PACKAGING OR STORAGE TRAY, ESPECIALLY FOR BERRIES

Abstract: In a packaging or storage tray (10) of fibre-pulp material or a correspondingly yielding material, especially for containing berries, said fibre-pulp material or other material having been deposited in a suction-depositing process on a suction mold in the form of a layer of material forming the bottom (14, 14a) of said tray and an outwardly and upwardly inclined side wall (12) surrounding said bottom, the novel feature consists in that said bottom (14, 14a) from its central portion ascends towards the side wall (12) in such a manner, that the latter continues downwardly beyond the adjacent part of the tray bottom (14, 14a) in a protruding part (16) acting as an anti-jamming member.

Description: PACKAGING OR STORAGE TRAY. ESPECIALLY FOR BERRIES TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a packaging or storage tray of the kind set forth in the preamble of claim 1. BACKGROUND ART Trays of this kind are commonly shaped in such a manner with a view to storing them in stacks in the empty state, that they can be nested within each other, so that when they.are to be used, they can be removed singly from the stack. It is of great importance that this removal can take place without problems. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION It is the object of the present invention to provide a packaging or storage tray of the kind referred to initi¬ ally, with which it is possible to remove single trays from a stack without risk of the trays becoming jammed within each other, and this object is achieved with such a tray, according to the present invention further ex- hibiting the feature set forth in the characterizing clause of claim 1. With this arrangement, the trays in a stack of nested trays will support each other in the region adjacent to the anti-jamming members or de-nesting members, where the latter due to the shape of the bottom of the tray extends downwardly beyond the bottom. In addition to this, the anti-jamming members make the lower part of the trays more rigid, and as the tray's bottom also as- scends outwardly from its central region, a considerable total reinforcement of the whole bottom region of the tray is achieved. The result of this is that the shape of the bottom itself is stabilized, so that the bottom is prevented from protruding downwardly below a plane defined by the lowermost end or edge of the anti-jamming members, preventing the trays from wobbling when standing on a plane supporting surface. With the arrangement according to the embodiment set forth in claim 2, access openings are provided to the empty space below the trays defined by the bottom of the -tray and the anti-jamming members. With the embodiment set forth in claim 2 it is also pos¬ sible to exploit the special shape of the bottom region of the trays for ventilating and/or draining the contents of the trays, using the embodiments set forth in claims 3 and 4. The drain opening makes it possible for any liquid to leave the tray rapidly before having had time to soften the material, of which the tray is manufac¬ tured, The embodiment set forth in claim 5 provides for a bottom having a high degree of the rigidity, while the embodiment set forth in claim 6 facilitates the compacting operation in many .cases carried out after the tray has been formed on a suction mold. " Further, the present invention provides the advantage that the suction mold to be used for manufacturing the tray may be made with a high degree of rigidity, especi¬ ally with regard to the part of the mold used for shaping the bottom of the tray. Thus, the shape of the bottom of the tray as proposed by the present invention makes it necessary that the part of the suction mold used for shaping the bottom of the tray has a correspondingly varying depth. Normally, the suction mold is made of metal-wire gauze, and when the pulp material is deposited on this gauze by suction, the latter will be subject to a well-defined tensional load over its total area, so that an uninsensional "fluttering" of the metal-wire gauze during the suction-depositing operation is avoided. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the following detailed portion of the present specifi¬ cation, the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the exemplary embodiments of a packaging or storage tray according to the present inven¬ tion shown in the drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a stack formed by nesting three trays in each other. Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the centre of the stack shown in Figure 1, Figure 3 is an end view of one of the trays of the stack shown in Figures 1 and 2, Figure 4 is a.bottom view of the tray shown in Figure 3, Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view through the tray shown in Figures 3 and 4, Figure 6 in perspective and seen from below shows an altered exemplary embodiment of a packaging or storage tray according to the present invention, and Figure 7 is a transverse sectional view through the tray shown in Figure 6. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The packaging trays shown are produced from a fibre pulp having been deposited by suction as a layer of material on a suction mold with a shape corresponding to that of the tray, said layer of material forming the bottom of the tray and an outwardly and upwardly inclined side wall surrounding the bottom. The suction depositing is carried out in the position indicated in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 in a downward and sideways direction respectively. The packaging tray, designated as a whole by the reference number 10, comprises a side wall 12 extending all the way around the tray, as well as a bottom 14. As shown in Figures 2 and 4, the bottom 14 rises towards the side wall in such a manner, that the latter continues downwardly beyond the adjacent part of the tray bottom in a protrud¬ ing part 16, the latter acting as an anti-jamming member. As shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5, the protruding-part 16 is divided into segments 16a and 16b, thus providing access openings 16c to the empty space 18 below the tray defined by the protruding part 16 and the tray bottom 14. In its part adjacent the sidewall 12, the tray bottom 14 comprises some vents 20, and in its central portion the tray bottom 14 comprises a drain hole 22. As will be evident from Figure 2, the trays 10, when nested into each other, abut against each other in the region of the anti-jamming members 16. In the embodiment shown in Figures 1-5, the tray bottom 14 is shaped with double curvature and a downwardly facing convexity, and does not protude downwardly beyond a plane defined by the lowermost end of the members 16. In the exemplary embodiment shown in Figures 6 and 7, the packaging tray is identical in construction to the one shown in figures 1-5 with the single exception, that the bottom 14a is shaped with a single curvature having its highest parts at the end of the tray only. The altered shape of the bottom 14a in comparison with the bottom 14 shown in Figures 1-5 does not, however, affect the easy de-nesting of the trays provided by the anti-jamming members 16, or rather by the segments 16a and 16b. 6 LIST OF PARTS 10 packaging tray 12 side wall 14 bottom 14a bottom 16 protruding part anti-jamming member 16a segment 16b segment 16c access opening 18 empty space 20 vent 22 drain hole

