Patent ID: 6892513

Claim:
A method of forming and filling in an automated filling operation a container suitable for shipping, display and consumer use having a body and a cover from an open-ended, partially pro-glued, partially assembled container comprising top, top front, top side, bottom front, bottom back, and bottom side flaps, comprising: (a) folding the top side flaps inward; (b) thereafter folding the top and top front so that the top front overlaps in part the front of the container, and attaching the top front to the front of the package to provide a closed top and an open bottom for the container; (c) providing a plurality of wrapped food products, having opposed ends, each wrapped food product comprising an elongated food product, an elongated food delivery tray system, and an elongated flexible sheet wrap overlying the elongated food delivery tray system having end seals at opposite ends thereof to seal the elongated food product, each elongated food delivery tray system comprising an elongated tray that has sufficient strength and stiffness to withstand compression loads experienced during packaging and to shield the elongated food product from the compression loads, said, including a bottom wall, a pair of side walls joined to the bottom wall, and a pair of end walls adjacent the wrapped food product ends and joined to the bottom wall, each of said side walls having at least one notch extending from an upper edge of the side wall, along a portion of the height of each side wall and a line of weakness extending from the bottom of each notch to the bottom wall, and one or more curved recesses in the upper edges of the side walls and spaced from the at least one notch to facilitate handling; (d) inserting said plurality of wrapped food products simultaneously through the open bottom by applying compressive force to one of the end walls of all of said wrapped food products simultaneously with a mandrel, so as to transmit the compressive force along said sidewalls to the other of the end walls, in a direction extending along the longitudinal axis of the elongated food product thereby urging said wrapped food products longitudinally into the container, with said wrapped food products being arranged so that said mandrel acts directly on each of the end walls of the delivery tray systems and each of said wrapped food products will have an end seal readily accessible without restriction from the top of the container when the container is opened; (e) folding the bottom side flaps inward; (f) folding either the bottom front or the bottom back flap inward; (g) folding the remaining bottom flap inward; and (h) fastening the flap folded in step (g) to the flap folded in step (f).