Stackable bakery tray

[0002] This application claims benefit of provisional No. 60/097,781 filed Aug. 25, 1998.

[0003] This invention relates generally to containers and more particularly to bakery trays or baskets which can be nested or stacked.

[0004] Containers of the nesting and stacking type are well known in the art. In the bakery industry, baked goods come in different heights and sizes, such as hamburger buns, loaves of bread and cakes. It is therefore desirable to provide a stackable tray that accommodates the varying sizes of the baked goods. A number of multi-level stacking trays have been developed. Some of the stacking trays of the prior art do not provide an easy means of aligning an upper tray to a lower tray. Further, some of the stacking trays of the prior art do not provide a means to slide an upper tray onto a lower tray, but instead require a vertical overhead stacking procedure in order to gain the stacking benefit.

[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,966, issued to Stahl, discloses a slidable multi-level basket. This disclosure provides identical trays/baskets stacked at one level when in a common orientation, while configured for sliding and nesting at a second level when one of the baskets is rotated 180° relative to the other. Once the baskets are nested, the upper basket must be vertically lifted to place the complementary sides within the upper rail of the lower basket. There is no provision for blind unstacking of the trays. This is a disadvantage because it generally requires two hands to lift a basket onto the upper rail, rather than pivoting the upper basket with one hand to slide it to the upper rail so that it may be further slid away from the lower tray. Removing the upper basket from the lower basket when the stack is over the head of the user can be almost impossible. The capability of blind stacking and unstacking also provides an advantage in limited height areas where space is not available to physically and vertically lift the upper basket away from the lower basket.

[0006] The present invention addresses the aforementioned problems. In particular, improvement of the invention includes the configuration in the anchoring of the opposite side wall of the tray which is not lifted during the pivoting operation. Thus, the side walls of the bakery tray provide feet and recesses to accommodate both a high and low stacking positions. The opposite ends of the side walls of the bakery tray have complementary feet and recessed orientations, wherein the left end of the side wall has a recess corresponding vertically to a foot, while the right end of the side wall has a second recess vertically corresponding with the second foot. If another tray having the same configuration is stacked in vertical alignment with the first tray, the vertically aligned feet of the upper tray will be received within the first level recesses of the lower bakery tray. This will provide for a higher stacked position or a larger vertical space between the two similarly stacked trays.

[0007] When one of the trays is rotated 180° with respect to another tray, a lower level stacked position is created such that a smaller vertical space is created between the stacked trays. The feet on opposite ends of the side wall are received by the lower set of recesses on opposite sides of the side wall. Therefore, the same feet are utilized to be disposed in either set of recesses in the side walls for providing two levels of stacking.

[0008] Additionally, when one side wall of the tray is lifted to perform blind unstacking of the tray, the feet of the upper tray pivot and remain within the recesses of the side wall of a lower tray to insure that the upper tray remains stationary when lifting one side of the bakery tray.

[0009] Other objects, advantages and applications of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art when the following description of the best mode contemplated for practicing the invention is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0010] The description herein makes reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

[0011] FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a multi-level tray according to the present invention;

[0012] FIG. 2 is a left side elevational view of two multi-level baskets in nested position wherein each basket is facing the same direction;

[0013] FIG. 3 is a right side elevational view of the two multi-level baskets in nested position wherein each basket is facing the same direction;

[0014] FIG. 4 is a left side elevational view of the lower basket and the upper basket in the nested position wherein the upper basket is turned 180° relative to the lower basket;

[0015] FIG. 5 is a right side elevational view of the lower basket and the upper basket in the nested position wherein the upper basket is turned 180° relative to the lower basket;

[0016] FIG. 6 is a partial front elevational view of the two nesting baskets at a corner;

[0017] FIG. 7 is a partial rear elevational view of the two nesting baskets at a corner;

[0018] FIG. 8 is a partial front elevational view of the lower basket and a partial rear elevational view of the upper basket in the nested position;

[0019] FIG. 9 is a partial rear elevational view of a lower basket and a partial front elevational view of the upper basket in a nesting position;

[0020] FIG. 10 is a partial perspective view of two nested baskets facing the same direction;

[0021] FIG. 11 is a partial perspective view of two nesting baskets having the upper nesting basket rotated 180°;

[0022] FIG. 12 is a partial perspective view of the upper basket in FIG. 10 sliding along the lower basket;

[0023] FIG. 13 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view of the blind stacking and unstacking feature of the upper basket relative to the lower basket; and

[0024] FIG. 14 is a perspective view of nesting baskets where the upper basket is rotated 90° relative to the lower basket.

