Claims
- 1. A produce container comprising:
a produce basket having a basket body and a lid for covering the basket body; and a plurality of ventilation slots and a plurality of ventilation channels are formed in the basket to facilitate the flow of cooling air in at least two transversely oriented directions through the baskets and underneath the baskets.
- 2. The produce container of claim 1 wherein the plurality of ventilation channels is formed in a lower portion of the basket.
- 3. The produce container of claim 2 wherein the plurality of ventilation channels are configured to facilitate bidirectional airflow underneath the basket.
- 4. The produce container of claim 2 wherein the plurality of ventilation channels include a first ventilation channel and a second ventilation channel that is arranged transversely with respect to the first ventilation channel.
- 5. The produce container of claim 2 wherein the plurality of ventilation channels include a first ventilation channel that enables a first cooling flow to pass through the first ventilation channel in a first direction and a second ventilation channel that enables a second cooling flow to pass through the second ventilation channel in a direction transverse to said first direction.
- 6. The produce container of claim 2 wherein the basket includes:
a latch for securing the lid to the basket body; and a hinge for attaching the lid to the basket body so that, when closed, the hinge applies tension at the hinge to prevent the lid from extending beyond an outside edge of the basket body and thereby prevents the latch from improperly securing the lid to the basket body.
- 7. The produce container of claim 6 wherein the hinge further includes a pair of spaced apart notches configured so that, when the hinge is closed, the notches apply tension at the hinge to prevent the lid from extending beyond an outside edge of the basket body and thereby prevents the latch from improperly securing the lid to the basket body.
- 8. The container of claim 2 wherein the lid includes ventilation openings.
- 9. The container of claim 2 wherein the basket body includes ventilation openings.
- 10. The container of claim 2 wherein the lid and the basket body include ventilation openings.
- 11. The container of claim 2 wherein the plurality of ventilation channels formed in a lower portion of the basket comprise:
a first ventilation channel formed by a first arch fabricated in the bottom of the basket, and a second ventilation channel formed by a second arch fabricated in the bottom of the basket so that the second arch is transverse to the first arch.
- 12. The container of claim 11 wherein the first arch is oriented in a substantially perpendicular direction from the second arch.
- 13. The produce container of claim 2 wherein the plurality of ventilation slots include:
a first set of ventilation slots formed in an upper portion of said basket to enable a cooling flow to pass through the basket in a first direction; and a second set of ventilation slots formed in an upper portion of said basket, said second ventilation slots being disposed to enable the cooling flow to pass through the basket in a second direction that is transverse to the first direction.
- 14. The produce container of claim 13 wherein the cooling flow in the first direction is substantially perpendicular to the cooling flow in the second direction.
- 15. The produce container of claim 2 wherein the plurality of ventilation slots include a first set of ventilation slots and a set of second ventilation slots wherein the first set of ventilation slots is substantially perpendicular to the second set of ventilation slots.
- 16. The container of claim 13 wherein the first set of ventilation slots is formed between the lid and the basket body.
- 17. The container of claim 13 wherein the second set of ventilation slots is formed between the lid and the basket body.
- 18. The container of claim 13 wherein the first set of ventilation slots is formed between the lid and the basket body and the second set of ventilation slots is formed between the lid and the basket body.
- 19. The produce container of claim 2 wherein the basket includes:
a latch for securing the lid to the basket body; and a hinge for attaching the lid to the basket body so that, when closed, the hinge applies tension at the hinge to prevent the lid from extending beyond an outside edge of the basket body and thereby prevents the latch from improperly securing the lid to the basket body.
- 20. The container of claim 19 wherein at least one of the ventilation slots of the first set of ventilation slots is formed in the hinge that attaches the lid to the basket body.
- 21. The container of claim 2 wherein the basket body includes smooth sided walls.
- 22. The container of claim 2 wherein the basket body includes ridges in the walls.
- 23. A produce packaging system comprising, in operative combination:
a plurality of baskets arranged in a tray; each basket including:
a basket body and a lid; a plurality of ventilation slots formed in an upper portion of the basket, said slots being arranged to facilitate the flow of cooling air through the baskets in at least two transverse directions; a plurality of ventilation channels formed in the lower portion of the basket; the channels being arranged to facilitate the flow of cooling air underneath the baskets in at least two transverse directions;
the tray suitable for holding the baskets in a manner that enables the flow of cooling air through and underneath the baskets in at least two transverse directions, the tray including:
a plurality of upper cooling vents arranged so as to align with ventilation slots of the baskets; and a plurality of lower cooling vents arranged so as to align with ventilation channels of the baskets.
- 24. The system of claim 23 wherein the plurality of upper cooling vents are arranged to enable the flow of cooling air through the baskets in two perpendicular directions.
- 25. The system of claim 23 wherein the plurality of lower cooling vents are arranged to enable the flow of cooling air underneath the baskets in two perpendicular directions.
- 26. A packaging tray for containing a plurality of produce baskets, with the baskets including a plurality of ventilation slots and a plurality of ventilation channels, the tray suitable for holding the baskets in a manner that enables the flow of cooling air through and underneath the baskets in at least two transverse directions, the tray comprising:
a plurality of upper cooling vents arranged so that the upper cooling vents align with the ventilation slots of the baskets when the baskets are loaded into the tray; and a plurality of lower cooling vents arranged so that the upper cooling vents align with ventilation channels of the baskets when the baskets are loaded into the tray.
- 27. The tray of claim 26 wherein the plurality of upper cooling vents are arranged so that a cooling flow passes through the tray and any baskets therein in two perpendicular directions.
- 28. The tray of claim 26 wherein the plurality of lower cooling vents are arranged so that a cooling flow passes through the tray and underneath any baskets therein in two perpendicular directions.
