Slidable wire tray & container

Abstract

A housing and tray assembly for holding coffee pods. The housing has a rectangular shape formed by a wire frame. A tray is removably inserted into an opening in the front of the housing. The tray has pairs of dividers defining rows running from the front to the back of the tray. The dividers in each pair are spaced apart a distance so the lips on coffee pods in adjacent rows do not abut. The dividers defining each row are spaced apart so the coffee pods are suspended on the lips of the coffee pods or spaced apart to squeeze and hold the coffee pod body to suspend the coffee pod in the row.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A housing and tray assembly for holding coffee pods having a body with maximum body diameter D adjacent a sealed opening of the coffee pod and a smaller diameter bottom Db opposite thereto, and having a sealing flange extending a distance d beyond the pod body diameter D, comprising:
 a rectangular, wire frame housing wider than it is high and having two opposing sides, a top and bottom, a back and a front, with a housing corner post at each corner of the housing, the top comprising a sheet of material fastened to the housing corner posts, each sides comprising a side connecting rod fastened to two of the housing corner posts on the side where the side connecting rod is located, the front and back comprising a front and back connecting rod each fastened to two of the housing corner posts on the respective front or back where the front or back connecting rod is located, the housing defining an opening;   a rectangular, open, wire frame tray sized to fit into the opening in the front of the housing, the tray having an upper and lower rectangular frame held in relative position by tray corner posts to form two opposing tray sides, an open tray top and an opposingly located tray bottom, a tray back and a tray front, each sides comprising a side connecting rod fastened to two of the corner posts on the side where the side connecting rod is located;   a plurality of paired first and second dividers extending from a front to the back of the tray, the dividers in each pair of dividers being spaced apart a distance, a second and first divider from two different pairs of adjacent dividers defining at least one row, the second and first dividers being spaced a distance apart of at least Db so that at least the bottom of the body of the coffee pod may be placed between the adjacent dividers.   
     
     
         2 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the distance between the second and first dividers is about D or slightly larger so the coffee pods may be by the dividers on the rims of the coffee pods during use. 
     
     
         3 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the distance between the second and first dividers is between D and Db. 
     
     
         4 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the dividers in each pair of dividers are spaced apart a distance sufficient to avoid the flanges of coffee pods in the adjacent rows defined by the pairs of dividers from hitting each other during use. 
     
     
         5 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the dividers in each pair of dividers are spaced apart a distance sufficient to avoid the flanges of coffee pods in the adjacent rows defined by the pairs of dividers from hitting each other during use. 
     
     
         6 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the dividers in each pair of dividers are spaced apart a distance of about 2 d, measured edge to edge on the dividers. 
     
     
         7 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 1 , wherein each pair of dividers is closer together at the back of the tray and further apart at the front of the tray. 
     
     
         8 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the side connecting rods are above the front and rear connecting rods and located vertically above the lower frame when the tray is inserted into the housing so as to limit tilting of the tray about a horizontal axis. 
     
     
         9 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a back stop connected to at least one of the rear housing corner posts and located to abut the tray and limit motion of the tray relative to the housing, and wherein the tray has a bottom surface located below the dividers a distance so the coffee cups do not abut the bottom surface when suspended vertically from the dividers during use. 
     
     
         10 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a back stop extending between two of the rear housing corner posts and located to abut the tray and limit motion of the tray relative to the housing. 
     
     
         11 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the top comprises a transparent sheet of material removably fastened to the top of the four housing corner posts. 
     
     
         12 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a motion limit stop fastened to the tray to limit removal of the tray from the front of the housing. 
     
     
         13 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the divider rods have an inverted U-shape with the ends of the legs of the U located at the front of the tray being fastened to a lower member that is fastened to the front of the lower frame. 
     
     
         14 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a second tray as defined in  claim 1  located in the housing below the first tray. 
     
     
         15 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the a plurality of paired first and second dividers extending from a front to the back of the tray, the dividers in each pair of dividers being spaced apart a distance, a second and first divider from two different pairs of adjacent dividers defining at least one row, the second and first dividers being spaced a distance apart of at least Db so that at least the bottom of the body of the coffee pod may be placed between the adjacent dividers 
     
     
         16 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the dividers have an upper, support portion in the same plane as the upper frame of the tray and are spaced apart from the adjacent divider a distance of about D to form a row within which to suspend a coffee pod during use. 
     
