Patent Publication Number: US-10322850-B2

Title: Bakery tray

Description:
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/467,954, filed Mar. 25, 2011. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Bakery trays typically include a base wall, a pair of opposed side walls extending upward from side edges of the base, and front and rear walls extending upward from front and rear edges of the base. Loaded bakery trays can be stacked upon one another such that the weight of the loaded trays is supported on the walls of the trays, not the bakery items in the trays. 
     The trays themselves contribute to the height of the stack of loaded trays. This could limit, for example, the number of trays in a stack that can fit in a truck for shipping or the amount of product that can fit inside each tray. 
     SUMMARY 
     A bakery tray includes a base and a pair of opposed side walls extending upward from side edges of the base. Front and rear walls extend upward from front and rear edges of the base. A plurality of recesses for receiving bakery items therein are formed in the base. This increases the number of bakery items that can be received in the tray and/or permits a decrease in the stacking height of the trays, thereby permitting another tray to be received on the stack. 
     In one embodiment, the recesses are a plurality of parallel troughs formed in an upper surface of the base. 
     In another embodiment, the plurality of recesses are formed in the ribs in the base, such that the bakery items are received in the recesses. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is perspective view of a bakery tray according to a first embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  shows the bakery tray of  FIG. 1  with baked items stored therein. 
         FIG. 3  shows a pair of the bakery trays of  FIG. 1  nested together. 
         FIG. 4  is a front view of the bakery trays of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  shows the bakery trays of  FIG. 3  in a low-stack orientation. 
         FIG. 6  is a front view of the bakery trays of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 7  is an enlarged perspective view of one end of the bakery trays of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the trays of  FIG. 5  in the high-stack orientation. 
         FIG. 9  is a front view of the bakery trays of  FIG. 8 . 
         FIG. 10  is a bottom perspective view of the bakery tray of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective view of a bakery tray according to a second embodiment. 
         FIG. 12  is a bottom perspective view of the bakery tray of  FIG. 11 . 
         FIG. 13  shows the bakery tray of  FIG. 11  loaded with baked items. 
         FIG. 14  is a side view of a portion of two stacked bakery trays of  FIG. 11 . 
         FIG. 15  is a section view of the bakery trays of  FIG. 14 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     A bakery tray  10  according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 1 . The bakery tray  10  generally includes a base  12 , a front wall  14  and a rear wall  16  extending upwardly from front and rear edges of the tray  10 . Side walls  18 ,  20  extend upwardly from side edges of the base  12 . The upper edge of the front and rear walls  14 ,  16  have a lip  22 ,  24 . The upper edge of the side walls  18 ,  20  each have a lip  26 ,  28 . The front wall  14  may be significantly shorter than the side walls  18 ,  20 , as shown. The rear wall  16  may also be significantly shorter than the side walls  18 ,  20 , as shown. 
     The side wall  18  has a pair of outer towers  30  and a pair of inner windows  32 . A foot  34  protrudes outwardly from the side wall  18  below each inner window  32 . The side wall  20  has a pair of inner towers  36  and a pair of outer windows  38 . A foot  40  protrudes outwardly from the side wall  20  below each outer window  38 . Each side wall  18 ,  20  includes a handle opening  44 . 
     The base  12  has a wavy or corrugated configuration, such that it includes a plurality of parallel elongated recesses or troughs  46  and a plurality of parallel elongated peaks  48 . A pair of supports  50  are pivotably secured to the tray  10  and pivotable between an outward retracted position (shown in  FIG. 1 ) and an extended or inward deployed position (shown in  FIG. 8 ). The supports  50  may be pivotably connected to the front and rear walls  14 ,  16  as shown or could be pivotably and/or slidably mounted to the side walls  18 ,  20 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the parallel troughs  46  can accommodate certain shapes of bakery items well, such as hamburger buns  80  (or sandwich buns, or rolls, or the like). As shown, the buns  80  can be efficiently loaded into the tray  10  on end (i.e. the halves of the bun and the slice through the bun is perpendicular to the floor). The corrugations in the base  12  permit the troughs  46  of the base  12  to be as low as possible within the tray  10 . For example, as shown in  FIG. 11 , the base  12  is only the single wall thickness thick at the bottom of the trough  46 . The upper surface of the bottom wall of the trough  46  defines the trough  46  while the bottom surface of the bottom wall of the trough  46  is the bottom of the tray  10 . This means that stacked trays  10  could be nested such that there is only the thickness of the base wall between the layers of bakery items, i.e. there are no ribs between layers of bakery items in different trays  10 . Alternatively, there could be very small ribs. 
