US3434649A

US3434649A - Disposable tray

Info

Publication number: US3434649A
Application number: US635433A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harford E Goings
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1967-05-02
Filing date: 1967-05-02
Publication date: 1969-03-25
Anticipated expiration: 1986-03-25

Description

March 25, 1969 H, E, GOI GS 3,434,649

DISPOSABLE TRAY Filed May 2, 1967 INVENTOR. HAEFOED 5. oovvs;

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3,434,649 Patented Mar. 25, 1969 3,434,649 DISPOSABLE TRAY Hal-ford E. Goings, 5428 Center Drive, Washington, D.C. 20031 Filed May 2, 1967, Ser. No. 635,433 Int. Cl. B65d /48, N34

US. Cl. 229-28 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tray and a tray square for forming a tray comprised of a unitary rigid sheet material having a top portion which includes plural article receiving openings, side walls, an underlying bottom portion, a plurality of Wall talbs interconnecting the top portion and the bottom portion and support tabs interconnecting said top and bottom portions is disclosed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This constitutes a modification and improvement over the tray disclosed in my copending application Ser. No. 458,961, filed May 26, 1965, now Patent No. 3,326,445, Ser. No. 461,815, filed June 7, 1965, now Patent No. 3,326,446, and my copending application Ser. No. 635,- 432 filed of even date herewith.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to disposable trays for supporting food articles and food containers of the type used in drive-in food service centers, cafeterias, and for prepackaged meals generally.

Description of the prior art A variety of disposable trays are known in the prior art. Such trays are generally satisfactory for some purposes but often involve considerable wastage of material in the construction processes involved and often do not provide adequate separation and compartrnentalization for handling various types of articles. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved tray of greater strength and rigidity and which may more economically be manufactured.

SUMMARY A principal object of this invention is the provision of a more rigid, more versatile disposable tray of the type used for containing a plurality of food containers.

A specific object includes the provision of a parallelepipedous open :body tray including a pair of support tabs disposed proximate the ends thereof and extending perpendicular to the side walls thereof.

An additional specific object is the provision of a tray having a generally centrally disposed tray area defined at the sides by the side walls of the tray and at the ends by wall tabs formed from the top portion of the tray engaging the bottom portion of the tray and including a partition therein.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a disposable tray having a double thickness portion of material in the bottom portion for providing greater strength and rigidity.

The specific construction, certain of the specific elements and the combinations and the overall combinational and constructional features of the tray comprise additional objects of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the assembled tray.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the tray blank used for forming a tray square and the tray of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an alternative embodiment of a partition for the tray of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is an alternative embodiment of the tray of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the blank for forming the tray of FIGURE 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference is made first to the embodiment of FIG- URES 1 and 2 and with particular reference to FIGURE 1. The tray 10 comprises a top portion 12 shown in two parts as 12a and 12b, side walls 14 and. 16 and a bottom unit 18. As will be seen, the bottom unit is actually made up of two

bottom portions

20 and 22.

In the preferred embodiment, the top portion 12a is provided with a pair of round

article receiving openings

24 and 26 for receiving such things as soup cups, cold drink cups, hot drink cups, round containers for ice cream, desserts, etc. A similar round article receiving opening 28 is provided in the top portion 12b. Both the top portions 12a and 12b are provided with a generally rectangular

article receiving opening

30 and 32 respectively which are formed by

tabs

34 and 36, shown best in FIGURE 2. Such openings may be used for supporting square objects such as cigarette packages, square nut cups, or other receptacles or containers. In addition, top portion 12b includes an additional plurality of

openings

38, 40, and 42 adapted to receive packets of sugar, salt and pepper and the like, if desired. The central area is formed as a tray area for receiving a larger dish. or plate of any desired type of food. The tray area is bounded on the sides by side walls 1 4 and 16 and on the ends by a pair of opposed wall tabs as will be described. The tray area may be subdivided into partitions by a partition tab formed from the bottom portion or by a separate partition added in the tray area. The construction will be better understood from the construction of the blank as shown in FIGURE 2, to which reference is now particularly made.

The side walls 14 and 16 are, respectively, foldably connected to the top portions 12aand 12b by

fold scores

44 and 46. Similarly, the

bottom portions

20 and 22 are connected, respectively, by fold scores 48 and 50 to the side portions .14 and 16. The fold scores may be of the type formed by perforations or may simply be crushed areas of the material which, preferably, consists of substantially rigid fiberboard or cardboard.

The

bottom portions

20 and 22 are provided, respectively, with

slots

52, 54 and 56, 58 which, when the tray is assembled are in registry and receive slot engaging portions 60 and 62 of

support tabs

34 and 36.

