Molded tray for holding different size containers

A molded tray for holding different size containers includes a bottom wall and a peripheral side wall. The bottom wall is divided into two pair of oppositely arranged sockets with each socket being in a respective corner of the tray. One pair of sockets is constructed and dimensioned to hold containers in a certain size range while the alternate sockets are constructed and dimensioned to hold larger size containers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to the field of articles or products designed 
to support individually a number of containers in an up-right position and 
more particularly the carrying or packaging trays which are molded to 
substantially finished form with horizontal and sloping wall portions to 
permit empty trays to be nested one within another in a compact and 
convenient stack for shipment and storage prior to use. 
In particular the invention is directed to carrying trays which are 
particularly suitable for holding containers in fast food eating 
establishments. 
Heretofore, molded trays have been used in fast food eating establishments 
by providing a tray with a plurality of sockets for holding one or more 
containers. Such trays are generally also provided with areas for holding 
other food items. U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,008 discloses a molded tray which is 
capable of holding two containers having a range of sizes. The sockets for 
holding the trays are provided adjacent each other at one end of the tray. 
The remainder of the tray is used for holding other items of food. With 
the recent growth in the fast food industry certain changes have 
restricted the true universal use of container carrying trays. For 
example, in fast food restaurants the smaller size container is generally 
an 8 oz. container and the sizes have increased up to 22 oz. While the 
tray of the '008 patent would be satisfactory for holding containers in 
the range of 8-22 oz. such trays are not suitable for larger size 
containers namely the 32 oz. beverage cup that is now in use in fast food 
restaurants. Another restriction in the design of suitable fast food trays 
is the necessity that the trays be dimensioned to slide through take-out 
windows. In practice, such windows are generally about 101/2-111/2 inches 
wide. Accordingly, a tray must be of lesser width to conveniently pass 
through the window. This presents difficulties in designing a tray capable 
of holding different size containers including the largest 32 oz. 
container. 
SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
An object of this invention is to provide a tray for holding different size 
beverage containers which overcomes the above problems presented in 
present day fast food establishments. 
A further object of this invention is to provide such a tray which is 
capable of holding 32 oz. beverage cups as well as smaller size 
containers. 
A still further object of this invention is to provide such a tray which 
may be conveniently passed through the take-out windows of such fast food 
establishments. 
In accordance with this invention, a molded tray is provided which includes 
a bottom wall and upwardly sloping side walls which merge together at the 
four corners of the tray. A container holding socket is provided at each 
of the corners. The four sockets are arranged in two sets with a socket of 
each set being located opposite the other socket of that set. Each set of 
sockets is structured and dimensioned to be of different sizes so that one 
set is particularly designed for holding the jumbo size 32 oz. beverage 
container and smaller sizes while the other set is designed solely for 
holding smaller size containers. 
In the preferred practice of this invention, each socket includes side 
stabilizing walls having inverted T-shaped openings to provide the 
necessary yieldability for effectively holding a container inserted 
therein. Preferably, three sets of inverted T-shaped openings are provided 
for each socket. 
The central portion of the tray is preferably provided with a generally 
horizontal wall having a depression for adding strength to the tray.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
The present invention involves a unitary tray 10 which is molded to 
substantially finished form of resilient material such as fibrous material 
molded against screen-covered, open-faced, vacuum forming molds in a known 
manner. The tray 10, however, could also be molded to its finished form 
from foamed plastic or any other material having the requisite cost 
strength resiliency and other characteristics useful for trays of this 
type. The general structure of tray 10 is that it consists of horizontal 
wall portions and sloping wall portions but no substantially vertical wall 
portions so that a quantity of light empty trays could be stacked in 
nested fashion, one within another to provide compact stacks of such empty 
trays for economical shipment and convenient storage purposes prior to 
use. 
The tray 10 comprises a generally rectangular tray having a flat bottom 
wall portion with upwardly and outwardly sloping side wall portions 14 and 
a down-turned continuous flange 16. The tray 10 includes two sets of 
holding sockets 20,21 with each socket designed to hold a cup shaped 
container. The set of sockets 20,20 is arranged at opposite corners with 
the set of sockets 21,21 being arranged at the intermediate opposite 
corners. Sockets 20,20 are designed to hold containers within a 
predetermined size of ranges from as small as 8 oz. to up to 22 oz. 
Sockets 21,21 are made of larger size and thus can hold containers up to 
size 32 oz. and can hold smaller sizes. The sockets 20,21 are designed to 
hold conventional type containers which are circular in cross-section with 
slightly tapered sides and are made from paper or various plastic 
materials. The invention, however, may be practiced for holding containers 
made from other materials and other shapes. 
Each container holding socket 20 comprises three horizontal stabilizing 
shoulders 22 positioned in spaced apart opposition to each other around 
the socket. In the illustrated embodiment the three shoulders 22 are 
spaced apart substantially equally around the socket although this is not 
an essential feature of the invention. Similarly, the invention could be 
practiced with four or more stabilizing shoulders provided the other 
operative features of the socket are not defeated. In the illustrated 
embodiment the operative portion of each of the three stabilizing 
shoulders 22 coincides with a circle of only very slightly greater 
diameter than the diameter of the widest size of container within the 
predetermined range which the socket is designed to accommodate. If such 
larger size container has tapered walls then the diameter is that which 
exists at the height of the container when fully inserted into the socket 
which is the same height as the shoulders 22 of socket 20. 
Sockets 21,21 are structurally similar to sockets 20 except that socket 21 
is of larger dimension. Accordingly, as used herein like parts for sockets 
21 will have the same reference numerals as for sockets 20 except that the 
suffix A will be added to those parts for socket 21. 
