Patent Publication Number: US-2011056865-A1

Title: Product Container Including Surface with Bumps

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present invention relates to a container for product pieces. 
     Containers for products not only hold the product, but may also provide a desired appearance for marketing purposes. It is desirable to have a container to hold individual product pieces that is easy to fill and easy to remove the product pieces. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     In various aspects, a product container is provided. The product container includes a surface with bumps that help to orient the product pieces when the container is filled. Advantageously, the products can be more efficiently packed as compared to a container without the bumps. 
     In one aspect, a product container includes a tray. The tray includes a bottom surface and at least one side wall extending from the bottom surface. A plurality of bumps is disposed along the bottom surface. 
     In another aspect, a method of loading product pieces into a product container includes providing a tray and a lid. The tray includes a bottom surface. At least one side wall extends from the bottom surface. A plurality of bumps is disposed along the bottom surface. A plurality of product pieces is provided and disposed into the tray. The tray is vibrated to position the product pieces onto the bottom surface. The lid is then attached to the tray. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a top view of an embodiment of a tray of a product container. 
         FIG. 2  is a side sectional view of the tray of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a bottom view of an embodiment of a lid of a product container. 
         FIG. 4  is a side sectional view of the lid of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a side sectional view of the lid of  FIG. 3  connected to the tray of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 6  is a top schematic view of two product pieces disposed on a portion of the tray bottom. 
         FIG. 7  is a top schematic view of three product pieces disposed on a portion of the tray bottom. 
         FIG. 8  is a side schematic view of two product pieces disposed on a portion of the tray bottom. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The invention is described with reference to the drawings in which like elements are referred to by like numerals. The relationship and functioning of the various elements of this invention are better understood by the following description. Each aspect so defined may be combined with any other aspect or aspects unless clearly indicated to the contrary. The embodiments described below are by way of example only, and the invention is not limited to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings. 
     The present invention provides a container particularly suitable for product pieces, for example confectionery product pieces. An embodiment of a tray  20  of a product container  10  is shown in  FIG. 1 . The tray  20  includes a bottom surface  22  and at least one side wall  24  extending from the bottom surface  22 . A plurality of bumps  26  is disposed at regular intervals along the bottom surface  22 . The bumps are convex protuberances extending from the bottom surface  22 . The bumps  26  may be of any suitable shape. In one embodiment, the bumps  26  are semi-spherical in shape. The bumps  26  may also be conical, pyramidal, or cylindrical in shape. 
     The side wall  24  includes a height  28 . The side wall may include four side walls  32 ,  34 ,  36 , and  38  to provide a rectangular tray  20 . The bottom surface  22  includes a length  40  and a width  42 . The tray  20  may be generally shallow in height compared to its length and width. In one embodiment, the height  28  of the side wall  24  is less than the longest dimension  61  of the product pieces  60  contained within the container  10 . In another embodiment, the interior height  28  of the container  10  is about 1 to 4 mm greater than the thickness  63  of the product piece  60 . Typical dimensions of the product container  10  are between 4 and 6 inches in length, between 2 and 4 inches in width, and between 0.3 and 0.5 inches in height. 
     The product container may also include a lid  30 , as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . The lid  30  may be connected to the tray  20  in any suitable fashion. In embodiments, the lid is hingedly connected to the tray or connected in other configurations. In the shown embodiment, the lid  30  may be slidingly connected to the tray  20 . The slidingly connected lid  30  may also be configured to snap on to the tray  20 , particularly in a high-speed filling operation. The lid  30  may include a flat inner surface  31  and rolled edges  43  which slidingly engage corresponding rolled lips  39  on the tray  20 . The rolled edges  43  extend along three sides of the lid  30 , terminating at a point  33  to allow the lid  30  to slide open to reveal the contents of the container  10 . As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the lid  30  may include side walls  35  that extend over the rolled lip  39  of the tray  20 . The lid  30  may include a portion  37  with no side wall or lip, to allow the lid  30  to slide off the tray  20  without interference. 
     The lid  30  may also include one or more small bumps  44 ,  45  projecting into the interior of the container  10 . One or more bumps  45  may be positioned roughly adjacent to the back wall  46  to engage the corresponding lip  39  on the tray  20  to act as a detent preventing accidental opening of the container. Additional bumps  44  may be located at chosen distance(s) from the rear wall  46  of the lid  30  to encourage partial opening of the lid  30  to one or more pre-selected positions. 
