PACKAGING TRAY
A molded plastic tray adapted to receive a plastic overwrap film for preservation, secure handling and display of a perishable food product in the wrapped tray, such as fresh fruit or vegetables. The tray has a pair of central ribbing elements extending from opposing longitudinal side walls and into the bottom wall and is designed to provide structural rigidity that resists warping and collapse, thus enabling the overwrapped tray to be handled, shipped, and displayed with minimal leakage while preserving the food product therein. The tray is easy to manufacture and provides a lightweight and cost effective packaging product. The tray has a rectangular shape that provides for consistent wrapping strength and can be handled on standard processing equipment.
The invention relates to a plastic packaging tray and, more particularly, to a molded plastic overwrap tray for secure packaging and preservation of a food product such as fresh fruit or vegetables.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONVarious plastic trays for packaging food, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, are known in the prior art. In designing such a tray, inner surface area, capacity, sidewall rigidity, and weight are key considerations. These trays are typically packed with perishable food items and then surrounded with a plastic film overwrap to both display and seal the food within the package. During the filling, conveying and wrapping processes, the trays are subjected to applied external forces (e.g., by automated equipment) that can warp or damage the tray, leading to a misalignment or malfunction on the processing line, bruising or other damage to the fresh food product, and/or irregularly filled trays. In particular, the tray may twist or collapse inwardly due to forces applied during wrapping and handling. Once wrapped the tray is ready to be placed in a container for shipment; typically, multiple wrapped trays are fit into standard sized cases and then stacked one upon another and the weight of the packaged trays may cause the plastic film of underlying trays to be stretched and loosened during shipment. As a result the wrapped trays may leak juices from the products packaged therein, leading to a loss of aesthetic appeal, loss of shelf life, contamination of adjacent packages, and difficulty in handling.
It would be desirable to provide such a plastic packaging tray that can be wrapped (while filled) with a plastic film, where the film is maintained in a taut state about the filled tray during shipping and handling.
It would be desirable to provide such a tray having substantial structural rigidity.
It would be desirable to provide such a tray that is easy and inexpensive to manufacture, easy to load (fill with product), and easy to handle on automated equipment.
It would be desirable to provide such a tray that can safely and securely package fresh fruit and vegetables without bruising or otherwise damaging the fruit or vegetable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA molded plastic tray is provided according to the invention adapted to receive a plastic overwrap film for preservation, secure handling and/or display of a product in the wrapped tray, such as a fresh fruit or vegetable. The tray is designed to provide structural rigidity that resists warping or collapse, thus enabling the overwrapped tray to be handled, shipped, and displayed with minimal leakage and while preserving the food product therein. In some embodiments the tray includes features that facilitate de-nesting of a stack of empty trays, and is adapted to facilitate movement of the wrapped package on a moving conveyor line. The tray is easy to manufacture and provides a lightweight and cost effective packaging product. Preferably the tray has a rectangular shape that provides for consistent wrapping strength and can be handled on standard processing equipment.
In one embodiment, a molded plastic packaging tray is provided for receiving a perishable food product and wrapping in a plastic film wrap to preserve the food product, the packaging tray comprising:
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- an integral molded plastic tray having topside and underside surfaces, the underside surface including a lowermost standing surface of the tray;
- the topside surface defining a flange having a rectangular perimeter lying in a top reference plane TRP, the rectangular perimeter comprising opposing first and second longitudinal edges aligned parallel to a longitudinal centerline LCL of the tray, opposing first and second lateral edges aligned parallel to a transverse centerline TCL that is transverse to the LCL, and rounded corner edges joining the side edges and lateral edges;
- the tray topside surface defining a recessed cavity wall depending downwardly from the rectangular perimeter to define an interior cavity having an open top end, the interior cavity comprising a substantially flat bottom wall, and extending upwardly from the bottom wall toward the flange, a pair of opposing longitudinal side walls disposed parallel to and equidistant from opposing sides of the LCL, a pair of opposing end walls disposed parallel to and equidistant from opposing sides of the TCL, and four rounded corner walls joining the side walls and end walls and which collectively, with the bottom wall, form the interior cavity;
- a pair of central ribbing elements, each ribbing element forming an arc that lies in the TCL and extending into a respective side wall and the bottom wall so as to prevent outward sagging of the tray in the LCL direction, as well as preventing inward collapsing of the tray in the TCL direction, when the tray is filled with a product and the filled tray is wrapped in a plastic film wrap.
