Food Product Tray and Packaging

Abstract

A food product packaging including a tray having a first cavity and a second cavity. A plurality of first food products are contained in the first cavity in a shingled orientation. A plurality of second food products are contained in first and second lanes in the second cavity in a shingled orientation. A cover encloses the first cavity and the second cavity.

Description

BACKGROUND

Consumers are looking for products containing food for snacking purposes and for on-the-go consumption. Manufacturers of such products need to design food product packaging that is consumer friendly, is manufacturing friendly to reduce breakage of the food and includes a quantity of food to be shared.

SUMMARY

This invention relates to a food product packaging including a tray having a first cavity having a slanted wall and a second cavity having a first lane and a second lane with a dividing wall between the first lane and the second lane, each lane including a bottom wall, a channel extending below the bottom wall and a slanted wall. A plurality of first food products are contained in the first cavity in a shingled orientation abutting the slanted wall of the first cavity. A plurality of second food products are contained in the first lane in a shingled orientation abutting the bottom wall and the slanted wall of the first lane and positioned above the channel of the first lane. A plurality of the same second food products are contained in the second lane in a shingled orientation abutting the bottom wall and the slanted wall of the second lane and positioned above the channel of the second lane. A cover encloses the first cavity and the second cavity. The shingled orientation of the first food products in the first cavity is perpendicular to the shingled orientation of the second food products in the first lane and the second lane of the second cavity.

This invention relates to a food product tray including a first cavity having a slanted wall, a second cavity having a first lane and a second lane with a dividing wall therebetween, each lane including a bottom wall, a channel extending below the bottom wall and a slanted wall. A plurality of first food products are contained in the first cavity in a shingled orientation abutting the slanted wall of the first cavity. A plurality of second food products are contained in the first lane in a shingled orientation abutting the bottom wall and the slanted wall of the first lane and positioned above the channel of the first lane. A plurality of the same second food products are contained in the second lane in a shingled orientation abutting the bottom wall and the slanted wall of the second lane and positioned above the channel of the second lane.

The invention relates to a food product tray including a first cavity having walls configured to house food products in a shingled orientation and a second cavity having a first lane, a second lane and a dividing wall therebetween, the first lane and the second lane are identical and are configured to house food products in a shingled orientation. Each lane includes a bottom wall having a first portion and a second portion, a slanted wall having a first portion and a second portion, and a channel positioned between the first and second portions of the bottom wall and between the first and second portions of the slanted wall. The channel extends downwardly from the bottom wall and from the slanted wall so as to be positionable below the housed food products in each lane.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tray according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the tray.

FIG. 3 is an end view of the tray.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is an end view of a plurality of stacked trays.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the tray having food products contained therein.

FIG. 7 is a top view of the tray including the food products.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the tray including the food products.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line 10-10 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the tray having different food products contained therein.

FIG. 12 is a top view of the tray including the different food products.

FIG. 13 is a side view of the tray including the different food products.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken along line 14-14 of FIG. 12.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the tray including the different food products having thereon a lidding film.

Before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of constructions and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-14, there is shown a tray 20 for housing food products and, more specifically, for housing a shareable quantity of food products. The tray 20 is specifically designed to house a number of first food products 22 and a number of second food products 24. For example, the first food products 22 can be crackers and the second food products 24 can be appropriately sized cheese slices, both in quantities to accommodate 2-4 shareable servings. The tray 20 provides a consumer with an easy snacking experience that separates the first food products 22 and the second food products 24. It should be noted that the tray 20 is capable of housing other food products such as meat, candies, nuts, dried fruit and the like. The tray 20 delivers multiple servings of the two food products 22, 24 in an easily assessable and visually appealing way as is discussed below.

The tray 20 is fabricated from a food safe thermoplastic semi-rigid material. For example, the tray 20 can be fabricated by extruding polypropylene at 30 mil as is known in the art, however, other materials, thicknesses and manufacturing methods can also be utilized.

The tray 20 preferably has two cavities with a first cavity 26 designed to house the first food products 22 and a second cavity 28 designed to hold the second food products 24. Each cavity 26, 28 preferably houses and displays the respective food products 22, 24 in a shingled orientation. Such a shingled orientation is advantageous to limit the food products movement during manufacture, transportation, handling and use and advantageous to create a visually appealing food packaging which includes easily accessible food products for consumers. It should be noted that a different number of cavities and a different product orientation can also be utilized with the present invention.

