Articles such as inner door panels for motor vehicles generally are upholstered or moulded from a suitable material, and tend to be susceptible to damage from pressure and/or scuffing during storage or transportation. Usually, these types of articles are stored or transported in relatively large containers which include padding or the like to prevent the articles from rubbing up against one another or against the side walls of the box.

Providing effective padding or other protection for the vehicle components within these containers often is relatively difficult and/or expensive.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a sillage box which includes a relatively simple and inexpensive support structure for protecting delicate articles within the box during storage or transportation.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a sillage box which is easily collapsible at its destination so that it may be returned in a compact form.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention there is provided a collapsible stillage box including : a base ; a pair of opposed side walls ; a pair of opposed end walls ; and a lid ; wherein the base, the side walls, the end walls and the lid are operatively connected to one another so as to define an enclosed space, and the sillage box further includes: a support structure locatable within the enclosed space, the support structure including a plurality of pockets for receiving articles to be stored and/or transported; and means for suspending the support structure within the enclosed space so that a bottom of the support structure is spaced from the base of the box.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the side walls and the end walls are collapsible relative to the base to form a sub-compartment above the base for receiving the support structure in a collapsed condition of the box.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, each side wall and each end wall includes a lower panel connected to the base, and an upper panel which is hinged to the lower panel so as to be foldable, relative to the lower panel, over the base.

Typically, the upper end wall panels are arranged to fold inwardly over the base to form the top of the sub-compartment, a first upper side wall panel is arranged to fold inwardly over the base so as to lie on top of the upper end wall panels, and a second upper side wall panel is arranged to fold inwardly over the base so as to lie over the first upper side wall panel.

The support structure preferably is formed from a flexible material and is suspended from the end walls of the box.

In one arrangement, the pockets depend from a plurality of support sleeves which are arranged to engage one or more suspension members.

Typically, each support sleeve projects above the mouth of an adjacent pocket and is sized to receive a flexible cord or rope threaded through the sleeves and through openings in the end walls so that the support structure is suspended from the cord or rope.

The lid of the box may carry a resilient padding material on its inner surface.

Preferably, the side wall panels and the end wall panels are connected to one another with clips in an operative, erected condition of the box.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a partially exploded perspective view of a collapsible stillage box according to the present invention; and Figure 2 shows, diagrammatically, a cross-sectional view of the box of Figure 1 in a collapsed condition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Figure 1 of the drawings illustrates a collapsible stillage box 10 according to the present invention. The sillage box is seen to include a base 12, two opposed side walls 14 and 16, two opposed end walls 18 and 20, and a lid 22.

In the illustrated embodiment, the base 12, the side walls 14 and 16, the end walls 18 and 20, and the lid 22 are made from laminated timber components, and in an operative, erected condition of the box define an enclosed space for receiving a support structure 24 which is described in more detail below.

The side wall 14 includes a lower panel 14A connected to the base 12, and an upper panel 14B which is hinged to the lower panel by means of hinges 26. Similarly, the side wall 16 and the end walls 18 and 20 include lower panels 16A, 18A and 20A, and upper panels 16B, 18B and 20B hinged to the lower panels. In Figure 1, the lower side wall panel 16A is seen to project slightly higher than the other lower wall panels to facilitate folding of the box 10 into a collapsed condition, as described in more detail below.

Although only two of the hinges 26 are shown in Figure 1, each of the upper wall panels includes at least a pair of hinges connecting it to a lower wall panel. In this embodiment, the hinges 26 are each composed of three strips 28,30 and 32 of a robust, flexible strapping material. In each case, the lower portions of two of the strips 28 and 30 are bonded to opposite surfaces of a lower wall panel, the strips extend between an upper wall panel and the lower wall panel, and are bonded in upper regions thereof to opposite surfaces of the upper wall panel. The third strip 32 of the hinge is bonded in all cases to the inner surface of a lower wall panel and to the inner surface of an upper wall panel. The two oppositely stepped hinge strips 28 and 30 serve as a panel hinge, while the third strip 32 merely prevents the upper wall panel from folding outwardly on the hinge 26 beyond the operative, erected condition of the box 10.

In Figure 1 of the drawings, the lid 22 is seen to include an outer panel 34 and a pad 36. The pad is formed from a suitably resilient, foamed plastics material which is bonded to the outer panel 34 and which, in use, overlies the support structure 24 in the box 10.

The support structure 24 is formed from a suitable flexible woven fabric and includes a plurality of pockets 38 arranged next to one another, as shown. Extending above the mouths of the pockets 38 are a plurality of support sleeves 40 which are sized to receive a continuous flexible cord or rope 42 threaded through the sleeves 40 and through openings 44 in the end walls 18 and 20.

During the initial assembly of the sillage box 10, the upper side wall panels 14B and 16B and the upper end wall panels 18B and 20B are held erect and the cord or rope 42 is fed through the openings 44 in the upper end wall panels and through the support sleeves 40 of the support structure 24. The side wall panels and the end wall panels of the box 10 are held together in the erected condition by releasable metal clips 48, and the ends 46 of the rope 42 are attached in a suitable manner to the end wall panels 18B and 20B so as to be pulled taught between these panels. The support structure 24 is sized so that, in the erected condition of the box 10, the bottom of the structure 24 is spaced from the base 12 of the box and the pockets 38 are suspended within the box.

Articles to be stored and/or transported in the sillage box 10 are then placed in the pockets 38, and the lid 22 is fixed to the side walls 14 and 16 of the box, conveniently with clips similar to the clips 48. The articles, which may be inner door panels for motor vehicles or other similar articles which are delicate in nature, are protected within the support structure 24 during movement of the box 10 by the foam pad 36 on the lid 22, the floating lower ends of the pockets 38, and the gap between the support structure 24 and the wall panels of the box.

Once the articles have been removed from the support structure 24 at their destination, the clips 48 holding the side wall panels and the end wall panels together are sprung from the grooves in which they locate to free the wall panels from one another. The upper end wall panels 18B and 20B are then folded down on their hinges 26 towards one another so as to release the tension in the cord or rope 42, and this enables the support structure 24 to collapse onto the base 12 of the box. The upper end wall panels 18B and 20B are pressed down to form the top of a sub-compartment 50 (see Figure 2) for storing the support structure 24 in the collapsed condition of the box 10.

Thereafter, the upper side wall panel 14B is folded down over the upper end wall panels 18B and 20B, and the upper side wall panel 16B is folded down over the upper side wall panel 14B to form a compact, collapsed structure, as illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings. Finally, the lid 22 is laid on the upper side wall panel 16B of the collapsed box, and the box components are tied together for return. The box 10 is re-assembled, when required, by reversing the steps described above with reference to the collapsing of the box.

The invention has been described above with reference to a specific embodiment. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various alterations and modifications are possible within the scope of the appended claims. For example, it will be appreciated that the continuous support rope 42 could be replaced with individual ropes or other elongate pocket support elements which are each engaged at both ends with the upper end wall panels 18B and 20B, and the upper wall panels of the box could be clipped to the lower wall panels by means of clips similar to the clips 48 instead of being hinged to the lower wall panels with the hinges 26.