     The example tray  10  is a 180 degree stack/nest tray  10 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , an identical tray  10 ′ can be nested in the tray  10  when they are oriented similarly, such that the feet  40 ′ of the upper tray  10 ′ are received in the windows  38  of the lower tray  10 . The feet  34 ′ of the upper tray  10 ′ would also be received in the windows  32  of the lower tray  10 . The lip  28 ′ of the upper tray  10 ′ abuts the lip  28  of the lower tray  10 , for maximum storage and shipping efficiency when empty.  FIG. 4  is a front view of the trays  10 ,  10 ′ of  FIG. 3 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 5-7 , when the upper tray  10 ′ is rotated 180 degrees relative to the lower tray  10 , the inner feet  34 ′ of the upper tray  10 ′ stack on the inner towers  36  of the lower tray  10 , while the outer feet  40 ′ of the upper tray  10 ′ stack on the outer towers  30  of the lower tray  10 . The supports  50  of the lower tray  10  are outward of the feet  34 ′,  40 ′ and the feet  34 ′,  40 ′ are not supported on the supports  50 . The trays  10 ,  10 ′ are in the low-stack orientation. This is how the trays  10 ,  10 ′ would be stacked when loaded with bakery items, such as buns. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 8-9 , when the supports  50  are moved inward to the deployed position, the feet  34 ′,  40 ′ of the upper tray  10 ′ are supported on the supports  50  of the lower tray  10 . This raises the base  12 ′ of the upper tray  10 ′ a little higher (e.g. 5 mm) than the stacked position in  FIGS. 5-7 . This high-stack orientation could be used to accommodate large bakery items, e.g. larger buns, while still providing the option of the lower stack position ( FIGS. 5-7 ) for smaller bakery items. When stacked in a delivery truck, even an extra 5 mm per tray can provide a large benefit because another layer or two of trays may be able to fit in the truck. 
       FIG. 10  is a bottom view of the tray  10 . As shown, the troughs  46  have only a single wall thickness at the bottom of the tray  10 , which minimizes the stacked height of loaded trays  10 . The peaks  48  may have transverse ribs  54  formed therein for added strength and stability to the base  12 . 
       FIGS. 11-15  illustrate a tray  110  according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The tray  110  includes a base  112 . A pair of side walls  114  and a pair of end walls  116  extend upward from the base  112 . 
       FIG. 12  is a bottom perspective view of the tray  110 . The base  112  includes a plurality of ribs  111 . The ribs  111  may include a plurality of intersecting perpendicular vertical ribs  111 . The ribs  111  having scallops or recesses  152  formed at their lower ends. Shortened portions  113  of the ribs  111  form the recesses  152 . The recesses  152  are generally sized and positioned in the bottom of the base  112  to partially receive the tops of buns (or other product) in a tray below. 
     As shown in  FIG. 13 , the tray  110  can be used to ship and store bakery items  80 , such as hamburger buns, sandwich buns, rolls, etc. Stacks of such bakery items  80  are arranged within the tray  110 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 14 , an identical tray  110 ′ can be stacked on the tray  110  loaded with bakery items  80  for efficient storage and shipping.  FIG. 15  is a section view through the trays  110 ,  110 ′. As shown, the plurality of scallops or recesses  152  are formed in the ribs  111  on the underside of the base  112  by the shortened portions  113  of the ribs  111 . The recesses  152  define where buns  80  can be received, while the remaining longer portions of the ribs  111  reinforce the base  112 . 
     By forming the scallops in the underside of the base  112 , the trays  110 ,  110 ′ can be designed to stack together at a lower total height. Although it may appear to be a small reduction in height between two trays  110 , the overall height reduction of a stack of trays  110  in a delivery truck can be significant enough to permit another layer or two of trays  110  in the truck. Alternatively, another layer of bakery items (e.g. buns) can be stacked in each tray  110 . This provides a significant increase in efficiency. 
     The scallops could be added to almost any style bakery tray and are not limited to the style shown. Also, the shape of the scallops could vary depending on the item in the trays, e.g. elongated channels could be formed for loaves of bread. 
     In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes and jurisprudence, exemplary configurations described above are considered to represent a preferred embodiment of the invention. However, it should be noted that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described without departing from its spirit or scope.