POWDER TRAY

Abstract

Powder tray made of plastics material for the production of confectionery products and comprising a powder tray bottom (2) which has an upper face (3) and a lower face (4), side elements (5) which are interconnected at corner regions and provide side surfaces (14), and powder tray feet (10) which on their lower face form a stand surface (11) and are arranged in the corner regions, wherein the side elements (5) form a powder tray edge (8) which together with the powder tray bottom (2) provide a receiving space (9) for molding powder. The powder tray is characterized in that at least one of the powder tray feet (10) has a first recess (12) which subdivides the powder tray foot into two foot portions (13, 13).

Claims

1. A powder tray made of plastics material for the production of confectionery and comprising a powder tray bottom which has an upper face and a lower face, side elements which are interconnected at corner regions and provide side surfaces, and powder tray feet which on their lower face form a stand surface and are arranged in the corner regions, wherein the side elements form a powder tray edge which together with the powder tray bottom provide a receiving space for molding powder, characterized in that at least one of the powder tray feet has a first recess which subdivides the powder tray foot into two foot portions.

2. The powder tray according to claim 1, wherein the powder tray has a rectangular basic form with narrow sides and long sides.

3. The powder tray according to claim 1, wherein the first recess is open to one of the side surfaces.

4. The powder tray according to claim 1, wherein the first recess has a maximum length which amounts to at least 5% of a maximum length of the side element in which the first recess is arranged.

5. The powder tray according to claim 1, wherein the first recess has a recess base and two recess side surfaces, wherein at least one of the recess side surfaces aligned obliquely to the stand surface in such a way that the first recess widens from the recess base to the stand surface of the powder tray foot.

6. The powder tray according to claim 5, wherein the two recess side surfaces each have a straight portion wherein an angle of between 30 and 60 is formed between the straight portions.

7. The powder tray according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the side elements has a second recess in a central region.

8. The powder tray according to claim 7, wherein the second recess is open towards the stand surface and towards the side surface.

9. The powder tray according to claim 7, wherein the second recess has a maximum length which is between 10% and 60% of the maximum length of the side element in which the second recess is provided.

10. The powder tray according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the side elements has a third recess in a central region.

11. The powder tray according to claim 10, wherein the third recess is open towards the side surface and an upper face of the side element in which it is provided.

12. The powder tray according to claim 10, wherein the third recess is bounded by a portion of the side element formed as a sliding surface, wherein the sliding surface is arranged obliquely to the powder tray bottom.

13. The powder tray according to claim 10, wherein the third recess extends across at least 50% of a thickness of the side element.

14. The powder tray according to claim 10, wherein the third recess has a maximum length which comprises at least 10% of a maximum length of the side element in which the third recess is arranged.

15. The powder tray according to claim 1, wherein the powder tray is obtainable by placing a semi-finished blank of a cross-linkable plastics material in the cavity of a mold, and after closing the mold curing it under pressure in the cavity in such a way that the plastics material becomes cross-linked.

16. The powder tray according to claim 1, wherein the powder tray is provided in such a way that it can be put together with one or a plurality of conformably formed other powder trays to form a powder tray stack.

17. The powder tray according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the side portions has a support surface for one of the powder tray feet and in that the support surface is combined with a guide surface which extends upwards from the support surface.

18. Use of a powder tray according to claim 1 for the production of confectionery.

Description

[0039] In the drawings:

[0040] FIG. 1: a perspective illustration of a powder tray according to the invention;

[0041] FIG. 2: a top view from above of the powder tray from FIG. 1;

[0042] FIG. 2a: a top view from above of the powder tray from FIG. 1, where the ribs attached to the lower face are shown as a broken line;

[0043] FIG. 3: a top view from below of the powder tray from FIG. 1;

[0044] FIG. 4: a cross-section through the powder tray from FIG. 2a along line A-A;

[0045] FIG. 5: a view in partial cross-section through the powder tray from FIG. 2a along line B-B;

[0046] FIG. 6: an enlarged detail D of the powder tray from FIG. 4;

[0047] FIG. 7: an enlarged detail C of the powder tray in FIG. 4;

[0048] FIG. 8a: two stacked powder trays from FIG. 1 from the narrow side;

[0049] FIG. 8b: the powder trays from FIG. 8a from the long side;

[0050] FIG. 8c: an enlarged detail C from FIG. 8b;

[0051] FIG. 8d: an enlarged detail D from FIG. 8a.

[0052] The figures show different views of a powder tray 1 for confectionery production. The powder tray 1 comprises a powder tray bottom 2 which has an upper face 3 and a lower face 4. Furthermore, the powder tray 1 comprises side elements 5 which form the side surfaces 14. In the illustrated embodiment, four side elements 5 are provided which are each formed straight and arranged at right angles to one another. The powder tray 1 has a rectangular basic form with two narrow sides 6 and two long sides 7. The narrow sides 6 are arranged parallel to one another. Additionally, the long sides 7 are arranged parallel to one another. Each two adjacent side elements 5 are interconnected in the corner regions.

[0053] The side elements 5 form a powder tray edge 8, which encloses the powder tray bottom 2. The powder tray edge 8 is formed circumferentially. As can be seen particularly in FIGS. 1 and 4, the powder tray edge 8 and powder tray bottom 2 comprise a receiving space 9 for molding powder which is open to above (not shown).

