Patent ID: 8381910

Claim:
A stackable unit ( 100 a ) comprising: (a) two longitudinal sections ( 104 a ), each having a ‘C’-shaped cross-section comprising a horizontal upper end ( 204 a ) and a horizontal lower end ( 206 a ); (b) two transverse sections ( 102 a ) joined to the longitudinal sections ( 104 a ) to produce a frame; (c) at least one trough ( 106 a ) intended to contain a food product where the longitudinal axis is parallel to the longitudinal sections ( 104 a ) and where each end is fixed to the transverse sections ( 102 a ); (d) under each trough ( 106 a ) there is fixed a cover ( 108 a ), where the longitudinal axis is parallel to the longitudinal sections ( 104 a ) so that when the stackable unit ( 100 a ) is stacked on another identical stackable unit ( 100 b ), each cover ( 108 a ) of the stackable unit ( 100 a ) comes to cover a trough ( 106 b ) of the lower stackable unit ( 100 b ); and (e) further comprising at least two vertical posts ( 110 a ) distributed over and fixed to each longitudinal section ( 104 a ), the upper face of each post ( 110 a ) serving as a rest for the lower surface of a post of a higher stackable unit, and the lower face of each post ( 110 a ) coming to rest on the upper face of a post ( 110 b ) of the lower stackable unit ( 100 b ) or on a floor; (f) further comprising at least two alignment studs ( 112 a ) and, for each alignment stud ( 112 a ), an alignment aperture, each alignment stud ( 112 a ) being insertable into an alignment aperture of a second stackable unit during stacking, and each alignment aperture being provided to receive an alignment stud of a third stackable unit during stacking.