, "having, "containing," and "including," and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items.

[0025] The terms “first,” “second,” and the like, herein do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another, and the terms “an” and “a” herein do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item.

[0026] The disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms.

[0027] Referring now to figures 1 and 2, a storage box (100) for a vehicle interior in accordance with the present invention is illustrated. In the present embodiment, the storage box (100) is placed on a floor (not shown) of the vehicle interior. The storage box (100) has a lid (30) covering a storage space (20) of a housing (10). The lid (30) is pivotable about a pivot axis (11) between a close position (75) and an open position (175) to close and to open the storage space (20) of the housing (10) of the storage box (100). In the present embodiment, the lid (30) is connected to the housing by a pivotable leg (150) such that in the open position (175) the lid is at higher position than that of the close position (75) of the lid (30) (refer figure 2 or 7b). The height of the lid (30) depends of the length of the pivotable leg (150) and can be maintained as desired or a telescopic configuration (not shown) of the pivotable leg (150) can be used to adjust the height of the lid (30) in the open position (175) as desired by a user.

[0028] Referring to figures 3 to 5, the lid (30) has a carrier part (40), which is movably mounted on the lid (30). In the present embodiment, two numbers of carrier part (40) are shown in figures, depending of desirability more numbers of carrier parts can be arranged on the lid (30). The carrier part (40) is movable between a retracted position (250) within the lid (30), and a deployed position (350) away from the lid (30) for receiving an article(s) such as beverage container therein in both the close position (75) and the open position (175) of the lid (30) (as shown in figures 3 and 4 respectively). When the carrier part (40) is moved to the deployed position (350) a cavity (31) is formed on the lid (30) and the carrier part (40) forms a base part of the cavity (31) to receive and retain the article(s) therein (as shown in figures 3 and 4).

[0029] In the present embodiment, the carrier part (40) is supported on an extending member (35). The movement of the carrier part (40) vertically downwards along the extending member (35) forms the cavity (31) in the deployed position for holding the articles. In this embodiment, the extending member (35) is a rollable member. A spring-loaded roller (45) is arranged at an inner surface of the lid (30) (as shown in figure 5) with the rollable member which one end is movably fixed to the carrier part (40). Upon putting an article on the carrier portion the rollable member can be unrolled from the spring loaded roller (45) manually by the user or due to self-weight of the article to receive and retain the article therein. In an alternative arrangement (not shown) a rotating rigid arm(s) can also be adapted to move the carrier part (40) from the retracted position (250) to the deployed position (350).

[0030] Referring to figure 2, 4, 6b or 7b, the lid (30) is movably connected to the housing (10) by a pivotable leg (150) to rotate away the lid (30) from the housing (10) (around the pivot axis (11)), to the open position (175) to a predefined height higher than the close position (175) of the lid (30) and also maintaining the lid (30) substantially horizonal so that it can receive and retain the article(s) therein. Particularly, one end of the pivotable leg (150) is pivotably connected to an inner surface of the housing (10) within a bracket (25) and the other end of the pivotable leg (150) is fixedly connected to the inner surface of the lid (30) (as shown in figure 6a and 6b).

[0031] In a second embodiment of the present invention as shown in figure 7a, 7b, a storage box (100) is a portion of central console (1000) of the vehicle interior. The carrier part (40) is of a round shape to receive a cup-shape article(s) like cup(s) or bottle(s) thereon.

[0032] Therefore, the present invention has an advantage of providing a storage box (100) with a lid construction for placing articles therein without required additional separate tray like holding arrangements. The storage box 100 is having a simple and compact lid (30) body construction for receiving and retaining the articles such as a beverage container therein.

[0033] The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the present invention and its practical application, and to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the present invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is understood that various omissions and substitutions of equivalents are contemplated as circumstances may suggest or render expedient, but such omissions and substitutions are intended to cover the application or implementation without departing from the scope of the claims of the present invention.