EP1123870A1

EP1123870A1 - Take away container for different foodstuffs

Info

Publication number: EP1123870A1
Application number: EP00830074A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Enrico Inter. Packaging Ind. S.p.A. Fulfaro
Original assignee: International Packaging Industry SpA
Current assignee: International Packaging Industry SpA
Priority date: 2000-02-02
Filing date: 2000-02-02
Publication date: 2001-08-16

Abstract

Take away container (1) for different foodstuffs, for separately carrying hot and cold foodstuffs, comprising a plurality of walls (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17) apt to define a room (2) housing for hot food (F), and a handle (3), characterised in that it further comprises support means of a receptacle (4) like a cup and the like (B), comprising at least one ring member (41, 42), apt to receive the receptacle for the support thereof, rotatably connected to a sidewall (11, 12) of the plurality of walls and movable between a reduced encumbrance configuration, wherein it is adhered to said sidewall, and a supporting configuration, wherein it projects from the sidewall externally to said room, such supporting configuration being determined by the receptacle that is received within the ring member and that abuts said sidewall at the lower end thereof (Fig. 3).

Description

The present invention relates to a take away container for different foodstuffs. In particular, it relates to a container comprising a plurality of walls apt to define a room for housing hot food, and a handle.
Recently, the purchasing of take away meals in the so-called «fast-foods» has gradually caught on. Such meals consist, e.g., of one or more hot foodstuffs, like burgers, chips and the like, and in one or more cold foods, such as ice-cold drinks, or ice creams, with countless variants.
Said meals are packaged, at the moment of purchase or shortly before, placing them within suitable containers for the take away and consumption thereof. These containers, usually foldable and made of paperboard, comprise a plurality of walls apt to delimit a room for housing the above-mentioned foodstuffs and drinks. Typically, the containers at issue are box-shaped and also provided with a handle. A container of this kind is described, e.g., in US 5,423,478, which provides for the packagings of the various foods to be received within the same, possibly partitioned, housing.
The above-described take away containers of the known art have some relevant drawbacks. The main drawback lies in the fact that within the same housing, however partitioned, hot as well as cold foodstuff containers are placed. Of course, this entails an important heat exchange thereamong, being of prejudice to both. In fact, the hot foodstuffs cool down rapidly, to the detriment of the taste and fragrance thereof. Analogously, the ice-cold drinks and/or the ice creams warm up just as rapidly. As a consequence, the drinks will lose their thirst-quenching effect, and the ice creams will quickly melt.
Further, it has to be pointed out that the insulating effect of the container paperboard is made useless by said heat exchange between the hot and the cold foodstuffs. In fact, despite the insulation from the external environment provided by the paperboard, the temperature of the hot foodstuffs and of the cold foods received within the container itself is altered.
An analogous problem may be found in case of hot drinks packaged together with colder foodstuffs.
Besides the lack of insulation among foodstuffs at different temperatures, it is herein be pointed out that the dedicated housing should necessarily be provided with large dimensions, making the container bulky and unsuitable to carry a number of food packagings differing from the provided one.
Further, liquids and solids are provided within a single housing, entailing obvious and unpleasant consequences in case of spilling.
Providing additional solid partitions merely mitigates said drawbacks, while making the construction of the container more complex and toilsome.
The technical problem underlying the present invention is that of providing a take away container for different foodstuffs allowing to overcome the problems mentioned with reference to the known art.
Such problem is overcome by a take away container for different foodstuffs, comprising a plurality of walls apt to define a room for housing hot food, and a handle, characterised in that it further comprises means for supporting a receptacle like a cup or the like, comprising at least one ring member, apt to receive said receptacle for the support thereof, rotatably connected to one sidewall of said plurality of walls and movable between a minimum encumbrance configuration, wherein it is adhered to said sidewall, and a supporting configuration, wherein it projects from said sidewall externally to said room, said supporting configuration being determined by the receptacle that is received within said ring member and that abuts said sidewall at the lower end thereof.
The present invention provides some relevant advantages. The main advantage lies in the fact that the presence of the above-mentioned receptacle support means and the arrangement thereof externally to the hot food housing permit to carry the ice-cold drinks and/or the ice creams separately from hot food, thereby avoiding a heat exchange therebetween. Moreover, the rotatable connection between the receptacle support means and the plurality of walls eases the realisation of the container according to the invention.
Other advantages, features and modes of use of the present invention will be made apparent in the following detailed description of an embodiment thereof, given by way of example and not for limitative purposes. Reference will be made to the figures of the annexed drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the take away container for different foodstuffs according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 shows a unitary paperboard blank from which the container of Fig. 1 is fashioned;
