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US 10,752,407 B1Granted
Tamper-evident produce container
AssigneeMission Produce, Inc.
InventorsCharles Nelson, Leonardo Lira
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for storing, shipping, and displaying produce in a box which has a tamper-evident closure. The box may be formed of folded cardboard and a transparent plastic lid which engages top edges of the box. The lid has a plurality of tabs around its periphery that may be bent and inserted into slots or notches formed in the box edges, and then expand to a larger relaxed size. The slots or notches have perforated lines enabling the lid to be ripped upward to open the box, thus indicating that the container has been tampered with.
Claims24
A tamper-evident produce container comprising:
- a box having a floor and upstanding walls defining an upper mouth and an inner cavity therebetween sized to receive produce, wherein the upstanding walls have at least two notches at upper edges located on opposite sides of the box, each of the notches having a lateral notch dimension, and wherein the box further forms a horizontal shelf extending along at least two sides inward from respective upper edges at the notches;
- and
- a transparent lid defining outer sides with a plurality of tabs projecting outward therefrom, wherein each tab may be inserted into one of the notches of the box such that the lid is secured to the box and encloses the inner cavity, and wherein each tab has a relaxed configuration which has a lateral tab dimension larger than the notch dimension and is configured to be bent into an insertion configuration having a reduced lateral dimension smaller than the notch dimension so as to fit through one of the notches, and wherein once inserted into the notch the tab flexes back to the relaxed configuration and resists removal from the notch, and wherein the box has a pair of lines of weakness in the shelf extending away from each notch which is adapted to tear when the lid is forcefully pulled upward from the box.
A tamper-evident produce container, including:
- a box having a floor and upstanding walls defining an upper mouth and an inner cavity therebetween sized to receive produce, the box having a rectangular plan view shape, wherein the upstanding walls have at least two notches at upper edges located on opposite sides of the box main body, each of the notches having a lateral notch dimension, and wherein the box further forms a horizontal shelf extending along at least two sides inward from respective upper edges at the notches;
- and
- a lid defining a generally rectangular peripheral shape with outer sides including opposed straight sides from each of which at least two tabs project outward therefrom, wherein each tab has a neck portion leading to two outer laterally-extending wings configured to be bent along a flex line between the two wings into the insertion configuration, wherein each wing of each tab has a three-dimensional wedge shape that is thinnest at the flex line and thicker farther away from the flex line, and wherein each tab may be inserted into one of the notches of the box such that the lid is secured to the box and encloses the inner cavity, and wherein each tab has a relaxed configuration which has a lateral tab dimension across the wings larger than the notch dimension and is configured to be bent into an insertion configuration having a reduced lateral dimension smaller than the notch dimension so as to fit through one of the notches.
A tamper-evident produce container, including:
- a box having a floor and upstanding walls defining an upper mouth and an inner cavity therebetween sized to receive produce, the box having a rectangular plan view shape, wherein the upstanding walls have at least two notches at upper edges located on opposite sides of the box, each of the notches having a lateral notch dimension, and wherein the box further forms a horizontal shelf extending along at least two sides inward from respective upper edges at the notches;
- and
- a lid defining a generally rectangular peripheral shape with outer sides including opposed straight sides from each of which at least two tabs project outward therefrom, wherein each tab has a neck portion leading to two outer laterally-extending wings configured to be bent along a flex line between the two wings into the insertion configuration, and wherein each tab may be inserted into one of the notches of the box such that the lid is secured to the box and encloses the inner cavity, and wherein each tab has a relaxed configuration which has a lateral tab dimension across the wings larger than the notch dimension and is configured to be bent into an insertion configuration having a reduced lateral dimension smaller than the notch dimension so as to fit through one of the notches, wherein the lid is molded plastic and defines a raised band extending around at least a substantial extent of a periphery of the lid just inside the outer sides.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.