In another embodiment, a method of packaging a perishable food product is provided comprising:
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- depositing a perishable food product into the interior cavity of the molded plastic packaging tray;
- providing a sheet of wrapping film and positioning it over the tray and the food product deposited therein;
- pulling the sheet taut to engage the surface of the food product deposited within the tray and the rectangular flange perimeter; and
- securing the sheet to the tray.
In one embodiment, the tray includes:
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- a trim area extending from upper end portions of the side walls, end walls and corner walls of the interior cavity, the trim area including the flange;
- the flange comprising a top surface lying within the TRP and including opposing inner and outer edges.
In one embodiment:
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- the outer edge of the flange is coextensive with the rectangular perimeter; and
- a trim lip extends from the outer edge downwardly away from the TRP for strengthening the trim area.
In one embodiment, the trim lip has an exterior edge that forms a substantially rectangular perimeter.
In one embodiment, the arc extends between first and second ends, the first end extending from the respective side wall or an adjacent trim area at the open top end of the cavity, and the second end extending from the bottom wall.
In one embodiment, the arc of the ribbing element comprises an arc shaped upper surface that extends between the first and second ends, and opposing side walls that extend downwardly away from the TRP from opposite sides of the upper surface between the first and second ends.
In one embodiment, the bottom wall includes a flat gap extending between the second ends of the respective arcs.
In one embodiment, the flat gap extends across 25-35% of a width of the bottom wall in the TCL direction, and more preferably 25-30%.
In one embodiment, each arc extends across 25-40% of a width of the bottom wall in the TCL direction, and more preferably 35-40%.
In one embodiment, the interior cavity has a height extending from the bottom wall to the TRP and transverse to the TRP, and each arc has a height transverse to the TRP of 75-100% of the cavity height, and more preferably 80-95%.
In one embodiment, the tray has a length L in the LCL direction and a width W in the TCL direction, and the ratio of L:W is greater than 1.25.
In one embodiment, the ratio of L:W is in a range from 1.25 to 2, and more preferably in a range from 1.5 to 2.
In one embodiment, the molded tray is made of a plastic material comprising one or more of polyester and polyolefin material, including homo-polymers, copolymers, mixtures and blends of the material, including foam and non-foam material, and including virgin and reclaimed and recycled material.
In one embodiment, the plastic material comprises polyethylene terephthalate material.
In one embodiment, the cavity wall depends downwardly from the TRP at an acute angle.
These and other features of the invention will be better understood from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.
Referring generally to
In forming the tray 10 it is preferred that the tray be unitarily formed from a single sheet of plastic material to define the features described herein. In the present embodiment the thickness of the tray is substantially equal throughout. However, during manufacturing the plastic material will often compress differently at various locations, resulting in some thickness variations in the tray (for example thickness variations in the corners, base, trim area or recessed wall portions). The tray may be made of any of various known thermoplastic and thermoset plastic materials. In various embodiments, the tray is made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) material, including foam and non-foam PET material, and including virgin and reclaimed and recycled PET material.
As shown in
As best shown in
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As shown in
As previously described, the tray forms an interior cavity 60 defined by the inner surfaces of the side walls, end walls, corner walls and bottom wall. This cavity is further formed, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, with a pair of central ribbing elements 40a and 40b, shown in transverse cross section in
As best shown in
In various embodiments, each ribbing element 40a, 40b has an overall height RH transverse to the TRP and width RW parallel to the TRP (see
In the present embodiment, the side walls 14, 16 and end walls 18, 20 are angularly disposed relative to the top reference plane TRP to define an acute angle α relative to a transverse axis A which is perpendicular to the TRP (see
A shoulder 32 (
The flange 30 in the present embodiment lies in a top reference plane (TRP) substantially parallel to the base reference plane (BRP). In other embodiments, the flange may be inclined upwardly or downwardly with respect to the BRP. In the present embodiment, the trim area TA has an outer lip 35 extending downwardly (toward the BRP) from the top wall 31 of the flange so as to evenly distribute the tension in the plastic film wrapped around the loaded tray.
Referring again to
The tray 10 comprising the present invention may vary in size for storage and display of products that vary in size and weight. The tray of the present embodiment has dimensions of about 11 inches in length L, 7 inches in width W, and 3 inches in height H, and the bottom wall has a length of about 7 inches and a width of about 3 inches. It is to be realized that the optimum dimensions of various parts of the tray will vary in size, materials, shape, and form that are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art. The present embodiment is intended to be just one example of the invention and not limiting.