As best illustrated in FIG. 5 the stabilizing shoulders 22 are located at a 
height significantly above the level occupied by the bottom of a container 
C fully inserted in the socket 20. The level is defined by a substantially 
horizontal bottom wall portion 24 which may take the form of a web 
connected as at 26 to sloping wall portions 28 of the tray 10 at three 
locations around the socket which are intermediate between the three 
stabilizing shoulders 22. Container C is thus elevated slightly above the 
bottom wall of tray 10. 
The container holding socket 20 is further characterized by three inwardly 
contoured stabilizing walls 30 each of which extends downwardly beneath 
each of the respective shoulders 22. The stabilizing walls 30 extend 
downwardly to a height only slightly above the level defined by the upper 
surface of the bottom wall web 24. In the illustrated embodiment, 
stabilizing walls 30 extend downwardly to a height of about 11/2 inches 
above that level while the stabilizing walls 30A extend to a height to 
about 2 inches above that level. 
The stabilizing walls 30 are contoured inwardly to the extent that their 
lower portions 34 properly position at the least the narrow sizes of 
containers in the range of sizes which the socket is dimensioned to 
accommodate. In this sense the lower portions 34 of the three stabilizing 
walls act to center the container as it is being inserted and after being 
inserted into the socket. With narrower sizes of containers when the 
containers are fully inserted into the socket 20 so that the container 
bottom rests on the flat web 24, the lower portions 34 of the stabilizing 
walls provide a small amount of resilient pressure to insure that each 
container is properly supported in an upright position with its bottom on 
the flat web 24. 
Stabilizing walls 30 are yieldable so that they or at least the lower 
portions 34 of walls 30 will be moved outwardly by but still support the 
intermediate or larger size containers. The yieldability of the 
stabilizing walls is controlled by several factors, such as the thickness, 
density and nature of the fibrous pulp or plastic material of which the 
trays and its stabilizing walls are made, the degree of curvature of the 
inwardly contoured portions of the stabilizing walls, the angle of slope 
of the innermost portions of the stabilizing walls with respect to the 
vertical, and the like. 
Another means to control the yieldability of the stabilizing walls includes 
a vertically oriented slot 36 extending upwardly from the lower edge 32 of 
each stabilizing wall 30. The slot 36 in effect divides at least the lower 
portions 34 of the stabilizing walls into two separated 
container-contacting sections. In the illustrated preferred embodiment 
each slot 36 extends upwardly throughout the full vertical extent of the 
stabilizing wall and intersects the stabilizing shoulder 22. This in 
effect, divides the operative portion of each shoulder 22 into two sets of 
sections for contacting the wider sides of containers. 
Each slot 36 accordingly forms, together with the opening beneath the lower 
edge 32 of each stabilizing wall, an inverted "T" shaped opening through 
the tray 10 beneath each stabilizing shoulder. In the preferred embodiment 
each slot 36 is of substantially uniform width throughout its fully 
vertically oriented extent, although a slot which is widened at its lower 
portions adjacent the lower edge 32 of the stabilizing wall would not 
defeat the operative principles of the present invention. 
As illustrated, slots 36A are of larger dimension both in length and width 
than the corresponding slots 36. 
In the illustrated embodiment the inverted "T" shaped opening which 
characterizes each stabilizing slot is not extensive and avoids the 
appearance of large apertures or holes in the tray. This improves the 
visual aesthetic appearance of the tray. Additionally, the three 
downwardly and inwardly oriented slots 36 associated with each socket 
serve to guide the bottom of a container as it is inserted vertically 
downwardly into the socket. This facilitates centering of the container as 
it is inserted and after insertion into the socket and also serves to 
apportion outward movement of the separated container-contacting sections 
of the stabilizing walls 30, particularly the lower portions 34 thereof. 
The aforesaid means to control the yieldability of the stabilizing walls, 
including the slots 36 insure that the stabilizing walls, and at least the 
lower portions of them, may be easily moved outwardly by the intermediate 
sizes of containers, but in such a manner that the walls still will 
support such containers in the socket as illustrated in FIG. 5. 
As illustrated, each shoulder 22 is integrally joined and merges into its 
adjacent shoulder 22A. Because of the difference in size, a step-like 
structure results wherein the four shoulders 22A extend above each 
adjacent shoulder 22. Each socket also includes a generally central top 
wall portion 40 which merge together and include a depression or recessed 
central portion 42 of generally elongated shape. Depression 42 is joined 
to top wall 40 by upwardly inclined side walls 44. This central structure 
functions for added strength to tray 10. 
As illustrated in the drawings which are drawn to scale, tray 10 is of 
generally rectangular shape and is preferably 9.5 inches by 9.375 inches 
with an overall height of about 2.185 inches. The distance from each 
sloping wall directly across to central top wall 40 at each corner of 
sockets 21 is, example, about 33/4 inches while the distance from the 
corner of socket 20 to central wall 40 is about 31/8 inches. As is best 
illustrated in FIG. 1 the individual sockets are somewhat pear shaped 
rather than being circularly shaped with the stabilizing walls forming 
indentations in the general curvature of the sockets. Because tray 10 has 
a width no greater than 91/2 inches, tray 10 may readily slide through 
conventional take-out windows. 
Tray 10 thus provides a single tray capable of holding four containers of 
differing sizes and more particularly a single tray capable of holding not 
only the conventional smaller size beverage containers but also the large 
size, such as the 32 oz. cups now in usage at fast food establishments. 
Accordingly, tray 10 comprises a universal type tray capable of holding 
containers over the entire range of sizes used in such fast food 
establishments. It should be appreciated that while sockets 21 are of a 
larger size than sockets 20, sockets 21 are also capable of holding the 
smaller size containers. Different size sockets, however, are incorporated 
in tray 10 so as to minimize the dimensions to facilitate the tray 10 
being slid through a take-out window.