FIG. 3 is a partially sectional perspective view of the container of Fig. 1, filled with hot and cold foodstuffs; and
FIG. 4 is a partially sectional side view of the container of Fig. 3.
With reference to FIG. 1, a take away container for different, hot and cold, foodstuffs is globally indicated with 1 and it comprises a plurality of walls apt to define a room 2 for housing hot food. The container 1 is further provided with a handle 3.
The container 1 further comprises support means of a receptacle such as a cup and the like, globally indicated with 4. In particular, in the present embodiment such receptacle support means comprise a first and a second ring member, 41 and 42, respectively, apt to receive respective receptacles for the support thereof. These ring members are rotatably connected to respective sidewalls 13 and 14 of said plurality of walls. By virtue of such rotatable connection, each ring member is movable between a reduced encumbrance configuration thereof, in which it is adhered to the respective sidewall 13 or 14, and a supporting configuration, in which it projects from said sidewall 13 or 14 externally to the room 2, as it will be described in greater detail in the following, with reference to Figures 3 and 4.
Moreover, in the present embodiment, the container 1 is entirely fashioned from a unitary blank of paperboard, by means of folding and fixing steps of the plane parts thereof, as it will be disclosed in greater detail with reference to Figure 2.
Each of the abovementioned components will hereinafter be detailed.
With further reference to Figure 1, in the present embodiment the container 1 is substantially case-shaped. Therefore, it comprises four sidewalls, and, in particular, a first sidewall 11, a second sidewall 12, a third sidewall 13, hereinafter referred to as front wall, and a fourth sidewall 14, identical to the front wall 13, hereinafter referred to as rear wall. The container 1 further comprises a top wall, made of a first and a second top hemiwall 15 and 16, respectively, and a bottom wall 17. Each first or second hemiwall 15 or 16 is integral with a respective first or second sidewall 11 or 12. In particular, each top hemiwall 15 or 16 extends upperly to the respective sidewall 11 or 12 according to an arched contour, giving the abovementioned case-like shape to the container 1.
Said arched contour of the top hemiwalls 15, 16, jointly with the paperboard deformability, eases the opening/closure of the container 1 itself, as it will be described in grater detail later on.
In the present embodiment, the front and rear walls 13,14 are substantially orthogonal to the bottom wall 17. It is understood that in alternative embodiments such front and rear walls 13 and 14 could be differently inclined with respect to the bottom wall 17, in order to make the container 1 assume a trapezoidal shape in a side view.
In this embodiment, the receptacle support means 4 are located at the front and rear wall 13 and 14. In particular, the first ring member 41 is formed at the front wall 13 and the second ring member 42 is formed at the rear wall 14. Such first and second ring member 41, 42 are identical therebetween. Hence, only the first ring member 41 will be hereinafter described. Of course, this description can be extended to the second ring member 42.
In the embodiment of Figure 1, the first ring member 41 is flat and it has a circular opening for receiving a receptacle of an ice-cold drink or of an ice cream. Such receptacle could be, e.g., a bottle or a cup.
The ring member 41 is rotatably connected at one side thereof to the front wall 13, by means of a simple fold line, or creasing, 5.
Said rotatable connection enables even a mere paperboard ring member 41 to support receptacles of remarkable weight, as it will hereinafter be made apparent with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.
Further, such rotatable connection enables the ring member 41 to assume a plurality of supporting configurations, each determined by a different drink or ice cream receptacle received within the ring member 41 itself. To each of such supporting configurations, a different position of the ring member 41 itself with respect to the front wall 13, i.e. a different angle with respect thereto, corresponds.
As mentioned above, thanks of the possibility of assuming said plurality of supporting configurations, the ring member 41 can effectively support receptacles of various transverse dimensions and weight, as it will be made apparent in the following, always with reference to Figures 3 and 4.
The same rotatable connection to the front wall 13 also enables the ring member 41 to assume the above-mentioned reduced encumbrance configuration, in which the ring member 41 itself is rotated in order to adhere to the front wall 13. In this reduced encumbrance configuration, the container 1 can be effectively stored, or used exclusively to carry food, and possibly hot drinks, but not ice-cold drinks or ice creams.
In the present embodiment, the container 1 further provides reversible closure means, globally indicated with 6. These closure means 6 comprise two first flaps 61, each extending from a respective front 13 or rear 14 wall. Each of such first flaps 61 has a slot 62, with a function that will be disclosed hereinafter. In the embodiment of Figure 1, each slot 62 is substantially drop-shaped, and it has a rounded top 63.
The closure means 6 further comprise a second flap 64' and a third flap 64'', each extending from a respective first or second hemiwall 15 or 16 and apt to cooperate with said first flaps 61 to reversibly close the container 1. In particular, each of the flaps 64', 64'' has two longitudinally opposed and outward-inclined end portions. Each of such end portions implements an engagement member 65, apt to insert within a respective slot 62 of one of the first flaps 61. At each engagement member 65 the relative flap 64' or 64'' further has a groove 66, apt to abut a respective rounded top 63 of a slot 62.