As is readily apparent, numerous modifications and changes may readily occur to the skilled person in the art, and hence it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation as shown and described. All suitable modifications and equivalents may be considered to fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.
Claims
1. A molded plastic packaging tray for receiving a perishable food product and wrapping in a plastic film wrap to preserve the food product, the packaging tray comprising:
- an integral molded plastic tray having topside and underside surfaces, the underside surface including a lowermost standing surface of the tray;
- the topside surface defining a flange having a rectangular perimeter lying in a top reference plane TRP, the rectangular perimeter comprising opposing first and second longitudinal edges aligned parallel to a longitudinal centerline LCL of the tray, opposing first and second lateral edges aligned parallel to a transverse centerline TCL that is transverse to the LCL, and rounded corner edges joining the side edges and lateral edges;
- the tray topside surface defining a recessed cavity wall depending downwardly from the rectangular perimeter to define an interior cavity having an open top end, the interior cavity comprising a substantially flat bottom wall, and extending upwardly from the bottom wall toward the flange, a pair of opposing longitudinal side walls disposed parallel to and equidistant from opposing sides of the LCL, a pair of opposing end walls disposed parallel to and equidistant from opposing sides of the TCL, and four rounded corner walls joining the side walls and end walls and which collectively, with the bottom wall, form the interior cavity;
- a pair of central ribbing elements, each ribbing element forming an arc that lies in the TCL and extending into a respective side wall and the bottom wall so as to prevent outward sagging of the tray in the LCL direction, as well as preventing inward collapsing of the tray in the TCL direction, when the tray is filled with a product and the filled tray is wrapped in a plastic film wrap.
2. A method of packaging a perishable food product comprising:
- depositing a perishable food product into the interior cavity of the molded plastic packaging tray of claim 1;
- providing a sheet of wrapping film and positioning it over the tray and the food product deposited therein;
- pulling the sheet taut to engage the surface of the food product deposited within the tray and the rectangular flange perimeter; and
- securing the sheet to the tray.
3. The tray of claim 1, wherein the tray includes:
- a trim area extending from upper end portions of the side walls, end walls and corner walls of the interior cavity, the trim area including the flange;
- the flange comprising a top surface lying within the TRP and including opposing inner and outer edges.
4. The tray of claim 3, wherein:
- the outer edge of the flange is coextensive with the rectangular perimeter; and
- a trim lip extends from the outer edge downwardly away from the TRP for strengthening the trim area.
5. The tray of claim 4, wherein the trim lip has an exterior edge that forms a substantially rectangular perimeter.
6. The tray of claim 1, wherein the arc is extends between first and second ends, the first end extending from the respective side wall or an adjacent trim area at the open top end of the cavity, and the second end extending from the bottom wall.
7. The tray of claim 6, wherein the arc of the ribbing element comprises an arc shaped upper surface that extends between the first and second ends, and opposing side walls that extend downwardly away from the TRP from opposite sides of the upper surface between the first and second ends.
8. The tray of claim 7, wherein the bottom wall includes a flat gap extending between the second ends of the respective arcs.
9. The tray of claim 8, wherein the flat gap extends across 25-35% of a width of the bottom wall in the TCL direction, and more preferably 25-30%.
10. The tray of claim 1, wherein:
- each arc extends across 25-40% of a width of the bottom wall in the TCL direction, and more preferably 35-40%.
11. The tray of claim 10, wherein the interior cavity has a height extending from the bottom wall to the TRP and transverse to the TRP, and each arc has a height transverse to the TRP of 75-100% of the cavity height, and more preferably 80-95%.
12. The tray of claim 1, wherein the tray has a length L in the LCL direction and a width W in the TCL direction, and the ratio of L:W is greater than 1.25.
13. The tray of claim 12, wherein the ratio of L:W is in a range from 1.25 to 2, and more preferably in a range from 1.5 to 2.
14. The tray of claim 1, wherein the molded tray is made of a plastic material comprising one or more of polyester and polyolefin material, including homo-polymers, copolymers, mixtures and blends of the material, including foam and non-foam material, and including virgin and reclaimed and recycled material.
15. The tray of claim 11, wherein the plastic material comprises polyethylene terephthalate material.
16. The tray of claim 6, wherein the cavity wall depends downwardly from the TRP at an acute angle.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 7, 2018
Publication Date: Aug 8, 2019
Inventors: Babu Kuruvilla (Griffin, GA), Oleg Berger (Hawthorn Woods, IL), Mark A. Bergeron (Monroe, GA), Robert Andrew Eberle (Lindenhurst, IL)
Application Number: 15/890,658