US2822106A - Collapsible tray - Google Patents

Description

1958 J. M. FABIAN ET AL 2,

COLLAPSIBLE' TRAY Filed April 16, 1954 2 shets-sneet 1 BY WWWW COLLAPSIBLE TRAY Joseph M. Fabian and Adolph Pfitzer, Chicago, 111.; said Pfitzer assignor to said Fabian Application April 16, 1954, Serial No. 423,590 3 Claims. (Cl. 220-4) This invention relates to trays and more particularly to a collapsible tray.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a tray which may be formed without the use of permanent fastening means such as nails or the like and which may be readily assembled or collapsed in a minimum of time and with minimum effort.

Another object is to provide a tray in which the front and rear thereof are made of metal castings which may be readily interlocked with the bottom and sides of the tray to form a complete tray unit, and which may be readily disassembled when required to replace either the bottom and sides of the tray.

Another object is to provide a tray which may be stacked in tiers and locked in such stacked position.

Another object is to provide a collapsible tray which may be made of any length and which is provided with removable clips for securing the sides of the tray to the bottom of the tray.

We have found that the conventional trays that are made for use in the processing of candy are objectionable in that the nails or other fastening means used in building the tray have a tendency to work loose in time and become mixed with the candy, all of which is very dangerous and objectionable. Furthermore, such trays after a period of use have to be destroyed due to the candy permeating the wood from which the tray is made. All of these objectionable features are eliminated with the present invention. The present tray contains no nails or fastening means which can work out and become imbedded with the candy. Furthermore if any wood portion of the tray has to be replaced it may be done readily without destroying the usable portions. Furthermore the present tray may be readily assembled for use in much less time than that required for conventional trays.

Other objects will become apparent as this description progresses.

Fig. l is a perspective view of the tray forming this invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of a plurality of trays stacked in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2-11 is a partial front view taken on lines 2u2a of Fig. 2.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the top or upper section of the part forming the end of the tray.

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the top and bottom sections joined as in forming the tray.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross section taken on line S5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of one corner as at 7 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of bottom section of end taken on lines 88 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 9 is a bottom plan view of bottom section taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 10 is a rear elevational view of the bottom section and Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the clamp used in connection with this invention.

The tray generally indicated by the numeral 20 in Figs. 1 and 2 may be of any length dependent upon that desired. The tray is made up with 4 metal castings, two of which form one end of the tray and two form the opposite end. These ends may be termed for purpose of description the front and rear ends, although they may form the sides of the tray. The pair of castings forming the front end are identical to the pair of castings used for the rear end, consequently one pair of castings will be described in detail.

The pair of castings forming the front or rear end of the tray comprise a bottom or base section 22 and an upper or top section 24 adapted to be secured thereto by bolts 26. Each section is cast as in integral unit. The base section has a longitudinal horizontal ledge 28 provided with a plurality of spaced upwardly projecting tapered pins 29 integrally formed with the ledge. The ledge has an upwardly extending front wall or rib 30 formed at right angles to the ledge which defines a shoulder portion 31.

Depending from said ledge are four legs, all indicated by the numeral 32, two of which are positioned adjacent one side and two adjacent the other side with a longitudinal intermediate raised portion 33 therebetween. Each leg has a stepped rear portion 34 which defines a longitudinal shoulder 35. The front of each leg is hollow as at 36 to reduce casting weight.

Between each pair of legs is a raised portion 38 through which extends a vertical opening 40 for passage of the bolts 26 to be described. The inner legs joining the intermediate raised portion are angled as at 42. The rear wall of the ledge is also angled as at 44.

The upper or top section 24 has a lower flat longitudinal base 46 of a depth equal to the depth of the ledge 28 and rib 30 of the lower section 22. The rear vertical wall 48 of the upper section is flat and at right angles to the base 46 and has an angled portion 50 joining the base 46. The top of the upper section has a flat longitudinal portion 52 and a raised rear longitudinal portion 54 defining a shoulder 56 therebetween. Extending forwardly of the raised portion 54 are a pair of spaced raised portions 58 on the same plane with the raised portion 54, each of which has a pair of slightly angled shoulders 60. The top of the upper section 24 extends laterally at the opposite sides to form a tapered ear or mortise 62 at each end which forms a dovetailed joint with the side members of the tray to be described.

The front or face of the upper section is recessed or channelled as at 64 and is provided with a pair of spaced bossings 66 through which extend vertical openings 68 which are internally threaded as at 69. g

In forming the tray a flat bottom panel 70 is used which may be of wood or any other material and of any length desired. The width of the panel should be equal to the length of the sections 22 and 24. The thickness of the panel should be equal to the space defined when the two sections 22 and 24 are superimposed for locking engagement as best shown in Figs. 5 and 6. A pair of arcuate shaped cutouts 71 are provided at each end of the bottom panel for alignment with the openings 40 and 68 in the sections.