In the present embodiment the second and the third flap, 64' and 64'', respectively, further have respective longitudinal slits 30 that cooperate to form the handle 3.
The third flap 64'' also has, at an upper edge of the slit 30 thereof, a closure cap 31, rotatably connected thereto with a creasing. Such cap 31 is apt to insert in the slit 30 of the second flap 64' in order to ease the gripping of the handle 3.
It will now be appreciated that, apart from the presence of the cap 31 onto the third flap 64'', the second and the third flap 64' and 64'' are identical therebetween, and therefore overlappable.
In the present embodiment, the container 1 also provides a further slit 7, formed in correspondence of the first hemiwall 15 and of the second flap 64'. Such further slit 7 allows the passage of straws possibly housed within the container 1. Further, this is a tension-relief area, as the container 1 is made of paperboard and formed from a unitary blank.
Moreover, since the container 1 is fashioned from a unitary blank of paperboard, it also comprises further closure means, and in particular fixing means 8, at the bottom wall 17. In fact, this latter wall is formed as a composition of various panels, as it will be made apparent in the following with reference to Figure 2.
As already disclosed, the container 1 of the present embodiment is fashioned from a unitary blank of plane paperboard, shown in Figure 2 and it is also indicated with 1. Such blank 1 comprises a plurality of panels apt to form the walls of the container 1. Therefore, whenever applicable, in the following description a panel will be indicated with the same reference number already used for the corresponding wall.
Referring to Figure 2, the blank 1 comprises a first panel 13, for forming the front wall 13. The blank 1 further comprises a second panel 115, for forming the first sidewall 11 and the first top hemiwall 15. The blank 1 further comprises a third panel 14, for forming the rear wall 14, and a fourth panel 126, for forming the second sidewall 12 and the second top hemiwall 16.
Contiguous panels are separated by a transverse creasing. In particular, a first transverse creasing 101 separates the first panel 13 and the second panel 115, a second transverse creasing 102 separates the second panel 115 and the third panel 14, and a third transverse creasing 103 separates the latter panel and the fourth panel 126.
Moreover, the fourth panel 126 has, onto a transverse edge thereof corresponding to an edge of the second sidewall 12, a fourth transverse creasing 104, separating it from a closure flap 18. Such closure flap 18 is apt to be glued on the inner face of the first panel 13 to form the container 1.
The above-described panels further have respective bottom creasings, each indicated with 105, separating them from respective bottom flaps, each indicated with 170. Such bottom flaps cooperate to form the bottom wall 17 of the container 1, and are piece-formed with the above-mentioned fixing means 8. The implementation modes of such bottom wall 17 starting from the bottom flaps 170 and from the fixing means 8 will be well-known to a person skilled in the art, hence a further description thereof is omitted.
The first ring member 41 is formed onto the first panel 13 according to a first outer cut line 410 and to a first inner cut line 411. The first outer cut line 410 delimits the outer border of the ring member 41, and the first inner cut line 411 is closed and it defines said circular opening for receiving a receptacle such as a cup and the like.
Analogously, the second ring member 42 is formed onto the third panel 12 according to a second outer cut line 420 and to a second closed inner cut line 421.
Of course, the fashioning of the container 1 from a unitary paperboard blank implies that at the inner cut lines 411, 421 correspond openings in the respective first and third panel 13 and 14, i.e. in the corresponding front and rear walls 13 and 14. Analogously, when the ring members 41, 42 are in a supporting configuration, openings of an extension equal to that of the regions circumscribed delimited by the outer cut lines 410, 420 are defined onto the front and rear walls 13 and 14.
All the other components of the container 1, and specifically the first flaps 61, the second flap 64', the third flap 64'' and the reversible closure means 6, will be easily discernible onto the blank of FIG. 2, hence a further description thereof will be omitted.
It will now be appreciated that the possibility of obtaining the container of the present invention from a unitary plane blank provides a further remarkable advantage. In fact, this makes the implementation of the container itself extremely simple and cost-effective and simplifies the storage thereof.
The modes of use of the container according to the invention will hereinafter be detailed with reference to Figures 3 and 4.
With initial reference to Figure 3, by virtue of the presence of the reversible closure means 6 the container 1 can pass from an opened condition, in which it can be filled with hot food F, to a closed condition, in which the hot food F is isolated inside the container 1 itself, and vice versa.
Of course, in said opened condition the reversible closure means 6 are disengaged, i.e. the engagement members 65 of the second and third flap 64' and 64'' are not inserted in the slots 62 of the first flaps 61. Therefore, the first and the second top wall 15 and 16 lie in a flattened configuration, and can easily be parted by virtue of the elasticity provided thereto from said arched contour and from the paperboard itself. By parting the top hemiwall 15, 16, an user gains access to the room 2 internal to the container 1 for the insertion of the hot food F. Such hot food could be, e.g., hot rolls, each enclosed within a respective box, as shown in Figure 3.