[0025] Referring to the drawings, a multi-level basket is shown in FIG. 1. The terms “basket” or “tray” will be used throughout the specification interchangeably to refer to the invention. The bakery tray 10 has four vertical sides and a lower planar surface connected between the four vertical sides. The four vertical sides include a front side referred to as side A, a left side referred to as side B, a back or rear side referred to as side C and a right side referred to as side D as designated in FIG. 1. The lower planar surface is designated as side E in FIG. 1. Sides B and D are mirror images of each other and, therefore, only one side will be discussed. The bakery tray 10, and especially sides B and D of the tray, is configured so that another identical bakery tray 10 may slide above the first bakery tray 10 along a rail, as will be discussed further, until extending portions located on each side B and D fall into a locking position into the first tray 10. If a second tray is positioned in a stacked position such that the front side (A side) of a second tray is facing in the same direction as the first tray, the height between the two planar surfaces (E) of the two trays will be at one level. If a second tray is reversed such that the C side of the second tray is facing the same direction as the A side of the lower tray in a stacked position, the height between the two planar surfaces of the two trays will be at a different level. Therefore, different size baked goods can be stored by utilizing the most space saving configuration of the bakery trays. As will be seen, the trays may also be orientated 90° relative to each other (FIG. 14) for a third level spacing. The invention further provides a blind stacking and unstacking feature that accommodates the storage and stacking of additional trays at a height over the head of an individual.

[0026] The bakery tray will be described as referring to FIG. 1. The bakery tray or bread basket 10 is a unitary molded plastic tray having four walls (A, B, C and D) and a lower planar floor surface E. The lower floor surface E may be a solid floor or preferably perforated or cross-hatched as shown in FIG. 1 to provide ventilation between the layers of bakery goods. The perforated floor E also provides finger grips for blind stacking and unstacking of the trays 10. The front and rear sides, referred also as side A and C respectively, have lower heights than side walls B and D. The front wall (side A) has a two step angular portions 12 and 14, respectively, at each corner 16 with a lower ledge 18 therebetween. The rear wall (side C) has a single step angular portion 20 at each corner 22 with a lower ledge 24 therebetween. On the upper essentially horizontal surface 26 of the upper step 12 of side A, and adjacent to each side wall (B and D) is a rectangular notch 28 and a first rail lip portion 30 which commences the non-continuous rail 29 for guidance along the side walls (B and D) when stacking an upper tray over the current lower tray. Adjacent the first rail lip 30 of the side of wall A and inboard from the side walls (B and D) is a second notch 32. Each second notch 32 is sized to accommodate one of the side walls (B and D) when an upper tray is positioned 90° relative onto the lower tray, as shown in FIG. 14. The angular surfaces 34 of the first step 12 on either end of front wall (A) are spaced from each other to maintain an upper tray in a 90° position. The upper horizontal surface 36 of the second step of wall (A) is at the same height as the center ledge portion 24 of wall (C). Below each first step portion 12 on wall (A) is an angular cut-out portion 38 made into the exterior surface 19 of wall (A) so that the upper tray may drop behind the first step portion or angular ledge portion 12 and 20 of wall (A) or (C) respectively of the lower tray. This feature is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

[0027] The rear wall (C), as shown more clearly in the upper tray in FIG. 14 has similar notch formations on the upper wall surface as the front wall. Therefore, the wall (C) also includes a first notch portion 39 adjacent to each rail lip portion 30. First notch portion 39 is parallel to first notch portion 28 on side A, and rail lip portion 30 of wall (C) is parallel to rail lip portion 30 on side (A). Next to the rail lip portions 30 is a second notch 42 which is parallel to second notch 32 on side (A). The outer surface 46 of rear wall (C) has a lower portion 44 that is recessed which slides behind the upper portion 46 of rear wall (C) of a lower basket or behind exterior surface 19 of front wall (A), as shown in FIG. 8.

[0028] As discusses supra, the side walls of the bakery tray 10, referred to as sides (B) and (D), are mirror images of each other. Therefore, looking at FIG. 1, side wall (D) will be discussed when detailing the inner surfaces 48 of the wall, and side wall (B) will be discussed when detailing the outer surfaces 50 of the side wall. An upper continuous wall portion extends the entire length of side walls (B and D), herein referred to as the outer rail guide 52. The two outer rail guides 52 are integral with the front and rear walls (A and C, respectively). The outer rail guide 52 and rail lip portion 30 are the lateral boundaries of rail 29. Notches 28 and 39 are beginning and ending portions of rail 29.

