Three-way tray

Abstract

A tray for providing at least three levels of stacking between vertically adjacent trays includes a tray having four walls, a bottom, and an adjustment member. The adjustment member can be a pin. The tray includes multiple grooves, multiple extensions, multiple recesses, and multiple projections for engagement with another vertically adjacent stacked tray. The adjustment member in combination with the multiple grooves, multiple extensions, multiple recesses, and multiple projections define a first stacking level, a second stacking level, and a third stacking level, which is intermediate to the first stacking level and the second stacking level. An additional stacking level is defined when vertically adjacent stacked trays are rotated 90° with respect to each other.

1 . A tray for vertically stacking a plurality of identical trays and providing at least three levels of stacking between two vertically adjacent stacked trays comprising: 
 a first wall;    a second wall located opposite from the front wall;    a first side wall;    a second side wall located opposite from the first side wall;    a bottom connectible between the four walls; and    means for adjustably stacking vertically adjacent containers.    
   
   
       2 . The tray of  claim 1  further comprising at least one aperture associated with each of the first side wall and the second side wall to allow at least one of gripping the tray by an operator and viewing items contained in the tray.  
   
   
       3 . The tray of  claim 2  wherein the aperture has at least one of a rectangular shape and a plurality of rounded corners.  
   
   
       4 . The tray of  claim 1  wherein the apparatus is formed of a plastic material.  
   
   
       5 . The tray of  claim 4  wherein the plastic material further comprises an injection molded plastic.  
   
   
       6 . The tray of  claim 4  wherein the plastic material further comprises at least one of a virgin plastic material, a reprocessed plastic material, and any mixture thereof.  
   
   
       7 . The tray of  claim 1  wherein the bottom is integrally formed with the first wall, the second wall, the first side wall, and the second side wall.  
   
   
       8 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the second side wall is a mirror image of the first side wall.  
   
   
       9 . The tray of  claim 1  wherein the bottom further comprises a plurality of apertures.  
   
   
       10 . The tray of  claim 9  wherein the plurality of apertures are arranged in at least one of a grid pattern, a honeycomb pattern, and a parallel slotted pattern.  
   
   
       11 . The tray of  claim 1  wherein the adjustably stacking means further comprises: 
 a plurality of grooves located proximate to a top edge of the first side wall and the second side wall and having a continuous outer ledge and a discontinuous inner ledge spaced from and oriented parallel to the outer ledge to form each groove;    a plurality of recesses located proximate to the top edge of the first side wall and the second side wall;    a plurality of extensions located proximate to a bottom edge of the first side wall and the second side wall and having a corresponding shape, a corresponding location, and a corresponding number to the plurality of recesses and each extension including a protrusion having a complementary shape to the groove and located proximate to the bottom edge;    at least one adjustment member associated with at least one of the first side wall and the second side wall and having a plurality of steps located along a top edge of the adjustment member and corresponding to a plurality of stacking levels and;    at least one channel formed in at least one of the first side wall and the second side wall for receiving the at least one adjustment member and located proximate to the plurality of recesses.    
   
   
       12 . The tray of  claim 11  wherein the plurality of recesses further comprise a plurality of recesses non-uniformly spaced along the top edge of each side wall.  
   
   
       13 . The tray of  claim 11  wherein the at least one adjustment member further comprises a slidable pin.  
   
   
       14 . The tray of  claim 11  wherein the at least one adjustment member further comprises detent means for defining a plurality of stop positions for the adjustment member.  
   
   
       15 . The tray of  claim 11  wherein the at least one adjustment member further comprises means for retaining the adjustment member relative to the at least one channel.  
   
   
       16 . The tray of  claim 15  wherein the retaining means further comprises at least one retaining member of the at least one adjustment member receivable by at least one aperture of at least one of the first side wall and the second side wall proximate to the at least one channel.  
   
   
       17 . The tray of  claim 1  wherein the adjustable stacking means further comprises: 
 a first stacking level defined when the vertically adjacent stacked trays are in an identical orientation with respect to one another and a plurality of protrusions of one tray are received by a plurality of complementary grooves of another tray;    a second stacking level defined when one tray is rotated one-hundred eighty degrees (180°) with respect to another vertically adjacent stacked tray, an at least one adjustment member of the one tray is in a first position, and a plurality of protrusions of the another tray are fully received by a plurality of recesses of the one tray; and    a third stacking level intermediate with respect to the first stacking level and the second stacking level and defined when one tray is rotated one-hundred eighty degrees (180°) with respect to another vertically adjacent stacked tray, the at least one adjustment member of the one tray is in a second position, and the extensions of another tray are partially received by the complementary recesses of the one tray to a depth limited by the at least one adjustment member.    
   
   
       18 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the adjustable stacking means further comprises a stacking level defined when one container is rotated ninety degrees (90°) with respect to another vertically adjacent stacked container, and the first side wall and the second side wall of the one container is received by at least one complementary notch of the first wall and the second wall of the tray.  
   
   
       19 . A container for stacking a plurality of identical containers and providing at least three levels of stacking between two vertically adjacent stacked containers comprising: 
 a first wall;    a second wall located opposite from the front wall;    a first side wall;    a second side wall located opposite from the first side wall;    a bottom connectible between the four walls; and    means for adjustably stacking vertically adjacent containers comprising a first stacking level defined when the vertically adjacent stacked containers are in an identical orientation with respect to one another and a plurality of protrusions of one container are received by a plurality of grooves of another container, a second stacking level defined when one container is rotated one-hundred eighty degrees (180°) with respect to another vertically adjacent stacked container, an at least one adjustment member of the one container is in a first position, and a plurality of extensions of the another container are fully received by a plurality of recesses of the one container, and a third stacking level intermediate with respect to the first stacking level and the second stacking level and defined when one container is rotated one-hundred eighty degrees (180°) with respect to another vertically adjacent stacked container, the at least one adjustment member of the one container is in a second position, and the extensions of another container are partially received by the recesses of the one container to a depth limited by the at least one adjustment member.    
   
   
       20 . The container of  claim 19  further comprising at least one aperture associated with each of the first side wall and the second side wall to allow at least one of gripping the container by an operator and viewing items contained in the container.