In order to close the container 1, the second and the third flap 64' e 64'' will be gripped and neared therebetween until they overlap. In such overlapping condition, also the engagement members 65 of the second and third flap 64' and 64'' will overlap in pairs. Thus, each of such pairs of engagement members 65 could be inserted within a respective slot 62. In order to carry out such insertion, the second and the third flap 64' e 64'', and therefore the corresponding upper hemiwalls 15, 16, will be pushed downwards, overcoming the springback of the hemiwalls 15, 16 themselves. Once the engagement members 65 have been inserted within the slots 62, the second and the third flap 64' and 64'' will be released, in order to have the above-mentioned springback bringing the grooves 66 of the engagement members 65 in abutment onto the rounded tops 63 of the slots 62.
Then, a receptacle, e.g. of an ice-cold drink or of an ice cream, can be inserted within the circular opening of each ring member 41, 42.
Of course, prior to such insertion, the ring members 41, 42 will have been brought from said reduced encumbrance configuration to a configuration wherein they project outward, off the respective wall 13 or 14.
In the embodiment of Figures 3 and 4, the receptacle inserted within each ring member 41 o 42 is a common frustocone-shaped paper cup, indicated with B.
The insertion and support modes of a cup B will hereinafter be described in greater detail with reference to the first ring member 41. Of course, it is understood that the other paper cup B will be inserted and supported into the second ring member 42 according to the same modes.
The cup B is inserted from the above into the circular opening of the first ring member 41, sliding downward within such opening until the outer diameter thereof equals the diameter of the circular opening itself. Then, any further relative downward sliding of the cup B with respect to the first ring member 41 is prevented, and thus the cup B itself is retained within such first ring member 41. In this condition, the weight of the cup B causes the downward rotation of the first ring member 41 with respect to the front wall 13, about the fold line 5. This rotation continues until the lower end of the lateral surface of the cup B abuts the front wall 13 of the container 1. In fact, a further downward rotation of the first ring member 41 is prevented by such abutment of the side surface of the cup B onto the front wall 13.
Thus, the action of the first ring member 41 and the force resulting from the co-operation of the bottom end of the cup B with the front wall 13 support the cup B itself in a substantially upright position.
Of course, the entity of the rotation of the first ring member 41 about the fold line 5 required for causing the abutment of the cup B onto the front wall 13 is determined by on the taper of the cup B itself and by the possible inclination of the front wall 13. In fact, as already mentioned, in alternative embodiments such front wall 13, as well as the rear wall 14, could be inclined outwards or inwards with respect to the bottom wall 17.
Of course, the same container 1 could be used to carry receptacles of a shape different from the frustoconical one. Such receptacles could be, e.g., bottles or frustopyramidal cups. In this latter instance, the opening of the ring member 41 could advantageously be square- or rectangle-shaped, rather than circular, the receptacle modes of support remaining the same as those described above.
Once the insertion of the respective receptacles within the first and the second ring member 41 e 42 has been carried out, the container 1 is ready to be taken away. In particular, since the second and the third flap 64' and 64'' overlap in the closed condition of the container 1, the respective slits 30 overlap as well, thus forming the handle 3. Moreover, in order to shield the top edges of the slits 30, the cap 31 of the third flap 64'' can be rotated and inserted through the slit 30 of the second flap 64'. Thus, by virtue of such cap 31, a user can safely grip the handle 3, with no risk of cutting him/herself with said possibly sharp edges.
It has to be pointed out that the relative arrangement of the first and second ring member 41 and 42 and of the handle 3 greatly eases the carrying of the container 1. In particular, the arrangement along parallel sidewalls of the first and the second ring member 41 and 42, and the positioning of the handle 3 between such sidewalls parallelly to the advancing direction of a user carrying the container avoids interference of the carried receptacles with the user's body.
It will now be appreciated that the container according to the invention, by providing an external housing for the cold foodstuff receptacles, allows, with the dimensions being equal, to carry a larger quantity of hot food with respect to the containers of the known art.
Moreover, said containers are firmly supported during the carry. This is particularly advantageous in case of drink receptacles, for which the risk of an accidental spilling of the content thereof is significantly reduced with respect to the case of the containers of the known art, in which they are merely rested onto the inner housing of the container. Anyhow, even if a drink should accidentally spill from the receptacle, this would not directly fall onto the hot foodstuffs, as is the case in the containers of the known art.
Of course, in alternative embodiments the container 1 could have a different number of ring members, to support a different number of receptacles. However, it will be appreciated that the above-disclosed embodiment, providing a first and a second identical and symmetrically arranged ring members, provides the utmost stability of the container according to the invention, thereby easing the carrying thereof.
Of course, alternative embodiments could also provide several ring members of different shapes, in order to support differently shaped receptacles within the same container.
The present invention has been hereto disclosed with reference to preferred embodiments thereof. It is understood that other embodiments afferent to the same inventive concept may be effected, all however falling within the protective scope of the annexed claims.

