Biodegradable partitioned tray for storing and transport of packaged food products

Abstract

A biodegradable crate for storing and transport of food products has a crate body (1), in the form of a hollow quadrilateral prism framed by a rectangular perimeter (2) with rounded corners, and with an end (18) folded downwards. Twenty identical cup beds (3) are distributed evenly and separated from one another by twelve integrally made prismatic divider elements (4), in the shape of hollow quadrilateral prisms with rounded vertices (5) and connections (10) in the shape of hollow cuboids with shorter flat sides (12) and longer concave sides (13), and with ratio of connection (10) and divider element (4) heights preferably made in a scale of 2:3. The cup beds (3) have the shape of truncated cones oriented so that their narrow sides form the bottom of the crate body (1), and the dimensions that are analogue to bottom parts of plastic cups (7).

Claims

1. A biodegradable packaging for storing and transport of food products, characterized by that, a crate body (1), is of the hollow quadrilateral prismatic shape framed by rounded rectangular perimeter (2) with end (18) folded downwards which contains twenty identical evenly distributed cup beds (3), five positioned along the longer side and four cup beds (3) along the shorter side, mutually divided by sixteen integrally made and also prismatic divider elements (4), in the shape of hollow quadrilateral prisms with rounded vertices (5) and connections (10) in the shape of hollow cuboids made so that their shorter sides (12) are flat and their longer sides (13) concave, while the ratio of heights between the connections (10) and the divider elements (4) is best made in scale 2:3; and that in the centers of upper horizontal surfaces of the divider elements (4) there are annular openings (11) positioned so as to form ring-shaped surfaces (19) with outer edges in the form of modified squares with concave vertices, while their inner edges are of the circular form, and with the end (18) of the perimeter (2) of the body crate (1) folded downwards, so as to form an angle of 120 with its upper edge while there is in its end along its entire perimeter a short creasing (17) made, and the cup beds (3) in the shape of truncated cones oriented so that their narrow sides form the bottom of the crate body (1) of ring-shaped surfaces (6) with annular openings (8) centrally positioned, while the cup beds (3) located in the inner part of the crate body (1) are formed by four rounded vertices (5) of the divider elements (4) and four opposite concave longer sides (13) of the connections (10), while the cup beds (3) located along the perimeter of the crate body (1) are framed by three concave longer sides (13) of the connections (10) and two rounded vertices (5) of the divider elements (4) and an arch segment (14) of lateral side (15) of the crate body (1), whereas the cup beds (3) located along the crate body (1), positioned at its vertices, are formed by two concave longer sides (13) of the connections (10), rounded vertex (5) of the divider element (4) and a concave edge (16).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES AND THE DRAWINGS

(1) In order to make a better understanding of the invention as well as to show how it can be realized in practice, the author, only by way of example, points to the accompanying drawings that relate to the subject application and where:

(2) FIG. 1 is a side view of an axonometric appearance of the subject crate;

(3) FIG. 2 is a bottom view of an axonometric appearance of the subject crate;

(4) FIG. 3 is a top view of the subject crate appearance;

(5) FIG. 4 is a top view of an axonometric appearance of the subject crate;

(6) FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the subject crate with inserted cups from the shorter lateral side;

(7) FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the subject crate with inserted cups from the longer lateral side;

(8) FIG. 7 is a view of the subject crate in vertical section 1-1 along the longer side;

(9) FIG. 8 is a view of the subject crate in vertical section 2-2 along the shorter side;

(10) FIG. 9 is a view of stacked empty crates.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(11) Observing the figures of annexed drawing it is easily detected that the subject invention is a biodegradable secondary packaging intended for stacking, storing and transport of food products previously packed in primary packaging i.e. in cups made of plastic which are mostly in the shape of truncated cones with round section used widely for packaging primarily dairy products. According to the concept of this invention based upon substitution of existing plastic crates that are harder to maintain, demand large space for storing and are complicated to keep and return to producers, the subject crates are made of biodegradable material i.e. paper pulp which are easily degradable in nature so that the subject invention is an environment-friendly product fully in compliance with the most strict regulations applicable to this field.

