JP3122117U - Fruit tray - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the upper and lower trays from contacting each other as much as possible when stacking a large number of trays, and to easily separate the trays one by one, and to be mounted on an automatic fruit sorter. It is an object to obtain a fruit tray that does not require any special mounting work.
A fruit tray according to the present invention is a flat dead formed between adjacent recesses 2 in a synthetic resin tray 1 provided with many adjacent recesses 2 for storing fruit. Convex portions 4 are provided on the back surface of the space 3 so that when a plurality of trays are stacked, the bottom surface 41 of the convex portions 4 is in contact with the opening edge 42 of the tray surface stacked below. The convex part 4 preferably has a cross-sectional shape with a narrowed opening.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a fruit tray that is used when various fruits such as tomatoes, apples, pears, peaches, and strawberries are transported from production areas to consumption areas.

2. Description of the Related Art Various types of synthetic resin fruit trays having a large number of adjacent recessed portions for storing fruit have been proposed.
By the way, in recent years, mechanization of sorting and packing operations performed when shipping harvested fruits has progressed, and it has become common to perform operations from fruit sorting to shipping packaging using an automatic fruit selection machine. ing. And even when using an automatic fruit sorter, a conventional fruit tray is used as a shipping packaging tray, but when packing fruits into a tray using an automatic fruit sorter, a large number of stacked trays are sucked. It is picked up one by one by the arm and sent out to the fruit packing position, and the fruit is stored in the recessed part of the tray.

  By the way, conventional trays for fruits are stored in a state in which a large number of trays are stacked and the upper and lower trays are in close contact with each other for the convenience of storage, transportation, etc. It is stacked and mounted with the upper and lower trays in close contact. In the automatic fruit sorter, the trays are squeezed one by one using the suction arm from this state and sent to the fruit packing position, but the upper and lower trays are in close contact with each other and are in a state close to vacuum adsorption, It is difficult to reliably crawl trays one by one. In addition, because the tray has many concave parts for storing fruits and its surface area is large, the contact area between the upper and lower trays is increased, the adhesion between the upper and lower trays is further increased, and the tray of the tray by the suction arm is increased. Separation is more difficult.

  In order to solve such a problem, the applicant has previously proposed a device described in Utility Model Registration No. 3063228. According to this device, in a tray made of a foamed resin sheet having a large number of recessed portions for storing fruit, a stack that locks to the recessed portion mouth of the lower tray when a plurality of trays are stacked on the outer surface of the recessed portion. Since the step portion is formed, the upper and lower trays do not come into close contact with each other when a plurality of trays are stacked, and a gap is formed between the upper and lower trays, so that the tray is reliably separated by the suction arm.

However, in order to securely lock the stack step portion of the upper tray to the edge of the recessed portion of the lower tray, it is necessary that the thickness of the tray has a certain thickness. The effect of is hardly obtained.
In addition, when a strong force is applied to the upper tray, if the resin sheet is flexible, the lip of the recessed portion of the lower tray expands, the stack step of the upper tray shrinks, and the recessed portions of the upper and lower trays There is a risk of mating. Once fitted, the upper and lower trays are strong because the force to try to shrink is applied to the edge of the recessed part of the lower tray and the force to spread to the stack of the upper tray. It cannot be easily separated by close contact.
Utility Model Registration No. 3063228

  In order to solve such problems, for example, an invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-105876 has been proposed. According to the present invention, in the synthetic resin tray provided with a large number of adjacent recessed portions for storing fruits, a convex portion as an adhesion preventing means is provided on the surface formed between the adjacent recessed portions, and automatic selection is performed. When mounted on the machine, it was rotated 180 degrees horizontally and stacked alternately, so even if a strong force is applied from the upper tray, the position of the upper and lower tray protrusions will be different. The upper and lower trays can be reliably prevented from sticking together.

However, in the present invention, when a tray is mounted on an automatic fruit selection machine, if a large number of stacked trays stored in a close contact state are mounted on the automatic fruit selection machine as they are, an adhesion prevention effect cannot be obtained. Since the layers must be alternately rotated 180 degrees horizontally and stacked, it is very laborious to mount the automatic fruit sorter.
Alternatively, it is also proposed to prepare two types of trays in which convex portions as adhesion preventing means are formed at different positions and to laminate them alternately, in order to omit such mounting work. Two molds are required, and when the tray is mounted on the automatic fruit selection machine, two types of trays must be alternately stacked, and the mounting work is complicated.
Moreover, since the convex part as a close_contact | adherence prevention means is provided toward tray upper direction, when packaging a fruit in a tray, there exists a possibility that a fruit may be damaged by contacting with a convex part.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-105876

  This device prevents the upper and lower trays from coming into close contact with each other as much as possible when stacking a large number of trays, making it easier to separate the trays one by one. It is an object to obtain a fruit tray that does not require mounting work.

In the synthetic resin tray provided with a large number of adjacent concave portions for storing fruit, the device is provided with a convex portion on the back surface of a planar dead space formed between adjacent concave portions, When the trays are stacked, the bottom surface of the convex portion is configured to contact the opening edge of the tray surface stacked on the lower side.
The convex portion preferably has a cross-sectional shape with a narrowed opening.

