초록 ▼

An edge stackable absorbent display container (10) includes an open-top tray (14) that has an array of liquid receiving cavities (A-I) formed by intermediate longitudinal and laterally extending support ribs (36, 37, 38 and 39). The side cavities (A, B, C and G, H and I) are sloped with respect to t

An edge stackable absorbent display container (10) includes an open-top tray (14) that has an array of liquid receiving cavities (A-I) formed by intermediate longitudinal and laterally extending support ribs (36, 37, 38 and 39). The side cavities (A, B, C and G, H and I) are sloped with respect to the central cavities (D, E and F), forming the tray bottom wall (22) in a spread U-shape that enhances the tilting of the tray. Liquid absorbent material (56) is placed in at least some of the cavities (A-I), and a porous sheet (16) is supported over the cavities on the support ribs and the sheet support rim (60). Liquid from the product, such as raw poultry, can drain through the porous sheet and become absorbed by the absorbent material.

대표청구항 ▼

I claim: 1. An edge stackable absorbent container for displaying a product that exudes liquid, comprising: a tray having a tray bottom wall and surrounding side walls extending upwardly from said tray bottom wall, said tray bottom wall having a central portion and opposed side portions on opposite

I claim: 1. An edge stackable absorbent container for displaying a product that exudes liquid, comprising: a tray having a tray bottom wall and surrounding side walls extending upwardly from said tray bottom wall, said tray bottom wall having a central portion and opposed side portions on opposite sides of said central portion, a grid of longitudinal support ribs and lateral support ribs formed in said tray bottom wall that subdivide said tray bottom wall into an array of upwardly facing cavities and form at least one central cavity in said central portion of said tray bottom wall and at least one side cavity in each of said side portions of said tray bottom wall, with said central cavity including a central cavity bottom wall and said side cavities including side cavity bottom walls, said central cavity bottom wall and said side cavity side walls forming said tray bottom wall, said central cavity bottom wall extending in a bottom wall plane and said side cavity bottom walls having at least a portion thereof sloped upwardly from said bottom wall plane such that said central and side cavities and said central and side cavity bottom walls are formed in a spread U-shaped configuration, liquid absorbent material in at least one of said central and side cavities, and a porous sheet applied to said support ribs and extending in a spread U-shape over said central and side cavities, a product that exudes liquid placed on the porous sheet and supported by the support ribs, and a liquid impervious sheet applied to the tray over the product and adhered to the surrounding side wall enclosing the product in the tray, such that the container may be tilted and supported on a horizontal surface by one of its said side cavity bottom walls with the central cavity bottom wall tilted up away from the horizontal surface and any liquid exuded from the product passes through the porous sheet to a cavity and becomes absorbed by the absorbent material in the cavity. 2. The edge stackable absorbent container of claim 1, wherein said support ribs extend through said bottom wall and define a plurality of central cavities in said central portion of said bottom wall. 3. The edge stackable absorbent container of claim 1, wherein said support ribs extend through said bottom wall and define said plurality of side cavities in each of said side portions of said bottom wall. 4. The edge stackable absorbent container of claim 3, wherein said support ribs include recesses therein and said porous sheet spans said recesses and forms a passage for liquid and absorbent between said cavities without requiring the liquid or absorbent to pass over a rib to reach an adjacent cavity. 5. The edge stackable absorbent container of claim 1, wherein said side cavity bottom walls of said side cavities each have a lower portion in said bottom wall plane and a sloped portion that extends sloped upwardly from said lower portion, said sloped portion of said side cavity bottom walls forming a support for the container when edged stacked, and said lower portion of said side cavity bottom walls forming a support for the container when the container rests on said central cavity bottom wall. 6. The edge stackable absorbent container of claim 1, wherein said absorbent material is a blend of at least one non-cross linked gel-forming polymer, at least one clay and at least one trivalent cation. 7. The edge stackable absorbent container of claim 6, wherein said absorbent material further includes diatomaceous earth in place of some of the clay. 8. The edge stackable absorbent container of claim 1, wherein said support ribs include a longitudinal rib extending parallel to the central side cavities. 