DESC:STORAGE BOX

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

[001] The present invention relates to storage box and, more particularly, to tamper resistant storage box of a vehicle.
BACKGROUND

[002] Typically, in the storage box of a vehicle, a lid which is openable and closable is provided. The storage box has a lock system, where the lock system includes a locking lever provided from inner side of the lid of the storage box and a corresponding slot provision is provided on the body of the storage box. The locking lever is rotated and engaged with the corresponding slot by means of a lock key. Even though the locking system is provided for the storage box, the storage box is prone to tampering, particularly, where the lid or both the storage box and lid are made of flexible material such as resin material. In the locked state of the storage box, an unauthorised person can pull the lid, so that the locking lever of the lid shifts out of the slot and disengages from the storage box, to open the lid.
[003] Hence, it would be advantageous to provide storage box and lid configurations that may not be tampered with by unauthorized persons for example, by making lateral movement of the lid against the storage box or by pulling the lid.

SUMMARY

[004] An objective of the present invention is to provide a storage box in a two-wheeled vehicle. In an embodiment, the storage box includes a storage body, a lid, a lock assembly, and a rib structure. One side of the storage body includes an opening. The storage body also includes a flange portion and the flange portion includes one or more locking slots. The lid is swingably coupled to the storage body to assume an open position and a closed position of the lid. The lid covers the opening to achieve the closed position of the lid. The lock assembly is mounted to the lid and the lock assembly includes a locking claw. In a locked state of the lock assembly, the locking claw is engaged with the one or more locking slots. The rib structure is disposed on an inner surface of the lid facing the opening such that in the locked state, the rib structure overlaps with a side portion of the flange portion to prevent a lateral movement of the lid.
[005] In an embodiment, the one or more locking slots have a stepped slot structure comprising a first slot and a second slot, where a dimension of the first slot is greater than the second slot. In the closed position of the lid, the locking claw is engaged with the first slot and in the locked position of the lock assembly, the locking claw is engaged with the second slot.
[006] In an embodiment, the lid comprises a mounting hole for mounting the lock assembly. In an embodiment, the rib structure is disposed on the inner surface of the lid facing the opening, at an offset position to the mounting hole such that in the locked state, the rib structure overlaps a side portion of the flange portion towards the second slot.
[007] In an embodiment, the storage body comprises one or more first hinge provisions and the lid comprises one or more second hinge provisions for swingably coupling the lid with the storage body.
[008] In an embodiment, a rear side of the storage body is formed by an inner body cover of the two-wheeled vehicle.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[009] The invention itself, together with further features and attended advantages, will become apparent from consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. One or more embodiments of the present invention are now described, by way of example only wherein like reference numerals represent like elements and in which:
[0010] Figure 1 depicts a two-wheeled vehicle having a storage box, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0011] Figure 2 depicts an exploded view of the storage box of the two-wheeled vehicle, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0012] Figure 3 illustrates a rear side view of a lid of a storage body, according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0013] Figure 4A illustrates a rear isometric view of the storage body with the lid closed on the storage body, according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0014] Figure 4B illustrates an enlarged view of the portion ‘A’ of the Figure 4A, according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0015] Figure 4C illustrates a stepped slot structure provided on the flange portion of the storage body, according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0016] Figure 5A illustrates a rear isometric view of the storage body with the lid closed on the storage body with lock assembly, according to an embodiment of the invention; and
[0017] Figure 5B illustrates an enlarged view of the portion ‘B’ of the Figure 5A, according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0018] The drawings referred to in this description are not to be understood as being drawn to scale except if specifically noted, and such drawings are only exemplary in nature.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiment thereof has been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in below. It should be understood, however that it is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the spirit and the scope of the invention.
[0020] The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, device or method that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or apparatus.
[0021] The terms “vehicle”, “two-wheeled vehicle” and “motorcycle” have been interchangeably used throughout the description. The term “two-wheeled vehicle” includes vehicles such as motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, mopeds, scooter type vehicle, all terrain vehicles (ATV) and the like.
[0022] Figure 1 illustrates a two-wheeled vehicle having a storage box, according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a storage box (101) includes a storage body (102), a lid (104), a lock assembly (108), and a rib structure (112). In an embodiment, the storage body (102) is a box shaped structure having an opening (120) provided on one side (e.g., front side), and a rear side is formed by the inner body cover (106) of the two-wheeled vehicle (100). The opening (120) is covered with the lid (104) swingably coupled with the storage body (102). The lid (104) includes a hinge extending from a lower end section thereof. The lid (104) is mounted longitudinally and swingably on a hinge bracket of the storage body (102). The lock assembly (108) is mounted to the lid (104) through a mounting hole (110) and the lid (104) is adapted to be locked in the storage body (102) by the lock assembly (108) using a lock key. A locking provision, for example, one or more locking slots (116) in the form of a stepped slot structure is provided on a flange portion (114) of the storage body (102) at a position corresponding to the lock assembly (108) of the lid (104). Hereinafter the one or more locking slots (116) are also referred to as ‘stepped slot structure (116)’. The stepped slot structure (116) includes a first slot (122) and a second slot (124). The first slot (122) and the second slot (124) are contiguous and form the stepped slot structure (116). The dimension of first slot (122) is greater than the second slot (124).The storage body (102) includes one or more first hinge provisions (126) and the lid (104) includes one or more second hinge provisions (128) for swingably connecting the lid (104) with the storage body (102).
[0023] The lock assembly (108) includes a locking claw (118) extending towards the opening (120) of the storage body (102) from the lid (104), and when the lid (104) is rotated to close the opening (120) of the storage body (102), the locking claw (118) engages with the stepped slot structure (116) provided on the storage body. When the lid (104) is closed on the storage body (102), the locking claw (118) enters into the first slot (122) and the lid (104) is locked on the storage body (102) by turning the locking claw (118) in the clockwise direction by the lock key such that the locking claw (118) engages with the second slot (124) and is locked to prevent the inversion, thus keeping the locking claw (118) from coming out.
[0024] As shown in Figure 3, a rib structure (112) is disposed on (e.g., raised on) the inner surface (105) of the lid (104) at a position close to the mounting hole (110). Referring jointly now to Figures 4A, 4B, 4C and 5A and 5B, in the locked state, the rib structure (112) overlaps with a side portion (115) of the flange portion (114) to prevent a lateral movement of the lid (104). For example, the rib structure (112) is configured on the inner surface (105) is such that it is juxtaposed against the side portion (115) of the flange portion (114) towards the second slot (124) of the stepped slot structure (116). Hence, in the locked state, the rib structure (112) prevents the lateral movement of the lid (104) on the storage body (102), particularly in the lateral direction from the first slot (122) to the second slot (124). The rib structure (112) is configured with sufficient rigidity so as to prevent the lateral movement of the lid (104) on the storage body (102).
[0025] As the rib structure (112) provided on the lid (104) prevents any lateral movement (e.g., a movement in direction from the first slot (122) to the second slot (124)) of the lid (104) on the storage body (102), therefore there is no chance that the locking claw (118) of the lock assembly (108) moves into the first slot (122) of the stepped slot structure (116) and comes out of the first slot (122) to open the lid (104). It will be appreciated that the storage box (101) provided in the present invention has a locking mechanism (e.g., combination of the lid (104), the lock assembly (108) and the rib structure (112)) that precludes any lateral movement of the lid (102) in the locked state, hence the storage box (101) may not be tampered with by unauthorized persons.
[0026] While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the particular features of this invention, it will be appreciated that various modifications can be made, and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the invention. These and other modifications in the nature of the invention or the preferred embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.