(12) The crate body 1 has the shape of a hollow quadrilateral prism rimmed with rounded rectangular perimeter 2 with end 18 bent downwards in which there are twenty evenly distributed identical cup beds 3, five along the longer side, and four cup beds 3 along the shorter side. It may be observed in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, that the crate body 1 consists of fourteen outer and four inner cup beds 3 which are divided from one another by sixteen integrally made, also prismatic, divider elements 4, in the shape of hollow quadrilateral prisms with rounded vertices 5 and connections 10 in the shape of hollow cuboids made so that their shorter sides 12 are flat, and longer sides 13 concave where the proportion of heights of connection 10 and divider elements 4 is best made in the scale 2:3. In the centers of the upper horizontal surfaces of divider elements 4 there are annular openings 11 positioned so as to form the ring-shape surfaces 19 with outer rims in the shape of modified squares with concave vertices, whereas their inner rims are of the round shape. End 18 of perimeter 2 of subject crate body 1 is folded downwards so as to form an angle of 120 with its upper rim and in its end there is along entire perimeter a shorter creasing 17 made. When observed from the top and the bottom, in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, it may be seen that the cup beds 3 have the shape of truncated cones oriented so as to have their narrow sides forming the bottom of the crate body 1 due to which when viewed from the bottom it has an appearance of symmetrically divided ring-like surfaces 6 with annular openings 8 positioned in the centers. It is necessary to highlight that cup beds 3 are slightly larger in terms of dimensions than bottom parts of plastic cups 7 which are after filling, when prepared for transport or storing, inserted in the crate body 1, falling down to ring-shaped surfaces 6 and in doing so fitting in optimum way the lateral sides of cup beds 3 preventing unwanted movements, i.e. turning over when stored or transported. It is underlined that upper rims 9 of cups 7, after being inserted in cup beds 3 are slightly divided, so as to form a flat, compact surface, on which the next crate may easily be placed, while such a position of upper rims 9 of cups 7 also contributes to stability during transport.

(13) By observing the annexed drawing it may be noticed that the cup beds 3 in the inner part of the crate body 1 are formed by four rounded vertices 5 of divider elements 4 and four opposite concave longer sides 13 of connections 10, while the cup beds 3 positioned along the rim of the crate body 1 are framed by three concave longer sides 13 of connections 10 and two rounded vertices 5 of divider elements 4 and an arch segment 14 of lateral side 15 of the crate body 1. The cup beds 3 located along the rim of the crate body 1, positioned at its vertices, are formed by two concave longer sides 13 of connections 10, rounded vertex 5 of divider element 4 and a concave edge 16 which is, at the same time, also the vertices edge of lateral side 15 of the body crate 1.

(14) Such a design of the crate body 1 formed by integrally made, mutually symmetrical divider elements 4 and connections 10, framed by perimeter 2, is simple for manufacturing and handling, secures the content of food products packed in the primary plastic packaging against mechanical damages providing at the same time the relevant flexibility, resistance to temperature, pressure and improved features protection against variation of microclimate factors and micro-organisms. FIG. 9 indicates that empty subject crates stacked one on another take a very small amount of space for storing prior to recycling.

INDUSTRIAL AND OTHER APPLICATIONS OF THE INVENTION

(15) Industrial manufacturing of the subject invention is absolutely possible in factories for production of cardboard packaging and even in well equipped stores for manufacturing of packaging made of recycled paper, on grounds of technical documentation that experts from the subject field may easily prepare using the description and drawings from this patent application.

(16) The subject invention is convenient for serial production and it is easily applicable in stacking primary packagings, especially plastic cups intended for packing various kinds of dairy products such as yogurt, curdled milk, pudding, kefir and other.

(17) The application of this invention is especially recommended in cases when due to small space it is difficult to store packaging materials or when it is forbidded out of environmental and aesthetic reasons.