Shipping and display carton

Abstract

A product tray having shrink-wrapped plastic stacked, shipped and sold on pallets due to an improved design made from a single blank of cardboard or other package material. Such improved product tray resists horizontal shifting and prevents vertical stack failures when exposed to horizontal forces during shipping. Each improved product tray supports a comparable compressive load while being composed of less material or less expensive material as compared with prior art designs. Such improved product trays may be stacked, shipped, and sold on pallets without first packaging them into boxes, and without the substantial additional labor normally required for trays made according to the prior art, at warehouse club stores and other outlets.

1 . A tray formed from a single blank of a suitable sheet material, the tray comprising a central floor surrounded by upstanding sidewalls and endwalls, said sidewalls and endwalls being hingedly connected to said floor at the periphery thereof in oppositely disposed paired relationships, and side flaps, with each said side flap being hingedly attached to an end of each said sidewall and attached to one said endwall, wherein each of said side flaps is folded at each of at least two flap creases thereby forming a sidewall horizontal support distance and an endwall horizontal support distance and wherein each said sidewall horizontal support distance defines a gap between each said endwall and each said end of each said sidewall.  
   
   
       2 . The tray of  claim 1  wherein each of said side flaps is folded inwardly at each of said flap creases.  
   
   
       3 . The tray of  claim 1  wherein each of said side flaps is bent at an angle less than 90 degrees.  
   
   
       4 . The tray of  claim 1  wherein the distal end of each said side flap is affixed to the inside surface of one said endwall.  
   
   
       5 . The folded tray of  claim 1  wherein the sidewalls and endwalls are folded at a ninety-degree angle relative to said central floor.  
   
   
       6 . The tray of  claim 1  wherein the creases in said side flaps are partially perforated.  
   
   
       7 . The tray of  claim 1 , wherein said sheet material is corrugated cardboard.  
   
   
       8 . A tray formed from a single blank of a suitable sheet material comprising a central floor surrounded by upstanding sidewalls and endwalls, said sidewalls and endwalls being hingedly connected to said floor at the periphery thereof in oppositely disposed paired relationships, and side flaps hingedly attached to the ends of said sidewalls and attached to said endwalls, wherein each said side flap is bent into the shape of an arc and attached to one said endwall thereby forming a sidewall horizontal support distance and an endwall horizontal support distance.  
   
   
       9 . A method for forming a tray from a single blank of a suitable sheet material, the method comprising the steps of: 
 (a) bending at least two opposing sides 90 degrees to form endwalls;    (b) bending at least two additional opposing sides 90 degrees to form sidewalls having side flaps; and,    (c) bending each said side flap at each of at least two creases and attaching the distal end of each said side flap to the corresponding endwall wherein each said side flap forms a sidewall horizontal support distance and an endwall horizontal support distance and each said sidewall horizontal support distance defines a between each said endwall and each said side wall.    
   
   
       10 . A tray formed from the method of  claim 9.