CLAIMS:
We claim:
1. A storage box (101) in a two-wheeled vehicle (100), the storage box (101) comprising:
a storage body (102), wherein one side of the storage body (102) comprises an opening (120), the storage body (102) comprising a flange portion (114) comprising one or more locking slots (116) configured therein;
a lid (104) swingably coupled to the storage body (102) to assume an open position and a closed position of the lid (104), the lid (104) configured to cover the opening (120) in the closed position of the lid (104);
a lock assembly (108) mounted to the lid (104), the lock assembly (108) comprising a locking claw (118), wherein in a locked state of the lock assembly (108), the locking claw (118) is engaged with the one or more locking slots (116); and
a rib structure (112) disposed on an inner surface (105) of the lid (104) facing the opening (120) such that in the locked state, the rib structure (112) overlaps with a side portion (115) of the flange portion (114) to prevent a lateral movement of the lid (104).

2. The storage box (101) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more locking slots (116) have a stepped slot structure comprising a first slot (122) and a second slot (124).

3. The storage box (101) as claimed in claim 2, wherein a dimension of the first slot (122) is greater than a dimension of the second slot (124).

4. The storage box (101) as claimed in claims 2 or 3, wherein in the closed position of the lid (104), the locking claw (118) is engaged with the first slot (122) and in the locked position of the lock assembly (108), the locking claw (118) is engaged with the second slot (124).

5. The storage box (101) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the lid (104) comprises a mounting hole (110) for mounting the lock assembly (108).

6. The storage box (101) as claimed in claim 5, wherein the rib structure (112) is disposed on the inner surface (105) of the lid (104) facing the opening (120) at an offset position to the mounting hole (110) such that in the locked state, the rib structure (112) overlaps with the side portion (115) of the flange portion (114) towards the second slot (124).

7. The storage box (101) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the storage body (102) comprises one or more first hinge provisions (126) and the lid (104) comprises one or more second hinge provisions (128) for swingably coupling the lid (104) with the storage body (102).

8. The storage box (101) as claimed in claim 1, wherein a rear side of the storage body (102) is formed by an inner body cover (106) of the two-wheeled vehicle (100).
Dated this 20th day of August 2015

9. The storage box (101) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one side of the storage body (102) is a front side.