Tray for strawberries and the like

Abstract

A tray is provided of two tray sections. The bottom portion comprises a rectangular bottom panel, side and end walls extending upwardly therefrom, and corner flaps hinged to the end walls and secured in face contact with the side walls. The other portion telescopes over the bottom portion and includes a top portion and side and end walls, the end walls being provided with corner flaps secured in face contact with the side walls. The trays are impregnated with a wax containing coating and are very rigid. The top of the top portion is cut to provide end wall liner panels, and the corner flaps extend the full height of the side walls to reinforce the corners.

Description

This invention relates to an improvement in trays of the type used in containing smaller open-top trays of strawberries and other fruits and vegetables.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Open top trays have been produced for containing various types of fruits and vegetables, and also which can be used for other materials if so desired. These trays are usually provided with stacking means so that one tray may be stacked upon the other without slipping any great amount laterally or endwise. It is this general type of tray which the applicant has provided, but the structure is such that it may be more readily made.

One such structure is shown in Reissue U.S. Pat. No. 26,386 issued May 7, 1968 to W. B. Crane for a shipping container. In this construction, a two part container is provided in which both of the sections forming the container include corner flaps hingedly secured to the side walls of the two sections, and which are folded into connection with the container end walls. As a result, there are five thicknesses of corrugated paperboard extending along the side portions of the end walls to provide strength for the corner. However, this leaves only two walls extending along the ends of the side walls to support the corners so that the weight of the stack of containers is supported only by these two walls in the event the stack becomes slightly offset in a longitudinal direction.

In the formation of the containers shown in the patent, one side wall of the flat blank forming the bottom portion of the container is overlapped with a side wall of the flat blank forming the top portion of the container and is adhered in face contact therewith. The blank forming the top portion is folded to overlie the blank forming the container bottom while the other side wall of the bottom forming blank is folded through one hundred eighty degrees and the second two side walls are secured together. This forms a tubular container with open ends which may be closed in much the manner of a conventional container by first folding the side wall corner flaps inwardly, and then folding the bottom and top end wall closure flaps inwardly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the present device, the tray is quite similar to that shown in the above mentioned patent, but the corner flaps are hingedly connected to the end walls of the two sections rather than to the side walls thereof. As a result, the corners of the container are supported by four thicknesses of paperboard extending along the ends of the side walls, and three thicknesses of corrugated paperboard extending along the ends of the corners. The trays thus formed are accordingly extremely strong, and the strength is increased by impregnating the corrugated board by passing the blanks or the sheets forming the blanks through a cascade of molten coating material which may be wax, plastic, or a combination thereof. The trays thus formed are extremely strong and weather resistant.

A feature of the present invention lies in the manner in which the containers are formed. In place of combining the two portions of the blank in the manner shown in FIG. 6 of the drawings of the above mentioned patent the blanks are separately formed into trays on a tray forming machine which is readily available on the market. This forming machine accepts the flat blanks, folds the side and end walls up into right angular relation to the base panel, folds the corner flaps on the end walls inwardly of the side walls, and adheres the corner flaps in place, thus forming two rigid trays. These trays are telescoped together with the upper tray inverted relative to the bottom tray, so that a telescoped container structure is produced.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the completed container.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section, the position of the section being indicated by the line 2--2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical section through an end of the side wall, the position of the section being shown by the line 3--3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of a corner of the two sections before they are telescoped together.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the blank from which the bottom section of the container is formed.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the blank from which the upper portion of the container is formed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The container, which is indicated in general by the letter A, is formed of thw two blanks illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 of the drawings. The blank 10, illustrated in FIG. 5 includes a bottom wall 11 which is hingedly connected along parallel side edges by hinge lines 12 to side walls 13. The rectangular bottom wall 11 is also connected along fold lines 14 to end walls 15. The bottom wall 11 is rectangular so that the fold lines 12 and 14 are in right angular relation.

Corner flaps 16 are hingedly connected to the sides of the end walls 15 along fold lines 17, the fold lines 17 being slightly inset from the fold lines 12 to allow for the thickness of the corner flaps 16. Each of the side walls 13 is provided with a pair of spaced generally U-shaped notches, the notches 19 being on opposite sides of the center portions 20 of the side walls which are the full height of the end portions 21 of the side walls. The ends or upper corners of the corner flap 16 are notched as indicated at 22 to fit the contour of the notches 19, the portions of the corner flaps 16 adjoining the fold lines 15 being the full height of the side and end walls as indicated at 23.

