Self locking tray and blank for forming same

• US 4,227,640 A
• Filed: 05/07/1979
• Issued: 10/14/1980
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/1979
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Waldorf Corp
• Original Assignee: Champion International Corporation (International Paper Company)
• Inventors: Roccaforte, Harry I.
• Primary Examiner(s): Moorhead, Davis T.
• Application Number:
  US06/036,742
• Time in Patent Office: 526 Days
• Field of Search: 229/39 R, 229/41 C, 206/173, 206/172
• US Class Current: 229/104
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 5/10 with end closures formed by inward-folding of self-locking flaps hinged to tubular body

Abstract

A tray is disclosed, along with a planar unitary blank for forming it. The tray is open topped and includes a shelf at its bottom end, which shelf maintains the tray in an open configuration after the tray is erected. Two embodiments are taught, one with vertical sides and another with outwardly sloping sides to allow a plurality of erected trays to be stacked after erection.

Claims

1. A planar unitary blank for forming a self-locking tray comprising:

a rear central panel with a left side, a right side, a top and a bottom;

a left rear panel with a left side, a right side, a top and a bottom, the right side of the left rear panel being hingedly secured to the left side of the rear central panel by a first fold line;

a first left front panel with a left side, a right side, a top and a bottom, the right side of the left front panel being hingedly secured to the left side of the left rear panel by a second fold line;

a right rear panel with a left side, a right side, a top and a bottom, the left side of the right rear panel being hingedly secured to the right side of the rear central panel by a third fold line;

a right front panel with a left side, a right side, a top and a bottom, the left side of the right front panel being hingedly secured to the right side of the right rear panel by a fourth fold line;

a front central panel with a left side, a right side, a top and a bottom, the left side of the front central panel being hingedly secured to the right side of the right front panel by a fifth fold line;

a second left front panel with a left side, a right side, a top and a bottom, the left side of the second left front panel being hingedly secured to the right side of the front central panel by a sixth fold line;

a trapezoidal bottom rear panel with a short base, a long base and two sides, the short base of the bottom rear panel being hingedly secured to the bottom of the rear central panel by a horizontally elongated seventh fold line;

a horizontally elongated rear mid-central panel with a top edge, a bottom edge and two ends, the bottom edge being hingedly secured to the long base of the bottom rear panel by a horizontally elongated eighth fold line;

a trapezoidal bottom front panel with a long base, a short base and two sides, the short base of the bottom panel being hingedly secured to the bottom of the front central panel by a horizontally elongated ninth fold line; and

,

a horizontally elongated front mid-central panel with a top edge, a bottom edge and two ends, the bottom edge being hingedly secured to the long base of the bottom front panel by a horizontally elongated tenth fold line.

2. The blank of claim 1 wherein the ends of the mid-central panels are shaped into locking tabs and wherein the second and fourth fold lines are slitted to accommodate and secure the locking tabs.

3. The blank of claim 2 wherein the rear side of the second left front panel and the rear side of the front mid-central panel are coated with adhesive in a manner that the second left front panel will adhere to the first left front panel and the front mid-central panel will adhere to the rear mid-central panel.

4. The blank of claim 3 wherein the first left front panel, the left rear panel, the right rear panel and the right front panel are of like dimensions, the rear central panel and the front central panel are of like dimensions, the bottom rear panel and bottom front panel are of like dimensions, and the rear mid-central panel and the front mid-central panel are of like dimensions.

5. The blank of claim 4 wherein the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth fold lines are parallel.

6. The blank of claim 4 wherein the widths of the tops of the rear central panel and the front central panel are greater than the widths of the bottoms of said panels, and wherein the third, fourth and fifth fold lines are parallel and the first and second fold lines are parallel.

7. A self-locking tray comprising:

opposed front and rear central panels and opposed side panels, each side panel being bifurcated to define hingedly connected front and rear members, said panels being alternately hingedly connected to form an upstanding tubular hexagonal structure, and with each side panel including a tab receiving slit and a notch engaging flap;

opposed, generally trapizoidal front and rear bottom panels, with the short base side of said trapizoidal front bottom panel being hingedly connected to the bottom edge of said front central panel, and with the short base side of the trapizoidal rear bottom panel being hingedly connected to the bottom edge of said rear central panel; and

a pair of upstanding, adhesively connected, front and rear locking panels, said front and rear locking panels being respectively hingedly connected to the long base sides of said front and rear bottom panels, said front and rear locking panels being provided with notched tabs disposed at the opposed ends thereof, whereby from a substantially flat, collapsed condition, the self-locking tray may be erected to assume an open configuration by the application of pressure to said side panels wherein said bottom panels are horizontally disposed to define a bottom shelf and said notched tabs are received and engaged with the tab receiving slit and notch engaging flap of the associated side panel such that said tray remains locked in the open configuration.