Egg tray

Abstract

To take out a chicken egg broken during transportation from a tray without damaging the other chicken eggs therearound, even when yolk / white of the chicken egg makes the other chicken eggs stick to the tray.SOLUTION: There is provided an egg tray, including: a plurality of storage recesses 1 for storing eggs in an upright state; a plurality of supporting protrusions 2 for supporting sides of eggs stored in the plurality of storage recesses 1, each storage recess 1 being surrounded with four support protrusions 2, and each support protrusion 2 except for the tray periphery being surrounded with four storage recesses 1 at virtual grid point positions, while forming a substantially square shape in top view. The storage recess 1 has an inverted truncated conical portion 10 with a cross section at each height in a vertical direction being circular and a diameter decreasing downward, and an inner surface 101a of a side wall portion 101 of the inverted truncated conical portion 10 has at least three ridges 13 (13a, 13b) extending vertically.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an egg tray for storing a plurality of chicken eggs or the like in an upright position. More specifically, this relates to an egg tray which is approximately square when viewed from above and which has a plurality of accommodating recesses and a plurality of supporting protrusions arranged at imaginary lattice point positions so that each accommodating recess is surrounded by four supporting protrusions and each supporting protrusion excluding the tray periphery is surrounded by four accommodating recesses. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, various types of trays have been proposed / provided as trays for transporting eggs. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-287723 (Patent Document 1) discloses an egg tray that is designed to enable eggs contained in the egg tray to be removed from the tray without damaging other eggs, even if the egg breaks during transportation or the like and the yolk / white of the egg causes other nearby eggs to stick to the tray. An example of an egg tray having a similar purpose and similar overall structure is the egg tray described in JP 2013-119406 A (Patent Document 2). Furthermore, an example of an egg tray having a similar overall structure, although for a different purpose, is the egg tray described in JP 2016-074433 A (Patent Document 3). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2001-287723 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2013-119406 A [Patent Document 3] JP 2016-074433 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The egg tray of Patent Document 1 has at least three lump-like upward protuberances 4 on the base periphery (= near the edge of the upper opening of the storage recess 3) of the storage recess 3 (3 is the symbol in Patent Document 1; Figures 4 and 2 of Patent Document 1 are reproduced in Figures 6(a) and (b) of the present application) that enable point support of the bottom outer periphery of an egg E. In other words, by supporting the egg at points, it can be easily removed even if the yolk / white of a cracked egg causes other nearby eggs to stick to the tray.

[0005] In the egg tray of Patent Document 2, a groove is provided at the boundary between the storage recess and the connecting portion that connects adjacent storage recesses, which groove extends from the upper surface of the connecting portion to the inner surface of the storage recess, making it easier to discharge the yolk / white, thereby preventing sticking.

[0006] The egg trays described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are still not sufficiently effective in allowing nearby eggs to be removed from the tray without damaging them when the yolk / white of a cracked egg causes other nearby eggs to stick to the tray. To provide a method for easily removing eggs from a tray without damaging the nearby eggs, even if the yolk / white of an egg breaks during transportation or the like and causes other nearby eggs to stick to the tray. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention is configured as follows: [3]~[5] Please refer to the following. The following [1], [2], and [6] are provided for reference purposes to illustrate the basic configuration of the present invention. In this section ([Means for solving the problem]) and the next section ([Effects of the invention]), the symbols are used to facilitate understanding, and are not intended to limit the present invention to the configuration of the symbols.

