Interlocking camp box support systems

Abstract

Camp boxes have end plates adapted to support the boxes in a variety of positions. The end plates on a box have a series of pole receiver holes formed around their edges, so that poles inserted into the holes support the box. The plate edges and/or faces may also include peg receiver holes, so that two boxes may be attached by inserting a peg into a peg receiver hole on an end plate of each box. The pegs and peg receiver holes may include locking mechanisms.

1 . A configurable camp box comprising: 
 a box having six sides wherein two opposing sides include end plates and another of the sides forms a pivoting door;    wherein the end plates have an outer surface and four edges extending back from the outer surface and the end plates include 
 a series of pole receiver holes extending into the edges at acute angles from the edges,  
 the pole receiver holes constructed and arranged to allow poles for supporting the boxes to be inserted into the holes, and  
 wherein at least two of the edges have at least two spaced apart pole receiver holes each, such that poles inserted into two holes on an edge support the end plate having that edge.  
   
   
   
       2 . The camp box of  claim 1  wherein all four edges include two spaced-apart holes each.  
   
   
       3 . The camp box of  claim 1 , wherein the end plates further form peg receiver holes constructed to permit the insertion of connecting pegs.  
   
   
       4 . The camp box of  claim 3  wherein the end plates form 12 peg receiver holes each, three arrayed around each corner, one of the three offset from its corner along each of the two edges joining at that corner, and the other of the three offset from its corner along the outer surface.  
   
   
       5 . A composite camp box configuration comprising at least a first and a second of the camp boxes of  claim 4  and wherein: 
 the peg receiver holes on the first camp box are aligned with the peg receiver holes on the second camp box when any of the sides of the first box is adjacent to any of the sides of the second box and when corners of the two boxes are aligned; and    pegs are inserted into the aligned holes on the first box and the second box to connect the two boxes.    
   
   
       6 . The camp box of  claim 4  wherein the peg receiver holes incorporate a locking mechanism to selectively prevent pegs from being removed from the peg receiver holes.  
   
   
       7 . The camp box of  claim 1  further comprising handles attached to each end plate.  
   
   
       8 . The camp box of  claim 7 , wherein four handles are attached to each end plate, the four handles oriented to allow the camp box to be lifted in any orientation.  
   
   
       9 . The camp box of  claim 7  wherein the handles are recessed into the end plates.  
   
   
       10 . The camp box of  claim 1  further including cables attached to the pivoting door side and sides adjacent to the pivoting door side for holding the pivoting door generally level when the door is opened from a vertical position down into a horizontal position.  
   
   
       11 . The camp box of  claim 1  wherein the end plates are square and the other box sides are rectangular with lengths an integer multiple of the length of an end plate.  
   
   
       12 . The camp box of  claim 11  wherein the rectangular sides are twice as long as the end plates.  
   
   
       13 . End plates for attaching to each end of a box and supporting the box in different orientations, each end plate comprising: 
 a sheet of a rigid material having an outer surface and edges extending back from the outer surface;    a series of pole receiver holes extending into the edges at acute angles from the edges;    the pole receiver holes constructed and arranged to allow poles for supporting the boxes to be inserted into the holes; and    wherein at least two of the edges have at least two spaced apart pole receiver holes, such that poles inserted into two holes on an edge support the end plate having that edge.    
   
   
       14 . The end plates of  claim 13  wherein all of edges include two spaced-apart holes each.  
   
   
       15 . The end plates of  claim 13 , further comprising a second set of two spaced apart pole receiver holes formed in the same edges where the first set of pole receiver holes were formed, but at different angles than the first set of pole receiver holes.  
   
   
       16 . The end plates of  claim 13 , furthering form peg receiver holes constructed to permit the insertion of connecting pegs.  
   
   
       17 . The end plates of  claim 16  wherein the end plates are square and form 12 peg receiver holes each, three arrayed around each corner, one of the three offset from its corner along each of the two edges joining at that corner, and the other of the three offset from its corner along the outer surface.  
   
   
       18 . The end plates of  claim 16  wherein the peg receiver holes incorporate a locking mechanism to selectively prevent pegs from being removed from the peg receiver holes.  
   
   
       19 . The end plates of  claim 13  further comprising handles attached to each end plate.  
   
   
       20 . The end plates of  claim 19 , wherein four handles are attached to each end plate, the four handles oriented to allow an attached box to be lifted in any orientation.  
   
   
       21 . The end plates of  claim 19  wherein the handles are recessed into the end plates.  
   
   
       22 . A method of providing a configurable camp box comprising the steps of: 
 forming a box having six sides wherein two opposing sides include end plates and another of the sides forms a pivoting door;    forming the end plates to have an outer surface and four edges along the outer surface and extending back from the outer surface, and forming a series of pole receiver holes extending into the edges at acute angles from the edges, the pole receiver holes constructed and arranged to allow poles for supporting the boxes to be inserted into the holes, and forming at least two spaced apart pole receiver holes each in at least two of the edges, such that poles inserted into two holes on an edge support the end plate having that edge.    
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 22  further including the step of forming at least two spaced apart pole receiver holes each in all four edges.  
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 22 , further including the step of forming peg receiver holes constructed to permit the insertion of connecting pegs.  
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 24  wherein the peg receiver hole forming step forms 12 peg receiver holes in each end plate, three arrayed around each corner, one of the three offset from its corner along each of the two edges joining at that corner, and the other of the three offset from its corner along the outer surface.  
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 22  further comprising the steps of: 
 forming a second camp box according to  claim 22;     placing the peg receiver holes on the first camp box such that they are aligned with the peg receiver holes on the second camp box when a side of the first box is adjacent to a side of the second box and box corners are aligned; and    forming a composite camp box configuration comprising at least two camp boxes by 
 placing sides of the boxes adjacent to each other,  
 aligning the peg holes in the adjacent sides, and  
 inserting pegs into the aligned peg holes on the two adjacent sides to connect the two boxes.