Abstract:
A tray having three dimensionally adjustable sized pockets for holding a plurality of electronic components. A rectangular tray base has a cavity with a flat bottom, and four sides configured with wall notches for receiving and captivating ends of elongated transverse and longitudinal dividers. Each divider has a plurality of notches spaced along a length. The notches are configured to allow each transverse divider to interlock with a plurality of longitudinal dividers to form a rectangular array. The array is positioned in the tray base cavity, forming a plurality of rectangular pockets. The lengths and widths of the pockets are adjustable by selecting a particular divider notch for intersection of each longitudinal and lateral divider. A rectangular top frame of selected thickness is positioned over the wall notches to retain the dividers, and to define a height of each pocket upon placing a lid over the tray.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates generally to trays for storing, transporting and processing electronic devices and more particularly to a tray that has adjustable sized component pockets.  
       DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART  
       [0002]     Most trays, including JEDEC sized trays, are hard tooled, meaning that a separate tool is required for each different tray size or configuration. The design and manufacture of such a hard tooled tray is both costly and time consuming. For example, it may take several weeks to build tooling for injection molding a tray. Once a tray is constructed, it is only useable for one size of component. Present tray designs are not capable of properly storing a mixture of component sizes.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0003]     It is an advantage of this invention in that it provides a custom component tray that can be quickly assembled from stock parts.  
         [0004]     It is a further advantage of this invention in that it provides a tray that can be adjusted to fit a desired component size.  
         [0005]     It is a still further advantage of this invention in that it provides an adjustable tray that can simultaneously accommodate different sizes of electronic components.  
         [0006]     In one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a tray having three dimensionally adjustable sized pockets for holding electronic components. A plastic injection molded rectangular tray base has a cavity with a flat bottom and a four sided wall configured with wall notches for receiving and captivating ends of elongated lateral and longitudinal dividers. Both the lateral and longitudinal dividers have a plurality of notches spaced along a length of each divider and extending substantially half way through. The notches are configured to allow each lateral divider to interlock with a plurality of longitudinal dividers, to form a rectangular array with a plurality of rectangular four sided enclosures. The array is positioned in the tray base cavity, and each of the four sided enclosures and the bottom of the cavity form a pocket. The length and width of a pocket is adjustable by selecting particular divider notches for intersection of longitudinal and transverse dividers. A rectangular top frame approximating the contour of the wall, and of a selected thickness is positioned over the top of the wall to cover the wall notches for retaining the dividers with the frame height selected to define the height of the pockets for limiting movement of a component in a pocket upon placing a lid over the tray. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]      FIG. 1A  is a perspective view of an embodiment of a tray according to the present invention;  
         [0008]      FIG. 1B  is a perspective view of the tray of  FIG. 1A  without the dividers;  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  is an exploded section view of a portion of  FIG. 1A  to more clearly illustrate the assembly of the tray;  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of a stack of two trays;  
         [0011]      FIG. 4A  illustrates an alternate embodiment of a tray wherein smaller wall notches provide a larger selection of pocket sizes;  
         [0012]      FIG. 4B  illustrates details of a lateral divider shown in  FIG. 4A ;  
         [0013]      FIG. 4C  illustrates details of a longitudinal divider shown in  FIG. 4A ;  
         [0014]      FIG. 4D  shows an alternate construction of a reduced width end portion of a divider;  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  illustrates use of a partition to form more than one section in a tray;  
         [0016]      FIG. 6  illustrates an alternate JEDEC dimensioned tray with adjustable dividers; and  
         [0017]      FIG. 7A  illustrates an alternate divider configuration;  
         [0018]      FIG. 7B  is an enlargened partial view of a wire divider shown in  FIG. 7A ; and  
         [0019]      FIG. 8  illustrates a cover apparatus for filling space between a tray cover and components or dividers. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0020]     While the present invention will be described herein with reference to particular embodiments thereof, a latitude of modifications, various changes and substitutions are intended, and it will be appreciated that in some instances some features of the invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described with respect to the preferred embodiments set forth herein.  
         [0021]     An embodiment of the adjustable tray of the present invention is shown in the perspective view of  FIG. 1A . The tray  10  includes a rectangular tray base  12  having a cavity  14  defined by a flat tray base bottom  16  and four walls including side walls  18  and  20  and end walls  22  and  24 . Each of the walls  18 - 24  has a plurality of wall notches  26  for captivating end portions of longitudinal dividers  28  and lateral dividers  30  positioned in the cavity  14  as shown. The lateral dividers  30  each have a plurality of lateral divider notches  32 , and upon assembly, selected lateral divider notches  32  are positioned and engaged with corresponding selected longitudinal divider notches  34  as shown by example in  FIG. 1A , and which will be more clearly illustrated in reference to  FIG. 2 .  
