Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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MOLDED TRAY FOR HOLDING DIFFERENT SIZE CONTAINERS
Hackctround of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of articles
or products designed to support individually a number of
containers in an up-right position and more particularly the
carrying or packaging trays which are molded to substantially
finished form with horizontal and sloping wall portions to permit
empty trays to be nested one within another in a compact and
convenient stack for shipment and storage prior to use.
In particular the invention is directed to carrying
trays which are particularly suitable for holding containers in
fast food eating establishments.
Heretofore, molded trays have been used in fast food
eating establishments by providing a tray with a plurality of
sockets for holding one or more containers. Such trays are
generally also provided with areas f.or holding other food
items. U.S. Patent 4,218,008 discloses a molded tray ~ahich is
capable of holding two containers having a range of sizes. The
s(~Ckets for holding the trays are provided adjacent each other at
one end of the tray. The remainder of the tray i.s used for
holding other items of food. With the recent growth in the fast
food industry certain changes have restricted the true universal
use of container carrying trays. Far example, in fast food
restaurants the smaller size container is generally an 8 oz.
container and the sizes have increased up to 22 oz. While the ,
tray of the '008 patent would be satisfactory for holding
containers in the range of 8-22 oz. such trays are not suitable
for larger size containers namely the 32 oz. beverage cup that is
now in use in fast food restaurants. Another restriction in the
design of suitable fast food trays is the necessity that the
trays be dimensioned to slide through take-out windows. In
practice, such windows axe generally about 10~-11~ inches wide.
Accordingly, a tray must be of lesser width to conveniently pass
through the window. This presents difficulties in designing a
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tray capable of holding different size containers including the
largest 32 oz. container.
Summary of Invention
An object of this invention is to provide a tray for
holding different size beverage containers which overcomes the
above problems presented in present day fast food establishments.
A further object of this invention is to provide such a
tray which is capable of holding 32 oz. beverage cups as well as
smaller size containers.
A still further object of this invention is to provide
such a tray which may be conveniently passed through the take-out
windows of such fast food establishments.
In accordance with this invention, a molded tray is
provided which includes a bottom wall and upwardly sloping side
walls which merge together at the four corners of the tray. A
container holding socket is provided at each of the corners. The
four sockets are arranged in two sets with a socket of each set
being located opposite the other socket of that set. Each set of
sockets is structured and dimensioned to be of different sizes so
that one set is particularly designed for holding the jumbo size
32 oz. beverage container and smaller sizes while the other set
is designed solely for holding smaller size containers.
In the preferred practice of this invention, each
socket includes side stabilizing walls having inverted T-shaped
openings to provide the necessary yieldability for effectively
holding a container inserted therein. Preferably, three sets of
inverted T-shaped openings are provided for each socket.
';The central portion of the tray is preferably provided
with a generally horizontal wall having a depression for adding
strength to the tray.
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The Drawings
Figure 1 is a top plan view of a molded tray for
holding different size containers in accordance with this
invention;
Figures 2-3 are side and end elevational views of the
tray shown in Figure 1;
Figure 9 is a cross-sectional elevational view taken
through Figure 1 along the line 4-4; and
Figure 5 is a cross-sectional elevational vieca taken
through Figure 1 along the. line 5-5 showing different size
containers in the tray.
Detailed Description
The present invention involves a unitary tray 10 which
is molded to substantially finished form of resilient material
such as fibrous material molded against screen-covered, open
faced, vacuum forming molds in a known manner. The tray 10,
however. could also be molded to its finished form from foamed
plastic or any other material having the requisite cost strength
resiliency and other characteristics useful for trays of this
type. The general structure of tray 10 is that it consists of
horizontal wall portions and sloping wall portions but no
substantially vertical wall portions so that a quantity of light
empty trays could be stacked in nested fashion, one within
another to provide compact stacks of such empty trays for
economical shipment and convenient storage purposes prior to use.
The tray 10 comprises a generally rectangular tray
having a flat bottom wall portion !with upwardly and outwardly
sloping side wall portions 14 and a down-turned continuous flange
16. The tray 10 includes two sets of holding sockets 20,21 with
each socket designed to hold a cup shaped container. The set of
sockets 20,20 is arranged at opposite corners with the set of
sockets 21,21 being arranged ~ at the intermediate opposite
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corners. Sockets 20,20 are designed to hold containers within a
predetermined size of ranges from as small as 8 oz. to up to 22
oz. Sockets 21,21 are made of larger size and thus can hold
containers up to size 32 oz. and can told smaller sizes. The
sockets 20,21 are designed to hold conventional type containers
which are circular in cross-section with slightly tapered sides
and are made from paper or various plastic materials. The
invention, however, may be practiced for holding containers made
from other materials and other shapes.
Each container holding socket 20 comprises three
horizontal stabilizing shoulders 22 positioned in spaced apart
opposition to each other around the socket. In the illustrated
embodiment the three shoulders 22 are spaced apart substantially
equally around the socket although this is not an essential
feature of the invention. Similarly, the invention could be
practiced with four or more stabilizing shoulders provided the
other operative features of the socket are not defeated. In the
illustrated embodiment the operative portion of each of the three
stabilizing shoulders 22 coincides with a circle of only very
slightly greater diameter than the diameter of the widest size of
container within the predetermined range which the socket is
designed to accommodate. If such larger size container has
tapered walls then the diameter is that which exists at the
height of the container when fully inserted into the socket which
is the same height as the shoulders 22 of socket 20.
Sockets 21,21 are structurally similar to sockets 20
except that socket 21 is of larger dimension. Accordingly, as
used herein like parts for sockets 21 will have the same
reference numerals as for sockets 20 except that the suffix A
will be added to those parts for socket 21.
