BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Food containers can be constructed by deforming a sheet of plastic to produce a container having side, end and bottom walls that form a food-holding cavity, with a flange around the top of the side and end walls. A lidding film attached to the flange, covers the cavity. Snack foods can be eaten by tipping the container so the food, such as blueberries, pours out of an end of the container into a child's or grown-up's mouth. Each container can be of small volume, with the food, such as fifteen ounces of blueberries, stored in a plurality of containers so that perhaps five ounces can be consumed at a time. A food tray system of low cost, that held quantities of food for consumption as by pouring the contents of one of a plurality of containers at a time into a person's mouth, would be of value.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a food tray system is provided which includes trays for each holding a small quantity of food that can be easily consumed, especially by children, as by the child pouring the food directly into his/her mouth. The system can include a plurality of lengthwise elongated trays arranged in a laterally-extending row, and formed by a single plastic sheet, with the trays having flanges that are joined by tear lines. A front end of each cavity is tapered in width and has an end wall extending at an incline of at least 8° from the vertical to facilitate pouring out of the food. The row of trays has a notch at each end of each tear line, with the notch having a laterally extending inner end at the corresponding end of the tear line, to avoid leaving a sharp hook when the tear line in torn.
The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a top isometric view of a food tray system of the invention, with a lidding film shown in phantom lines.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the food tray system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is an end elevation view of the food tray system of FIG. 1
FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the food tray system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of area A-A of FIG. 1.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of area B-B of FIG. 1.
FIG. 7 is a partial plan view of a notch of a prior design showing its disadvantage.
FIG. 8 is an isometric view similar to FIG. 1 but with one tray detached from the two others of the row, and showing lidding films with the pull tab of one of them bent up for peeling.
FIG. 9 is an exploded isometric view of a system with pie-shaped trays and covers.
FIG. 10 is an isometric view of containers of FIG. 9 formed by joining the trays and covers.
FIG. 11 is a plan view of the containers of FIG. 10.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIGS. 1 and 2 show a food tray system 10 that includes three trays 11 including two end trays 12, 14 and a center tray 16 that are spaced along a horizontal lateral direction, which also can be referred to as a row or width direction W. Each tray is elongated in a perpendicular horizontal length direction L that extends in front F and rear R directions. The trays are substantially identical to each other, with each tray having tray opposite side walls 20, 22, tray front and rear end walls 24, 26, and a tray bottom wall 28 that form a cavity 30 between them for holding food. Each tray has a flange 32 extending outward, which is a direction generally away from the tray axis 34. A tray vertical center plane 38 extends through the axis. The flange of each tray is joined to the flange of an adjacent tray by a tear line 36 along which the plastic sheet is weakened as by perforations, although it can be weakened by scoring. Each tear line includes multiple through slots 40 that are elongated along the tear line, with the slots being spaced apart by connections 42 in the sheet plastic. The three trays illustrated are formed of a single sheet of transparent plastic such as a 0.03 inch thick sheet of plastic which is thermoformed. The combination of plastic and fibers can be used where transparency is not required, and such combination is hereby referred to as “plastic”. The trays are rigid, as compared to flexible bags, and are preferably formed in a single row.
The food tray system is especially useful for holding snacks, as where all trays hold a pourable food comprising multiple bits of food, such as blueberries or a liquid. Another example is where one tray holds a food such as elongated strips of apple, a second tray holds elongated strips of carrot, and a third tray holds yogurt into which the strips of apple or carrot can be dipped. A considerable quantity of food such as a pound of blueberries, may be loaded into the three containers, and a person may consume one tray (one-third pound) at a time. To do this, the person first tears one of the end trays away from the center tray along a tear line 36. The person then peels off a lidding film 50 from the tray flange. The person then may lift a front end 24 of the tray to his/her mouth and tip up the tray rear end 26 to pour some of its contents into the person's mouth.
