GB2350604A

GB2350604A - Container

Info

Publication number: GB2350604A
Application number: GB0013325A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Declan Lockett
Original assignee: HORIZON BISCUIT Co Ltd TH
Current assignee: HORIZON BISCUIT Co Ltd TH
Priority date: 1999-06-03
Filing date: 2000-06-02
Publication date: 2000-12-06
Also published as: GB0013325D0

Abstract

A container preferably for biscuits comprises a base 6 and a cover 4 releasably connected thereto. The base 6 and the cover 4 are provided with complementary connection means which are elastically deformable so that they can be easily and quickly disconnected from one another. The base 6 and cover 4 are of generally the same cross-sectional shape, ideally circular, and connected to each other in a manner which allows the cover 4 to rotate around and externally of the base 6 so that products contained within the base 6 are revealed progressively as the cover is further rotated. The base is preferably provided on an inner arcuate surface with lands 14 which with each other and the other surfaces of the base 6 define arcuate grooves which can receive the edges of biscuits and prevent axial movement thereof in said base 6.

Description

2350604 Container This invention relates to an improved container, and in

particular to container for containing a plurality of identical items discretely and in a segregated manner within the container.

Although the following invention is described with almost exclusive reference to a container for discretely storing biscuits, those skilled in the art will immediately recognise that the proposeeF invention may be easily adapted to the discrete storage of other items.

The reader will be aware that the vast majority of biscuits are circular, and are generally packaged for consumption in tubular cartons of a rectangular cross-section immediately after having been scaled in a foil or cellophane wrapper. Such cartons typically contain between 10 and 20 individual biscuits, and it is most unusual for all such biscuits to be consumed in a single sitting. Indeed. it is more common biscuits to be removed individually from the carton and wrapper intermittently, for example over a period of days.

Biscuits are also a common addition to packed lunches in which are provided a variety of foods including sandwiches, fruit, crisps and savoury and/or salted snack products, all of which are commonly contained within a lunch box. In particular, the sandwiches provided in a packed lunch are usually wrapped to maintain the freshness of the sandwich constituents, snack products are generally individually wrapped or otherwise discretely contained, and fruit being difficult to wrap effectively and moreover not requiring a means of maintaining the freshness thereof, is simply deposited within the lunch box unwrapped.

The difficulty with biscuits is that most types of biscuit (being those 2 which are not individually wrapped) are friable and prone to crumbling as they are jostled within the lunchbox, both as a result of the movement of the other foods therein, and as a result of the knocks and movements to which the lunchbox is subjected during its movement between the location in which the foods deposited therein are prepared, and the location where said foods are consumed. Hence, although other foods within the lunchbox generally remain intact, if a little deformed, after the lunchbox has been carried by its owner to the location where the foods therein are consumed, biscuits which are simply deposited in the lunchbox without supplemental protection may be broken and will have in any event crumbled to a certain degree, in extreme circumstances being completely obliterated.

A further disadvantage resulting from the propensity of biscuits to crumble is that the containers in which such biscuits are deposited become dirty and require regular cleaning to ensure that the hygiene of the container is maintained. Additionally, the friable nature of biscuits renders them unsuitable for containment within cloth or fabric bags and the like, as the crumbs broken from the surface of the biscuit would become ingrained in the fabric which would also require regular cleaning. Accordingly, lunchboxes are usually constructed of a rigid and impregnable metal or plastics material.

This invention is therefore directed to the provision of a means of providing protection for biscuits within a lunchbox or other carrying means.

A further object of the invention is to provide a containment means for consumable items prone to degradation by abrasion or impact which provides protection therefor.

A yet further object of the invention is to provide a containment 3 means which provides a means of discretely segregating and protecting degradable consumable products in a neat yet easily accessible manner.

According to the invention there is provided a containment means for containing consumable degradable products comprising a base portion and a cover rotatably hinged thereto, said base being at least partially hollow to allow for the deposit of one or more consumable degradable product therein, characterised in that the cover is of marginally greater dimensions than the base and comprises at least a portion of the same general shape as a corresponding portion of the base such that the cover can be rotated around the base to at least partially encase said base and reveal the consumable degradable product disposed in the hollow base.