9. The edge stackable absorbent container of claim 1, wherein said surrounding side walls include a continuous upper edge, and said tray includes a support rim at said surrounding side walls displaced from said continuous upper edge, said support rim being coextensive with said support ribs and formed in a spread U-shaped configuration, and said porous sheet applied to said support rim and to said support ribs in a spread U-shaped configuration. 10. An edge stackable absorbent container for displaying a product that exudes liquid, comprising: a tray having a tray bottom wall and surrounding side walls extending upwardly from said tray bottom wall, said tray bottom wall having a central portion and opposed side portions on opposite sides of said central portion, support ribs formed in said tray bottom wall and extending upwardly between said central portion and said opposed side portions and forming at least one central cavity in said central portion of said tray bottom wall and at least one side cavity in each of said side portions, said central cavity having a central cavity bottom wall and said side cavities each having a side cavity bottom wall, said side cavity bottom walls having a lower portion in the same plane as the bottom wall of said central cavity and a portion thereof sloped upwardly with respect to said central cavity bottom wall such that said central cavity and said side cavities shaped in a spread U-shaped configuration, liquid absorbent material in at least one of said side cavities, and a porous sheet applied to said support ribs and extending in a spread U-shape over said central and side cavities, such that the container may be tilted to rest on a side cavity bottom wall and any liquid exuded from the product passes through the porous sheet to a cavity and becomes absorbed by the absorbent material in the cavity. 11. The edge stackable absorbent container of claim 10, wherein a product that exudes liquid is supported by the ribs and liquid has exuded from the product and has passed through the porous sheet to the absorbent material and has been absorbed by the absorbent material and formed a gel that cannot pass through the porous sheet. 12. The edge stackable absorbent container of claim 10, and further including a support rim formed in a spread U-shape and positioned at said surrounding side walls and coextensive with said support ribs, said porous sheet supported by said support rim. 13. An edge stackable absorbent container for displaying a product that exudes liquid, comprising: a tray having a bottom wall and surrounding side walls extending upwardly from said bottom wall, said tray bottom wall having a central portion and opposed side portions on opposite sides of the central portion, said opposed side portions of said bottom wall sloped upwardly from said central portion of said bottom wall such that said bottom wall is of a spread U-shape, a grid of support ribs defining an array of upwardly facing cavities formed on said central portion and on said sloped side portions of said tray bottom wall, said ribs and said array of cavities formed in a spread U-shape, absorbent gel-forming material in at least some of said cavities, a porous sheet applied to said support ribs and extending in a spread U-shape over the cavities, such that when the container rests on one of the sloped opposed side portions of its bottom wall when edge stacked the central portion of the bottom wall becomes sloped upwardly therefrom, and liquid exuded from a product in the container passes through the porous sheet into a cavity and contacts the absorbent gel-forming material and forms a gel that cannot pass back through the porous sheet to the product. 14. A container for storing and displaying liquid exuding products comprising: a rectangular tray having a tray bottom wall and surrounding opposed side walls and end walls extending upwardly from said bottom wall and forming a continuous upper edge, an array of support ribs extending upwardly from said tray bottom wall and defining an array of upwardly facing central cavities and side cavities, said side cavities positioned on opposite sides of said central cavities and adjacent said side walls, said side and central cavities each having cavity bottom walls that form portions of the tray bottom wall, the cavity bottom walls of the side cavities are sloped with respect to the cavity bottom walls of said central cavities such that the bottom wall of the tray and the array of support ribs are formed in a spread U-shape, liquid absorbent material positioned in at least some of said side cavities, a porous sheet applied to said support ribs in a spread U-shape and extending over the cavities that have liquid absorbent material therein, a liquid exuding product placed on the porous sheet and supported by the support ribs, and a transparent sheet is applied over the product and secured to the upper edge of the tray, such that when the container is supported on a horizontal surface in a sloped attitude on the cavity bottom walls of one of the side cavities, the central cavities are sloped up from the horizontal surface and liquid exuded from the product passes through the porous sheet to the cavities and to the absorbent material and is absorbed by the absorbent material. 