To facilitate pouring out the tray contents, a front end portion 52 of the tray (which is opposite a rear end 53) is tapered in width W to have a progressively narrower width at more forward locations. Also, the front end wall 24 is angled at a forward and upward incline from the vertical by the angle C shown in FIG. 4. Applicant notes that the opposite side walls 20, 22 of the tray are inclined by at a mold angle D (FIG. 3) of about 5° (2° to 8°) from the vertical to facilitate tray withdrawal from a forming mold. However the front end wall incline angle C is more than the mold angle D and is preferably more than 10° (twice as much), with the actual incline angle C shown being 12° to facilitate pouring out the contents without tipping the tray so much that food spills out at the sides. The front portions of the flange and cavity have opposite sides that are each tapered in width at an angle E (FIG. 2) of about 37° (15° to 60°) from a center plane 38 so as to be progressively narrower at more forward locations. The tray extreme front end has a flange width V that is no more than half the width K along a majority of the tray length. The cavity front end width X is no more than half or 40% of the average cavity width J. All of this facilitates pouring food directly into the eater's mouth. The tray cavity 30 has a length H that is a plurality of times its width J so the cavity holds considerable food even though its width is small.
Trays of the illustrated design that applicant has constructed, had a width K (FIG. 2) at the flange of 45 millimeters between flange tear lines, a length M at the flange of 145 millimeters between opposite ends of the flange, and a tray height N (FIG. 3) of 39 millimeters. Each tear line had slots of a width of 0.8 mm and length of 3.5 mm, and with each connection 42 having a length of 0.5 mm. There are thirty-four slots 40 along each tear line. Applicant prefers to provide at least ten slots along each tear line, to provide for a smooth tearing of each tear line. The bottom 60 of each tray had a width P of 22 millimeters. There is a possibility of an individual tray tipping to one side and spilling its contents, but an individual tray is usually used soon after it is torn free of the other trays. When the row of trays is intact, the row of trays has a largely “square” footprint, with an overall tray row width of 135 millimeters and length of 145 millimeters. Applicant prefers to use enough trays in the row so that the row width is between one-half and two times the tray length, to provide a largely “square” footprint.
As mentioned above applicant provides a separate lidding film 50 (FIGS. 1 and 2), such as of flexible plastic or metal foil, for each tray, each film having less than one-tenth the thickness of the tray sheet material. The lidding films are shown in phantom lines to avoid blocking the rest of the figures. Each lidding film extends on the flange around the entire cavity. The lidding film can extend slightly (e.g. one millimeter) beyond the front and rear ends of the flange, but should not extend in the width direction over a tear line 36 because such film would interfere with tearing apart two trays. To avoid this applicant lays the film so its edge lie at least 0.1 mm inward of the edge of the flange (except at the tab 64). FIG. 8 shows the three-tray system 10A wherein one tray 14 has been torn free of the other two trays 16, 12. Each lidding film has a tab portion 64 that extends laterally beyond a cutaway 70 in the tray flange front portion 52. The overhanging tab portion 64 can be easily grasped to peel off the lidding film. The overhanging tab portion 64 does not interfere with tearing apart two trays. It can be seen from the torn tear line 36T on tray 12, that the trays of FIG. 8 were manufactured with a large number of trays in a row, and the trays were separated into three-tray systems.
FIG. 1 shows that the tear line 36 between each pair of adjacent trays has front and rear ends 72, 74, and that there is a notch 80,82 at each end. The front notch 80 extends along the horizontally tapered front portion of the flange which has a length S (FIG. 2) of 17 millimeters, and the rear notch 82 extends along a minimum length such as 3 millimeters. The notch is tapered along the tray front end portion length S. The length S is less than one fourth the tray length M, so as to not greatly reduce the tray holding capacity. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the inner end (80i, 82i) of each notch, which is the rear end of the front notch 80 and the front end of the rear notch 82, have notch end surfaces 80i, 82i that extend in the lateral or width direction W along a distance of at least one millimeter. If the tear line 36 should be formed so it is unintentionally offset from the intended tear line location, then such offset will not result in a hook that can hurt a person or catch on clothing. In FIG. 7, applicant shows a notch 90 with a rounded inner end and with a tear line end 92 that is offset from the correct position along midline 96. This would result in an end of the tear line forming a hook 94 that could injure people or clothing. Applicant prefers to provide a notch inner end that extends in the width direction W (or within 7° of the width direction) by a distance T (FIG. 6) that is at least twice, preferably three times, and more preferably at least five times the slot width Q.