  In order to increase the effect of preventing the adhesion of the upper and lower trays, it is not always necessary to provide a convex portion in all the dead spaces between the concave portions formed, but a plurality of convex portions jointly support the tray in a plane. It is preferable to arrange in such a manner. It is sufficient to provide at least two dead spaces per tray.

The convex part is a cross-section where the opening edge is narrower than the bottom of the convex part to prevent the bottom part of the convex part of the upper tray from fitting into the opening part of the lower tray when a strong force is applied from the upper tray when stacking the trays. A shape is preferable.
As the material for the synthetic resin thin sheet in this device, PET, PP, PS, OPS, PVC and the like can be used as appropriate, and the thickness of the sheet is preferably 0.13 mm or more.

According to this device, in the tray made of synthetic resin provided with a large number of recessed portions for storing fruits, a convex portion is provided on the back surface of the planar dead space formed between the recessed portions adjacent to each other. When stacking a plurality of trays, the bottom surface of the convex portion comes into contact with the opening edge of the convex portion on the surface of the tray stacked on the lower side. A corresponding gap is obtained. Therefore, the close contact of the upper and lower trays can be prevented as much as possible, and the trays can be reliably separated one by one in the automatic fruit selection machine.
Moreover, if the cross-sectional shape of the convex portion is a shape in which the opening is narrowed, the convex portion of the upper tray will not fit into the hollow portion of the convex portion of the lower tray even if a strong force is applied from the upper tray. . Moreover, even if a strong force is applied from the upper tray and the convex portion is crushed, the crushed convex portion tries to return to the original state due to the elasticity of the synthetic resin, so a gap is formed between the upper tray and the lower tray. The Furthermore, when loading trays on automatic fruit sorters, stacking trays can be loaded as they are, so there is no need for special work such as alternating tray orientation. Work is easy.

  FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. On the tray 1 made of a synthetic resin sheet (A-PET, thickness 0.16 mm), a large number of recessed portions 2 for storing fruits are arranged in a staggered manner. By arranging the recessed portions 2 in a staggered manner, a dead space 3 is formed at the center surrounded by the three recessed portions 2 adjacent to each other in a triangular shape.

On the back surface of the dead space 3, a flat circular and hollow convex portion 4 is provided. The convex portions 4 are not provided in some dead spaces, but are arranged symmetrically about the vertical center line and the horizontal center line of the tray 1 as axes. As shown in FIG. 2, the convex portion 4 is formed in a cross-sectional shape that gradually narrows from the bottom surface 41 to the opening edge 42, and its height is about 2 mm.
In this embodiment, the convex portion 4 is provided in the dead space 3, but if the concave portions 2 are arranged in a staggered manner, a dead space 5 that is approximately ½ the concave portion is formed in the vicinity of the outer edge of the tray. Therefore, the convex portion 4 is also provided in the dead space 5.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a plurality of trays 1 according to the first embodiment are stacked. When a plurality of trays 1 are stacked, the bottom surface 41 of the convex portion 4 provided on the upper tray is in contact with the opening edge 42 of the convex portion 4 provided on the lower tray, and the upper tray is supported. A gap 6 is formed between them. Therefore, the close contact of the upper and lower trays can be prevented as much as possible.
Since the depth of the convex portion 4 is about 2 mm, a sufficient gap is formed between the upper and lower trays to easily separate the stacked upper and lower trays, and when a large number of trays are stacked. Bulkiness can be made as small as possible. Note that 420 trays can be stacked and stored in a box having a box height of 380 mm.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. The tray 1 made of a synthetic resin sheet has a large number of recessed portions 2 for storing fruits arranged in a matrix. By arranging the concave portions 2 in the rectangular tray 1 in a matrix, a planar dead space 3 is formed in the center portion surrounded by the four concave portions 2 adjacent to each other.
Convex portions 4 are formed on the back surfaces of the four dead spaces 3 corresponding to the four corners. Although the convex part 4 is provided only in four places, since it is provided in the position corresponding to four corners, a tray can be supported on a surface and a desired clearance can be obtained.

  This device is a fruit tray that is used when transporting fruits from the production area to the consumption area. It has a possibility.

The figure which shows 1st Example of this invention The figure which shows the structure of a convex part similarly The figure which shows the section of the state where the tray was laminated similarly The figure which shows the 2nd Example of this device

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tray 2 Recessed part 3 Dead space 4 Convex part 41 Convex part bottom face 42 Convex part opening edge 5 Dead space 6 Gap

Claims (2)

In a tray made of a synthetic resin thin sheet having many recessed portions for storing fruit, a convex portion is provided on the back surface of a planar dead space formed between adjacent recessed portions, and a plurality of trays are provided. A fruit tray in which, when stacked, the bottom surface of the convex part comes into contact with the opening edge on the surface side of the convex part of the tray stacked on the lower side. The fruit tray according to claim 1, wherein the convex portion has a cross-sectional shape with a narrowed opening.

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