Special receptacle or package – With moisture absorbent
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-07
2001-04-17
Sewell, Paul T. (Department: 3728)
Special receptacle or package
With moisture absorbent
C206S562000, C426S124000, C426S127000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06216855
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to a tray for containing foodstuffs and luxury foods giving off liquids, particularly meat, fish or poultry, with a basic tray member having a base, side walls and transverse side walls, and which has at least two outer plies of waterproof plastic and an absorbent layer located between the plies, openings being provided in the upper ply facing the foodstuffs and luxury foods, for passage of the liquid into the absorbent layer.
Previous trays of the type named have an absorbent layer of paper, cellulose or the like. Re-use of such a tray, consisting for example of plastics, in the sense of a closed circuit, is difficult, as the layer (not consisting of plastic) must firstly be separated in a complex process.
On this basis it is the object of the present invention to provide a tray which may be simply re-used and nevertheless has a good capacity for absorbing liquid.
The purpose is achieved according to the invention in that the absorbent layer consists of an open-celled plastic preferably of an open-celled foam plastic. In contrast to other plies, this layer is not waterproof and thus absorbs the separated liquid into its open cells. Separation of the individual plies or of the layer in this construction is no longer necessary for re-use of old materials, as the outer plies and the absorbent layer consist entirely of plastic.
More advantageously, the lower ply consists of a closed-cell foam plastic, whilst the upper ply is produced from a compact, i.e. non-foamed plastic, particularly from a sheet. The closed-cell foam plastic is soft, pleasant to handle, has a high heat insulating effect and is waterproof. The upper compact ply has a relatively smooth surface and thus is pleasant in appearance. In the non-visible (lined) construction, the central absorbent layer is hidden from view, as are the liquids which have penetrated the absorbent layer, for example reddish meat juice. The upper compact ply can optionally be either coloured or uncoloured. Alternatively it may also be envisaged to associate with the outer side of the lower ply a further lowermost ply of compact plastics, particularly a sheet. The tray is then constructed in four plies or four layers. This additional lowermost ply can correspond to the upper ply, i.e. can be either coloured or uncoloured.
It is particularly advantageous if, in addition to the formation of the lower ply from closed-cell foam plastic, the (central) absorbent layer consists of open-cell foam plastic. The material involved here is totally open-celled, e.g. foam plastic. Correspondingly, the lower ply is formed from entirely closed-celled, e.g. foam plastic. In this way there is a separation of the tray which complies with requirements. This separation is also advantageous because the layer and the ply may be particularly easily formed either from entirely open-cell or closed-cell foam plastic. In this connection, entirely open-cell foam plastic or entirely closed-cell foam plastic means that, during manufacture of the corresponding layer or ply, an attempt is made to obtain either as many closed or as many open-cells as possible. In the ideal case all, i.e. 100% of the cells would either be open or closed. This ideal case however is not always achieved in practice, so that the absorbent layer, made of open-cell foam plastic, contains open cells to a small degree, and the lower ply made of closed-cell foam plastic, contains open cells to a small degree. As a rule, in the case of closed-cell foam plastics, at least 90% of the cells are closed, while with open-cell foam plastics at least 90% of the cells are open. Accordingly, when entirely closed cells are mentioned, this is to be taken to mean a foam plastic in which as many cells as possible are closed, but also a small proportion of the cells can be open. Conversely, in the case of an open-cell foam plastic, the majority of the cells are open, while a small proportion of the cells can be closed.
The invention further relates to a surrounding edge of the tray. The two plies are compressed together with the absorbent layer in the area of the surrounding edge, in such a way that the layer is no longer open-celled in this lateral area. For this purpose, the layer in the area of the surrounding edge of the tray is preferably partly compacted. The lateral area of the layer is rendered non-cellular by means of the compression procedure. Thus the absorbed liquid cannot pass out over the edge. In addition, the lateral compression is only carried out to such a degree that the lower ply in the lateral area does in fact lose strength, but remains flexible and thus is not compacted.
In this way sharp edges in the area of the surrounding rim are avoided. According to an advantageous further development of the invention, the base wall of the tray is at least partly curved in configuration. This curvature is of such type that at least the inner wall of the tray, upon which the articles to be contained by the tray rest, has a curvature. The curvature is such that the highest point is located roughly in the centre of the base wall. From this point the base wall drops away to the side walls or the transverse side walls. Thus the liquid accumulating in the interior of the tray can run off to the edges of the base wall or accumulate there. In this case the lateral areas of the base wall adjacent to the side walls and the lateral side walls must not be curved. Preferably, openings for removing the liquid to the absorbent layer are provided in the lateral areas of the base wall adjacent to the side walls and transverse walls, so that the liquids can also be removed at that point to which they have been passed due to the raised centre of the base wall. Further features of the invention will become apparent from the sub-claims.
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Linpac Plastics Limited
Luong Shian
Sewell Paul T.
Technoprop Colton LLC
LandOfFree
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