     
         17 . A housing and tray assembly for holding rows of coffee pods, the coffee pods each having a body with maximum body diameter D adjacent a sealed opening of the coffee pod and a smaller diameter bottom Db opposite thereto, and having a sealing flange extending a distance d beyond the pod body diameter D, comprising:
 a rectangular, wire frame having four housing corner posts joined by four connecting rods comprising a front, back and two side connecting rods, with a transparent top fastened to the top of each housing corner post to define a housing with a front, back, two sides and a back, the side connecting rods being above the front connecting rod;   a tray slidably insertable into and removable from the front of the housing, the tray comprising four tray corner posts joining the corners of a rectangular upper frame and a rectangular lower frame;   a plurality of dividers defining rows running from the front to the back of the tray, the dividers forming adjacent rows with two dividers defining one row, the dividers having tops located a distance apart sufficient to engage a lip of the coffee pod between the dividers to suspend the coffee pod on the dividers and in the row during use.   
     
     
         18 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 18 , wherein the dividers are formed in pairs, with each divider supporting coffee pods in only one row during use so the pairs of dividers support coffee pods in two different rows during use, the pairs of dividers spaced apart a distance sufficient so that the flanges of the coffee pods in the two rows supported by the pair of dividers do not abut each other. 
     
     
         19 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 19 , further comprising a stop limiting movement of the tray relative to the housing, and wherein the tray has a bottom surface located below the dividers a distance so the coffee cups do not abut the bottom surface when suspended vertically from the dividers during use. 
     
     
         20 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 18 , wherein the side connecting rods of the housing are located vertically above the sides of the lower frame of the tray so as to restrict rotation of the tray about an axis parallel to the front connecting rod. 
     
     
         21 . A housing and tray assembly for holding rows of coffee pods, the coffee pods each having a body with maximum body diameter D adjacent a sealed opening of the coffee pod and a smaller diameter bottom Db opposite thereto, and having a sealing flange extending a distance d beyond the pod body diameter D, comprising:
 a housing having a front and opposing back, two opposing sides, a top and a bottom, the top formed by a surface fastened to the housing to cover the housing;   a tray removably inserted into an opening in the front of the housing, the tray having a plurality dividers defining rows running from the front to the back of the tray between each of two of said plurality of dividers, the two dividers forming each row having an upper support in substantially the same plane and located a distance apart sufficient to engage a lip of the coffee pod between the dividers to suspend the coffee pod in the row between the dividers during use.   
     
     
         22 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 21 , wherein the dividers are formed in pairs, with each divider supporting coffee pods in only one row during use so the pairs of dividers support coffee pods in two different and adjacent rows during use, the pairs of dividers spaced apart a distance sufficient so that the flanges of the coffee pods in the two rows supported by the pair of dividers do not abut each other. 
     
     
         23 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 21 , wherein the tray has an upper frame in substantially the same plane as a top of the dividers with sides of the upper frame cooperating with an adjacent divider to define a row and with the sides of the upper frame spaced a distance apart a distance between about Db and D. 
     
     
         24 . The housing and tray assembly of  claim 21 , wherein the tray has a bottom surface located below the dividers a distance so the coffee cups do not abut the bottom surface when suspended vertically from the dividers during use. 
     
     
         25 . A method of supporting coffee pods in a tray, the tray having a plurality of dividers forming rows running from the front to the back of the tray, the coffee pods each having a body with maximum body diameter D adjacent a sealed opening of the coffee pod and a smaller diameter bottom Db opposite thereto, and having a sealing flange extending a distance d beyond the pod body's maximum diameter D, the tray having comprising:
 placing a coffee pod in one row between two adjacent dividers;   applying force as needed so the coffee pod body or sealing flange contacts each adjacent divider to suspend the coffee pod.   
     
     
         26 . The method of supporting coffee pods defined in  claim 26 , wherein the dividers defining each row are spaced apart a distance between slightly less than D and larger than Db, the method including placing the coffee pod in a row and between adjacent dividers so the adjacent dividers support the coffee pod by contacting the coffee pod body during use. 
     
     
         27 . The method of supporting coffee pods defined in  claim 26 , wherein the dividers are spaced apart a distance of about D and the method includes placing the coffee pod in a row and between adjacent dividers so the adjacent dividers support the coffee pod by contacting the coffee pod lip.