Preferably the base is completely hollow.

Preferably, the base and cover are semi-circular in cross-section.

Preferably the base and cover are provided with complementary connection means which can be easily disengaged to allow for cleaning of both base and cover, and which preferably comprise pip formations on either base or cover, the alternate component being provided with recesses on either side thereof which receive said pip formations.

Most preferably the base is provided internally with a plurality of grooves on the arcuate inner surface of said base separated by lands which define the grooves and allow for discrete segregation of a plurality of degradable consumable, and preferably circular products therein.

Most preferably the base and the cover of the containment means 4 are manufactured in an impregnable plastics material.

In an alternative embodiment, the first and second compartments are provided with complementary snap-fit pivotable connection means whereby the said compartments are both connected together and can be relatively rotated about said pivot.

Further preferably the compartments are provided with stop means, a part of which is provided on the internal surface of one of said compartments, and a further part of which is provided on the external surface of the other compartment, said stop means interacting with one another to limit the extent of relative rotation of the compartments, and to retain the compartments substantially oppositely of one another such that the container is closed.

The reader will immediately appreciate that the invention provides a novel and ingenious means of protectively containing biscuits and like degradable consumable products heretofore unrealised in the art.

A specific embodiment of the invention is now described by way of example with reference to the accompanying figures wherein:

Figure 1 shows a schematic perspective view of the container according to the invention, Figure 1A shows a side elevation of the cover portion of the container of Figure 1, Figure 2 shows a schematic perspective view of the container of Figure 1 in a partially open configuration, Figure 2A shows a side elevation of the base portion of the container of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a schematic perspective view of the container Figure I in an almost completely open configuration.

Figure 3a shows the compartments of a container according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3b shows an enlarged view of the stop means which are a preferred feature of the invention; Figure 4a shows the compartments of the container shown in Figure 3a connected together; Figure 4b shows how the compartments of Figure 4a can be rotated around one another; Figure 5a shows a perspective view of the container of Figure 4, and Figure 5b shows a plan view of the container of Figure 5a.

Referring firstly to Figure 1 there is shown a container 2 comprising a semicircular hollow cover 4 and an identically shaped hollow base 6 rotatably connected thereto at lug regions 9 provided substantially centrally of the diametral edges 24 of the cover. The internal dimensions of the cover 4 are marginally greater than the external dimensions of the base 6 to allow the cover to rotate around and encase the base in a direction shown by arrows 16, 18 as demonstrated in Figures 2, and 3.

The lug regions 9 are provided substantially centrally along both the diametral edges 24 either side of the cover and have pip formations 8 protruding internally of the cover on the inner semicircular 6 surfaces thereof. Said pip formations are received by recesses 10 provided in the semicircular surfaces of the base portion and beneath the diametral edges 26 thereof to allow for the connection of the cover thereover, and to allow said cover to rotate around the base as shown by the arrows 16, 18.

In a modified construction of the container according to the invention, the straight edges 24, 26 of one or other or both of the cover and base are along chords of the circles which partially define the cross section of these components, the diameters of said circles being beneath the said edges such that the axial edges 22 of the base slightly encase a circular product stored within the hollow thereof. In this configuration the axial edges 20 of the cover slightly surround and overlap the upper region of the base.

Referring now to Figure 2, the base portion is provided with a plurality of grooves, one of which is shown at 12 and defined by intervening lands 14 allowing for discrete segregation of, in this case three circular biscuits (not shown in the interests of clarity). Although in this Figure the lands 14 are continuous and extend arcuately from one axial edge of the base to the other, it will be appreciated that there is no need for said lands to be continuous. Indeed the lands may be in the form of inwardly protruding tabs provided at suitable locations around the inner arcuate surface of the base. The lands 14 are therefore provided with a view to restraining the axial movement of a biscuit within the container, as opposed to defining grooves in which a biscuit edge may be received.