The first cavity 26 for housing the first food products 22 has an upper periphery 30 that is generally rectangular. The first cavity 26 is preferably elongate. Two side walls 32, 34, an end wall 36 and a slanted wall 38 extend downwardly from the periphery 30 and terminate in a bottom wall 40. The slanted wall 38 is at an angle B, as best shown in FIGS. 9 and 14, in the range of 10-26 degrees, and preferably is at an angle of 18 degrees. The angle B enables the shingling of the first food products 22 into a shingled stack 42 for easier access by the consumer and for a visual appealing display. The shingled stack 42 limits movement of the first food products 22 and maintains the shingled orientation of the first food products 22 through manufacture, distribution, retailing and consumer handling. Preferably, the first food products 22 are loaded into the first cavity 26 so that one end 44 of the shingled stack 42 contacts the slanted wall 38 and the shingled stack 42 extends toward the end wall 36. In this orientation, the individual first food product 22′ that is on top of the shingled stack 42 is closest to the end wall 36 but there is space 46 between the first food product 22′ and the end wall 36 to enable a consumer to more easily remove the individual first food product 22′ from the shingled stack 42. Optionally, the slanted wall 38 can include a step-down portion 48 near the periphery 30.

Preferably, the first cavity 26 is dimensioned to accommodate the shingled stack 42 with minimized head space to improve food product quality. For example, the first cavity 26 can be dimensioned to hold 14-16 individual crackers such as Ritz crackers or Triscuit crackers, however, other numbers and types of crackers or other food products can also be utilized.

Turning now to the second cavity 28 for housing the second food products 24, the second cavity 28 includes a first lane 50, a second lane 52 and a dividing wall 54 separating the first lane 50 from the second lane 52. The dividing wall 54 is shown in a vertical orientation although other orientations can also be utilized. Each lane 50, 52 has an upper periphery 56 that is generally rectangular. Each lane 50, 52 is preferably elongate. Preferably, the first and second lanes 50, 52 are identical although they can also vary in shape, structure and orientation. Preferably, the first and second lanes 50, 52 are elongate in a direction that is perpendicular to the elongate direction of the first cavity 26, although orientations can also be utilized.

Each lane 50, 52 includes an end wall 58, two side walls 60, 62 and a slanted wall 64 that extend downwardly from the upper periphery 56 and that terminate in a bottom wall 66. The slanted wall 64 is at an angle D, as best shown in FIGS. 8 and 13, in the range of 25-46 degrees, and preferably is at an angle of 32-38 degrees, depending upon product size and count. The angle D enables the shingling of the second food products 24 into a shingled stack 68 for easier access by the consumer and for a visual appealing display. The shingled orientation of the second food products 24 limits movement of the second food products 24 and maintains the shingled stack 68 through manufacture, distribution, retailing and consumer handling.

The bottom wall 66 is preferably split into a first portion 70 and a second portion 72. The slanted wall 64 is preferably split into a first portion 74 and a second portion 76. A channel 78 is positioned between the first and second portions 70, 72 of the bottom wall 66 and the first and second portions 74, 76 of the slanted wall 64. The channel 78 extends downwardly so as to be positioned beneath the shingled stack 68. The channel 78 preferably extends to the end wall 58 and is generally rectangular at its upper periphery 80. The channel 78 is an aid to the consumer in removing the second food products 24 from the shingled stack 68.

Preferably, the second food products 24 are loaded into each lane 50, 52 of the second cavity 28 so that one end 82 of the shingled stack 68 contacts the slanted wall 64 and the shingled stack 68 extends toward the end wall 58. In this orientation, the individual second food product 24′ that is on top of the shingled stack 68 is closest to the end wall 58 but there is space 84 between that second food product 24′ and the end wall 58 to enable a consumer to more easily remove the individual second food product 24′ from the shingled stack 68. Optionally, each lane 50, 52 may include a horizontal wall 86 near the periphery 56 and adjacent the slanted wall 64. The horizontal wall 86 acts as a step down near the periphery 56.

Preferably, each lane 50, 52 of the second cavity 24 is dimensioned to accommodate its shingled stack 68 with minimized head space in each lane 50, 52 to improve food product quality. For example, each lane 50, 52 can be dimensioned to hold 7-8 square cheese slices that are themselves dimensioned for the size of the first food products 22, however, other numbers and shapes of the second food products 24 can also be utilized.

The tray 20 includes an upper flange 88 that defines an outer periphery 90 and from which the first and the second cavities 26, 28 extend downwardly. The outer periphery 90 is rectangular, however, other shapes can also be utilized. The flange 88 includes two extended pull tab areas 92 that are stepped down to enable easier consumer access to the tray 20.

As shown in FIG. 15, to create a final packaging 94, the tray 20 with food products 22, 24 therein is enclosed using a lidding film 96 such as an EVOH-PE barrier film such as, for example, peel and reseal film available from Transcontinental Packaging (TC), however, other film can also be utilized. The lidding film 96 is applied to the flange 88 as is known in the art.

To facilitate retail display, the packaging 94 includes an aperture 98 from which the packaging 94 can be hung for viewing by the consumer. Alternately, the packaging 94 can be displayed within display ready packaging as is known in the art.

To facilitate manufacturing, the packaging 94 can include de-nesting lugs 100 as are shown in FIG. 5. The de-nesting lugs 100 are designed to enable stacking of the trays 20 and enable ease of separation of the trays 20 during manufacture.