FIGS. 9-11 show a food container system 100 that includes a row of four trays 102A, 102B, 102C, and 102D, and a row of four covers 104A, 104B, 104C, and 104D. As shown in FIG. 10, the trays 102 and covers 104 together form four containers 106. Each tray has a shallow cavity 110 (FIG. 9) with primarily vertical walls 112 and a bottom wall 114. Each cover has a tall cavity 116 formed by primarily vertical cover walls 117 and a cover top 118. Each cover has an outward flange 124 at its bottom, that is joined to the flange of an adjacent cover by a tear line 126. Each tray has a flange 120 that is joined to a flange of another tray by a tear line 122. A lidding film is not necessary. Each tray has a tray tab 130 projecting from the middle of its flange, and each cover has a pair of cover tabs 132, 134. Each tray also has projecting latches 136 that engage corresponding latches 138 on the covers to hold them closed.
A closed container 106 is separated from an adjacent container by tearing the tray and cover of one container loose from the tray and cover of an adjacent container, which can be done while the containers remains closed. This allows a clerk to load food (e.g. slices of cake) onto a row of trays, close a row of covers over the row of trays, and ship and store the row of loaded containers. The flanges 120, 124 of the trays and covers of each container lie facewise adjacent (within 5 mm and preferably within 1 mm of each other), which facilitates tearing the two tear lines to separate two containers.
The trays and covers each has a pie shape, with a narrow end 140 (FIG. 11) and an opposite wide end 142 whose width is usually at least twice the width 144 of the narrow end. The containers are especially useful for holding pie-shaped food such as slices of cake or pie cut into a triangular shape. The container system is preferably provided with an even number of containers so the sides 150, 152 at opposite ends of the row are parallel. This allows the row to fill a rectangular box. The length 154 of each container is more than its width 144 and is more than twice its average width. The covers may be formed of transparent plastic while the trays are formed of plastic and fibers (which applicant refers to as “plastic sheet” because it comprises plastic especially at its opposite surfaces).
The row of trays 102 of FIG. 9 is formed of a composite plastic sheet comprising a layer of fibers (e.g. of rice, wheat or sugar cane plants) and a polymer film pressed under heat against the fiber layer. Such composites have been used for a few years. The polymer film can be translucent and/or of a selected color. If an attempt is made to produce a tear line by scoring the plastic sheet (making a cut that extends only partway through the sheet), then the cut is likely to pass only partly or not at all through the fibers. Such a cut will not weaken the entire thickness of the sheet and it will be difficult to tear along such a tear line. Instead, application forms perforations (complete removal of small areas of the sheet that extend completely through the thickness of the sheet) that are spaced along a tear line. The perforations are of the size and shape shown in FIG. 6, where the connections 42 between perforations have a length of less than one mm and line between perforations 40 of a width Q of less than one mm, with a lead-in notch at each end of the tear line.
Thus, the invention provides a food tray system that includes at least one tray and preferably a plurality of trays, or tray devices, that are each narrow and long. A row of trays can hold a considerable amount of food when such amount is divided among them, and with the trays preferably shaped to enable food to be easily poured out from the front end of the tray. The front portion of the tray is tapered in width and the front end wall of the tray is angled upward and forward to facilitate pouring. A lidding film is provided for each tray, with each lidding film projecting from the tray flange only above a cutout formed by the tapered front portion of the tray to provide a tab that can be grasped. A notch is formed in each pair of adjacent trays at each end of the tear line. Each notch has a notch inner end that extends in the width direction by at least twice and preferably three times the width of the slots of the tear line, to avoid the generation of a sharp hook. The invention also provides a row of containers formed by trays and covers that can be snapped onto the trays to close them, that are each of triangular shape.
Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated herein, it is recognized that modifications and variations may readily occur to those skilled in the art, and consequently, it is intended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications and equivalents.