| 摘要 |
Plastic egg cartons having mating cell and lid posts for improved egg protection, and able to accommodate up to jumbo size eggs in a standard footprint. The carton has a base tray and hinged lid, the tray including a plurality of cells for receiving individual eggs, and the tray having a plurality of cell posts each formed at an intersection of four adjacent cells as an extension of the sidewalls of the four adjacent cells. Preferable, each cell post has four generally planar ramp surfaces, one disposed respectively on each of the four sidewall extensions. The lid has a plurality of lid posts for mating with the cell posts when the lid is in a closed position. |
| 主权项 |
1. A plastic egg carton comprising:
a tray and a lid hingedly connected to the tray for pivoting between open and closed positions, the tray and the lid having respective peripheral edges that mate with each other in the closed position, the egg carton having in the closed position a length, a width and a height; the tray having a plurality of cells for receiving individual eggs, the cells being arranged successively adjacent each other along the length and width of the carton in a matrix of cells; each cell having a bottom and a flexible outwardly curved sidewall extending upwardly from the bottom to form a corresponding one of the cells; the lid having a plurality of ovoid shaped contoured portions, axially aligned with the height of the carton in the closed position, that mate with axially align the eggs in the cells of the tray; the tray having a plurality of cell posts extending above the peripheral edge of the tray, each cell post having a central axis aligned with the height of the carton and being formed at an intersection of four adjacent cells as a central dome and an extension of the sidewalls of the four adjacent cells, each cell post having four generally planar ramp surfaces, each planar ramp surface being disposed between the outwardly curved sidewalls of two adjacent cells and on a different one of the four sidewall extensions at an angle to the axis of the cell post to provide resistance to compressive forces in the axial direction; and the lid having a plurality of lid posts, each lid post being axially aligned with a complimentary cell post and comprising a central crown and four fingers extending downwardly toward the tray, each finger having a complimentary planar ramp surface adapted to engage one of the four ramp surfaces of the complimentary cell post when the tray and lid are in the closed position and axial compressive forces are present to resist distortion of the cell and lid posts such that the crown and dome need not engage, while the flexible cell sidewalls yield and flex to protectively hold eggs in the cells. |
