BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This disclosure relates to a package or packaging, and particularly packaging such as used in the food industry, specifically the type where packages are palletized. More particularly, the packaging relates to an egg package that provides the ability to stack and palletize packages, i.e., stack one package atop another on a pallet, that can be easily moved in warehouse food stores for example. The disclosure may find application in related environments and applications.
An increased percentage of consumers now shop for their groceries in food warehouses where oftentimes large quantities of a particular food item are placed on display in the food warehouse. The economies of scale are evident in these types of stores, and efficiencies and cost benefits are enhanced where reduced labor is associated with handling and display of the food product. As such, palletized food products are deemed particularly efficient for handling since large amounts of the stacked food product can be easily transported by way of a fork lift or hand operated lift to and from trucks or trailers, as well as within the food warehouse. Palletized food products also assure that a large supply of the food product is readily available, and likewise minimizes labor costs since restocking occurs less frequently.
Certain food products are amenable to the food warehouse because of ease of packaging and handling. Other food products present special issues for various reasons, for example due to the fragile nature of the food product. Eggs are a prime example of a food product that typically is not stacked or palletized more than a few packages or cartons high. The reason that stacking is minimized is primarily associated with the loads that the package is intended to handle. Moreover, the package design does not contemplate the extra protection required for this type of fragile food product.
Accordingly, a need exists for a revamped, new design for a package and packaging of eggs that is conducive to the food warehouse environment, and/or a package that provides additional protection for a fragile food product stored in the package.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An improved package for transporting fragile food products such as eggs is disclosed. Particularly, the package has a body with individual recesses, where each recess is dimensioned to receive at least a portion of an associated individual egg. Each recess is connected to the body via a spring, spring means, or compressible member that allows limited movement of the recess relative to the body.
In a preferred arrangement the spring includes corrugate portions that permit selected movement of the food product relative to the package.
The package further includes a load transfer member or means for transferring load from one package to an adjacent package disposed in stacked relation.
In a preferred arrangement, the load transfer member includes rigid portions of the package, preferably rigid perimeter portions.
The preferred embodiment further provides a load transfer member incorporated into a cover received over the body once the eggs have been received in the associated recesses.
The spring associated with each recess can provide either limited horizontal movement or limited vertical movement, or limited movement in each direction.
A primary benefit of this disclosure relates to a new package for fragile food products that permits the packages to be stacked and palletized while still providing additional protection to the food product.
Another benefit resides in the ease of manufacture of the package.
Yet another benefit is associated with the protection offered to the food product when stored in the package, including when packages are disposed in stacked array.
Still another advantage resides in the recyclability of the package material.
Still other benefits and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the following detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a new package with a portion of the cover removed for ease of illustration.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view through the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 2 of an alternative embodiment illustrating a variation of the spring.
FIGS. 4-6 are a plan view and cross-sectional views, respectively, similar to FIGS. 1-3 of another embodiment of an egg package holding a larger number of eggs.
FIG. 7 is a plan view of yet another embodiment of an egg package holding two dozen eggs and shown in an open condition.
FIG. 8 is an end view of the package, taken generally from the right-hand side of FIG. 7.
FIG. 9 is a plan view of the package of FIG. 7 with the cover shown in a closed position.
FIG. 10 is an end view of the package, taken generally from the right-hand side of FIG. 9.
FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the package taken generally along the lines 11-11 of FIG. 7.
FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the package taken generally along the lines 12-12 of FIG. 9.
FIG. 13 is a bottom plan view of the package of FIG. 7.
FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view, taken generally along the lines 14-14 of FIG. 13.
FIG. 15 is an elevational view of a series of packages in stacked relation on a pallet.
FIG. 16 is an overhead plan view of the palletized packages of FIG. 15.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Turning first to FIGS. 1-3, there is generally illustrated a package 100 that includes a body or base 102, shown here as having a polygonal periphery, although other shapes and configurations may be used without departing from the scope and intent of the present disclosure. The body has a height, best illustrated in FIG. 2, which is slightly greater than the food product to be received in the package. Here, it is understood that the food product is a fragile one, namely eggs. Thus, the body has a height that will conform to a generally elliptical-shaped egg either disposed on its side or in an upright position as will be illustrated in later embodiments. The particular package of FIG. 1 is intended to hold a dozen eggs. Again, and as will become apparent from later described embodiments, the package can be altered in size to accommodate a greater or lesser number of eggs in each individual package as desired.