[0054] The powder tray 1 has four powder tray feet 10 which are arranged in the four corner regions. On the lower face, the powder tray feet 10 comprise a stand surface 11. FIG. 5 in particular makes it easily recognizable that the powder tray feet 10 each have a first recess 12 which subdivides said powder tray feet 10 into two foot portions 13, 13 respectively. Here, the first recess 12 is open towards a side surface 14. FIG. 5 in particular makes it obvious that the first recess 12 is open towards the side surface 14 of the narrow side 6. In addition, the first recess 12 is open towards the stand surface 11, thus open to below.

[0055] The first recess 12 has a maximum length L1 which is between 10% and 25% of the maximum length L2 of the side element 5 in which the first recess 12 is arranged. The first recess 12 has a recess base 15 and two recess side surfaces 16. The recess side surfaces 16 here are arranged obliquely to the stand surface 11, so that the first recess 12 widens from the recess base 15 towards the stand surface 11 of the powder tray foot 10. FIG. 5 in particular makes it easily recognizable that the two recess side surfaces 16 each have a straight portion. The angle formed between the straight portions is between 30 and 60 and preferably between 35 and 55. FIG. 5 further makes it easily recognizable that the recess base 15 forms a flat surface which is aligned parallel to the stand surface 11. Here, the recess base 15 is at a distance between 15 mm and 25 mm away from the stand surface 11.

[0056] The side elements 5 of the narrow sides 6 additionally have a second recess 17 in a central region. As shown, a second recess 17 is provided in each of the narrow sides 6. The second recess 17 is arranged between two of the powder tray feet 10. The second recess 17 is open towards the stand surface 11 and the side surface 14 of the side element 5, in which the second recess 17 is arranged. This is particularly easily recognized in FIG. 5. The second recess 17 has a maximum length L3 which is between 10% and 60% of the maximum length L2 of the side element 5.

[0057] The first and second recess 12, 17 facilitate improved air circulation. As shown, the first and the second recess 12, 17 are formed as through-openings, which each connect the receiving space 9 to the outside. The first and second recess 12, 17 therefore form ventilation openings for the receiving space.

[0058] The figures further show that a third recess 18 is arranged in a central region of the side elements 5. In the shown embodiment, a third recess 18 is arranged in each of the narrow sides 6. The third recess 18 is open towards the side surface 14 of the side element 5 in which it is arranged, and to the upper face of the side element 5. In doing so, the third recess 18 has a different orientation than the first and the second recess 12, 17 which are open to below.

[0059] The third recess 18 is bounded by a portion of the side element 5, which is provided as a sliding surface 19. This can be well seen in FIG. 6 in particular. As shown, the sliding surface 19 is arranged obliquely to the powder tray bottom 2, with the sliding surface 19 sloping downwards to the outside. An angle between the sliding surface 19 and the plane formed by the powder tray bottom 2 is between 30 and 70, with a value of 40 to 60 being preferred.

[0060] The third recess 18 extends over at least 50% of a thickness D of the side element 5 in which it is arranged. In the shown embodiment, the side surface extends over 75% of the thickness D of the side element 5.

[0061] The third recess 18 has a maximum length L4 which is at least 10% of a maximum length L2 of the side element 5 in which the third recess 18 is arranged. In the shown embodiment, the third recess 18 extends over about 35% of the length L2.

[0062] FIG. 4 clearly shows that supports 20 which extend downwards from the side element 5 are arranged in a central region of two long sides 7.

[0063] The powder tray 1 can be put together with further conformably formed powder trays 1 to form a powder tray stack. This is shown in FIGS. 8a to 8d in which two superimposed powder trays 1 are shown by way of example. Here, it is possible to stack a larger number of powder trays 1 on top of one another as well. To ensure that the powder trays 1 form a stable stack, the powder tray edge 8 has a support surface 21 for the powder tray feet 10. In the shown embodiment, a support surface 21 is provided for each of the powder tray feet 10. The support surface 21 can be particularly easily seen in FIG. 7. Here it is illustrated that the support surface 21 is combined with a guide surface 22 each which allows a centering of the stacked powder trays 1. The guide surface 22 can be arranged at an angle of between 100 and 160 to the support surface 21. Preferably the angle is between 115 and 145.

[0064] Reinforcing ribs 23 are provided on the lower face of the powder tray bottom 2. This can be seen particularly easily in FIG. 3. In doing so, good stability may be achieved even if the powder tray bottom only has a thickness of between 1 mm and 3 mm without including the reinforcing ribs 23. The thickness D of the side elements 5 is preferably between 10 mm and 30 mm.

[0065] The entire powder tray 1 consists of a cross-linked plastics material, in particular a thermosetting plastic. The plastics material is reinforced with glass fiber. The powder tray 1 may be manufactured by the sheet molding compound process (SMC) in particular. For this, a semi-finished blank is first provided in a cross-linkable plastics material. The semi-finished blank is inserted into the cavity of a mold which matches the shape of the powder tray 1. The mold is then closed, whereby the plastics material fills the cavity of the mold before curing within the mold. During curing, the plastics material becomes cross-linked. When the mold is opened, the finished powder tray 1 can be removed.