15. The container for storing and displaying liquid exuding products of claim 14, wherein the absorbent material is gel-forming when contacted by a liquid, and said container being configured so that when said tray is shingle-stacked with other similar trays with a side liquid collection cavity positioned lowermost, the interior ribs support the liquid exuding product and limit the application of the weight of the liquid exuding product against the absorbent material. 16. The container of claim 15 wherein the absorbent material is located in all of said liquid collection cavities. 17. The container of claim 14, wherein said sheet of porous material is adhered to said ribs of said tray and contains said absorbent material in all of said liquid collection cavities. 18. The container of claim 14, wherein one of said side liquid collection cavities is positioned at the lower most position with respect to the tray when said tray is shingle-stacked on its side. 19. The container of claim 14, wherein the side walls and end walls slope outwardly from the base wall as they extend upwardly so that trays can be nested together with the liquid absorbent placed in the cavities of the trays and a porous sheet placed on the ribs of each tray and when stacked without the liquid exuding products and the transparent sheet. 20. The container of claim 14, wherein drain notches are formed in said side ribs, with said drain notches extending beneath said porous material for allowing liquid to pass through the drain notches without passing back through the porous sheet. 21. The container of claim 14, wherein said absorbent material consists essentially of: at least one non-crosslinked gel-forming water soluble polymer having a first absorbency, said first absorbency being defined by weight of liquid absorbed/weight of said at least one non-crosslinked gel forming polymer, said at least one non-crosslinked gel forming polymer being food safe; at least one mineral composition having a second absorbency, said second absorbency being defined by weight of liquid absorbed/weight of said at least one mineral composition, said at least one mineral composition being food safe; and at least one soluble salt having at least one trivalent cation, said at least one soluble salt having at least one trivalent cation being food safe, the absorbency of said absorbent composition of matter exceeding a sum of said first absorbency and said second absorbency, said absorbent composition of matter being compatible with food products such that said absorbent composition of matter is food safe when in direct contact with the food products. 22. The container of claim 14, wherein said absorbent material consists essentially of a synthetic cross-linked polymer. 23. The container of claim 14, wherein said absorbent material consists essentially of sodium polyacrylate. 24. The container of claim 14, wherein at least one drain notch is formed in said support ribs and said drain notch is spaced from said porous sheet for allowing liquid to pass across said side rib without passing back through said porous sheet. 25. The container of claim 14, wherein said support ribs comprises a side rib adjacent all of said side walls. 26. A process for collecting a liquid exuding from or accompanying a product contained in a tray and forming the liquid into a gel away from the product and preventing the gel from migrating back to the product, said process comprising: the liquid into a gel away from the product and preventing the gel from migrating back to the product, said process comprising: providing a tray for displaying said product, said tray having a bottom wall and side walls, support ribs extending upwardly from the bottom wall and forming at least one central liquid collection cavity and side liquid collection cavities on opposite sides of the central liquid collection cavity, the side liquid collection cavities sloped upwardly from the central liquid collection cavity such that the bottom wall, support ribs and liquid collection cavities are in the shape of a spread U-shape, placing an absorbent material in said side liquid collection cavities, applying a porous sheet to said support ribs and extending said porous sheet in a spread U-shape over said side liquid collection cavities, retaining the absorbent material in said side liquid collection cavity with said porous sheet, placing a liquid exuding product in said tray, covering said liquid exuding product with a cover and connecting said cover to said tray, shingle-stacking the tray with other similar trays by tilting said tray and supporting the tray on one of the side liquid collection cavities with the central liquid collection cavity extending upwardly from the supporting side liquid collection cavity, draining liquid exuded from said liquid exuding product downwardly into the supporting side liquid collection cavity, absorbing with said absorbent material the liquid drained from said liquid exuding product into the supporting side liquid collection cavity and forming a gel of the liquid, and preventing the gel from passing back through said porous sheet.