As best illustrated in Figure 5 the stabilizing
shoulders 22 are located at a height significantly above the
level occupied by the bottom of a container C fully inserted in
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the socket 20. The level is defined by a substantially
horizontal bottom wall portion 29 which may take the form of a
web connected as at 26 to sloping wall portions 28 of the tray 10
at three locations around the socket which are intermediate
between the three stabilizing shoulders 22. Container C is thus
elevated slightly above the bottom wall of tray 10.
The container holding socket 20 is further
characterized by three inwardly contoured stabilizing walls 30
each of which extends downwardly beneath each of the respective
shoulders 22. The stabilizing walls 30 extend downwardly to a
height only slightly above the level defined by the upper
surface of the bottom wall web 29. In the illustrated
embodiment, stabilizing walls 30 extend downwardly to a height of
about 1~ inches above that level while the stabilizing walls 30A
extend to a height to about 2 inches above that level.
The stabilizing walls 30 are contoured inwardly to the
extent that their lower portions 34 properly position at the
least the narrow sizes of containers in the range of sizes which
the socket is dimensioned to accommodate. In this sense the
lower portions 34 of the three stabilizing walls act to center
the container as it is being inserted and after being inserted
into the socket. With narrower sizes of containers when the
containers are fully inserted into the socket 20 so that the
container bottom rests on the flat web 24, the lower portions 34
of the stabilizing walls provide a small amount of resilient
pressure to insure that each container is properly supported in
an upright position with its bottom on the flat web 24.
Stabilizing walls 30 are yieldable so that they or at
least the lower partions 34 of walls 30 will be moved outwardly
by but still support the intermediate or larger size
containers. The yieldability of the stabilizing walls is
controlled by several factors, such as the thickness, density and
nature of the fibrous pulp.or plastic material of which the trays
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and its stabilizing walls are made, the degree of curvature of
the inwardly contoured portions of the stabilizing walls, the
angle of slope of the innermost portions of the stabilizing walls
with respect to the vertical, and the like.
Another means to control the yieldability of the
stabilizing walls includes a vertically oriented slot 36
extending upwardly from the lower edge 32 of each stabilizing
wall 30. The slot 36 in effect divides at least the lower
portions 34 of the stabilizing walls into two separated
Container-contacting section. In the illustrated preferred
embodiment each slot 36 extends upwardly throughout the full
vertical extent of the stabilizing wall and intersects the
stabilizing shoulder 22. This in effect, divides the operative
portion of each shoulder 22 into two sets of sections for
contacting the wider sides of containers.
Each slot 36 accordingly forms, together with the
opening beneath the lower edge 32 of each stabilizing wall, an
inverted "T" shaped opening through the tray 10 beneath each
stabilizing shoulder. In the preferred embodiment each slot 36
is of substantially uniform width throughout its fully vertically
oriented extent, although a slot which is widened at its lower
portions adjacent the lower edge 32 of the stabilizing wall would
not defeat the operative principles of the present invention.
As illustrated, slots 36A are of larger dimension both
in length and width than the corresponding slots 36.
In the illustrated embodiment the inverted "T" shaped
opening which characterizes each stabilizing slot is not
extensive and avoids the appearance of large apertures or holes
in the tray. This improves the visual aesthetic appearance of
the tray. Additionally, the three downwardly and inwardly
oriented slots 36 associated with each socket serve to guide the ,
bottom of a container as it is inserted vertically downwardly
into the socket. This facilitates centering of the container as
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it is inserted and after insertion into the socket and also
serves to apportion outward movement of the separated container-
contacting sections of the stabilizing walls 30, particularly the
lower portions 34 thereof.
The aforesaid means to control the yieldability of the
stabilizing walls, including the slots 36 insure that the
stabilizing walls, and at least the lower portions of them, may
be easily moved outwardly by the intermediate sizes of
containers, but in such a manner that the walls still will
support such containers in the socket as illustrated in Figure S.
As illustrated, each shoulder 22 is integrally joined
and merges into its adjacent shoulder 22A. Because of the
difference in size, a step-like structure results wherein the
four shoulders 22A extend above each adjacent shoulder 22. Each
socket also includes a generally central top wall portion 40
which merge together and include a depression or recessed central
portion 42 of generally elongated shape. Depression 92 is joined
to top wall 40 by upwardly inclined side walls 44. This central
structure functions for added strength to tray 10.
As illustrated in the drawings which are drawn to
scale, tray 10 is of generally rectangular shape and is
preferably 9.5 inches by 9.375 inches caith an overall height of
about 2.185 inches. The distance from each sloping wall directly
across to central top wall 40 at each corner of sockets 21 is,
for example, about 3 3/4 inches while the distance from the
corner of socket 20 to central wall 40 is about 3 1/8 inches. As
is best illustrated in Figure 1 the individual sockets are
somewhat pear shaped rather than being circularly shaped with the
stabilizing walls forming indentations in the general curvature
of the sockets. Because tray 10 has a width no greater than 92
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inches, tray 10 may readily slide through conventional take-out
windows.
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Tray 10 thus provides a single tray capable of holding
four containers of differing sizes and more particularly a single
tray capable of holding not only the conventional smaller size
beverage containers but also the large size, such as the 3?. oz.
cups now in usage at fast food establishments. Accordingly, tray
comprises a universal type tray capable of holding containers
over the entire range of sizes used in such fast food
establishments. It should be appreciated that while sockets 21
are of a larger size than sockets 20, sockets 21 are also capable
10 of holding the smaller size containers. Different size sockets,
however, are incorporated in tray 10 so as to minimize the
dimensions to facilitate the tray 10 being slid through a take-
out window.
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