         [0022]     The installation of a plurality of longitudinal and lateral dividers  28  and  30  in the cavity  14  results in the formation of a plurality of pockets  36 . In another embodiment, only one set of opposing walls have wall notches  26 . For example, if end walls  22  and  24  have notches, side walls  18  and  20  in this embodiment do not have notches. Similarly, when side walls  18  and  20  have notches, end walls  22  and  24  do not have notches. In this alternate embodiment, the notches in one set of opposing walls and in the dividers adequately retain the desired matrix of pockets  36 . The size of a pocket  36  is determined by the particular selection of notches  32  and  34  for intersection between the lateral and longitudinal dividers. For example, if a particular one of dividers  30  such as item number  38  is positioned so as to engage with the row of notches  34  located closer to end wall  24  as indicated by line  40 , the pockets  42  would be smaller, and pockets  44  would be larger. The longitudinal dividers  28  can similarly be moved to any available lines of notches  32  to enlargen or reduce the size of particular rows of pockets.  
         [0023]     With the dividers  28  and  30  installed to form the pocket dimensions in longitudinal and transverse directions as required, a frame  46  is secured with fasteners  48  over the wall notches  26 . The frame  46  completes the captivation of end portions of the dividers, securing the dividers in position. The height  50  of the frame  46  is selected/designed to achieve a required pocket  16  height. The pockets are therefore adjustable, according to the above description of the tray, in the three dimensions of length, width and height.  
         [0024]      FIG. 1B  shows the tray base  12  of  FIG. 1A  without the dividers  28  and  30 , and without the frame  46  in order to show the cavity  14  more clearly. As an alternate embodiment, numbers  51  are placed on the top surfaces  53  of the walls  18 - 24 , referencing the locations of the recesses  26  for aiding in locating the desired positions for the dividers in the notches and therefore in the cavity  14 . The use of notch location indicating marks avoids tedious manual counting of notches  26 . The layout of numbers shown in  FIG. 1B  shows a zero reference at an approximate center of each of the four walls  18 - 24 . Other arrangements are also included in the spirit of the present invention. The present invention also includes other types of locating indicators for aiding in positioning the dividers, such as a combination of numbers or letters and scale index lines.  
         [0025]      FIG. 2  is an exploded sectional view “A” from  FIG. 1A  for more clearly describing the construction of the tray  10 . The tray base  12  side wall structures  18  and  20  are visible in  FIG. 2 , and the notches  26  are clarified. The walls  18  and  20 , and also walls  22  and  24  shown in  FIG. 1A , have a first height “h 1 ” from the base  16 . A lateral divider  30  is shown and has a height “h 2 ” preferably equal to or slightly less than height h 1  of the notches  26 . An end portion  52  of the divider  30  is placed in a selected notch  26  in wall  18  as indicated by the dashed lines. Similarly, a longitudinal divider  28  is shown positioned/oriented orthogonal to divider  30 , and has a height h 2 , and has an end portion  54  which is placed in a selected one of the notches  26  in wall  20 , for example the placement illustrated by dashed lines. The longitudinal divider  28  notches  34  are constructed to have a width w 1  for clearance over the width w 2  of the lateral divider  30 . Similarly, the width w 3  of the notches  32  of the lateral divider  30  are constructed for clearance over the width w 4  of the longitudinal divider  28 . The height h 3  of the notches  32  and  34  is constructed to equal or exceed half the height h 2  of the dividers so as to allow a full engagement/alignment of the lateral and longitudinal dividers as shown in  FIG. 1A .  
         [0026]     The frame  46  is secured to sidewalls  18 ,  20  or end walls  22 ,  24 , or both side walls  18 ,  20  and end walls  22 ,  24 . Although screws are shown as fasteners  48  in  FIG. 1A , the frame  46  can alternatively be secured to walls  18 - 24  with any type of fastener or adhesive method that maintains the frame in place. For example, the frame may be secured to walls  18 - 24  with glue, adhesive tape, ultrasonic welding, plastic welding or snaps. The frame  46  interfaces with surface  56  and covers the tops of the notches  26  so as to captivate the dividers  28  and  30  in the notches  26  upon securing the frame  46  with fasteners  48  to the walls  18 - 24 . The total height of the pockets is effectively the sum of the height h 1  of the walls  18 - 24  plus the height h 4  of the frame  46 . With a cover on top of the tray, a component will therefore be secured in a pocket, assuming that the height of the component is greater than the height h 4  of the frame. If the height of the component is less than h 4  or the gap between the top of the dividers and the top of the frame, the component could migrate between pockets. Since the height of the frame is selectable, this problem is avoided by proper selection of the frame height according to the present invention. Suitable materials to use for fabricating the frame include metal, plastic, rubber, gasket material or any combination thereof. As an alternate embodiment, the dividers can be configured with a height that is higher in the area within the inner border of the frame so as to avoid migration of components of smaller size. In this case, the ends of the dividers would be of a reduced height relative to the height of the divider within the inner border of the frame. This alternate embodiment applies to all of the dividers disclosed herein. These and other variations for securing the dividers in place and adjusting the pocket sizes that will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the present disclosure are also included in the spirit of the present invention.  