Individual recesses 104 are provided in the package. The number of recesses obviously determines how many individual eggs may be received in the package. Each recess extends slightly less than the overall height of the body 102 and thus is dimensioned to at least partially receive the individual egg in the recess. As shown in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the depth of each recess as measured from an upper surface 106 is such that an individual egg is almost entirely encompassed or received in an individual recess. Each recess preferably includes a spring, spring means, or compressible member or similar structure for allowing limited movement of the recess relative to the remainder of the body. Thus, spring 110 is preferably defined by corrugate portions 112 that allow a base portion 114 of the recess to selectively move relative to the upper surface 106 as needed. Thus, in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the corrugate portions 112 circumscribe the recess, and actually form a portion of the side wall of each recess to permit the base 114 to act as a dashpot that absorbs energy by permitting selective flexure of the package under controlled conditions and at certain loads. That is, the package is intended to deflect a predetermined amount under certain dynamic loads and return or spring back to the original position (i.e., not exceed the elastic limit of the package material). Thus, the recess carrying the egg undergoes limited travel or movement in response to dynamic loads and moves relative to the body, and in this instance moves relative to upper surface 106. The extent of this movement is defined by the corrugate portions, namely, extension of the corrugate portions to define substantially linear sidewalls of each recess define the maximum lowermost position of the base 114 relative to the upper surface 106. Conversely, abutment between adjacent pleats of the corrugate portions defines the uppermost position of the recess base relative to the upper surface. Thus, through careful design of the corrugate portions, the uppermost and lowermost positions of the base and, consequently, the extent of movement relative to the body can be controlled.
As is also evident in FIG. 2, outer perimeter walls 116 of the package preferably define rigid, load transferring members or walls that will convey loads in a controlled manner through a package from a next upper, adjacent stacked package to the next lower, adjacent stacked package (or adjacent support surface or pallet). Additionally, upper surface 106 of the package may preferably include a nesting arrangement or conformation particularly defined by shoulder 122 that is slightly raised relative to the remainder of the upper surface 106. The shoulder 122 cooperates and is dimensioned to receive a lower edge of the package perimeter of an upper adjacent stacked package in a manner that orients and limits relative sliding movement in a horizontal direction between adjacent stacked packages. Likewise, the interlocking arrangement between the shoulder 122 of one package and the lower edge of an upper adjacent stacked package effectively forms a rigid vertical column that transfers load from the upper package to the lower package and so on down through the stacked array of packages, where the vertical load is conveyed through a pallet to another support structure such as a shelf or ground surface.
The embodiment of FIG. 3 illustrates one type of modification that can be made to the package. Specifically, the central and right-hand recesses shown in FIG. 3 are similar in construction to those shown and described with reference to FIG. 2. The left-hand recess, however, provides a slightly altered orientation of the spring. That is, the recess has a curvilinear lower portion 124 dimensioned to receive the outer hemispherical contour of an egg therein. In addition, spring means 130, which allows limited movement of the recess relative to the body, is preferably defined by a corrugate portion 132 disposed in a generally horizontal plane. Just as the spring means 110 and corrugate portions 112 shown in the central and right-hand recesses of FIG. 3 serve to isolate the egg from potential damage during shipping and handling, so too does the spring means 130 and corrugate spring portions 132 of the left-hand recess. That is, limited relative movement, as a result of forces acting on the package, are potentially isolated/damped from the egg via the spring means which absorbs these forces.
It will also be appreciated that although general nomenclature is that the corrugate portions 112 in the right-hand recesses for example of FIG. 3 are able to provide relative vertical movement, and the corrugate portions 132 in the left-hand recess provide limited horizontal movement, in point-of-fact, each of the corrugate arrangements provides some limited vertical and/or horizontal movement in response to external dynamic forces imposed on the package. Of course, other variations will be appreciated and are deemed to fall within the scope of the present disclosure. The remainder of the structure of FIG. 3 may include the horizontal corrugate spring portions 132 or the vertical corrugate spring portions 112 in any or all of the recesses or groups of recesses, and are substantially identical to that described with respect to the FIGS. 2 and 3 embodiments.
A cover 136 for this package may comprise a plastic sheet or layer that, for example, may be shrink-wrapped over the upper surface and shoulder to contain the eggs in the respective recesses. The plastic sheet cover may also be transparent to allow the consumer/purchaser to view the contents of the package before purchase.
FIGS. 4-6 illustrate two additional embodiments. Again, the cover is shown at least partially removed for ease of illustration, and particular details of the structure and operation of another preferred cover will be described in later embodiments. In this arrangement of FIGS. 4-6, the package is intended to receive sixteen eggs in total, slightly larger than the prior embodiments. The same concepts are fully applicable. Thus, where possible, like reference numerals in the two hundred (200) series will be used to describe like components. That is, package 200 includes a body 202 that includes a number of recesses 204 extending from a generally planar, upper surface 206. Each recess in the embodiment of FIG. 5 is joined to the remainder of the body via a spring, spring means, or compressible member 210 that includes for example generally vertically oriented corrugate portions 212. This arrangement is slightly different in that the corrugate portions 212 are not formed as a portion of the sidewalls of the individual recesses, but rather are disposed adjacent the recesses and permit relative movement of the recess relative to the remainder of the body. Here, the recesses are generally curvilinear or arcuate in shape, and dimensioned to receive approximately one-half of the egg therein. Similarly, the embodiment of FIG. 6 includes horizontal spring means 230 formed by horizontal corrugate portions 232 between adjacent recesses. Again, each recess has a curvilinear or arcuate conformation, although the conformation may vary as desired.
