Abstract:
Container includes a base portion having a plurality of item receiving cavities for supporting frangible items, at least one cover portion having at least one item covering concavity for covering the frangible items, a first hinge between a first longitudinal edge of the base portion and the cover portion for rotating the cover portion onto the base portion to hold the frangible items captive in the item receiving cavities, and a hollow ring projecting upwardly from a bottom surface of at least one of the item receiving cavities to define an annular contact surface for an item received in the item receiving cavity.

Description:
FIELD OF THE APPLICATION 
     The present application relates to containers for receiving frangible objects such as eggs, and to structural components of such containers. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE ART 
     Egg containers of various kinds have been developed for the transportation and sale of eggs. As eggs are relatively fragile, the egg containers must protect the eggs from the various manipulations involved from the packaging of the eggs to the consumer&#39;s refrigerator. One significant improvement in egg containers is the use of thermoformed plastics as material for the egg containers. Thermoformed plastics are typically transparent, which allows the eggs to be visible, and are relatively inexpensive to produce. Hence, the consumer may inspect the eggs without having to open the container. 
     The packaging process in which eggs are inserted in egg containers is often automated. In such processes, and in manual packaging processes, eggs are dropped into their receiving cavities. For this reason, the bottom of egg containers are domed, so as to absorb the shock of a dropped egg. However, the domed bottom may cause a bounce of the egg, which may in turn result in eggs of adjacent egg receiving cavities contacting one another during packaging, when bouncing up. 
     SUMMARY OF THE APPLICATION 
     It is therefore an aim of the present disclosure to provide a container for frangible items such as eggs that addresses issues associates with the prior art. 
     Therefore, in accordance with the present application, there is provided a container for receiving frangible items comprising: a sheet of polymer formed into: a base portion having a plurality of item receiving cavities for supporting frangible items; at least one cover portion having at least one item covering concavity for covering the frangible items; a first hinge between a first longitudinal edge of the base portion and the cover portion for rotating the cover portion onto the base portion to hold the frangible items captive in the item receiving cavities; and a hollow ring projecting upwardly from a bottom surface of at least one of the item receiving cavities to define an annular contact surface for an item received in the item receiving cavity. 
     Further in accordance with the present application, there is provided a container for receiving frangible items comprising: a sheet of polymer formed into: a base portion having a plurality of item receiving cavities for supporting frangible items, with at least a pair of adjacent ones of the item receiving cavities being separated by a horizontal shoulder; at least one cover portion having at least one item covering concavity for covering the frangible items; a first hinge between a first longitudinal edge of the base portion and the cover portion for rotating the cover portion onto the base portion to hold the frangible items captive in the item receiving cavities; and at least one hollow separator wall projecting upwardly from at least one of the horizontal shoulder separating adjacent ones of the item receiving cavities. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic perspective view of a two-fold egg container; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic perspective view of a three-fold egg container; 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view of a receiving cavity of the egg container of  FIGS. 1 and 2 ; and 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the receiving cavity of  FIG. 3 . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to the drawings and more particularly to  FIG. 1 , an egg container is generally shown at  10 . The egg containers described hereinafter are preferably made of transparent or translucent plastics, for instance using a thermoforming process or other molding process. Other materials and/or processes may be used as well. The containers described hereinafter may be used to contain eggs or any other frangible items (e.g., tomatoes). 
     The egg container  10  of  FIG. 1  is a two-fold egg container, as it has two portions hinged to one another. The egg container  10  has a base portion  11  having a plurality of receiving cavities  12  (e.g., six, twelve, eighteen, twenty-four, or any other suitable number), with each cavity  12  receiving an egg. A top cover portion  13  is hinged to the base portion  11  by hinge  14 . The top cover portion  13  may or may not have individual cavities to cover a top portion of the eggs supported by the receiving cavities  12 . Alternatively, the top cover portion  13  may present a flat top surface as in  FIG. 1 , with or without strengthening components (e.g., arches, posts). Although not shown, mating connectors or any other suitable type of connectors are provided on the periphery of the base portion  11  and top cover portion  13  for interlocking them when the egg container  10  is closed. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a three-fold egg container is generally illustrated at  10 ′. The egg container  10 ′ is similar to the egg container  10  of  FIG. 1 , but has a middle cover portion  15 . The middle cover portion  15  is hinged to the base portion  11  by hinge  16 . The hinges  14  and  16  are preferably on opposite edges of the base portion  11 . The middle cover portion  15  typically has egg cavities  17  to cover a top portion of the eggs supported by the egg-receiving cavities  12 . Although not shown, mating connectors or any other suitable type of connectors are provided on the periphery of the top cover portion  13  and the middle cover portion  15  for interlocking them when the egg container  10 ′ is closed. 
     In order to close the egg container  10 ′, the middle cover portion  15  is firstly hinged into contact with the base container  12 , as illustrated by arrow A. The top cover portion  13  is then hinged onto the middle cover portion  15 , as illustrated by arrow B. When the egg container  10 / 10 ′ is closed, peripheral flanges  21  and  22  lay flat one on the other. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , there is illustrated in greater detail one of the receiving cavities  12 . The receiving cavity is shown having an inverted frusto-conical shape. However, it is considered to use any other appropriate shapes, such as downwardly tapering cup shapes, frusto-egg shapes, cylinders, etc. In some instances, ribs, lugs, beams may be required to define a contact surface of the egg received in the receiving cavities  12 . 
