Food is often packaged in a container of plastic sheeting deformed by heat, vacuum etc., the container including a lower container element that forms a cavity that can hold food, and a lid or cover element that covers the lower element. Two stacks of container elements are provided for a clerk at a workstation in a store. The clerk takes a lower element and loads food into it, and then takes a lid element and closes and latches it to the lower element. It would be desirable if the number of different container elements that must be manufactured and stacked were at a minimum, such as a single container element construction. However, the container elements should be constructed so they stack closely on one another during storage, so they latch and seal well to one another when the container is closed, and so a plurality of containers that each has been loaded with food can be securely stacked on one another.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, container elements of identical construction are provided, where a second of the elements can be closed, latched and sealed to a first one, where the container elements can be closely stacked for storage, and where a plurality of containers that are each formed of a pair of the identical elements can be securely stacked on one another. The single type of element has a base wall that is lowermost for a lower element and that has a vertical axis. The lower element also has upstanding side walls, and has a flange that extends radially outward from the top of the side walls. The flange has a deformation line that forms a projection(s) and a groove along different flange sections.
Along a left half of the lower element, there is an upward projection, and along the right half of the lower element there is an upwardly-opening groove. When the upper element is laid on the identical lower element in the proper upside-down orientation, the upward projection in the left side of the lower element projects into a correspond downwardly-opening groove of the upper element, and the upwardly-opening groove in the right side of the lower element receives a downward projection of the upper element.
Each flange deformation line that forms a projection and a corresponding groove, can extend in a zig-zag path instead of a straight line, with at least five zigs and zags along each element half. The zig-zag line results in resistance to accidental opening of the container.
The base wall in the left half of the lower element has at least one downward projection. The base wall in the right half of the element has at least one large downward protuberance with a smaller upward recess therein that (when the element is turned upside-down) closely receives the downward projection of the left half of another element. This helps in secure stacking of food-loaded containers.
Towers that project up from the base wall (or project down when the element is turned upside down) to support one base wall on another, are constructed so some have undercut recesses and others have enlarged ends that fit into the recesses.
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.
Each container element such as the first one 12, has laterally L spaced left and right halves 34, 36 of equal lateral lengths, that lie on opposite sides of an imaginary vertical plane 40 that extends through the axis 22. Each flange is deformed along the flange line 32, by forming a projection in one surface of the flange that results in a groove in the opposite surface.
As indicated in
The zig-zag flange line 32 (
The towers (
In a container of the construction of
The upper container element 154 of
Thus, the invention provides a container formed of two identical container elements where one element can be pivoted 180° and pushed down to close the top of the other element. If the elements have bases of circular, square, rectangular hexagonal, etc. shape, then they can be constructed so an element is turned about its vertical axis, after being pivoted 180° (turned upside-down), to latch to the other element. The lower element has a flange that is deformed to form at least one section with an upward projection(s) and at least one section with an upwardly-opening groove. Complementary sections lie at equal distances from (perpendicular to) an imaginary vertical plane, so a projection of one element fits into a groove of the other element when the container elements are brought together. The projections and grooves can be of any of a variety of shapes, such as long projections and grooves each in a zig-zag shape or straight shape, or multiple elements spaced along the flange (with each flange section having a single projection or groove). For a large container, middle parts of the bases of stacked containers can be supported on one another by towers. The towers project from the base wall, with undercut projections at the free ends of some towers receiving projections with enlarged heads at the free ends of other towers to prevent towers from sliding off one another. A stack of containers can be stabilized by leaving projections in the base of one container that are received in recesses of another container.
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.
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