[0008] [1] Invention 1 (reference) An egg tray having a substantially rectangular shape in top view, comprising a plurality of storage recesses 1 for storing eggs in an upright state, and a plurality of support protrusions 2 for supporting sides of eggs stored in the plurality of storage recesses 1, the plurality of support protrusions 2 being arranged at imaginary lattice point positions such that each storage recess 1 is surrounded by four support protrusions 2 and each support protrusion 2 excluding the tray peripheral portion is surrounded by four storage recesses 1, The accommodating recess 1 has an inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 10 whose cross section at each height in the vertical direction is circular and whose diameter decreases downward, and has at least three protrusions 13 (13a, 13b) extending in the vertical direction on an inner surface 101a of a side wall portion 101 of the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 10. 1. An egg tray comprising: [2] Invention 2 (reference) In the invention 1, The accommodating recess 1 has a lower opening 15 at its lower end, and an upper opening 16 at the upper end of the accommodating recess 1 is formed by the upper edge 106 of the inverted truncated cone shaped portion 10. 1. An egg tray comprising: [3] Invention 3 In the invention 2, The upper opening 16 of the accommodating recess 1 has upper extension portions 108 extending upward from the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 10 in place of the lower ends of the four support protrusions 2 adjacent to the four sides of the accommodating recess 1, The upper edge 108a of the upper extension 108 constitutes the lower edge 201a of a side wall opening 201 provided as an egg receiving portion in the side wall 20 of the support protrusion 2 corresponding to the upper extension 108, The accommodating recess 1 has, as the protrusions 13, four long protrusions 13a whose upper ends reach the upper edge 108a of the upper extension portion 108 and whose lower ends reach the lower end 109 of the inverted truncated cone shaped portion 10, and four short protrusions 13b provided between the long protrusions 13a whose upper ends reach the upper edge 106 of the inverted truncated cone shaped portion 10 and whose lower ends reach the lower end 109 of the inverted truncated cone shaped portion 10. 1. An egg tray comprising: [4] Invention 4 In the third aspect of the present invention, The vertical length of the side wall portion 101 of the inverted truncated cone shaped portion 10 is in the range of 4 mm to 6 mm, and the vertical length of the upper extension portion 108 is in the range of 1 mm to 2 mm. 1. An egg tray comprising: [5] Invention 5 In the invention 3 or 4, The width of the protrusions 13 (13a, 13b) is in the range of 0.8 mm to 1.2 mm. 1. An egg tray comprising: [6] Invention 6 (reference) In the invention 1 or 2, The number of the protrusions 13 in the receiving recess 1 is in the range of 6 to 10. 1. An egg tray comprising: Effect of the Invention

[0009] Invention 3 is Citing Invention 1 (Reference) Invention 2 (reference) In the above, the upper opening 16 of the storage recess 1 has an upper extension portion 108 extending upward from the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 10 in place of the lower ends of the four support protrusions 2 adjacent to the four sides of the storage recess 1, and an upper edge portion 108a of the upper extension portion 108 constitutes a lower edge portion 201a of a side wall opening 201 provided as an egg receiving portion on the side wall portion 20 of the support protrusion 2 corresponding to the upper extension portion 108, Since accommodating recess 1 is an egg tray having, as protrusion portion 13, four long protrusion portions 13a whose upper ends reach upper edge portion 108a of upper extension portion 108 and whose lower ends reach lower end 109 of inverted truncated cone shaped portion 10, and four short protrusion portions 13b provided between long protrusion portions 13a whose upper ends reach upper edge 106 of inverted truncated cone shaped portion 10 and whose lower ends reach lower end 109 of inverted truncated cone shaped portion 10, Even if a part of the contained egg breaks and the yolk / white enters another containing recess 1 and becomes stuck between the other containing recess and the egg, the egg can be easily peeled off and taken out. Invention 4 is an egg tray in which, in Invention 3, the vertical length of side wall portion 101 of inverted truncated cone shaped portion 10 is in the range of 4 mm to 6 mm, and the vertical length of upper extension portion 108 is in the range of 1 mm to 2 mm, thereby providing a range in which the effects of Invention 3 can be optimally achieved. Invention 5 is an egg tray according to Invention 3 or Invention 4, in which the width of the protrusion portions 13 (13a, 13b) is in the range of 0.8 mm to 1.2 mm, thereby providing a range in which the effects of Invention 3 or Invention 4 can be optimally achieved. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] A top view schematic diagram illustrating the state in which multiple accommodating recesses 1 and multiple support protrusions 2 are arranged at virtual lattice point positions so that each accommodating recess 1 is surrounded by four support protrusions 2, and each support protrusion 2, excluding the peripheral portion of the tray, is surrounded by four accommodating recesses 1. [Diagram 2] 1, (b) is a schematic diagram of the inner arrow B in (a), and (c) is a schematic diagram of the inner arrow C in (b). In (c), the upward arrow from view C indicates the part seen by an arrow pointing upward from position C, and the diagonally upward right arrow from view C indicates the part seen by an arrow pointing diagonally upward to the right from position C. [Diagram 3] 2(c) are explanatory diagrams of modified examples of the protrusion portion 13, with (a) and (b) showing the same portion as in Fig. 2(c). That is, the upward arrow from view C indicates the portion seen by an arrow pointing upward from position C, and the diagonally upward right arrow from view C indicates the portion seen by an arrow pointing diagonally upward to the right from position C. (c) shows the portion seen in the direction of the arrow C in (b). [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an egg tray according to an embodiment of the present invention as viewed obliquely from above. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the egg tray according to the embodiment as viewed obliquely from below. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an egg tray according to an embodiment of the present invention as viewed from above. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a bottom view showing the egg tray according to the embodiment as viewed from below. [Figure 8] This figure is a reprint of Figures 4 and 2 from Patent Document 1. The reference numerals are those from Patent Document 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing an overview of an egg tray T of the embodiment as seen from above, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing an overview of the egg tray of Fig. 4 as seen from below. Also, Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing an overview of the top surface of the egg tray T of the embodiment.