     A shock absorber  30  is provided in a bottom of the cavity  12 . The shock absorber  30  may project upwardly from a wall  31  of the cavity  12  having generally planar surfaces. When the containers  10  and  10 ′ are laid on the ground, the wall  31  typically lies on the ground. The shock absorber  30  is integral with the material of the cavity  12 , as the egg containers  10  and  10 ′ are made of a thermoformed sheet. 
     In  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the shock absorber  30  has a base  32  of frusto-conical shape, in an upright orientation. In an embodiment, the diameter at bottom of the base  32  is about 0.67″±0.08″, and the frusto-conical shape is that of a cone having a height of 0.72″±0.09″. However, other shapes are considered, such as a cylindrically-shaped base, for instance with a diameter of 0.56″±0.07″. It is pointed out that the frusto-conical shape for the base  32  (with the flared receiving cavity  12 ) is well suited for the removal of the egg containers  10  and  10 ′ from a mold. 
     A ring  33  projects upwardly from a top surface  34  of the base  32 . In another embodiment, the ring  33  may project directly from a bottom of the receiving cavity  12  (e.g., from the wall  31 ). The ring  33  is hollow in that it defines a hollow volume between its inner and outer diameters, as it is the result of the thermoforming process. An outer diameter of the ring  33  is of 0.56″±0.07″ and an inner diameter is of 0.38±0.05″, and a highest point thereof relative to the ground is at 0.12″±0.06″. Accordingly, the combination of the base  32  and ring  33  defines a crater-like shape in the illustrated embodiments of  FIGS. 3 and 4 , although other shapes are contemplated as well, as described above. In the crater-like shape, the outer surface of the ring  33  is a frusto-conical continuation of the outer surface of the base  31 . The ring  33  projects above the top surface  34  by 0.06″±0.03″, and has a thickness of 0.09″±0.02″ (i.e., difference between outer ray and inner ray). It is pointed out that the top surface  34  may be flat (as shown in  FIG. 4 ), or may have other shapes, such as a dome. Similarly, a top surface of the ring  33  may be flat as shown in  FIG. 4 , or may have other shapes. For instance, the ring  33  may have a half torus shape. 
     When an egg is dropped in the cavity  12 , it will contact the ring  33 , and possibly a part of the top surface  34 . The ring  33  is sized so as to temporarily deform (e.g., elastic deformation) or maintain its shape upon contact and hence decelerate the fall of the egg at a suitable rate. The ring  33  may then regain its initial shape, causing some bounce of the egg. However, the geometry of the ring  33  reduces the bounce over some existing bottom configurations, by having a greater stiffness than a dome. 
     In  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the base  32  has a height of 0.06″±0.03″ from the ground. As a result, when they are in the containers  10  and  10 ′, the eggs are spaced from the ground. Therefore, exterior impacts up to a given magnitude on the receiving cavities  12  will be absorbed by the combination of the downwardly tapering wall of the cavity  12 , the bottom surface  31  and the base  32 , which concurrently form a second hollow ring  35 . It is observed that the cavity  12  defines a pair of concentric frusto-conical portions, with an upright frusto-conical portion formed by the base  32  and/or the ring  33 , and an inverted frusto-conical portion formed by the ring  35 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a separator wall  40  is shown between adjacent egg receiving cavities  12 , in either one of the containers  10  and  10 ′. The separator wall  40  is shown having an arcuate shape, with a ray of 0.33″±0.04″. The separator wall  40  projects upwardly from the horizontal and linear shoulder  41  separating the adjacent receiving cavities, by a height of 0.28″±0.04″. In an embodiment, the linear shoulder  41  defines most of the upper contact plane of the base portion  11 . The arcuate shape for the separator wall  40  minimizes the amount of material that is used in this region, and hence has limited impact on the structural integrity of the linear shoulder  41 . As they are thermoformed, the separator wall  40  and the shoulder  41  are typically hollow. The separator wall  40  is well suited for a receiving cavity  12  having a depth of 1.00″±0.12″. This depth value is relatively lower than some existing receiving cavities  12 , which may expose some eggs to contacting adjacent eggs during the packaging process. Hence, in an embodiment, the combination of the shock absorber  30  and the separator wall  40  helps in reducing the risk of bouncing egg contact during packaging, for instance in base portions  11  having a reduced height of cavity  12 . 
     The egg containers of the present disclosure may contain any suitable number of egg receiving cavities. One suitable material for the egg containers of the present application is polyethylene terephthalate (PET). PET has many advantages, as this material can be transparent or opaque and can be produced at high volume and at low cost. Wall thicknesses of PET cases in a contemplated embodiment are of 0.0175 inch in thickness, but other thicknesses as low as 0.012 to as high as 0.022 inch are also contemplated. It is pointed out that the thickness may be outside of these ranges, especially after the container  10  is formed. However, any suitable thickness can be used, depending on the fragility of the objects packaged in the container  10 .