         [0027]      FIG. 3  is a cross sectional view of two trays  10  stacked one on the other. The cross section of each tray  10  is taken for example, along a line such as B-B in  FIG. 1A .  FIG. 3  shows more clearly the height of a pocket  36  as h 5 , which is equal to the sum of h 4  and h 1  shown in  FIG. 2 . Note that the height of the dividers  28  and  30  is less than the total height of each pocket. A component placed in a pocket  36  will be captivated sufficiently if the component height is greater than the height h 4  of the frame. Preferably, the component height is only slightly less than h 5  in order to avoid undesirable component movement in a pocket. Similarly, the width and length of a pocket is preferably adjusted to be only slightly greater than the corresponding dimensions of the electronic component to be placed therein, in order to minimize component movement.  
         [0028]      FIG. 4A  illustrates an alternate tray embodiment that provides a “finer”, more accurate adjustment of the width and length of the component pockets. The tray base  64  has a cavity  77  with the cavity bottom indicated by item number  76 . In order to accomplish the finer adjustments, notches  57  in the walls  58 ,  60 ,  62  and the wall at the opposite end (not shown) of the tray base  64 , are made more narrow, and spaced closer together, for example than the notches  26  shown in  FIG. 1A . In order to preserve strength in the lateral dividers  66  and longitudinal dividers  68 , only end portions  70  of the dividers are made narrow enough to fit in the notches  57 . In order to allow lateral and longitudinal movement of the dividers at intersections  72 , elongated divider notches  74  and  75  are provided in the lateral and longitudinal dividers respectively.  
         [0029]      FIG. 4B  is a perspective view of a lateral divider  66 , and  FIG. 4C  is a perspective view of a longitudinal divider  68 , for more clearly illustrating the ends  70  and elongated slots  74  and  75 .  
         [0030]      FIG. 4D  is an alternate section “C”, corresponding to section “C” of  FIG. 4A , showing an alternate tray base  79  having an alternate embodiment of an end portion  78 , corresponding to the end portion  70  of  FIG. 4A .  FIG. 4D  shows a support  80  attached to a reduced width portion  82 . In order to accommodate the thickness “t” of the support portion  80 , the level of a top surface  83  of a wall  84 , corresponding to wall  58 , is reduced over the notch area  86  by an amount t′ equal or slightly more than the thickness t of the support  80 .  
         [0031]     A further alternate embodiment is illustrated in  FIG. 5 . In this embodiment a partition divider  87  is provided with notches  88  on both sides. The partition divider  87  separates the base cavity  90  into two main sections  92  and  94 . The partition  87  makes it possible to space longitudinal dividers differently in the two sections  92  and  94  as shown.  FIG. 5  illustrates for example, smaller pockets  96  in section  92  and larger pockets  98  in section  94 . Although  FIG. 5  shows one lateral partition  87 , the present invention also includes any number of partitions, and they can be either longitudinally or laterally oriented, or they can be interconnected to intersect each other as separate dividers or integrated in one unit to provide any number of sections in which pockets of various sizes can be arranged. The wall notches and divider notches can be configured to allow the dividers to be placed in various ways, including those described above in reference to  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 4A . Such variations in the construction and assembly will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the present disclosure, and these are to be included in the spirit of the present invention.  
         [0032]     As a still further alternate embodiment of the present invention, the trays as described above in reference to  FIGS. 1A-5  can have dimensions conforming to JEDEC standard dimensions for trays used to contain semiconductor devices.  