Claims

A take away container (1) for different foodstuffs, comprising

a plurality of walls (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17) apt to define a room (2) for housing for hot food (F),

and a handle (3),
characterised in that it further comprises

means for supporting a receptacle (4) such as a cup and the like (B), comprising at least one ring member (41, 42), apt to receive said receptacle for the support thereof, rotatably connected to a sidewall (11, 12) of said plurality of walls and movable between a reduced encumbrance configuration, wherein it is adhered to said sidewall, and a supporting configuration, wherein it projects from said sidewall externally to said room, said supporting configuration being determined by the receptacle that is received within said ring member and that abuts said sidewall at the lower end thereof.
The container (1) according to claim 1, wherein said receptacle support means comprise a first (41) and a second (42) ring member, rotatably connected to respective parallel sidewalls (13, 14) of said plurality of walls and symmetrically arranged with respect to said container.
The container (1) according to claim 1, wherein said container is made of paperboard and it is made from a unitary plane blank (1).
The container (1) according to claim 3, wherein said ring member (41, 42) is formed by die cutting onto a panel (13, 14) of said plane blank (1) according to an outer cut line (410), delimiting said ring member, and to an inner cut line (411), defining a receiving opening of said receptacle.
The container (1) according to claim 3 or 4, wherein said rotatable connection of said ring member (41, 42) with said sidewall (13, 14) is realised by a fold line (5) of said plane blank (1).
The container (1) according to claim 1, wherein said sidewall (13, 14) is substantially orthogonal to a bottom wall (17) of said container.
The container (1) according to claim 1, wherein said sidewall (13, 14) is inclined with respect to a bottom wall (17) of said container, in order to make said container assume a trapezoidal shape in a side view.
The container (1) according to claim 1, wherein said ring member (41, 42) has a receptacle receiving opening shaped to receive a receptacle of a frustoconical, frustopiramidal and the like shape.
The container (1) according to claim 1, comprising reversible closure means (6), said reversible closure means comprising engagement members (65), formed onto first side flaps (61) of said container, and respective slots (62), formed onto further side flaps (64', 64''), each of said slots being apt to receive a pair of said engagement members.