In addition, the perimeter portion (here, the outer perimeter) of the package forms a general load bearing or load transferring member or wall that transfers vertical loads through the package from an adjacent upper stacked package to an adjacent lower stacked package (or support surface or pallet) as desired. The package can also include a nesting conformation (although not specifically illustrated) to facilitate orientation of one package on top of another and to also prevent relative horizontal movement between the packages once disposed in a stacked array. In addition, two rigid posts or columns are disposed interiorly of the outer perimeter and between the recesses. These columns 234 cooperate with the rigid perimeter wall to also serve as a load transfer member that transfers vertical loads imposed on the package from an associated adjacent upper stacked package. In this manner, the horizontal distance or dimension between load bearing members of the package is substantially reduced in light of positioning the load bearing members 234 between peripheral edges of the package. As will be appreciated, the load bearing members can be equi-spaced or located at intermittent locations between the recesses as desired.
FIGS. 7-14 illustrate yet another embodiment of a package, and particularly one that holds two dozen eggs. Again, like reference numerals will identify like elements in the three hundred (300) series of reference numerals. Thus, package 300 includes a body 302 having a plurality of recesses 304. In the illustrated embodiment, each of the recesses 304 is identical in configuration. Here, each recess has a curvilinear or arcuate shaped base 314 that generally conforms to the shape of an egg disposed with one end in the recess. As shown in FIG. 14, slightly more than one-half of an individual egg is received within a particular recess. The corrugate or spring portions 312 preferably allow each recess to elastically absorb dynamic loads by moving relative to the remainder of the body through a predetermined dimension, and once the load is dissipated, to elastically return to its original position. This allows the corrugate spring portions to absorb the energy associated with forces of a predetermined magnitude. In addition, the perimeter of the package defines a rigid load transferring wall 316. This load transferring wall is intended to convey vertical loads from the top of the package as received by an adjacent upper stacked package to the bottom of the package where the load is transferred to another adjacent lower stacked package (or to a pallet or support surface).
Because the package is slightly larger due to the larger number of eggs received therein, additional load support members are included. Particularly, cover 340 includes a first cover portion 342 and a second cover portion 344. Preferably, each cover portion is intended to cover approximately one-half of the package when disposed in a closed position (FIG. 12) from the open position as shown in FIG. 11. Each cover portion is also preferably hinged along hinge regions 346 with the remainder of the body. It will be appreciated, however, that a separate cover member could be provided for receipt over an upper end of the open package. An egg stabilizing or locating surface 350 preferably extends outwardly from the underside of each of the cover portions (FIG. 8). Each stabilizer preferably includes an arcuate surface 352 dimensioned to rest against the portion of the egg that extends outwardly from the recess. Each of the stabilizers has a predetermined location in the respective cover portion so that when the cover portion is brought into closed position over the recesses, the arcuate surfaces 352 engage an upper end of a respective egg. This allows the package to advantageously use the inherent load bearing capabilities of the egg to transfer some of the static vertical loads through the package.
As particularly illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12, each cover portion also preferably includes an integrated load bearing member 360. As evident, the load bearing members 360 include rigid wall portions that extend generally orthogonal to the remainder of the cover portion. When closed, as illustrated in FIG. 12, the load bearing members 360 of the respective cover portions 342, 344 are disposed adjacent one another, and may be in abutting relation, to define a means for transferring vertical loads from the cover as received from an adjacent upper stacked package and transfers the load (in conjunction with the perimeter walls) to the bottom of the package, where the loads are transferred to an adjacent lower stacked package or support surface.
Preferably, the entire package or substantially the entire package is formed of the same material, i.e., recyclable plastic or recyclable paperboard, or a composite paperboard coated in a thin plastic. The individual recesses are dimensioned to receive an egg, and once each package is filled, the packages are then oriented in stacked relation, as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, on a pallet P or other support surface.
The entire stacked array may be wrapped to add a further support to the stacked array, for example a plastic wrap or shrink wrap could be applied about the perimeter of the stacked array when situated on the pallet and may cover a portion of the pallet perimeter also. In this manner, the entire palletized stacked array can be easily moved from the food packager, into and out of trucks, and about a food warehouse. The spring means provides added protection to the eggs from dynamic loads imposed on the arrangement during handling and transport, and the vertical load bearing members allow substantial heights of packages to be disposed in stacked array without any adverse consequence on the contents thereof.
A slip layer may also be interposed between the pallet and the bottom of the lowermost layer of packages to limit horizontal movement therebetween. Thereafter slip layers (either chipped board or cardboard) can be interposed between adjacent layers of stacked packages as deemed necessary (every fifth or sixth layer or row as deemed desirable) to add further stability to the stacked arrangement.
The invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments. Modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding this specification. It is intended to include all such modifications and alterations in so far as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.
Patent Application
20110094917
