Plastic planter flat

Claim 2

A compartmented tray thermoformed from a sheet of thermoplastic material, comprising: a pair of upstanding side walls and a pair of upstanding end walls and a bottom wall; an upstanding reinforcing rib integrally molded in said bottom wall and extending continously from one end of the tray to the opposite end thereof to define a pair of adjacent longitudinally extending rows on opposite sides of said reinforcing rib; asymmetrical stiffening means disposed in said rows on opposite sides of said reinforcing rib, said asymmetrical stiffening means consisting of a plurality of upstanding first cross ribs integrally molded into said bottom wall for separating one of said rows into adjacent compartments and a plurality of upstanding second cross ribs integrally molded into said bottom wall for separating the other of said rows into adjacent compartments, said second cross ribs being longitudinally spaced from and nonaligned with said first cross ribs in said one row to thereby define said asymmetrical stiffening means to effect a strengthening of said tray against bending along a line of the cross ribs.

Claim 3

A compartmented tray according to claim 1, including also a plurality of longitudinally extending rows each having a plurality of elongated, longitudinally spaced and upstanding first ribs in the bottom of said tray lower in height than and parallel to said reinforcing rib for effecting further longitudinal stiffening of said tray.

Claim 4

The compartmented tray defined in claim 2, including also a plurality of longitudinally aligned, laterally spaced second ribs in the bottom of said tray extending parallel to said reinforcing rib and extending continuously between and perpendicular to said cross ribs and drain openings extending through said bottom arranged along said second ribs, said openings being of a diameter greater than the width of said second ribs.

Claim 5

The compartmented tray defined in claim 3, wherein the upper contour on each of said cross ribs is arcuate in shape.

Claim 6

The compartmented tray defined in claim 4, wherein the portion of each of said cross ribs adjacent the reinforcing rib is lower than the opposite end thereof adjacent one of said side walls.

Claim 7

The compartmented tray defined in claim 3, wherein the upper contour on each of said cross ribs is concavely arcuate.

Claim 8

The compartmented tray defined in claim 1, including means defining a plurality of stacking lugs on said tray to prevent a plurality of stacked trays from sticking together.

Claim 9

A compartmented tray thermoformed from a sheet of thermoplastic material, comprising: a pair of upstanding side walls and a pair of upstanding end walls and a bottom wall; an upstanding reinforcing rib integrally molded in said bottom wall and extending continously from one end of the tray to the opposite end thereof to define a pair of adjacent longitudinally extending rows on opposite sides of said reinforcing rib; asymmetrical stiffening means disposed in said rows on opposite sides of said reinforcing rib, said asymmetrical stiffening means consisting of a plurality of longituDinally spaced and upstanding first cross ribs integrally molded in said bottom wall and extending perpendicularly to and between a side wall of said tray and one side of said reinforcing rib to separate one of said two rows into compartments and a plurality of longitudinally spaced and upstanding second cross ribs integrally molded in said bottom wall and extending perpendicularly to and between the other side wall of said tray and the other side of said reinforcing rib to separate the other of said two rows into compartments, each of said second cross ribs being longitudinally spaced from and nonaligned with said first cross ribs in said one row to thereby define said asymmetrical stiffening means, said longitudinal spacing between said first and second cross ribs being equal to one half the spacing between said cross ribs in said first and second rows so that said symmetrical first and second cross ribs will effect a strengthening of said tray against bending along a line of the cross ribs.

Claim 10

A compartmented tray thermoformed from a sheet of thermoplastic material, comprising: a pair of upstanding side walls and a pair of upstanding end walls and a bottom wall; an upstanding reinforcing rib integrally molded in said bottom wall and extending continously from one end of the tray to the opposite end thereof to define a pair of adjacent longitudinally extending rows on opposite sides of said reinforcing rib; asymmetrical stiffening means disposed in said rows on opposite sides of said reinforcing rib, said asymmetrical stiffening means consisting of a plurality of longituDinally spaced and upstanding first cross ribs integrally molded in said bottom wall and extending perpendicularly to and between a side wall of said tray and one side of said reinforcing rib to separate one of said two rows into compartments and a plurality of longitudinally spaced and upstanding second cross ribs integrally molded in said bottom wall and extending perpendicularly to and between the other side wall of said tray and the other side of said reinforcing rib to separate the other of said two rows into compartments, each of said second cross ribs being longitudinally spaced from and nonaligned with said first cross ribs in said one row to thereby define said asymmetrical stiffening means, said longitudinal spacing between said first and second cross ribs being equal to one half the spacing between said cross ribs in said first and second rows so that said symmetrical first and second cross ribs will effect a strengthening of said tray against bending along a line of the cross ribs.

Claim 11

A compartmented tray thermoformed from a sheet of thermoplastic material, comprising: a pair of upstanding side walls and a pair of upstanding end walls and a bottom wall; an upstanding reinforcing rib integrally molded in said bottom wall and extending continously from one end of the tray to the opposite end thereof to define a pair of adjacent longitudinally extending rows on opposite sides of said reinforcing rib; asymmetrical stiffening means disposed in said rows on opposite sides of said reinforcing rib, said asymmetrical stiffening means consisting of a plurality of longitudinally spaced and upstanding first cross ribs integrally molded in said bottom wall and extending perpendicularly to and between a side wall of said tray and one side of said reinforcing rib to separate one of said two rows into compartments and a plurality of longitudinally spaced and upstanding second cross ribs integrally molded in said bottom wall and extending perpendicularly to and between the other side wall of said tray and the other side of said reinforcing rib to separate the other of said two rows into compartments, each of said second cross ribs being longitudinally space from and nonaligned with said first cross ribs in said one row to thereby define said asymmetrical stiffening means, the spacing between an end wall of said tray and the nearest cross rib in at least one of said first and second rows being equal to a single spacing unit, said single spacing unit being also equal to said longitudinal spacing between any pair of said longitudinally spaced first and second cross ribs so that said asymmetrical first and second cross ribs will effect a stengthening of said tray against bending along a line of said cross ribs.

Claim 12

A compartmented tray thermoformed from a sheet of thermoplastic material, comprising: a pair of upstanding side walls and a pair of upstanding end walls and a bottom wall; an upstanding reinforcing rib integrally molded in said bottom wall and extending continously from one end of the tray to the opposite end thereof to define a pair of adjacent longitudinally extending rows on opposite sides of said reinforcing rib; asymmetrical stiffening means disposed in said rows on opposite sides of said reinforcing rib, said asymmetrical stiffening means consisting of a plurality of longitudinally spaced and upstanding first cross ribs integrally molded in said bottom wall and extending perpendicularly to and between a side wall of said tray and one side of said reinforcing rib to separate one of said two rows into compartments and a plurality of longitudinally spaced and upstanding second cross ribs integrally molded in said bottom wall and extending perpendicularly to and between the other side wall of said tray and the other side of said reinforcing rib to separate the other of said two rows into compartments, each of said second cross ribs being longitudinally space from and nonaligned with said first cross ribs in said one row to thereby define said asymmetrical stiffening means, the spacing between an end wall of said tray and the nearest cross rib in at least one of said first and second rows being equal to a single spacing unit, said single spacing unit being also equal to said longitudinal spacing between any pair of said longitudinally spaced first and second cross ribs so that said asymmetrical first and second cross ribs will effect a stengthening of said tray against bending along a line of said cross ribs.

Claim 13

The compartmented tray according to claim 9, wherein the number of said first cross ribs in said one row is one greater than the number of said second cross ribs in said other row.

Claim 14

The compartmented tray according to claim 10, wherein the number of said first cross ribs equals three and the number of said second cross ribs equals two.