Cover for retail produce baskets

Claim 2

A closure for a rectangular produce basket that has a rectangular rim formed with a downwardly facing rim shoulder, comprising: a cover of rectangular plan configuration made of resiliently flexible plastic material and having four integral flaps on its four sides to engage the four sides of said rim, respectively, each of said flaps having two opposite side edges, the flaps being disconnected at their side edges to permit each of the flaps to be flexed independently of the other flaps, the four pairs of confronting side edges of the flaps defining four triangular recesses in the cover at the four corners of the cover; upwardly facing hook elements formed on the inner sides of the four flaps near the outer edges thereof and extending inward from the flaps to engage said rim flange from the outer side thereof to releasably retain the cover on the basket.

Claim 3

A combination as set forth in claim 1, in which said flaps when unrestrained are inclined downwardly and outwardly, the area in plan of the cover where the flaps join the cover being less than the area in plan defined by the rim of the basket to permit the cover to be initially positioned with the downwardly and outwardly extending flaps overhanging the rim of the basket to cause the rim to flex the flaps outward in response to downward forcing of the initially positioned cover onto the basket until the hook elements pass over and under said fim flange with consequent storing of energy in the flexed flaps, whereby subsequently releasing the cover from the downward force permits the stored energy to swing the flaps inward with consequent upward camming of the released cover until the hook elements of the flaps engage said rim shoulder to releasably retain the cover on the basket.

Claim 4

A cover as set forth in claim 2, in which the flaps are formed with hook elements at different levels for selective engagement with said rim flange to maintain the cover at selected levels relative to the basket.

Claim 5

A combination as set forth in claim 2 in which the hook elements are integral enlargements on the inner sides of the flaps at their outer edges; and in which said enlargements are of generally triangular configuration with the enlargements forming upwardly facing hook shoulders to engage the basket rim from the outer side thereof and with the enlargements tapering from the hook shoulders downward to the outer edges of the flaps.