Claims: CLAIMS : 1. Packaging or storage tray (10) of fibre-pulp material or a correspondingly yielding material, especi¬ ally for containing berries, said fibre-pulp material or other material having been deposited in a suction-deposit¬ ing process on a suction mold in the form of a layer of material forming the bottom (14,14a) of said tray and an outwardly and upwardly inclined side wall (12) surrounding said bottom, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that said bottom (14,14a) from its central portion ascends towards the sidewall (12) in such a manner, that the latter con¬ tinues downwardly beyond the adjacent part of the tray bottom (14,14a) in a protruding part (16) acting as an anti-jamming member. 2. Tray according to claim 1, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that said protruding part (16) is divided into segments (16a,16b), the ends of which are spaced from each other. 3. Tray according to claim 1 or 2, c h a r a c¬ t e r i z e d in that in its part adjacent the tray side wall (12), the tray bottom (14,14a) comprises at least one opening (20) serving as a ventilating means. 4. Tray according to any one or any of the claims 1-3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that in its central region, the tray bottom (14,14a) comprises at least one drain opening (22) . 5. Tray according to any one or any of the claims 1-4, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the tray bottom (14) has a double curvature with downwardly facing con- vexity (Figures 1 and 3-5) . 6. Tray according to any one or any of the claims 1-4, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the tray bottom (14a) has a single curvature with downwardly facing con¬ vexity (Figures 6 and 7) . AMENDED CLAIMS [received by the International Bureau on 21 December 1992 (21.12.92) ; original claims 1-6 replaced by amended claim 1 (1 page)] 1. Packaging or storage tray (10) of fibre-pulp mate¬ rial or a correspondingly yielding material, especially for containing portions of berries, said fibre-pulp material or other material having been deposited in a suction-depositing process; on a suction mold corresponding to the tray in the form of a layer of material forming the bottom (14,14a) of said tray and an outwardly and upwardly inclined side wall (12) surrounding said bottom, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that said bottom (14,14a) from its central portion ascends with a double curvature or a single curvature to the sidewall (12) , and that the latter continues downwardly beyond the adjoining part of the tray bottom (14,14a) as a supporting part (16), which is divided into segments (16a,16b), which between seg¬ ment ends facing each other define access openings (16c) to the empty space (18) defined by said support part (16) and said bottom (14,14a) below said tray, and that said tray bottom (14,14a) within said empty space com¬ prises at least one opening (20) serving as a ventilating means, and in its lowermost central area comprises at least one drain opening (22) .

Inventors: PETERSEN JOERGEN EIGIL, PETERSEN, JOERGEN, EIGIL
Applicants: HARTMANN AS BRDR, BROEDRENE HARTMANN A/S
Application year: 1992
Main classification: B65D21
IPC codes: B65D1, B65D21, B65D81