Detachable container for strawberries

Abstract

Detachable container for strawberries which allows the transport, storage, presentation and consumption of the fruit in optimum conditions and with minimum handling from harvesting until consumption, formed by the joining through fitting by pressure between triangular cross-sectional-shaped cavities and protuberances of a base and a lid respectively, the base having cells to house the individual pieces of fruit. The number and the size of cells depend on the characteristics of the strawberries that they must contain. The container may be separated into up to four sub-units by simple pulling along diagonal tear lines, and it has retracting handles on its sides to facilitate its transport, as well as a central orifice to thread the containers on a vertical rod in the point-of-sale and obtain a more attractive presentation.

Claims

1. Detachable container for strawberries, which allows their transport, storage, presentation and consumption, comprising a base and a lid, both of substantially quadrangular form and with similar measurements, with the surface of said base having cells, which will form compartments wherein individual pieces of strawberry will be housed, said cells having perforations to ensure a homogeneous refrigeration of the strawberries contained, and triangular cross-sectional-shaped cavities, and with the lid having triangular cross-sectional-shaped protuberances disposed so that they vertically coincide with the triangular cross-sectional-shaped cavities of the base, forming the container by the joining of the base and the lid through fitting by simple pressure of the triangular cross-sectional-shaped protuberances protruding from the lid in the triangular cross-sectional-shaped cavities of the base, guaranteeing the fitting by the difference of measurements between protuberances and cavities, with that of the protuberances being slightly greater than that of the cavities.

2. The detachable container for strawberries of claim 1, wherein both its base and its lid have broken diagonal lines, coinciding with one another on assembling both parts to obtain a final container, which allow the separation of the container into up to four individual containers in substantially triangular shape by pulling along the broken diagonal lines.

3. The detachable container for strawberries of claim 2, wherein the lid has external side edges on which folding handles made in the same material as the lid are disposed to facilitate the transport of both the container and the four individual containers in substantially triangular shape wherein the container can be divided.

4. The detachable container for strawberries of claim 1, wherein both the base and the lid have an orifice in their geometric centre, coinciding on assembling both parts to obtain a final container, which allow vertically stacking the containers in a point-of-sale by threading the base and the lid on a rod through said orifice.

5. The detachable container for strawberries of claim 1, wherein the container has quadrangular form with dimensions of 23 centimeters on its side and 6 centimeters in height to contain up to 250 grams of product.

6. The detachable container for strawberries of claim 1, wherein the base has eight large cells disposed along a plurality of secondary diagonals of the surface to accommodate eight large pieces of strawberries.

7. The detachable container for strawberries of claim 1, wherein the base has twelve medium cells disposed in triangular form on the surface to accommodate twelve pieces of medium-sized strawberries.

8. The detachable container for strawberries of claim 1, wherein the base has sixteen small cells disposed in triangular form on the surface to accommodate sixteen pieces of small-sized strawberries.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) To complement the description being made and in order to aid towards a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, in accordance with a preferred example of practical embodiment thereof, a set of drawings is attached as an integral part of said description wherein, with illustrative and non-limiting character, the following has been represented:

(2) FIG. 1.Shows a plan view of the container base.

(3) FIG. 2.Shows a top perspective view of the container base.

(4) FIG. 3.Shows a plan view of the container lid.

(5) FIG. 4.Shows a top perspective view of the container lid.

(6) FIG. 5.Shows a bottom perspective view of the container lid.

(7) FIG. 6.Shows a perspective view of the joining sequence of the lid with the base to configure the container.

(8) FIG. 7.Shows a plan view of a reception cell for a piece of strawberry.

(9) FIG. 8.Shows a profile view of a reception cell for a piece of strawberry.

(10) FIG. 9.Shows a plan view of the separation sequence of the base in 4 individual sub-pieces through the diagonal tear lines.

(11) FIG. 10.Shows the plan view of the layout of the cells in the base, to accommodate 8 large-sized strawberries.

(12) FIG. 11.Shows the plan view of the layout of the cells in the base, to accommodate 12 medium-sized strawberries.

(13) FIG. 12.Shows the plan view of the layout of the cells in the base, to accommodate 16 small-sized strawberries.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

(14) Below, and with the aid of the previous drawings and their numerical references, an example of preferred embodiment of the invention is described.

(15) The detachable container for strawberries, which allows their transport, storage, presentation and consumption, is formed by the joining of a lower base (1) with an upper lid (2), both being essentially square and in both parts being made of plastic of the group of those considered suitable for their use in the food industry, considering that the plastic material used for the manufacturing of the lid (2) must be transparent to allow the display of the product contained, both by the end consumer and by the intermediate quality control inspections.

(16) The lower base (1) shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has cavities or alveolar-shaped recesses (3) on its surface which will form the compartments wherein the individual pieces of strawberry will be housed after washing operations prior to its packaging, with different forms and measurements of said cells (3) being provided to adapt to the characteristics and dimensions of different types of strawberries. The measurements of the fruit shall condition the number of cells (3) which can be made on the surface of the lower base (1), giving rise to different layouts, as shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, always considering that there is no possibility of contact between the strawberries once they are placed in their respective housings. The cells (3) have perforations (4) in their base as can be seen in detail in FIG. 7, with the aim of guaranteeing homogeneous refrigeration, since it allows the action of the cooling fluid on all the pieces.

(17) The base (1) or lower tray also has triangular cross-sectional-shaped cavities (5), of certain measurements, distributed on its surface, preferably in the areas close to the corners and also on both sides of the central part of tear lines (6) made diagonally on its surface. It also has an orifice (7) in its geometric centre.

(18) The upper lid (2), shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, has triangular cross-sectional-shaped protuberances (8) projected towards its lower surface, disposed so that they fit with the cavities (5) of the base (1), with said protuberances (8) having measurements slightly greater than those of the corresponding cavity (5) of the lower part, so that both pieces are joined by application of a slight pressure which prevents the pieces from separating and avoids that the strawberries housed in the cells (3) of the lower base (1) move once the assembly is closed, also guaranteeing maintaining the atmosphere in which the product is packaged, which will be optimum for its storage up to the time of opening for its consumption.

(19) Said upper lid (2) also has diagonal tear lines (6) on its surface, which coincide with the tear lines of the lower tray (1) when both pieces are vertically joined, as observed in FIG. 6, to be able to separate, if desired, the container into up to four individual sub-containers, which are smaller and essentially triangular, simply by pulling along said tear lines (6), as seen in the sequence represented in FIG. 9. It also has a central orifice (7), also coinciding with that of the lower tray on performing the assembly, to give the possibility of display in the point-of-sale of the containers with the product contained threaded on a rod through said orifice (7), thus achieving a more novel and attractive presentation for the consumer.

(20) Finally, there are also folding handles (9) made in the same material and disposed on each one of the external side edges of the lid (2), to facilitate the transport of both the container and its separated pieces.