[0012] As shown in the figure, the egg tray T of the embodiment is configured by arranging the storage recess 1 and the support protrusion 2 at imaginary lattice point positions (intersection positions of the broken lines in FIG. 1), and is approximately rectangular when viewed from above. The term "upper" is defined as the side from which the inside of the storage recess 1 (the portion in which the eggs are stored) can be seen. For example, FIG. 4 is a perspective view seen from diagonally above. In addition, the term "approximately rectangular" includes cases in which there is a portion that is slightly recessed toward the inside of the rectangle (see FIG. 4 and FIG. 5) and cases in which the four corners are rounded. If the rectangle is a square, even if eggs are stored in multiple egg trays T and the trays are alternately rotated 90 degrees in a horizontal plane for stacking, the lengths of each side are the same between the trays rotated 90 degrees and the trays that are not rotated, so that the trays can be stored without gaps in a container such as a cardboard box. As the material, for example, known plastics such as hard polypropylene, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride can be used.

[0013] As shown in Figures 2(a) and (b), the storage recess 1 is composed of an inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 10 on the upper side and a lower recess 11 (in this embodiment, the lower recess 11 also has an inverted truncated cone shape) that is integrally connected to the lower side of the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 10. The inverted truncated cone shape refers to a shape in which the cross section at each height in the vertical direction forms a circle, and the circle has a diameter that decreases at a constant rate toward the bottom, and is cut off before reaching the sharp bottom end (diameter = 0). The wording "diameter decreasing at a constant rate" refers to the parts depicted as the left and right edges of the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 10 in Figure 2(b) (the left edge is depicted extending from the lower right to the upper left, and the right edge is depicted extending from the lower left to the upper right) forming straight lines.

[0014] The upper end of the accommodating recess 1, i.e., the upper end of the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 10, is open. That is, an upper edge 106 of the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion constitutes an upper opening 16 of the accommodating recess 1. In addition, the lower end of the accommodating recess 1, i.e., the lower end of the lower recess 11, is also open. That is, a lower edge 115 of the lower recess 11 constitutes a lower opening 15 of the accommodating recess 1. Since the lower end of the storage recess 1 is open, even if an egg stored upright in the storage recess 1 from the upper opening 16 breaks during transportation, most of the leaking yolk / white is discharged through the lower opening 15.

[0015] As shown in Fig. 4, the cross section of the support protrusion 2 at each height in the vertical direction is circular, and the circle has a shape that narrows in diameter toward the top. In the example shown, the rate of narrowing is not constant, so the shape is not a truncated cone, but rather has a shape that becomes increasingly pointed toward the top, but the rate of narrowing may be constant and the support protrusion 2 may be a truncated cone. What is important is that the side wall of the support protrusion 2 (more precisely, the edge of a side wall opening 201 (see "0016" below) provided in the side wall) can support the side of the egg.

[0016] A side wall opening 201 is provided on the side of side wall 20 of support protrusion 2 facing storage recess 1. This side wall opening 201 serves to receive the side of an egg stored upright in storage recess 1 and support it at its edge (the edge of side wall opening 201). Since the side of the egg is received and supported at its edge in this way, the egg can be well supported and the impact force exerted by support protrusion 2 on the egg can be suppressed, thereby suppressing damage to the egg during transportation, etc.