- 29. The tray of claim 26 wherein the plurality of upper cooling vents are arranged so that a cooling flow passes through the tray and any baskets therein in two perpendicular directions and wherein the plurality of lower cooling vents are arranged so that a cooling flow passes through the tray and underneath any baskets therein in two perpendicular directions.
- 30. A produce packaging system comprising, in operative combination:
a plurality of baskets arranged in a tray; each basket including:
a basket body and a lid; a first set of ventilation slots formed in an upper portion of the basket; a second set of ventilation slots formed in an upper portion of the basket, the second set of ventilation slots being disposed substantially perpendicular to the first set of ventilation slots; a first ventilation channel formed in the a lower portion of the basket; a second ventilation channel formed in the a lower portion of the basket, the second ventilation channel being disposed substantially perpendicular to the first ventilation channel; the tray suitable for receiving therein the baskets, the tray including tray walls that comprise:
a first set of cooling vents made in an upper portion of the tray, the first set of cooling vents further disposed so as to align with the first set of ventilation slots of the baskets; a second set of cooling vents made in the upper portion of the tray, the second set of cooling vents further disposed so as to align with the second set of ventilation slots of the baskets; a third set of cooling vents made in a lower portion of the tray, the third set of cooling vents further disposed so as to align with the first ventilation channels of the baskets; and a fourth set of cooling vents made in the lower portion of the tray, the fourth set of cooling vents further disposed so as to align with the second ventilation channels of the baskets.
- 31. The system as in claim 30 wherein the first set of cooling vents and the second set of cooling vents are configured such that the first set of cooling vents is disposed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the second set of cooling vents.
- 32. The system as in claim 30 wherein the third set of cooling vents and the fourth set of cooling vents are configured such that the third set of cooling vents are disposed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the fourth set of cooling vents.
- 33. The system as in claim 30 wherein the first set of cooling vents and the second set of cooling vents are configured such that the first set of cooling vents is disposed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the second set of cooling vents; and wherein the third set of cooling vents and the fourth set of cooling vents are configured such that the third set of cooling vents are disposed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the fourth set of cooling vents.
- 34. A tray for use in a produce packaging system, the tray suitable for receiving a plurality of baskets stacked at least two baskets high, each basket having a basket body and a lid, a first set of ventilation slots formed in an upper portion of the baskets and a second set of ventilation slots formed in the upper portion of the basket, said second set of ventilation slots being disposed substantially perpendicular to said first set of ventilation slots, said baskets further including a first ventilation channel formed in a lower portion of the basket, a second ventilation channel formed in the lower portion of the basket, the first ventilation channel being configured so that it is transversely positioned with respect to the second ventilation channel, the tray comprising:
a tray body having tray walls; and cooling vents formed in the tray walls to facilitate bi-directional cooling flow through the tray that also flows through the ventilation slots of the baskets and through the ventilation channels of the baskets.
- 35. The tray of claim 34 wherein the apertures include:
a first set of cooling vents made in an upper portion of the tray, the first set of cooling vents further disposed so as to align with the first sets of ventilation slots of the baskets; a second set of cooling vents made in the upper portion of the tray, the second set of cooling vents further disposed so as to align with the second set of ventilation slots of the baskets; a third set of cooling vents made in a lower portion of the tray, the third set of cooling vents further disposed so as to align with the first ventilation channels of the baskets; and a fourth set of cooling vents made in the lower portion of the tray, the fourth set of cooling vents further disposed so as to align with the second ventilation channels of the baskets.
- 36. The tray of claim 34, wherein the baskets are arranged in the tray in layers stacked at least two baskets tall, wherein the apertures comprise:
a first set of cooling vents made in a lower portion of the tray, the first set of cooling vents further disposed so as to align with the first ventilation channels of a first layer of baskets; a second set of cooling vents made in the lower portion of the tray, the second set of cooling vents further disposed so as to align with the second ventilation channels of the first layer of baskets; a third set of cooling vents made in a middle portion of the tray, the third set of cooling vents further disposed so as to align with the first set of ventilation slots of the first layer of baskets; a fourth set of cooling vents made in the middle portion of the tray, the fourth set of cooling vents further disposed so as to align with the second set of ventilation slots of the first layer of baskets; a fifth set of cooling vents made in the middle portion of the tray, the fifth set of cooling vents further disposed so as to align with the first ventilation channels of a second layer of baskets; a sixth set of cooling vents made in the lower portion of the tray, the second set of cooling vents further disposed so as to align with the second ventilation channels of the second layer of baskets; a seventh set of cooling vents made in an upper portion of the tray, the seventh set of cooling vents further disposed so as to align with the first set of ventilation slots of the second layer of baskets; and an eighth set of cooling vents made in the upper portion of the tray, the eighth set of cooling vents further disposed so as to align with the second set of ventilation slots of the second layer of baskets.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending application Ser. No. 10/017,893, filed Dec. 12, 2001, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/590,631, filed Jun. 8, 2000, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/060,453 filed Apr. 14, 1998 and allowed as U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,676, issued on Jun. 13, 2000, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/591,000, filed Jan. 24, 1996 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,890 on Apr. 14, 1998, and claims priority from co-pending application Ser. No. 10/017,893, filed Dec. 12, 2001.
Continuations (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09060453 |
Apr 1998 |
US |
Child |
09590631 |
Jun 2000 |
US |
Parent |
08591000 |
Jan 1996 |
US |
Child |
09060453 |
Apr 1998 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10017893 |
Dec 2001 |
US |
Child |
10302059 |
Nov 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09590631 |
Jun 2000 |
US |
Child |
10017893 |
Dec 2001 |
US |