Egg carton

Claim 2

A molded egg container comprising: a tray, a plurality of cells integrally formed in said tray, a cover hinged to said tray, cooperating locking means mounted on said tray and said cover, and a plurality of annular segmented cushion rings integrally formed on the interior walls of said cells, said annular segmented cushion rings arranged in ascending stepped relation to one another towards the cell opening.

Claim 3

A molded egg container as in claim 1, wherein said cover comprises a base panel, peripheral front, rear, and sidewalls angularly extending from said base panel to form a shell-like cover, one or more support beams impressed in said cover, said support beams protruding from the internal surface of said cover, and a plurality of protrusions from said support beam integrally formed in said beams and separated by a depressed spaced area.

Claim 4

A molded egg container as in claim 2 further comprising: a substantially planar peripheral flange formed on said tray about the opening of said cover, a plurality of support posts integrally formed on said tray and protruding upwardly above the plane of said peripheral flange, whereby said posts engage and are adapted to meet said protrusions on said support beams when said container is in closed position so as to protect and form partitions preventing the eggs from contacting one another.

Claim 5

A molded egg container as in claim 1 wherein said cover includes a front wall and said locking means comprises a locking flap hinged to said tray, at least one locking lug integrally formed on said locking flap, at least one aperture arranged in the approximate transverse center of said front wall of said cover, whereby said flap is rotated about said hinge such that said lug protrudes through said aperture in a cooperating locking fashion.

Claim 6

A molded egg carton as in claim 4 wherein said front cover wall is substantially planar and wherein said locking flap contains stopping means integrally formed therein, and adapted to rest against said peripheral flange of said tray portion when said locking flap is rotated inwardly.

Claim 7

A molded egg carton as in claim 4 wherein both said locking flap and said cover front wall are substantially planar.

Claim 8

A molded egg carton as in claim 1 wherein each of said annular segmented cushion rings includes a plurality of cushion ring sections laterally spaced on equal distance from adjacent sections of the same annular segmented cushion rings and equally vertically spaced from corresponding cushion ring sections of corresponding annular cushion rings.

Claim 9

A molded egg carton as in claim 7 wherein said plurality of annular segmented cushion rings are formed on the internal walls of said cells in successively increasing diameters approaching each cell opening.

Claim 10

A molded egg container as in claim 1 further comprising: said cells arranged in a pair of longitudinally extending rows, a substantially planar peripheral flange surrounding said pair of cell rows, a plurality of support posts integrally formed on said tray and protruding above said flange, said posts arranged between said rows in equal longitudinally spaced relation, a plurality of beams integrally formed in said cover so as to extend toward said posts when said container is in closed position, said beams each including a plurality of depending protrusions separated by a depressed spaced area integrally formed on each of the said beams, whereby each of said protrusions engages a separate post when said container is in closed position so as to protect against vertical stress and preventing the eggs from contacting one another.

Claim 11

A molded egg carton as described in claim 1 wherein said carton is composed of a foamed plastic material.

Claim 12

A molded egg carton as in claim 10 wherein said material is expanded polystyrene.

Claim 13

A molded egg carton comprising: a tray portion, a shell-shaped cover member integrally hinged to a longitudinal edge of said base member, said cover including a base panel, front and rear walls along the longitudinal edges of said base panel, end walls on said base panel between the ends of said front and rear walls, one or more depending beams extending from the interior surface of said cover base panel, a plurality of cells formed in said tray, toroidal-shaped cushion pads formed in the cell bottoms, annular segmented cushion rings integrally formed in spaced ascending relation to one another on the internal walls of said cells, locking means comprising at least one aperture arranged on said front wall of said cover in the approximate center thereof, at least one locking lug, protruding from said flap, whereby said flap is designed to rotate outwardly about said integral hinge so as to engage the internal surface of said front cover and allow said lug to protrude through said aperture when the container is in a closed position.

Claim 14

A molded egg carton comprising: a tray portion, a shell-shaped cover member integrally hinged to a longitudinal edge of said base member, said cover including a base panel, front and rear walls along the longitudinal edges of said base panel, end walls on said base panel between the ends of said front and rear walls, one or more depending beams extending from the interior surface of said cover base panel, a plurality of cells formed in said tray, toroidal-shaped cushion pads formed in the cell bottoms, annular segmented cushion rings integrally formed in spaced ascending relation to one another on the internal walls of said cells, locking means comprising at least one aperture arranged on said front wall of said cover in the approximate center thereof, at least one locking lug, protruding from said flap, whereby said flap is designed to rotate outwardly about said integral hinge so as to engage the internal surface of said front cover and allow said lug to protrude through said aperture when the container is in a closed position.

Claim 15

A molded egg carton as in claim 12 wherein each of said annular segmented cushion rings includes a plurality of cushion ring sections laterally spaced an equal distance from adjacent sections of the same annular segmented cushion ring, and equally vertically spaced from corresponding cushion sections of corresponding segmented annular cushion rings.

Claim 16

A molded egg carton as in claim 13 wherein said plurality of annular segmented cushion rings are formed on the internal walls of said cells in successively increasing diameters as they approach each cell opening.

Claim 17

A molded egg carton is described in claim 12 wherein the cells contain support means adapted to cradle the bottom of the eggs.

Claim 18

A molded egg carton as described in claim 15 wherein said support means are segmented toroidal-shaped pads.