IE64543B1

IE64543B1 - A nestable and stackable tray

Info

Publication number: IE64543B1
Application number: IE48890A
Authority: IE
Inventors: Andrew Bradley; Thomas Power
Original assignee: Ferdia Research Limited
Priority date: 1990-02-12
Filing date: 1990-02-12
Publication date: 1995-08-23
Also published as: GB2241222B; IE900488A1; GB9102895D0; GB2241222A

Abstract

A nestable and stackable tray 1 for soft fruit and the like comprises a base 2, side walls 3, 4 and end walls 5, 6 extending upwardly from the base. End posts 15, 16 and corner posts 17, 18 extend inwardly from the side and end walls and support another tray in a stacking configuration when the trays are relatively rotated by 180 DEG . The walls 3, 4, 5 and 6 also include complementary grooves to receive the post 15, 16, 17, 18 of another tray in a nesting configuration when the trays are in the same relative orientation.

Description

The invention relates to a nestable and stackable tray particularly for soft fruit, vegetables and the like.

According to the invention there is provided a nestable and stackable tray for soft fruit, vegetables and the like comprising a base and sidewall means extending upwardly from the base, the sidewall means comprising a pair of substantially parallel opposed sidewalls and a pair of substantially parallel opposed end walls, a first pair of support posts on one end wall and second pair of support posts at the corners of the opposite end wall, the base and the posts having complementary co-operating members which cooperate to retain another similar tray in stacking configuration with the tray, and the sidewall means having grooves to receive the support posts of the other tray in a nesting configuration when one tray is rotated relative to the other tray from the stacking to the nesting configuration, the co-operating members comprising a groove or rib on the corner posts which extends around the corner and complementary ribs or grooves on the base for engagement with the grooves or ribs of the corner posts in the stacking configuration to substantially prevent lateral movement between one tray and another in the stacking configuration.

Preferably, the grooves are provided on the corner posts and the ribs are provided on the base.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention the posts or base include an inwardly extending cut-out for engagement with a complementary inwardly extending stop rib on the other of the base or post. Preferably, the stop rib is provided on the base and the cut-out is provided on the post.

In one embodiment of the invention the sidewall means includes an outwardly and downwardly turned flange means which is spaced-apart from the sidewall means and reinforcing means are provided between the sidewall means and the flange means. Preferably, the reinforcing means comprises a plurality of reinforcing ribs extending between the flange means and the sidewall means.

In one embodiment of the invention the base is provided with a plurality of generally diagonally extending reinforcing ribs. Preferably, the sidewall means includes a plurality of ventilation apertures.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description thereof given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which :Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a tray according to one embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is an underneath perspective view of the tray of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the tray of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an underneath plan view of the tray of Fig· i; Fig. 5 is a cross sectional end view of the tray of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a side view of the tray of Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is a right end view of the tray of Fig. 1; Fig. 8 is a left end view of the tray of Fig. 1; Fig. 9 is a perspective view of two of the trays of Fig. 1 in a stacking configuration; Fig. 10 is a side sectional view of the trays of Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is a perspective view of two of the trays in a nesting configuration; Fig. 12 is a perspective view, from below, of another tray according to the invention; Fig. 13 is a perspective view, from above, of the tray of Fig. 12; Figs. 14 and 15 are respectively top plan and underneath plan views of the tray of Fig. 12; Fig. 16 is a side view of the tray of Fig. 12; Figs. 17 and 18 are views of the tray taken from the right and left in Fig. 13; and Fig. 19 is a cross sectional view of the tray of Fig. 12.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Figs. 1 to 11 thereof there is illustrated a tray according to one embodiment of the invention indicated generally by the reference numeral 1 which is typically injection moulded of plastics material. The tray 1 is in this case of generally rectangular shape and comprises a base 2 and sidewall means extending upwardly from the base 2. The sidewall means comprises a pair of substantially parallel opposed side walls 3, 4 and a pair of substantially parallel opposed end walls 5, 6. The upper edges of the walls 3, 4, 5, 6 are provided with outwardly and downwardly turned flanges 7 which are reinforced by reinforcing ribs 8. The walls 3, 4, 5, 6 are slightly inclined upwardly and outwardly from the base 2. Both the base 2 and each of the walls 3, 4, 5, 6 are provided with perforations 10 of generally diamond shape to promote air circulation through goods stored in the tray 1.

Two spaced-apart inner end posts 15, 16 extend inwardly from one end wall 6 and two corner posts 17, 18 extend inwardly from the junction between the other end wall 5 and the adjacent side walls 3, 4. The posts 15, 16, 17, 18 extend upwardly above the upper edge of the end walls 5, 6 and side walls 3, 4 for supporting another identical tray 1 in a stacking configuration as illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10. Complementary grooves 15', 16', 17', 18' are provided in the tray sidewall means to receive the posts 15, 16, 17, 18 of another identical tray 1 in a nesting configuration as illustrated in Fig. 11.

