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Disclosed is a package having a rigid tray and a dual purpose portion that can serve either as a base for the tray or a lid for the tray. The dual purpose portion has a first grooved portion sized to be retained by a base portion of the tray, and a second grooved portion sized to be retained by an u

Disclosed is a package having a rigid tray and a dual purpose portion that can serve either as a base for the tray or a lid for the tray. The dual purpose portion has a first grooved portion sized to be retained by a base portion of the tray, and a second grooved portion sized to be retained by an upper lip portion of the tray.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A package comprising: a rigid tray having a base portion at a bottom of the tray, walls having lower portions, and an upper lip portion peripherally surrounding an opening at a top of the tray; anda dual purpose portion configured to connect to the rigid tray under the bottom of the tray defining

1. A package comprising: a rigid tray having a base portion at a bottom of the tray, walls having lower portions, and an upper lip portion peripherally surrounding an opening at a top of the tray; anda dual purpose portion configured to connect to the rigid tray under the bottom of the tray defining a package base position of the duel purpose or over the top of the tray to cover the opening of the tray defining a package lid position of the dual purpose portion, the dual purpose portion having a planar surface and a rib extending generally orthogonally with respect to the planar surface, with the rib including a first side portion, a second side portion, a base segment, and an end segment with the first side portion facing a first direction inwardly toward the planar surface, the second side portion facing an opposite second direction outwardly away from the planar surface, the base segment connected to the planar surface, and the end segment extending away from and being wider than the base segment of the rib;wherein the first side portion of the rib is configured to engage the lower portions of the walls of the tray when the dual purpose portion is in the package base position;wherein the second portion is configured to engage the upper lip portion of the tray when the dual purpose portion is in the package lid position; andwherein when the dual purpose portion is in the package lid position, the rib extends downwardly toward the bottom of the tray and when the dual purpose portion is in the package base position, the dual purpose portion is inverted relative to the package lid position of the dual purpose portion with the rib extending upwardly away from the bottom of the tray when the dual purpose portion is in the package base position; wherein the closed bottom of the tray includes a floor and the tray has interconnected side with lower portions extending inwardly to define a detent adjacent the floor of the tray and wherein the inwardly facing portion of the rib of the dual purpose portion is received in the detent to hold the dual purpose portion under the bottom of the tray when the package is in the first configuration in which the dual purpose portion defines the package base. 2. The package of claim 1, wherein the base portion includes an offset portion and a floor portion, wherein the offset portion has a perimeter and the first portion of the rib is sized to press fit with respect to the perimeter to retain the dual purpose portion under the bottom of the tray. 3. The package of claim 1, wherein the second portion of the rib is sized to press fit with respect to the upper lip portion of the tray. 4. A package comprising: a rigid tray having a closed bottom, an open top, and a wall extending about an interior of the tray with a lower recess adjacent the bottom and extending inwardly toward the interior of the tray and an upper recess adjacent the top and extending outwardly away from the interior of the tray;a dual purpose portion having a planar surface and a rib extending away from the planar surface, the rib having an inwardly facing side portion facing inwardly toward the planar surface and an outwardly facing side portion facing outwardly away from the planar surface,wherein in a first configuration of the package, the dual purpose portion defines an inverted package base position with the rib facing upwardly away from the bottom of the tray and the inwardly facing side portion of the rib engaging and nesting into the lower recess of the tray; andwherein in a second configuration of the package, the dual purpose portion defines a package lid position with the rib facing downwardly toward the bottom of the tray and the outwardly facing side portion of the rib engaging and nesting into the upper recess of the tray; wherein the closed bottom of the tray includes a floor and the tray has interconnected sides with lower portions extending inwardly to define a detent adjacent the floor of the tray and wherein the inwardly facing portion of the rib of the dual purpose portion is received in the detent to hold the dual purpose portion under the bottom of the tray when the package is in the first configuration in which the dual purpose portion defines the package base. 5. The package of claim 4, wherein when the package is in the first configuration in which the dual purpose portion defines the package base, the dual purpose portion extends outwardly beyond the closed bottom of the tray. 6. The package of claim 4, wherein the open top of the tray includes a lip engaged by the outwardly facing portion of the rib of the dual purpose portion when the package is in the second configuration in which the dual purpose portion defines the package lid. 7. The package of claim 6, wherein when the package is in the second configuration in which the dual purpose portion defines the package lid, the dual purpose portion and the lip define an interconnected arrangement between corresponding ridges. 8. A method of using a package comprising the steps of: filling a rigid tray with product, wherein the tray has a closed bottom, a wall extending about an interior of the tray having a first recess extending, inwardly toward the interior of the tray, and an open top receiving the product during filling of the tray; wherein the closed bottom of the tray includes a floor and the tray has interconnected sides with lower portions extending inwardly to define a detent adjacent the floor of the tray and attaching a package base having a planar surface and a rib extending from the planar surface to the tray by pushing the package base from below toward the bottom of the tray and press fitting the rib into the first recess of the wall of the tray; wherein the inwardly facing portion of the rib of the dual purpose portion is received in the detent to hold the package base under the bottom of the tray; wrapping the tray and base portion to seal in the product;delivering the package to a retail location;displaying the package for sale to a consumer; andconverting the package base to a package lid, including, separating the package base from the tray;inverting the package base to face an opposite direction;pushing the inverted package base as the package lid from above toward the top of the tray engaging the tray to cover the open top of the tray with the package lid. 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of storing the rigid trays in a stacked configuration. 10. The method of claim 8 wherein the wall of the tray includes a second recess extending outwardly away from the interior of the tray, the method further comprising: press fitting the rib into the second recess of the wall of the tray while pushing the inverted package base as the package lid from above toward the top of the tray; andstoring the remainder of the product until next use. 11. A package comprising: a tray having a closed bottom, an open top, and interconnected sides extending about an interior of the tray and between the bottom and top of the tray, the sides defining an outer surface facing outwardly away from the interior of the tray and an inner surface facing inwardly into the interior of the tray; anda dual purpose portion configured as both a package base when the package is in a first configuration of the package with the dual purpose portion arranged below the bottom of the tray and a package lid when the package is in a second configuration of the package with the dual purpose portion arranged above the top of the tray, the dual purpose portion having,a planar portion with an outer surface and an opposing inner surface; anda rib extending generally orthogonally from the inner surface of planar portion of the dual purpose portion, the rib including a base segment and an end segment, wherein the base segment is narrower than and arranged closer to the planar portion than the end segment, the rib having an inwardly facing surface and an outwardly facing surface at opposing sides of the rib of the dual purpose portion, wherein the rib is configured so that when the package is in the first configuration with the dual purpose portion defining the package base, the inwardly facing surface of the rib engages the outer surface of the sides of the tray adjacent the bottom of the tray with the rib facing upwardly away from the bottom of the tray and the inner surface of the dual purpose portion facing upwardly toward the interior of the tray, wherein the closed bottom of the tray includes a floor and the tray has interconnected sides with lower portions extending inwardly to define a detent adjacent the floor of the tray and wherein the inwardly facing portion of the rib of the dual purpose portion is received in the detent to hold the dual purpose portion under the bottom of the tray when the package is in the first configuration in which the dual purpose portion defines the package base and when the package is in the second configuration with the dual purpose portion defining the package lid, the dual purpose portion is inverted with respect to the dual purpose portion defining the package base such that when the dual purpose portion defines the package lid, the outwardly facing surface of the rib engages the inner surface of the sides of the tray adjacent the top of the tray with the rib facing downwardly toward the bottom of the tray and the inner surface of the dual purpose portion facing downwardly toward the interior of the tray.