[0017] The lower edge 201a of the side wall opening 201 is formed by the upper edge 108a of the upper extension 108 extended upward from the upper edge 106 of the inverted truncated cone shaped portion 10 of the storage recess 1. Therefore, the lower edge 201a of the side wall opening 201 forms a curvature of a circle of a cross section of the inverted truncated cone shaped portion 10 at the extended height, not a curvature of a circle of a cross section of the support protrusion 2 at the corresponding height. In other words, like the inverted truncated cone shaped portion 10, it forms a circular curvature that spreads outward. The inclination angle is also the same as that of the inverted truncated cone shaped portion 10. In FIG. 4, 203 is an opening at the upper end of the support protrusion 2, and 205 is a protrusion. When no eggs are stored, multiple trays T are stacked as they are. The upper storage recess 1 is stored in the storage recess 1, and the overall volume becomes smaller. On the other hand, when an egg is contained, by rotating the container alternately (= every other one) by 90° in the horizontal plane, the lower end of the upper container recess 1 is positioned on top of the support protrusion 2, and as a result, the protrusion 205 at the upper end of the support protrusion 2 is inserted into the lower opening 15 at the lower end of the container recess 1, thereby positioning the container.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 1 (and FIGS. 4 and 5), the accommodating recesses 1 and the supporting protrusions 2 are disposed at imaginary lattice point positions such that each accommodating recess 1 is surrounded by four supporting protrusions 2, and each supporting protrusion 2 excluding the tray peripheral portion is surrounded by four accommodating recesses 1. In FIG. 1, the imaginary lattice is indicated by dashed lines. A lattice point is a position where these dashed lines intersect. In the embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, the supporting protrusions 2 located on the edges of the tray (the upper and lower edges in the figures) form a half shape cut along the corresponding edges of the tray T due to the size of the egg trays T that are stacked and stored in a rack, container, etc.

[0019] In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 2(a)(b), eight protrusions 13 (13a, 13b) are provided on the inner surface 101a of the side wall portion 101 of the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 10, extending in the vertical direction. The protrusions 13a are relatively long protrusions, one end (upper end) of which reaches the upper edge portion 108a of the upper extension portion 108 of the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 10 and the other end (lower end) of which reaches the lower end 109 of the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 10. On the other hand, the protrusions 13b are relatively short protrusions, one end (upper end) of which reaches the upper edge 106 of the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 10 and the other end (lower end) of which reaches the lower end 109 of the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 10. The protrusions refer to thin stripe-like (rib-like) protrusions.

[0020] The long protrusions 13a are provided on the inner surface 101a of the side wall 101 of the inverted truncated cone shaped portion 10 in the central region on the side where the four support protrusions 2 surrounding the accommodation recess 1 are provided. That is, a total of four long protrusions 13a are provided. The short protrusions 13b are provided in the central region between adjacent long protrusions 13a. Therefore, a total of four short protrusions 13b are provided.

[0021] In comparison with conventional products, the opening angle of the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 10 (the opening angle from the normal to the inclined portion shown in FIG. 2(b) to the outside) is in the range of 35° to 55°, preferably 40° to 50°, and more preferably 42° to 46°, the vertical length of the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 10 (the length along the inclined portion in FIG. 2(b)) is in the range of 4 mm to 6 mm, the vertical length of the upper extension portion 108 (the length along the inclined portion in FIG. 2(b)) is in the range of 1 mm to 2 mm, the width of the upper surface (the surface in contact with the egg) of the protrusion portion 13 (13a, 13b) is in the range of 1 mm to 2 mm, and the width of the upper surface (the surface in contact with the egg) of the protrusion portion 13 (13a, 13b) is in the range of 1 mm to 2 mm. was set to a range of 0.8 mm to 1.2 mm, preferably 0.9 to 1.1 mm, and the protruding height of protrusions 13 (13a, 13b) (height from inner surface 101a of side wall 101 of inverted truncated cone shaped portion 10; see 13t in Figure 3(c)) was set to a range of 0.6 mm to 1.0 mm, preferably 0.7 mm to 0.9 mm, and numerous tests were conducted in which eggs were stored with the egg yolk / white spilled into storage recess 1 and then removed after a predetermined time (e.g. 7 days).It was found that the rate of damage to the eggs when removed was sufficiently reduced.