In use, as the cover 4 is pivotally rotates in the direction shown at 16, 18 about the connection provided by the pip formations 8 and recesses 10 and around the base 6, the hollow base is revealed and access to products stored within said base is facilitated.

7 In Figure 3a there is shown an alternative pivot means which comprises an expandable snap fit formation 30 on cover 4 having a pair of resiliently deformable prongs 32, 34 which define an inner aperture 36 which receives a protrusion 38 provided on the base 6. Additionally as can be seen in Figure 3b, the cover and base are provided internally and externally with a recess 40, and a protrusion 42 which interengage when the cover is in the closed position with respect to the base, as can be seen in Figure 4a. It is to be mentioned that a feature of the invention is the propensity of at least the complementary connection means, whether recesses and pips or prongs and protrusions, if not the base and cover as a whole to elastically deform. This renders the connection and disconnection of said complementary connection means quick and simple so that the respective portions of the container can be effectively cleaned. This is particularly the case where the complementary connection means are in the form of prongs and protrusions, as this type of connection is particularly effective because the force required to deform the prongs outwardly as the protrusion 38 is received in the aperture 36 is far greater than that required to deform the sides of base inwardly or conversely that required to deform the sides of the cover outwardly. This results in a more secure connection between the base and the cover which is nevertheless easily releasable.

To open the container from this position, the protrusion 42 on the base 6 is disengaged from the recess 40 in cover 4 and the cover can then be rotated over the base as shown in Figure 4b.

An additional feature is shown in Figures 5a, 5b which allows the debossing of advertising wording or product identifying wording on a panel 50. Said panel 50 is provided in one or other or both of the base and/or cover, and the grooves 12 and intervening lands 14 are thus only partially defined in the internal region of the cover 4 8 proximate the base 6 when the container is in a closed configuration as shown in the Figure.

9

Claims

A container for consumable degradable products comprising a base portion and a cover rotatably hinged thereto, said base being at least partially hollow to allow for the deposit of one or more consumable degradable product therein, characterised in that the cover is of marginally greater dimensions than the base and comprises at least a portion of the same general shape as a corresponding portion of the base such that the cover can be rotated around the base to at least partially encase said base and reveal the consumable degradable product disposed in the hollow base.
2. A container according to claim 1 characterised in that the base is completely hollow.
3. A container according to either claim 1 or 2 characterised in that the base and cover are semi-circular in cross-section.
4. A container according to any preceding claim characterised in that the base and cover are provided with complementary connection means which can be easily disengaged thus separating base from cover.
5. A container according to claim 4 characterised in that at least the complementary connection means are formed of a plastics material which is capable of being elastically deformed during the connection of base to cover.
6. A container according to claim 5 characterised in that the complementary connection means comprise pips on one of base or cover, the other being provided having formations capable of receiving said pips so as to be rotatable therein thus pivotally connecting the cover to the base.
7. A container according to claim 6 characterised in that the formations capable of receiving recesses are recesses provided in the cover on either side thereof to receive said pips.
8. A container according to any preceding claim characterised in that the base is provided internally on its arcuate surface with axial segregation means which receive the edges of the products contained in said base preventing same from axially moving in said base.
9. A container according to claim 8 characterised in that said axial segregation means comprise lands defining grooves in said arcuate inner surface of said base in which the edges of said products are received.
10. A container according to any preceding claim characterised in that the base and the cover of the containment means are manufactured in an elastically deformable plastics material.
11. A container according to claim 5 characterised in that the complementary connection means comprise snap-fit pivotable connection means including a pair of lugs on one of the base and the cover which define an aperture in which is received a pip provided on the cover or base respectively, said connection means being capable of interengaged by virtue of the elastic deformability of the plastics material from which they are formed.
12. A container according to any preceding claim characterised in that the base and the cover are provided with stop means, a part of which is provided on the internal surface of either the base and the cover. and a further part of which is provided on the external surface of either the cover or the base respectively, said stop means interacting with one another to limit the extent of relative rotation of the compartments, and to retain the compartments substantially oppositely of one another such that the container is maintained in a closed condition.