During manufacture, the trays 20 are delivered to a manufacturing line in stacked form as shown in FIG. 5. The trays 20 are then placed into a de-nester to separate them. The trays 20 then travel down a conveyor where each cavity 26, 28 is automatically or manually filled with the respective first food products 22 and second food products 24 in the above-described shingled orientation. The trays 20 with first and second food products 22, 24 housed therein are then gas flushed and sealed with the lidding film 96 to form the final packaging 94.

During retail sale, the packaging 94 can be displayed on a peg using the aperture 98 or displayed within a display ready case on a shelf. For example, the dimension of the packaging 94 can be 8″ tall, 6″ wide and 1.86″ deep, however, other dimensions can also be utilized.

During consumption by the consumer, the lidding film 96 is easily removed easily by the consumers using the pull tab areas 92. The consumer preferably has the ability to reseal the packaging 94 for future snacking if any food products 22, 24 remain unconsumed.

Various features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A food product packaging comprising:

a tray having a first cavity having a slanted wall and a second cavity having a first lane and a second lane with a dividing wall between the first lane and the second lane, each lane including a bottom wall, a channel extending below the bottom wall and a slanted wall;

a plurality of first food products contained in the first cavity in a shingled orientation abutting the slanted wall of the first cavity;

a plurality of second food products contained in the first lane in a shingled orientation abutting the bottom wall and the slanted wall of the first lane and positioned above the channel of the first lane;

a plurality of the same second food products contained in the second lane in a shingled orientation abutting the bottom wall and the slanted wall of the second lane and positioned above the channel of the second lane; and

a cover enclosing the first cavity and the second cavity;

wherein the shingled orientation of the first food products in the first cavity is perpendicular to the shingled orientation of the second food products in the first lane and the second lane of the second cavity.

2. The food product packaging of claim 1 wherein the cover is a releasable lidding film.

3. The food product packaging of claim 1 wherein the dividing wall is in a vertical orientation.

4. The food product packaging of claim 1 wherein the first food products and the second food products are square.

5. The food product packaging of claim 1 wherein the first food products are circular and the second food products are square.

6. The food product packaging of claim 1 wherein the tray further includes de-nesting lugs.

7. The food product packaging of claim 1 wherein the number of first food products equals the number of second food products.

8. The food product packaging of claim 1 wherein the first cavity and the second cavity have a rectangular upper periphery.

9. The food product packaging of claim 1 wherein the first lane and the second lane are identical.

10. The food product packaging of claim 1 wherein the bottom wall of each lane has a first portion and a second portion and wherein the channel is positioned between the first portion and the second portion of the bottom wall.

11. The food product packaging of claim 1 wherein the slanted wall of each lane has a first portion and a second portion and wherein the channel is positioned between the first portion and the second portion of the slanted wall.

12. The food product packaging of claim 1 wherein each lane includes a horizontal wall such that the slanted wall is between the bottom wall and the horizontal wall.

13. A food product tray comprising:

a first cavity having a slanted wall;

a second cavity having a first lane and a second lane with a dividing wall therebetween, each lane including a bottom wall, a channel extending below the bottom wall and a slanted wall;

a plurality of first food products contained in the first cavity in a shingled orientation abutting the slanted wall of the first cavity;

a plurality of second food products contained in the first lane in a shingled orientation abutting the bottom wall and the slanted wall of the first lane and positioned above the channel of the first lane; and

a plurality of the same second food products contained in the second lane in a shingled orientation abutting the bottom wall and the slanted wall of the second lane and positioned above the channel of the second lane.

14. The food product tray of claim 13 wherein the number of first food products equals the number of second food products.

15. The food product tray of claim 13 wherein the first lane and the second lane are identical.

16. The food product tray of claim 13 wherein the bottom wall of each lane has a first portion and a second portion and wherein the channel is positioned between the first portion and the second portion of the bottom wall.

17. The food product tray of claim 13 wherein the slanted wall of each lane has a first portion and a second portion and wherein the channel is positioned between the first portion and the second portion of the slanted wall.

18. A food product tray comprising:

a first cavity having walls configured to house food products in a shingled orientation; and

a second cavity having a first lane, a second lane and a dividing wall therebetween, the first lane and the second lane are identical and are configured to house food products in a shingled orientation,

wherein each lane includes a bottom wall having a first portion and a second portion, a slanted wall having a first portion and a second portion, and a channel positioned between the first and second portions of the bottom wall and between the first and second portions of the slanted wall, and

wherein the channel extends downwardly from the bottom wall and from the slanted wall so as to be positionable below the housed food products in each lane.

19. The food product tray of claim 18 wherein the first cavity is elongate in a first direction and wherein the first lane and the second lane are elongate in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction.

20. The food product tray of claim 18 and wherein the channel has a rectangular upper periphery.