The side walls 72 of the tray may likewise be made of wood and naturally of any length dependent on the bottom panel. The tops of the side walls 72 adjacent their opposite ends are cut to form flaring tenons or tongues 74 which are engaged by the mortises 62 to form a dove- Patented Feb. 4, 8.

bottom tray panel 70 of the prescribed size is positioned on the lower section 22 so that its end portion rests on the pins 29 of the ledge 28 against the shoulder 31, with the arcuate shaped cutouts 71 of the panel in alignment with the openings 40. The same procedure is followed with the opposite end of the tray. The side walls 72 of the tray are next positioned on the bottom panel of the tray with the tenons 74 facing upwardly and the outer ends of the side wall flush with the face of the lower section. The top section 24 is next applied and is positioned over the end of the bottom panel 70 of the tray, with the openings 68 in alignment with the openings 40 of the lower section. The bottom 46 of the upper section will rest on the top of the wall or rib 3 with the balance resting on the bottom panel 70. The cars or mortise 62 of the upper section will interlock with the tenons 74 of the side walls 72. The threaded bolt 26 is inserted through the bottom opening 40, the arcuate cutout 71 and engaged with the threaded opening 68. By tightening the bolt the two sections are interlocked with the bottom panel and side members of the tray securely fastened therebetween. The pins 29 on the lower section 22 becoming imbedded in the bottom panel. The same procedure is followed with respect to the opposite end of the tray.

To prevent any separation of the bottom panel 70 with the side wall 72 particularly if the tray is of any length, there is provided a spring clip 75 best shown in Fig. 11. It is made of a spring material and of substantially L shape with a top wall 76 and a short depending flange 77. The bottom 78 has a pair of upstanding projections 79 which serve as pins to engage the underside of the bottom tray panel. The distance between the leg 80 of the clip and flange 77 being slightly greater than the thickness of the side wall 72. The clip is snapped in position by placing it on the top of the side wall and pushing it inwardly against the side wall. The bottom of the clip will give sufficiently to permit the clip to be pushed inwardly to engage the bottom of the tray. The projections 79 engaging the underside of the tray. To remove the clip it is pushed in the opposite direction. A number of such clips may be positioned and secured on each side of the tray and thus more securely lock the side wall to the bottom along the length of the tray.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a tray may be formed without the use of nails or other permanent fastening means and that the tray may be readily assembled and disassembled and that new bottom tray panels and a side member may be substituted without destroying the end sections which may be reused indefinitely. Also a tray may be assembled in a fraction of the time now necessary for conventional trays.

The construction heretofore described is so designed that trays may be stacked in tiers as best shown in Figs. 2 and 2A. In such stacked position there is sufficient spacing between adjacent trays.

In stacking the trays the legs 32 rest on the upper section 24 of an adjacent tray with the shoulders 35 of the legs resting against the shoulder 56 of the top section of an adjacent tray and the vertical walls between each pair of legs positioned on the opposite side of the raised portion 58 of the upper section and adjacent the shoulders 60. The tray may be thus readily stacked and removed and retained in a firm position while stacked. It will be understood that since the interfitting of trays in stacked position is similar at the opposite ends of the tray namely the front and rear that endwise shifting of the tray is prevented as is also sidewise shifting.

It will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made from the foregoing without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Weclaim:

1. In a collapsible tray of the character described comprising sidewalls, front and rear end members each formed of top and bottom sections adapted to secure a tray panel therebetween, the bottom section having a supporting ledge provided with upstanding projections which engage the tray panel, said bottom section having a rib positioned outwardly of said ledge and two pairs of spaced legs, said bottom section having lateral extensions supporting the side walls of the tray said ledge having a plurality of openings, a top section having a fiat bottom wall resting on said tray panel and on said rib and provided with a plurality of threaded openings in alignment with the openings in the bottom section, said top section having an undercut flange at the opposite ends thereof engaging the side walls of the tray, and a threaded bolt within each said aligned openings and secured to the threaded openings to detachably secure the sections together with the tray panel and side walls therebetween.

2. In a collapsible tray of the character described comprising side walls and end members, said end members each formed of a top and bottom section adapted to be detachably interlocked with a tray panel therebetween, said bottom section having a recessed supporting ledge behind the front of the bottom section for supporting the tray panel, said recessed portion being of a height substantially that of the thickness of the tray panel, said bottom section also supporting the side walls, said top section having a bottom which rests on the top of the tray panel and engages the top of said bottom section above the recessed ledge, said top section having an undercut extension at the opposite ends thereof engaging the side walls and locking the side walls between the top and bottom sections, and vertically extending detachable connecting members engaging said top and bottom sections and positioned inwardly of the ends of said top and bottom sections for detachably securing said sections together in clamping relation with tray panel and side walls therebetween.

3. In a collapsible tray of the character described comprising side walls and end members, said end members each formed of a top and bottom section adapted to be detachably interlocked with a tray panel therebetween, said bottom section having a stepped down supporting ledge behind the front of the bottom section which has upwardly extending projections which engage the tray panel, said stepped down portion being of a height substantially that of the thickness of the tray panel, said bottom section also supporting the side walls, said top section having a bottom which rests on the top of the tray panel and engages the top of said bottom section above the stepped down ledge, said top section having an undercut extension at the opposite ends thereof engaging the side walls and locking the side walls between the top and bottom sections, vertically extending bolts positioned inwardly of the opposite ends of said top and bottom section and extending into said top and bottom sections for detachably securing said top and bottom sections together in clamping relation with the tray panel and side walls therebetween, said bottom section and the upper part of said top section each having interlocking means so that a plurality of trays may be positioned on top of each other with the locking means of the bottom section of an upper tray engaging the locking means on the upper part of the top section of a lower tray to interlock said trays.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 706,763 Lange Aug. 12, 1902 757,558 Lyman Apr. 19, 1904 1,937,847 Runyan Dec. 5, 1933 2,017,264 Taylor Oct. 15, 1935 2,443,341 Butler June 15, 1948 2,449,658 La Macchi-a Sept. 21, 1948 2,593,998 Dupuis Apr. 22, 1952

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