[0029] Looking at the B side of FIG. 1 of the bakery tray 10, and extending below the outer rail guide 52 are four extending feet 54a, 54b, 54c, 54dwhich extend vertically downward to the floor portion (E) of the tray 10. The four extending feet 54a, 54b, 54c, 54dhave different widths and are spaced at nonuniform distances from each other. The extending feet 54a, 54b, 54c, 54dare spaced inward of the outer rail guide 52 and are connected to the outer rail guide 52 at their upper legs 56a, 56b, 56c, 56dto the inner wall surface of outer rail guide 52. The upper legs 56a, 56b, 56c, 56dare spaced from the surface of the outer rail guide by the integrally connected rail portions 29. The extending feet 54a, 54b, 54c, 54dare further connected to an exterior inner wall 58 which is integral with the floor (E). The inner wall 58 extends upwardly from the floor only a couple of inches so that there are gaps 60a, 60b, 60c, 60dor open spaces between the inner wall 58 and the outer rail guide 52 and the spacing between the upper legs 56a, 56b, 56c, 56d. The purposes of the gaps 60a, 60b, 60c, 60dwill be discussed further. At the bottom of each extending foot 54a, 54b, 54c, 54d, there is an inner groove 62a, 62b, 62cand 62drespectively, adjacent the inner wall surface 58.

[0030] Looking at FIG. 1, the left side (D) of the bakery tray displays the inner wall 58 of the side walls. As stated before, side wall (D) is the mirror image of side wall (B). The inner wall 58 is integral with the upward extending legs 56a, 56b, 56c, 56dhaving various shapes with openings 61a, 61b, 61c, 61dto respective gaps 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d. The upper end of the upwardly extending legs 56a, 56b, 56c, 56dterminate at different levels. Each of the upward extending legs 56a, 56b, 56c, 56dinclude a rail lip portion 30 upon which the inner groove 62a, 62b, 62c, 62dof the downwardly extending feet 54a, 54b, 54c, 54dof an upper basket tray rides thereon. Further, each of the upwardly extending legs 56a, 56b, 56c, 56dhave portions that terminate at a first level at a position coinciding with the downwardly extending feet 54a, 54b, 54c, 54d. The first level portions 64a, 64b, 64c, 64dare on the same parallel plane. The first planar level of portions 64a, 64b, 64c, 64dis positioned at a level lower than the rail and rail lip 30. The position of the first level accommodates the overhead extending feet 54a, 54b, 54c, 54dfrom an upper bakery tray 10. The first level planar positions 64a, 64b, 64c, 64dand lower extending feet positions 54a, 54b, 54c, 54dare spaced so that the lower extending feet positions 54a, 54b, 54c, 54ddo not drop into the first level position 64a, 64b, 64c, 64dwhile traveling on the rail 29 until the upper bakery tray is fully set directly over the lower bakery tray. Then extending foot 54adrops into first level portion 64a, extending foot 54bdrops into first level portion 64b, extending foot 54cdrops into first level position 64c, and extending foot 54ddrops into first level portion 64d. In FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, there are shown four lower extending feet and four first level positions. Each lower extending foot and first level position is numbered to indicate the correlation between lower extending feet 54a, 54b, 54c, 54dand first level positions 64a, 64b, 64c, 64d. FIGS. 2 and 3 show the respective lower extending feet on the upper basket tray in the corresponding first level position of the lower tray. FIGS. 2 and 3 also show the alignment of the lower extending feet placed in the corresponding and respective first level positions when the upper bakery tray 10 is placed in the same direction as the lower bakery tray 10, that is, the front side (side A) is facing the same direction for both the upper and lower bakery trays.

[0031] FIGS. 6 and 7 show portions of the front and rear sides (A and C) of two stacked baskets 10 respectively. The portions shown are located at a corner to illustrate how the corners of an upper and lower basket meet when in the stacked position. As can be seen in FIG. 6, the inner groove 62 receives the first rail lip 30 so that extending foot 54ais positioned to be behind the first notch portion 28 and in first level position 54a. Further, the second notch portion 32 receives a complementary size flange 66 extending from the floor E of the upper tray. Cut-out portion 38 of the upper tray sets behind first step portion 12 of the lower tray. In FIG. 7, inner groove 62dslides in rail 29. The interrelationship between the surfaces help to provide stability for stacked trays. As further can be seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, the space or height distance between floors E of the lower tray to the upper tray is shown as H1. When two or more trays are stacked in the same direction, the open areas or gaps 60a, 60b, 60c, 60dare provided for air circulation as well as areas to insert one's hand for carrying the stack of trays.