[0022] The reasons for this are thought to be that (a) yolk / white spilled into the storage recess 1 is more likely to flow out along the protrusion 13, (b) the yolk / white adhering to the upper surface of the protrusion 13 flows down along and from both sides of the upper surface, so less remains, and as a result, the adhesive force acting on the egg that is stored and supported on the upper surface is also smaller, and (c) the force applied to the egg when it is removed is not against the direction of the upper surface of the protrusion 13, so even if the egg is stuck, the force that the adhesive part exerts on the egg is reduced. Furthermore, when a transport test was conducted using the container as described above, the rate of egg breakage during transport was comparable to that of conventional products.

[0023] In the above embodiment, the upper edge 106 of the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 10 forms the edge of the upper opening 16 of the storage recess 1. That is, the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 10 forms the upper region of the storage recess 1. However, instead of this, it may be provided so as to form an intermediate region. That is, the upper edge 106 of the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 10 may be provided at a position slightly below the edge of the opening 16 of the storage recess 1. The point is that the lower part of the stored egg should be supported by the protrusion portion 13 that forms an angle (= the angle of the side wall portion 101 of the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 10) that makes it easy to remove.

[0024] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, protrusion 13 is provided from upper edge 106 (upper edge 108a in the case of upper extension portion 108) to lower end 109 of inner surface 101a of side wall 101 of inverted truncated cone shaped portion 10, but it may be configured so that it is provided midway and is slightly shorter than the vertical length of side wall 101 of inverted truncated cone shaped portion 10. The point is that protrusion 13 should be able to support the lower part of a contained egg and have a length that makes it easy to remove. The protrusion 13 may be divided midway as shown in Fig. 3(a). Also, as shown in Fig. 3(b), the protrusion 13 may not extend to the upper extension 108 of the inverted truncated cone shaped portion 10. In addition, in the embodiment, eight protrusions 13 (13a, 13b) are provided, but the number is not limited to this, and may be three or more as long as an egg can be supported, and is preferably in the range of six to ten. [Explanation of symbols]

[0025] 1 Recessed portion 10 Inverted truncated cone section 101 Side wall of inverted truncated cone 101a: inner surface of the side wall of the inverted truncated cone 106 Upper edge of inverted cone shaped part 108 Upper extension of inverted truncated cone 108a: Upper edge of upper extension of inverted truncated cone-shaped portion 109 Bottom end of inverted cone shaped part 11 Lower recess 115 Lower edge of lower recess 11 13 Projection part 13a Long protrusion 13b Short protrusion 15 Lower opening 16 Top opening 2 Support protrusion 20 Side wall of support protrusion 201 Side wall opening 201a Lower edge of side wall opening 203 Upper opening 205 Upper process T Egg Tray

Claims

1. An egg tray having a substantially rectangular shape in top view, comprising a plurality of storage recesses for storing eggs in an upright state, and a plurality of support protrusions for supporting sides of eggs stored in the plurality of storage recesses, the plurality of support protrusions being arranged at imaginary lattice point positions such that each storage recess is surrounded by four support protrusions and each support protrusion, excluding a peripheral portion of the tray, is surrounded by four storage recesses, the accommodating recess has an inverted truncated cone-shaped portion having a circular cross section at each height in the vertical direction and a diameter decreasing downward, and has at least three protrusions extending in the vertical direction on an inner surface of a side wall of the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion, Furthermore, the accommodating recess has a lower opening at a lower end, and an upper opening at an upper end of the accommodating recess is formed by an upper edge of the inverted truncated cone portion, Further, the upper opening of the accommodating recess has upper extension portions extending upward from the inverted truncated cone portion in place of the lower ends of the four support protrusions adjacent to the four sides of the accommodating recess, The upper edge of the upper extension portion constitutes a lower edge of a side wall opening provided as an egg receiving portion on the side wall of the support protrusion corresponding to the upper extension portion, The accommodating recess has, as the protrusions, four long protrusions whose upper ends reach the upper edge of the upper extension portion and whose lower ends reach the lower end of the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion, and four short protrusions whose upper ends reach the upper edge of the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion and whose lower ends reach the lower end of the inverted truncated cone-shaped portion, and are provided between the long protrusions.

1. An egg tray comprising:

2. In claim 1, The vertical length of the side wall of the inverted truncated cone portion is in the range of 4 mm to 6 mm, and the vertical length of the upper extension portion is in the range of 1 mm to 2 mm.

1. An egg tray comprising:

3. In claim 1 or claim 2, The width of the protrusion is in the range of 0.8 mm to 1.2 mm.

1. An egg tray comprising:

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