EP0051545A1 - Tray of a plastic material, particularly a thermoplastic material, for objects having different forms, such as fruits and vegetables - Google Patents

Abstract

This tray comprises a base (1) and substantially continuous side walls (2, 3) which comprise at least one projecting portion (6, 7) forming a bellows and directed towards the inside or outside of the tray, preferably with a cutout or notch (6', 7') at the level of its upper edge, with a view to being able to deform due to stressing by the packaged articles. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a tray - also designated in the art by the term "cradle of wedging" - in a semi-rigid material for the packaging of fruit, vegetables or, more generally, products of various shapes.

It relates more particularly to a tray or cradle for wedging in a thermoplastic material, produced by thermoforming, and it is this type of tray that will be referred to in the remainder of this description, without this however implying a limitation of the invention.

We know that a packaging method increasingly used for fruits and vegetables consists of housing them in a tray made of a semi-rigid material (cardboard, plastic, etc.), which is then wrapped with its content using a sheet of stretchable or shrinkable plastic or a stretchable plastic net or other type of material. The conditioned objects are thus held firmly in position and it is possible to deliver them to the retailer in the same form where they will be put up for sale, in lots of four, six, eight objects or even more.

This is how, in trade, pears, apples, tomatoes, etc. are presented to the buyer in such packages, which protect them from direct contact with the hands of sellers or buyers, or with the surrounding objects, depending on the material used, without however separating them from the ambient atmosphere necessary for their good preservation, with which they remain in communication through the film or stretchable or retractable net, which is preferably permeable to gases.

In practice, however, these packages have a number of drawbacks. Indeed, whatever the origin of the fruits or vegetables to be packaged and whatever care is taken to sort them according to their volume, their size is essentially variable, while chain-based packing centers are equipped with machines adapted to specific types of trays or wedging cradles. If the fruits are too small, they do not occupy the entire volume of the tray intended for them and, despite the stretchable or retractable film which encloses them, they are not held firmly enough and may move, colliding against each other. On the contrary, if they are too bulky, they extend laterally above the walls of the tray and risk being "injured" and even cut by the upper edge of this wall.

Of course, one could use trays of different dimensions, which one would choose according to the size of the objects to be packaged. However, in general, the packaging services never know in advance what the characteristics of the objects to be packaged will be and they must be able to process, almost without notice, any type of fruit and vegetables. In addition, the selection of a tray specially adapted to the dimensions of the objects to be packaged would considerably complicate mass packaging operations and would therefore prove to be very costly.

The present invention aims to remedy these drawbacks by proposing a tray which can be deformed to adapt to the size of the objects to be packaged, while then tightly enclosing them, under the stress of the film of stretchable or shrinkable plastic or of the plastic stretch net.

To this end, the subject of the invention is a tray made of a thermoplastic material, comprising a bottom and substantially continuous side walls, characterized in that said walls comprise at least one projecting part, forming a bellows and directed inwards or the outside of the tray, preferably with a cut or notch at its upper edge, in order to be able to deform under the stress of the packaged objects and / or the sheath of stretchable or retractable plastic material enveloping said tray and said objects.

Of course, said bellows parts will preferably be arranged at the contact planes of the adjoining objects. Their dimensions can be absolutely arbitrary and, ultimately, two parts of side walls parallels may come into substantial contact with one of the nutres to form a partition between the continuous objects.

In section parallel to the bottom, their section can be absolutely arbitrary, rectangular, trapezoidal or rounded, the simplest form being naturally that of an accordion fold.

In the case of a thermoplastic material, the deformations of the tray will be substantially elastic.

The cuts or notches provided in the upper part or bellows are naturally intended to facilitate the deformation of these bellows.

It is understood that, under these conditions, in the case of bulky objects, the tray may deform laterally and longitudinally, expanding and flaring, to adapt to the dimensions of the objects, without injuring them, which will be held firmly in position by the shrink or stretch film or by the stretch plastic net or any other material, which stresses them as well as the tray.

On the contrary, in the case of small volume objects, the tray will be compressed by said film to contract and thus adapt to the size of the objects.

• Les figures 1 et 2 sont des vues de la barquette, respectivement de dessus et en perspective ;
• La figure 3 est une vue en perspective de la barquette remplie de fruits et gainée d'un film rétractable ou étirable.

The accompanying drawings, which are not limiting, illustrate an embodiment of the container according to the invention. In these drawings:

• Figures 1 and 2 are views of the tray, respectively from above and in perspective;
• Figure 3 is a perspective view of the tray filled with fruit and sheathed with a shrink or stretch film.

The tray shown in the drawings is produced by thermoforming a thermoplastic material (polyvinyl chloride or the like) and has a generally rectangular section. It has a bottom 1, two longitudinal walls 2 and two transverse walls 3 connecting to the previous ones continuously in the corners by curved parts 4. This tray is intended to receive two rows of three fruits and, to separate the sweet rows longitudinally, the bottom 1 has a projecting part 5, forming a partition.

According to the invention, the longitudinal 2 and transverse 3 walls include projecting parts, respectively 6 and 7, cut at their upper part, respectively at 6 'and 7'. These projecting parts are arranged along the contact planes of the various objects, thereby defining cells for the accommodation thereof. Their dimensions can be absolutely arbitrary, depending on the desired effect. These parts can possibly be engaged between the objects to be packaged and thus ensure their separation.

These parts 6 and 7, with their upper cutout 6 ′ and 7 ′, can thus deform in the manner of a bellows, to allow the walls 2 and 3 to adapt to the size of the objects 8 housed in the tray, oranges for example (Figure 3). If these objects are very large, the bellows 6 and 7 may open under their pressure, thereby increasing the effective length of the walls. The objects will nonetheless be firmly held in position in the tray under the stress of the film 9 of stretchable or shrinkable material, which will then surround the full tray. Be the same, if the objects are small and do not completely fill the tray, the film 9 will compress the bellows 6 and 7 by shortening the effective length of the walls, to bring them into close contact with the objects and to maintain these last in place.

The invention therefore provides a simple and inexpensive means of adapting the size of the trays to that of the fruits, vegetables or other objects housed therein, thus making it possible to package in the same type of tray and to overwrap with plastic film objects of different sizes, without complicating the packaging operations and virtually eliminating the risk of deterioration of these objects.

In an application to the packaging of fruits and vegetables, the tray according to the invention is therefore particularly useful.

Claims (5)

1.- Tray or wedging wedge in a thermoplastic material, comprising a bottom (1) and side walls (2, 3) substantially continuous, characterized in that said walls (2, 3) comprise at least one projecting part ( 6, 7) forming a bellows and directed towards the inside or outside of the tray, preferably with a cutout or notch (6 ′, 7 ′) at its upper edge, in order to be able to deform under stress packaged objects and / or the sheath of stretchable or retractable plastic or the stretchable plastic net enveloping said tray and said objects. 2.- Tray according to claim 1, characterized in that said parts (6, 7) forming bellows are arranged along the contact planes of said objects. 3.- Tray according to claim 2, characterized in that said parts (6, 7) forming bellows protrude inside the tray over a distance such as it form separations between contiguous objects. 4.- Tray according to one of claims 1 to 3, produced by thermoforming of a thermoplastic material. 5.- Packaging for objects of various shapes, in particular fruit or vegetables, comprising in combination a tray according to one of claims 1 to 4 and an envelope made of a stretchable or retractable material or a stretchable plastic net or any other material sheathing said tray and said objects.

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