[0032] When the upper tray is turned 180° relative to the lower tray the relationship of two stacked trays is as illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5, 8 and 9. FIG. 4 illustrates a front elevational view of left side (B) of the bakery tray as the lower tray and the right side (D) of the upper tray. When the upper tray is reversed 180° relative to the lower tray the extending feet 54a, 54b, 54cand 54dof the upper tray will still ride along the rail 29 until the upper tray is completely directly over the lower tray. When the upper tray is completely over the lower tray, the extending feet 54a, 54b, 54cand 54dare configured and spaced so that they drop into the openings 61a, 61b, 61c, 61dto the gaps 60a, 60b, 60c, 60drespectively between the rail portions. The feet and recess orientation is such that the feet do not drop into any level positions or openings to gaps until completely over a lower tray. In FIG. 4, extending foot 54adrops into opening 61d, extending foot 54bdrops into opening 61c, extending foot 54cdrops into opening 61b, and extending foot 54ddrops into opening 61a. When the top bakery tray is directly over the bottom bakery tray a pair of shelves 68 located on both sides (B and D) of the bakery basket rest on rail lip portion 30. The rail lip 30 act as a stop for the shelves 68 for determining the height of the upper basket relative to the lower basket. Likewise, looking at the opposite sides of the stacked bakery trays as shown in FIG. 5, the left side (B) is directly over the right side (D). FIG. 5 shows that the pair of shelves 68 rest on the rail lip portion 30 and also the relationship of the extending feet 54a, 54b, 54c, 54din openings 61a, 61b, 61c, 61d.

[0033] FIGS. 8 and 9 show front and rear views of corner portions of stacked trays where one of the trays are 180° reversed relative to the other tray. In FIG. 8 the front face (A) is in view for the lower tray and the rear face (C) is in view for the upper tray. As can be seen in FIG. 8, the lower recessed portion of the rear wall (C) slides directly behind the first step portion 12 of the front wall (A). A bottom surface portion 47 of the upper portion 46 of the rear wall (C) sets upon the upper horizontal surface 26. Looking at FIG. 9, the front wall (A) of the tray 10 is in view as the upper bakery tray 10 while the rear face or wall (C) is in view for the lower bakery tray. When the trays in this configuration are in a stacked position, the front cut out portion 38 of the front face (A) slides behind the upper portion 46 of the rear wall (C). When comparing the height (H1) between floors (E) of the upper bakery tray to the lower bakery tray when one of the trays is 180° reversed relative to the other bakery tray the height differential (H1) is less than the height differential (H1) when the trays are facing the same direction, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

[0034] FIGS. 10 shows a perspective view of FIG. 3 wherein the outer rail guide is cut away so that views of the stacking mode are better seen. FIG. 10 shows the bakery trays stacked in the same direction with right side (D) in view. FIG. 11 shows a perspective view of FIG. 2 wherein one tray is 180° reversed relative to the other tray. Left side (B) is in view for the upper tray and right side (D) is in view for the lower tray. The extending feet 54a, 54b, 54c, 54dare shown in relationship with the first level portions 64a, 64b, 64c, 64dand openings 61a, 61b, 61c, 61d.

[0035] FIG. 12 is a view of FIG. 10 showing the upper basket tray sliding on the rail portion of the lower bakery tray. As can be seen, the extending feet 54a, 54b, 54cand 54dare spaced on the upper tray and the rail portions 30 are spaced on the lower tray such that the extending feet 54a, 54b, 54c, 54ddo not drop to one of the lower levels until the upper tray is fully stacked over the lower tray.

[0036] FIG. 13 shows the blind stacking and unstacking feature of the present invention. FIG. 13 is again a view of FIG. 10 showing right sides (D) for both the upper and lower bakery trays. Extending leg 54apivots on its first level portion 64a so that extending feet 54b, 54c, 54dwill slightly move forward to be raised onto an adjacent rail portion 29. Once the extending feet are raised onto the rail portions 29, the upper bakery tray may slide along for removal from the lower tray. Extending leg 54acan pivot in opening 61aalso. Although not shown, extending foot 54dcan also pivot whether located on the first level portion 64dor located in an opening 61aof a gap area 60a. The pivoting feature is provided by the openings 61a, 61b, 61c, 61dbetween the rail portions 29 that gives the extending feet 54aand 54droom to pivot and be lifted from the first level position or opening to the gap to the rail 29. The widths of the first level positions 64a, 64b, 64c, 64dand the widths of the openings 61a, 61b, 61c, 61dare larger than the widths of the extending feet 54a, 54b, 54c, 54d.

[0037] FIG. 14 shows an upper tray turned 90° relative to a lower tray for stacking purposes. The lower edge portions of front and rear sides A and C are disposed between the angular walls 34 and 20 of sides A and C respectively of the lower tray. The upper tray 10 is prevented from movement by inner flange 70 located against the exterior wall surface 19 of front side (A) and upper portion 46 of rear wall (C). This prevents lateral movement of the top or upper tray.

[0038] While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, which scope is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures as is permitted under the law.