         [0033]     Another tray embodiment  100  of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 6 , which embodiment is similar to that described in reference to  FIG. 1A , except that the wall notches  26  of  FIG. 1A  are omitted. In order to vertically captivate the dividers  28  and  30 , a frame  102  is provided that extends inward past the wall  104  and over the top of each end of dividers  28  and  30 . As an alternate embodiment, the tray  100  is designed to have length “L” and width “W” dimensions that conform to JEDEC standard dimensions. Various alternative ways of retaining the dividers  28  and  30  in a tray base will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the present disclosure, and these are to be included in the spirit of the present invention. For example, the dividers  28  and  30  of  FIG. 6  could be retained by extending the lateral frame end wall portions  106  and  108  over the ends of the longitudinal dividers  28 , and not overlapping the ends of the lateral dividers  30  by longitudinal frame wall portions  110  and  112 . Even a single lateral bar extending over the matrix of dividers from the frame wall  110  to wall  112  and positioned for example half way along the length L of the tray could serve to retain the dividers  28  and  30  with the longitudinal dividers positioned so as to hold the lateral dividers as shown in  FIG. 6 . In a further alternate embodiment, only the frame lateral end walls  106  and  108  could be configured to extend over the ends of the longitudinal dividers  28  for captivating the dividers  28  and  30 . In this case with the longitudinal dividers  28  holding down the lateral dividers  30 , the frame positions  110  and  112  need not extend over the lateral dividers  30 . These and other variations that will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the present disclosure, and they are to be included in the spirit of the present invention. In a still further alternate embodiment of the present invention, the frame as described in the present disclosure can be omitted. In this case, in a method according to the present invention, a cover is placed over the matrix of dividers, which will hold the dividers in place. For example, a cover can be placed over the assembly of  FIG. 7A .  
         [0034]     The present invention includes other designs of dividers, as well as the designs described above.  FIG. 7A  illustrates an alternate tray and divider embodiment with a tray base  118 , similar to base  12  of  FIG. 1A , but having wall notches  120  configured to retain longitudinal  122  and lateral  124  dividers constructed of wire. The wire as shown in  FIG. 7A  is configured in the form of a sine wave. It can alternatively be a saw tooth, square wave or other configuration that serves to allow the interleaving of longitudinal and lateral dividers to form a plurality of component pockets  126  with walls that are effective for retaining components in the pockets  126 . For description in the claims, the wire dividers will be described as meandering wire dividers. In this case, the term “meandering” is defined to describe a controlled, planned/designed divider configuration as described above for the purpose of forming straight walls, and does not imply an uncontrolled or unplanned meandering, which is another dictionary definition of the term which is not relevant in this application. Referring to the enlargened partial view of  FIG. 7B  of a meandering wire divider, the space  128  between downward and upward excursions  130  of the wire serve as divider notches, allowing longitudinal and lateral dividers to be interleaved as shown in  FIG. 7B .  
         [0035]      FIG. 8  illustrates another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, cavity cover apparatus  132  is provided for filling or partially filling the space between the bottom  134  of a base  136  of an upper tray  138 , or the bottom of a tray cover (not shown), and the top of the dividers  28  and  30 , or the tops of a component  140  (indicated by dashed lines), whichever is higher. The cover apparatus  132  can be any of various structures for covering the pockets and also for filling the cavity space that will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the present disclosure. The cover apparatus  132  serves to restrict movement of components  140  in the pockets in which they are placed.  FIG. 8  shows a cover plate  142  that is placed directly on top of the pockets  36  and resting on either the dividers or the components, again depending on which is higher. An adjustable spacer  144  is also provided for filling the space. The spacer can be fabricated for example of metal, plastic or a compressible material such as rubber or gasket material, or any combination of materials. The spacer can be custom selected/adjustable, or it can be a compressible material in order to fill the space. The cover length and width are configured to substantially cover the pockets  36 , i.e., to substantially occupy the space within the frame  46 . The spacer  144  can be of various configurations for serving the purpose of holding the cover plate  142  in place. For example, it can be a single piece in the form of a plate as shown, or it can be any of various configurations, including more than one piece, such as a plurality of compressible disks attached or placed on the cover plate  142 . As a further alternate embodiment, the cover apparatus  132 , including spacer and cover plate can be attached to the bottom side of the tray cover or bottom side of an upper tray to be stacked on a lower tray. As a still further embodiment, referring again to  FIG. 8 , a spacer can be placed between the bottom of a first tray base and a frame on a second tray on which the first tray is placed. For example, a spacer can be placed in the gap  146  of  FIG. 8 . For ease of illustration, a spacer  148  is shown placed on the bottom  150  of tray base  152  for filling a gap between the bottom  150  of tray base  152  and the top of a frame similar to frame  46  on a lower tray upon which the tray base  152  may be placed. The lower tray for example could be of the same design as tray  138 .  
         [0036]     While the present invention has been described herein with reference to particular embodiments thereof, a latitude of modifications, various changes and substitutions are intended in the foregoing disclosure, and it will be appreciated that in some instances some features of the invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.