Container for fragile food substance

Claim 1

An improved packaging blank for taco shells, each shell being brittle and similarly configured and dimensioned, the shells being contiguously aligned to each other by having the interior surface of each shell disposed about the exterior surface of the adjacent shell, the improvement comprising: a base panel for supporting the shells along a plane; a top panel extending from the base panel and having a planar surface that can be positioned perpendicular to a first axis; a bottom panel extending from the base panel and having a planar surface that can be positioned perpendicular to the first axis; a pair of side panels extending from the base panel, each side panel having a planar surface that can be positioned perpendicular to a second axis that is perpendicular to the first axis, the planar surfaces capable of remaining in contact with the edges of the shells; first means fixed to the planar surface of the top panel for maintaining the shells in a position along the base panel by operatively engaging the opposing interior surfaces of a first shell that interfaces the top panel, the first means including at least a first holding member having perforations and resilient, serrated opposing edge surfaces that are configured and dimensioned to extend along the interior surfaces of the first shell without contacting the bottom portion thereof particularly upon forces external to the blank being applied along the first axis; and second means fixed to the planar surface of the bottom panel for maintaining the shells in a position along the base panel, the second means having a flat surface area that operatively interfaces an exterior surface of a second shell to contact such exterior surface upon forces external to the blank being applied along the first axis.