Wall tabs

64 and 66 include slot engaging portions 68 and 70 which are adapted to be received in

slots

72 and 74 in

bottom portion

20 and 76 and 78 in bottom portion 22.

Slots

72 and 76 are in registry and slots 74 and 78 are in registry when the tray is assembled.

In one embodiment, the

wall tabs

64 and 66 are provided with slots 80 and 82, respectively, and the bottom portion 22 is provided with a partition tab 84 connected to the bottom portion 22 by a fold score 86. The partition tab 84 is provided with

slot engaging portions

88 and 90 adapted to be received, respectively, in slots 80 and 82 of the

wall tabs

64 and 66. If desired, a multiplicity of slots shown generally at 92 may be provided around the circular

article receiving openings

24, 26 and 28. The slots form resilient fingers for more securely gripping a round container. The slots are omitted from FIGURE 1 for purposes of clarity.

It will be apparent that the blank is formed either from a rectangular sheet of substantially rigid material such as cardboard or fiberboard or may be formed from a roll of such stock. After the blank is punched, as shown in FIGURE 2, it is folded along fold scores 44, 46, 48 and such that the edges of the

bottom portions

20 and 22 overlap and are secured together such as by a glue line 94 to form a collapsed tray square which, simply by exerting a simple manual force on the sides thereof, may be expanded into a substantially open paralle1epi pedous configuration as shown in FIGURE 1 and held in such configuration by engagement of the ends of

wall tabs

64 and 66 against the side wall portions 14 and 16 and by engagement of the slot engaging portions and 62 of

tabs

34 and 36 in the slots 52 through 58.

The disposition of the slots is of particular importance in this invention. It will be noted that a substantially centrally disposed double layer portion is provided in the tray having slots therein for engaging the slot engaging portions of the wall tabs and of the support tabs to give greater strength and rigidity than would be possible with only a single layer of material. Even greater strength is provided by the partition tab 84 and the

slot engaging portions

88 and 90 thereon which are engaged in slots 80 and 82 of the

wall tabs

64 and 66. This prevents disengagement of the wall tabs from the bottom and consequently prevents the collapsing of the tray. In an alternative embodiment, a similar function is performed by a partition member, shown in FIGURE 3, which is substantially a fiat sheet of material having a first flat portion 96, a second flat portion 98 and a double fold vertical portion 100 which will fit snugly in the tray area of tray 10. The partition member of FIGURE 3 is shown in reduced scale for convenience. The partition member may be also be fitted over the vertical partition 84 in the configuration shown in FIGURE 1 if desired with the double fold members being disposed respectively on the two sides thereof.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the tray has substantially greater strength and rigidity than those of the prior art, provides additional space for holding articles, and may be manufactured wit-h virtually no waste of material.

An alternative embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGURES 4 and S to which reference is now made.

In this embodiment there is provided a top portion 102, a first side wall 104, a bottom portion 106 and a second side wall which comprises overlapping portions 108 and 110. In this configuration two article receiving openings 112 and 114 are provided for such things as hot or cold drink cups, soup dishes, etc.

As shown best in FIGURE 5, the portions 108 and are secured together by a glue line 116 and are, respectively, secured by fold scores 118 and 120. The bottom portion 106 is secured by a score line 122 to the side wall portion 104 and the side wall portion is secured by score line 124 to the top portion 102. Extending from the side wall portion 104 are two opposed parallel wall tabs 126 and 128 provided with

slot engaging portions

130 and 132 for engaging in slots 134 and 136.

Extending between the two wall tabs 126 and 128 there is a perpendicularly disposed wall tab 138 provided with a slot engaging portion 140 for being engaged in slot 142. It will be noted that the ends of the first two tabs 126 and 128 are angularly complementarily formed with respect to the ends of the third tab 138. Tabs 126, 12 8 and 138 are connected to the top portion 102 by

fold scores

144, 146 and 148.

Once the blank has been punched, as shown in FIG- URE 5, it is folded at the fold scores 118, 120, 122 and 124 and the overlapping portions 108 and 110 are secured together by glue line 116 to form a collapsed tray square. The tray square may be formed, by simple manual force, into a parallelepipedous configuration as shown in FIGURE 4 and maintained in such configuration by the insertion of

slot engaging portions

130, 132

4 and 140 in the slots 134, 136 and 142 respectively. This provides a compact but rigid and sturdy construction which may be simply and economically made and distributed for single use.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there is described an invenion and two embodiments thereof which greatly simplifies the construction of disposable trays, makes such trays more useable and more rigid and provides significant advantages over those of the prior art in these respects and in other which will be apparent to those skilled in this art. The invention has been summarized, abstracted and described and shown with reference to specific embodiments, constructions, combinations and elements but it will be understood that such disclosure is only for the purpose of permitting those skilled in the art to practice the invention and is not intended in a limiting sense. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is defined and limited only by the following claims.