     In an embodiment, the bumps  26  are disposed at regular intervals in a pattern of rows and columns. For example, as shown in  FIG. 1 , the bottom surface  22  includes multiple rows  50  and columns  52  of bumps  26 . The bumps  26  may be disposed at equal intervals  54  along rows  50 , and at equal intervals  56  along columns  52 . Intervals  54  and  56  may be the same distance or different distances. Additionally, the bumps  26  in adjacent rows and columns may either line up or be offset from each other. The bottom surface  22  includes a plurality of interstitial spaces  58  between the bumps  26 . The interstitial spaces  26  are defined by the four adjacent bumps  26 . In other embodiments (not shown) the bumps  26  may be arranged in other patterns or randomly distributed on the bottom surface  22  of the tray  20 . 
     The tray  20  is adapted to hold a plurality of product pieces  60 .  FIG. 6  is a top view showing product pieces  60  with a circular cross section disposed in the interstitial spaces  58  between bumps  26 . The bumps  26  and interstitial spaces  58  are configured to allow pieces  60  to pack to high density, where each piece  60  touches or almost touches up to four other adjacent pieces  60 . In an embodiment, the bumps  26 , interstitial spaces  58  and product pieces  60  are sized and shaped to prevent contact between the product pieces  60  when they are precisely positioned in the interstitial spaces  58 . 
     The product pieces  60  may be any suitable shape. In an embodiment the product pieces  60  include at least one portion with a substantially flat or slightly curved surface, which may be disposed at least partially against the bottom surface  22 . In another embodiment, the product pieces  60  are roughly spherical in shape. The product pieces  60  are shown with a curved portion and a round cross section, but other shapes are possible, such as square, rectangular, cylindrical, oval, or spherical. Square product pieces  62  are shown in  FIG. 7 . Most efficient packing and maximization of the benefits of the bumps  26  occurs when the faces of the pieces are symmetrical in at least four axes, such as for circular and square pieces. As shown in  FIG. 8 , the curved pieces  60  may have a relatively small flat equatorial portion (called a belly band)  64  to minimize them standing on their sides when the containers  10  are filled. The bumps  26  help to encourage the product pieces  26  to lie down even if the flat equatorial portion  64  is large. The pieces  60  have a longest dimension  61  and a height  63 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , the bumps  26  may facilitate removal of the product pieces  60  by preventing the pieces  60  from lying completely flat on the bottom surface  22  of the tray  20 . The exact size and shape of the face of the individual pieces  60  may be chosen to prevent a piece  60  from simultaneously contacting more than three of the bumps  26  defining the interstitial space  58  in which the pieces  60  resides. This ensures that the face of the product piece  60  will remain in contact with the tray bottom surface  22 . 
     The product container  10  may be filled with product pieces  60  via a high speed loading operation. The orientation of the bumps  26  relative to the size of the product pieces  60  is helpful in ensuring proper loading of the product pieces  60 . The bumps  26  help disperse the pieces  60  evenly across the surface  22  of the tray  20  in a single plane and reduce the likelihood of a piece  60  being oriented on edge in the container  10 . Thus also allows the product pieces  60  to be easily counted, for example, by the use of machine vision. For high speed loading, a prior art practice is to size the product  60  and container  10  such that the height  28  of the interior of the container  10  should be at least equal to the diameter (or longest dimension) of the product pieces  60 , plus a clearance factor which is typically 1 to 2 mm for typical confectionery products. This ensures that the pieces  60  will not interfere with the fitting of the lid  30  to the tray  20  after loading by allowing for the likelihood that some pieces  60  might be oriented on edge or on top of one another. It has been found that by utilizing the present invention, the height  28  of the interior of the tray  20  may be somewhat thinner than the prior art practice and still allow for high speed loading. In an embodiment, the interior height  28  of the container  10  will be less than the greatest dimension  61  of the product piece  60 . In another embodiment, the interior height  28  of the container  10  will be about 1 to 4 mm greater than the thickness  63  of the product piece  60 . 
     To load the container  10 , a tray  20  is provided. A plurality of product pieces  60  is loaded in the tray. After the pieces  60  are loaded in the tray  20 , the tray  20  may be vibrated to position the pieces  60  in the interstitial spaces  58  in the tray  20  and to encourage each piece  60  to lay flat on the bottom surface  22  of the tray  20 . The lid  30  may then be attached to the tray  20 . 
     The configuration of container  10  allows a thinner (lower height) package and allows more pieces  60  to be fit within a container of a given size, and increase the perception of the consumer that the container  10  is full. 
     The container  10  may be made of any suitable material. The tray  20  and lid  30  may be made of metal, plastic, molded fiber, wood, or other suitable materials. The container  10  may include an outer covering such as a shrink wrap or a sleeve (made of paperboard or other material). Several containers  10  may be provided in a box or other suitable larger container. 
     Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made and formed in detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is therefore intended that the foregoing detailed description be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting, and that it be understood that it is the following claims, including all equivalents, that are intended to define the scope of this invention.