The base 2 and posts 15, 16, 17, 18 have complementary cooperating members which co-operate to retain the tray 1 in a stacking configuration with another tray 1. The co-operating members in this case comprises a downwardly extending rib 20 extending downwardly from the base 2 and in this case extending around the base with the exception of the entry to the grooves 15', 16', 17', 18' as will be particularly apparent from Fig. 2. The rib 20 co-operates with grooves 21, 22 provided at the top of the inner end posts 15, 16 and with corner grooves 23, 24 at the top of the corner posts 17, 18 when the trays 1 are in a stacking configuration. It will be noted that the grooves 23, 24 extend around the corners of the corner posts 17, 18 through substantially 90° for engagement with complementary portions 23', 24' of the base rib 20 of another tray 1 in a stacking configuration. The grooves 23, 24 are defined between a pair of spaced-apart upstanding ledges 26, 27 and 28, 29 respectively which function with the corner grooves 23, 24 to retain the tray 1 in a stacking configuration to substantially prevent lateral movement between the trays 1. The inboard surfaces of the ledges 26, 27 and 28, 29 are inclined upwardly for location of the rib portions 23', 24' of the upper tray 1 in the corresponding grooves 23, 24 of the lower tray 1. Similarly the grooves 21, 22 in the end posts 15, 16 are defined between ledges 30, 31 and 32, 33 respectively and the inboard surfaces of the ledges 30, 31, 32 and 33 are inclined inwardly and downwardly to locate with corresponding portions 21', 22' of the base rib 20. It will be noted that the inner ledges 31, 33 of the end posts 15, 16 are formed with cut-outs 35, 36 for engagement with complementary stop ribs 35', 36' respectively which extend inwardly from the base rib 20 as illustrated particularly in Fig. 2. The stop ribs 35' and 36' locate in the cut-outs 35, 36 and are retained in this position when adjacent trays 1 are in the stacked configuration to prevent relative movement between the trays 1 in the direction of the arrows indicated in Fig. 10.

The inner end posts 15, 16 include downwardly extending tabs 40 (see Fig. 8) to facilitate nesting of trays 1 as illustrated in Fig. 11.

In use, to stack trays one on top of another the trays 1 are offered up to each other with the inner end posts 15, 16 of one tray 1 above the comer posts 17, 18 of another tray 1. When the upper tray 1 is placed on the lower tray 1 the rib portions 23', 24' of the base rib 20 of the upper tray 1 engage the grooves 23, 24 of the corner posts 17, 18 of the lower tray 1 and the rib portions 21' and 22' of the upper tray 1 engage in the grooves 21, 22 of the end post 15, 16 of V7 the lower tray 1. In addition the stop ribs 35' 36' of the upper tray 1 engage in the cut-outs 35, 36 respectively of the end post 15, 16 of the lower tray 1. In this configuration which is illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10, the trays 1 are fully supported one on top of the other. Because of the interengagement of the ribs and the grooves they cannot move in a horizontal plane relative to one another. To move the trays 1 into a nesting configuration the upper of the trays 1 is turned through approximately 180° until the corner posts 17, 18 of the lower tray 1 are in line with the corresponding grooves 17', 18' of the upper tray 1 and similarly the inner end posts 15, 16 are in line with the corresponding grooves 15', 16'. The upper tray 1 then readily nests into the lower tray 1 as illustrated in Fig. 11.

Referring to Figs. 12 to 19 there is illustrated another tray 50 according to the invention. The tray 50 is similar to the tray 1 and like parts are assigned the same reference numerals. In this case the reinforcing flanges are extended downwardly and cut-away for added strength. The base 2 of the tray 50 is also reinforced by a plurality of generally diagonally extending reinforcing ribs 51.

Many variations on the specific embodiment of the invention described will be readily apparent and accordingly the invention is not limited to the embodiment hereinbefore described which may be varied in both construction and detail.

Claims

1. A nestable and stackable tray for soft fruit, vegetables and the like comprising a base and sidewall means extending upwardly from the base, the sidewall means «* comprising a pair of substantially parallel opposed sidewalls and a pair of substantially parallel opposed end walls, a first pair of support posts on one end wall and second pair of support posts at the corners of the opposite end wall, the base and the posts having complementary co-operating members which co-operate to retain another similar tray in stacking configuration with the tray, and the sidewall means having grooves to receive the support posts of the other tray in a nesting configuration when one tray is rotated relative to the other tray from the stacking to the nesting configuration, the co-operating members comprising a groove or rib on the corner posts which extends around the corner and complementary ribs or grooves on the base for engagement with the grooves or ribs of the corner posts in the stacking configuration to substantially prevent lateral movement between one tray and another in the stacking configuration.

2. A tray as claimed in claim 1 wherein the grooves of the co-operating members are provided on the corner posts and the complementary ribs are provided on the base.

3. A tray as claimed in claim 2 wherein an end wall post or the base includes an inwardly extending cut-out for engagement with a complementary inwardly extending rib on the other of the base or the end wall post. «

4. A tray as claimed in claim 3 wherein the rib is provided on the base and the cut-out is provided on the post.

5. A tray as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the sidewall means includes an outwardly and downwardly turned flange means which is spaced-apart from the sidewall means and reinforcing means are provided between the sidewall means and the flange means.

6. A tray as claimed in claim 5 wherein the reinforcing means comprises a plurality of reinforcing ribs extending between the flange means and the sidewall means.

7. . A tray as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the base is provided with a plurality of generally diagonally extending reinforcing ribs.

8. A tray as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the sidewall means includes a plurality of ventilation apertures.

9. Trays substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.