I claim:

1. Atray comprising:

a top member having ends and sides, said top member including a plurality of article receiving openings therein, and at least one tab formed therein;

side walls extending downwardly from the top member;

a bottom member underlying the top member for supporting articles, said bottom member including, at least one slot receiving said tab for securing the top and bottom members in spaced relation;

said top member further comprising;

a pair of compartment defining means, said means including slot engaging portions;

the bottom member further comprising, slots receiving the slot engaging portions;

said compartment defining means including, slots therein;

the bottom member further comprising:

compartment defining means extending therefrom dividing said first defined compartment into a plurality of compartments, with said means including;

engaging means in the last named slots for fixing the compartment defining means.

2. A tray comprising:

side walls extending downwardly from the top member;

said top member further comprising:

downwardly extending compartment defining means; and

the bottom member further comprising, upwardly extending compartment defining means engaging the downwardly extending compartment defining means for fixing the positions of the upwardly extending and the downwardly extending compartment defining means.

3. A tray comprising:

a top member having ends and sides, said top member including a plurality of article receiving openings therein, and at least one tab formed the-rein;

side walls extending downwardly from the top member;

and

said bottom member including two parallel spaced apart slots and a third slot spaced from one edge of the bottom portion intermediate the first two slots and perpendicular thereto;

and comprising three wall tabs formed from the top member in a right angular U shape, said wall tabs and a side wall portion defining a tray area, and including first and second opposed parallel wall tabs extending inwardly from a side wall portion, said first and second tabs having slot engaging portions for being received in the parallel slots, and a third tab perpendicular to and extending between the ends of the first and second wall tabs, said third tab including a slot engaging portion received in the third slot, said first and second wall tabs having an angular edge at one end and the third wall tab having an angular edge at both ends complementary to the angular edges at the respective ends of the first and second wall tabs.

4. A t-ray blank for foldably forming a tray, said tray blank being formed of unitary substantially rigid sheet material, comprising:

a top portion having plural openings therein including a tray opening;

opposed side wall portions secured by fold scores to the top portion;

bottom portions secured by fold scores to the side wall portions;

means for securing the bottom portions together to form a foldable parallelepipedous open body;

wall tabs secured by fold scores formed in the top portion extending transversely between the side wall portions for being folded downwardly to define a tray area and for engaging the side wall portions to maintain the top portion spaced from the bottom portions, said side wall portions defining the sides of the tray area; and

a partition tab secured by a fold score in a bottom portion disposed to engage the wall tabs when folded for dividing the tray area into compartments.

5. The tray blank of claim 4 wherein at least one bottom portion is provided with slots for receivingly engaging the ends of the wall tabs and the wall tabs are provided with slots for receivingly engaging the ends of the partition tab.

6. The tray blank of claim 5 further comprising a pair of support tabs secured by a fold score in the top portion 5 for defining a pair of article receiving openings therein.

7. The tray blank of claim 6 wherein:

the bottom portions are secured in a generally central overlapping area;

and wherein the slots for receiving the wall tabs and the support tabs are formed in both bottom portions in the overlapping area so as to provide increased strength and rigidity by more securely 'receivingly engaging the ends of said tabs.

8. The tray blank of claim 5 wherein the bottom portions are secured in a generally central overlapping relation, said overlapping portions being provided with slots for more securely receivingly engaging the ends of the wall tabs for providing greater rigidity.

9. The tray blank of claim 4 further comprising a pair of support tabs secured by a fold score in the top portion for defining a pair of article receiving openings therein.

10. The tray blank of claim 5 wherein:

the bottom portions are secured in a generally central overlapping area; and

wherein the slots for receiving the wall tabs and the support tabs are formed in both bottom portions in the overlapping area so as to provide increased strength and rigidity by more securely receivingly engaging the ends of said tabs.

11. The tray blank of claim 6 wherein the bottom portions are secured in a generally central overlapping relation, said overlapping portions being provided with slots for :more securely receivingly engaging the ends of the Wall tabs for providing greater rigidity.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,640,589 6/1953 Poster et a1. 22928 XR 2,695,712 11/ 1954 Kolander. 2,875,940 3/1959 Dunn 22930 3,009,623 11/1961 Wenzel 22928 3,181,770 5/1965 Coe 229-30 3,253,766 5/1966 Coe 229-28 3,326,445 6/ 1967 Goings. 3,326,446 6/1967 Goings.

DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 206-72