Pairs of apertures 24 extend in widely spaced relation along each fold line 14, the apertures 24 being in the bottom wall 11 near the fold lines 12 connecting the bottom wall to the side walls 13. Central apertures 25 are provided in the bottom wall 11 adjoining the fold lines 14 and midway between the fold lines 12 and are designed to accommodate stacking lugs of the type which will be described. Midway between the apertures 24 are rectangular apertures 26 which are also spaced from the fold lines 12. Ventilation apertures 27 may be provided in the bottom wall 11 if it is so desired. The notches 19 are provided so that a similar container stacked upon a lower container may be readily grasped and removed from the stack.

The top section of the container is indicated in general by the numeral 30, it includes a top portion 31 which is mainly cut away to form vertically extending panels. The top panel 31 is hingedly connected along a pair of fold lines 32 to end panels 33 and along right angular fold lines 34 to side panels 35. Corner flaps or panels 36 are foldably connected to the sides of the end walls 32 along fold lines 37 which are preferably slightly inset from the fold lines 34 to allow for the thickness of the paperboard in folding.

Each side wall 35 is provided with a pair of spaced notches 39 which are arranged on either side of center. These notches correspond in shape to the notches 19 in the blank 10 as indicated in FIG. 1 of the drawings. The top panel includes a flange 40 connected to each end wall 33, the inner edge of the flange 40 being connected along a fold line 41 to an end wall liner panel 42. The end wall liner panels are similar in height to the end walls 33 and include downwardly projecting tabs 43 designed to engage in the apertures 24 of the bottom wall 11 when the two blanks are assembled. Each flange 40 is interrupted by U-shaped cut line 44 which terminates in the end wall liner panels 42. These cut lines 44 form tabs 45 which extend upwardly above the remainder of the flange 40 as indicated in FIG. 1 so as to extend into an aperture 25 of the bottom wall 11 of a similar container stacked upon the first. The top of the container also includes a transverse connecting strip 46 connecting the opposite side walls. The connecting strip 46 is connected along parallel fold lines 47 to supporting panels 49 which are of a width substantially equal to the height of the side and end walls 35 and 33. The supporting panels 49 are provided with projecting tabs 50 which are designed to engage in the apertures 26 in the bottom wall 11 when the two parts of the container are connected together.

In forming the container A, the blanks 10 and 30 in flat form are stacked in a forming machine which acts to apply glue either to the corner flaps or panels such as 16 and 36 or to the side walls 13 or 35, and form the blank into a tray in which the side and end walls extend up vertically from the base panel such as the bottom wall 11 or the top panel 31. Thus two trays are formed, and the proportions are such that the top tray formed by the blank 30 can telescope down over the bottom tray illustrated in general by the numeral 10.

The manner in which the two trays may telescope together is diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawings. As indicated, the ends of the top flanges 40 are preferably of generally triangular form as illustrated at 51 so as to provide a greater length of hinge connection between the top and the side walls 35. Once the two trays have been telescoped together, the end wall liner panels 42 are folded downwardly, the tongues or lugs 43 engaging in the apertures 24 in the bottom wall 11. The supporting walls 49 are also folded downwardly along the fold lines 47, the tongues 50 on the lower edges of the supporting walls 49 engaging in the apertures 26 in the bottom wall.

The two telescoping sections may frictionally engage, as they are normally lifted by engagement with the lower section. However, preferably some means are provided for locking the two sections. This means may comprise locking tabs, or may comprise adhesive applied between the inner surface of the corner panels 36 and the outer surface of the walls 13. This adhesive may be applied just before the two sections are telescoped together.

In accordance with the Patent Statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my improvement in TRAY FOR STRAWBERRIES AND THE LIKE; and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Claims

I claim:

1. A tray-like shipping container formed from a pair of separate blanks of corrugated paperboard, said container including:

a first tray including a rectangular bottom wall, side and end walls hingedly connected to the sides and ends of said bottom panel,

corner flaps connected to the sides of said end walls and adhesively secured in face contact with the inner surfaces of said side walls,

a second tray including a top flange at each end thereof, side and end panels hingedly connected to said top flanges and extending downwardly therefrom,

corner panels hingedly connected to opposite ends of said end panels and adhesively secured to the inner surfaces of said second tray side panels,

said first and second trays being telescoped together with the side walls of said first tray engaging the inner surfaces of said corner panels of said second tray,

end wall liner panels hingedly connected to said flanges and extending downwardly therefrom in spaced relation to said end panels and engaging said bottom wall,

tongues projecting downwardly from said liner panels and engaging in apertures in said bottom wall to form a hollow end wall, and

said structure resulting in side wall portions underlying said flanges which are of four thicknesses of paperboard, and three thickness hollow end walls.

2. The structure of claim 1 and in which:

said second tray includes a top connecting strap connecting the center portions of said side walls,

supporting panels connected to opposite edges of said connecting strap and extending downwardly therefrom into engagement with said bottom wall of said first tray, and

tab means interconnecting said supporting panels and said bottom wall extending through apertures in said bottom wall and terminating substantially flush with the lower surface of said bottom wall.