A tray-like container for packaging food products, particularly pasta products, therein

Abstract

 A tray-like container (1) is provided, at each side of its bottom wall (2), with a rest foot (9,10,11,12) which, in co-operation with a bead (8) extending around the container (1) mouth (7), makes a reading desk-like setting thereof a steady one.

Description

[0001] This invention relates to a tray-like container for packaging general food products, more particularly pasta products, therein.

[0002] It is a known fact that in the food packaging and public display industry, ample use is made of containers known as packaging trays, especially where the package is to contribute significantly toward that tinge of "hand-made" or "home-prepared" and the like, which is so much valued and eagerly spied in a food product.

[0003] Also known is that packages of the kind under consideration herein consist essentially of a tray and a clear film wrapper completely enveloping the tray so as to adequately seal off the product contained therein. The top portion of the package usually carries information for the consumer, such as specifications of the packaged product nature, quality, weight, etc., as well as denotation of the producer, such as the company's name, badges, trademarks, etc.

[0004] The well-recognized effectiveness of such a contribution to the product presentation is substantially lost when the packages are arranged onto the display racks of sales outlets where customers are expected to serve themselves, as is done especially at supermarkets, for example.

[0005] In fact, owing to the geometrical features of packaging trays, these are of necessity stacked upon one another on the display racks, thereby hiding from view the very items of information of which the public should most desirably become apprised.

[0006] The use of display racks or counters with canted shelves or some like arrangements has almost always been cost intensive, on account of the space requirements of such structures and the high cost of floor area for supermarkets.

[0007] It is a primary object of this invention to provide a tray-like container for packaging generic food products and particularly pasta products therein, which has such structural features as to advantageously and conclusively overcome the aforementioned drawback with which the prior art is beset.

[0008] This and other objects to become apparent hereinafter, are achieved by a tray-like container according to the invention comprising a bottom, side walls, a mouth, and a bead extending around the periphery of said mouth and jutting out from said side walls, characterized in that it further comprises, at the location of at least one side of said bottom, a rest foot substantially in the form of an angle bracket adapted to set, in co-operation with a corresponding section of said bead, the tray-like container to a reading desk-like configuration.

[0009] Advantageously, said tray-like container has a rest foot at each sideof its bottom.

[0010] The invention features and advantages will become more clearly apparent from the following detailed description of a tray-like container, given with reference to the accompanying illustrative and non-limitative drawings, where:

Figure 1 is a pictorial view of a tray-like container according to the invention,

Figures 2 and 3 are side views of the tray-like container shown in Figure 1, and

Figures 4 and 5 show in perspective and side view a pasta product package incorporating the tray-like container of the preceding figures.

[0011] With reference to the drawing figures, generally shown at 1 is a tray-like container according to the invention, as used for packaging general food products, specifically pasta products. This container 1 comprises a bottom 2, four side walls 3, 4, 5 and 6 bordering a top mouth 7 whose periphery is surrounded by a flat bead 8 jutting out from said side walls.

[0012] At a central location of each side of said bottom 2, the tray-like container 1 is provided with respective rest feet 9, 10, 11 and 12, basically in the form of angle brackets, whose flanges extend coplanarly with said bottom 2 and a corresponding one of the side walls, respectively.

[0013] Said rest feet 11 are each arranged to co-operate with a corresponding straight section of the bead 8 to provide a means of supporting the tray-like container in a substantially reading desk-like configuration. Advantageously, the bottom 2 of the tray-like container of this invention is joined to the container side walls 3-6 by four wide triangular bevels 13, 14, 15 and 16 which impart a substantially faceted appearance to the container and provide useful flat rest surfaces therefor.

[0014] A package 17 for general food products and particularly pasta products, which comprises a tray-like container as described hereinabove and a suitable film of a clear material enveloping the tray-like container 1 to seal off the product therein, can be set into a reading desk-like configuration on, a shelf 18 of a conventional display rack to present to the customer its face carrying all the items of information necessary for identifying the product and its producer.

Claims

1. A tray-like container for packaging general food products, more particularly pasta products, therein, comprising a bottom(2), side walls (3.4.5.6), a mouth (7), and a bead (8) extending around the periphery of said mouth (7) and jutting out from said side walls, characterized in that it further comprises, at the location of at least one side of said bead (8) a rest foot (9,10,11,12) substantially in the form of an angle bracket adapted to set, in co-operation with a corresponding section of said bead, the tray-like container (1) to a reading desk-like configuration.

2. A tray-like container according to claim 1, characterized in that it is provided, with a rest foot (9,10,11,12), substantially in the form of an angle bracket, located at each side of the container bottom (2).

3. A tray-like container according to claim 2, characterized in that said bottom (2) is joined to the side walls (3,4,5,6) by wide triangular bevels (13,14,15,16) effective to impart a substantially faceted appearance to said container.

Drawing