Why is the inside of a Plastic Tool Box, Portable smaller than its outside?

Answer: Walls, ribs, the lid step and the stacking lip. A 172 mm outline height leaves about 150 mm of usable depth; measure with a tape.

Where does the 30 m carry figure come from?

Answer: It is where most adults stop carrying 11.5 kg in one hand, usually around forty paces.

Are two latches enough?

Answer: To 11.5 kg yes; above 16 kg use four or add a centre catch. Below 35 N holding force it opens over a bump.

How many layers can a Plastic Tool Box, Portable take?

Answer: Twelve per layer, seven layers at 1.35 m, where the driver cannot see the floor; line-side storage stops at five.

Is the minus 15 C drop test necessary?

Answer: For outdoor winter loading or a cold store, yes: copolymer conditioned four hours at minus 15 C and dropped 0.9 m keeps its corners.

Plastic Tool Box, Portable: Five Criteria That Decide the Choice

Quick answer: A Plastic Tool Box, Portable is screened on five measurements, not catalogue photos: outline and carry weight, cavity and volume, latches and opening effort, stack step and pallet fit, polymer and cold drop. The first two decide whether tools fit, the rest whether the case arrives intact.

Five Criteria for a Plastic Tool Box, Portable
Criterion One: Outline, Weight and Carry Distance
Criterion Two: Cavity and Usable Volume
Criterion Three: Latches and Opening Effort
Criteria Four and Five: Stacking, Material and Cold
FAQ

1. Five Criteria for a Plastic Tool Box, Portable

The usual mistake at quoting is to treat the outline drawing as the whole specification. A Plastic Tool Box, Portable holds tools, travels by one hand and stacks in a van, and those jobs read on three numbers: the outline sets the transport envelope, the cavity the payload, latches and polymer what survives the road.

Criterion	Threshold	Cost of skipping it
Outline and weight	445x320x172 mm, 1.85 kg	Will not fit the van
Cavity and volume	405x285x150 mm, 17.3 L	Lid never seats
Latches	Two, 48 N, two seconds	Loaded case pops open
Stacking	5 mm step, 12 per layer	Layers shift at three
Material	Copolymer, -15 C for 4 h, 0.9 m	Corners split in winter

2. Criterion One: Outline, Weight and Carry Distance

Measure the outline over the bosses: hinge and latch seats add 8 to 12 mm beyond the shell, and catalogue figures are often the bare body, so the error shows at loading, four cases short on a pallet.

Plastic Tool Box, Portable: a silver-grey hard case upright on a pale backdrop, folding handle raised, vertical ribs

Weight and payload belong in one sum: an empty 1.85 kg case holding 11.5 kg stays comfortable for about 30 m of one-handed carry, past which the grip edge prints a line across the palm. At 1.8 m internal width, two 445 mm cases sit 890 mm across and block a third row in the van.

3. Criterion Two: Cavity and Usable Volume

The cavity of a Plastic Tool Box, Portable is the part that carries tools. Walls, ribs, the lid step and the stacking lip bite into it: a 172 mm outline height gives 150 mm of usable depth, the other 22 mm spent on lid and seal land.

Usable volume is cavity length times width times depth, less about ten per cent for radii: the M size at 405x285x150 mm comes to 17.3 L, or 15.6 L discounted.

Size	Outline	Cavity	Volume	Payload
S	320x230x120 mm	290x200x105 mm	6.1 L	7 kg
M	445x320x172 mm	405x285x150 mm	17.3 L	11.5 kg
L	560x390x210 mm	515x350x188 mm	33.9 L	16 kg

4. Criterion Three: Latches and Opening Effort

Latch count follows payload: at 11.5 kg, one front and one back is enough; above 16 kg the case needs four, or two plus a centre catch.

Plastic Tool Box, Portable: a blue case open on a pale floor, black foam cut into pockets, two black latches

A latch holding 48 N is about 4.9 kg of pull. Below 35 N a loaded case pops open over a speed bump; above 80 N an empty case takes two hands. Forty openings a day at two seconds rather than four is 80 seconds daily.

5. Criteria Four and Five: Stacking, Material and Cold

Stacking relies on the lid lip engaging the base recess by 4 to 6 mm; without that step a Plastic Tool Box, Portable shifts at the third layer and the pallet goes over as one block.

Layers	Load on a bottom case	Height with pallet	Use
3	23 kg	0.67 m	Back room
5	46 kg	1.01 m	Line side
7	69 kg	1.35 m	Dispatch

A 1200x1000 mm pallet takes twelve cases a layer; at seven layers a hand truck loses sight of the floor.

Polymer grade is often skipped. Copolymer PP conditioned four hours at -15 C and dropped 0.9 m on six faces only whitens at the corners; homopolymer splits them.

Conclusion

Five criteria, one acceptance sheet: outline and weight set the transport envelope, cavity the payload, latches the working pace, stacking the storage height, polymer the season. Judged by impression, any of them returns at loading. With the numbers in the enquiry, a Plastic Tool Box, Portable is no longer a matter of feel.

This article discusses only the container (case body) side of specifications and design intent, and does not cover any handling, loading or use of the contents.