Adjustable bail tray

Abstract

A nestable and stackable tray for transporting and storing articles having a mechanism for easily adjusting the distance between the floors of trays which are nested or stacked. By adjusting the distance between the floors of nested or stacked trays, the trays can be selectively made to stack at different heights to thereby accommodate differently stacked articles. In a first preferred embodiment, two bail members employed and each preferably hingedly connected to an opposing sidewall. The bail members are movable between three positions: a nested position, a high-stacked position and a low-stacked position. Movement between the different positions is accomplished by rotating and laterally moving the bails. In a second preferred embodiment, the tray has opposing sidewalls of different heights, that is, one set of opposing sidewalls are taller than the other set. Bail members are hingedly connected to each sidewall and are selectively movable between two positions: a nested position and a stacked position. Movement between the different positions is accomplished simply by rotating the bail members, no lateral movement of the bails is involved. Three configurations are possible however, since the sidewalls are of varying heights. Using only the bails associated with the higher set of opposing sidewalls provides a high-stacked configuration of adjacent trays; using only the bails associated with the lower set of opposing sidewalls provides a low-stacked configuration of adjacent trays; and setting all of the bails in the nested position provides a nested configuration of adjacent trays.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.