GB2566015A

GB2566015A - A foodstuffs storage and dispensing device

Info

Publication number: GB2566015A
Application number: GB1713767.0A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Basbaydar Mustafa
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2017-08-29
Filing date: 2017-08-29
Publication date: 2019-03-06
Also published as: GB201713767D0

Abstract

A container with a housing (77, figure 1) comprising: a volume for solid foodstuffs 46, perhaps cereal; and a reservoir for liquid foodstuffs 45, for example, milk; and, in storage position, a divider 9 between. The divider 9 is arranged to rupture through movement of the housing, allowing liquid foodstuffs from the reservoir 45 to enter and mix with the solid breakfast cereal in the volume 46. This may occur when the rigid housing is rotated into a second usage position. The housing may have an impermeable coating 88. The divider, which could be central vertically, may comprise an interface (3, figure 1) between the parts of the housing, possibly made up of living hinges and a frangible membrane. The device, which could be insulated, may have a mouth with a screw thread lid 10 and a tamperproof seal.

Description

A FOODSTUFFS STORAGE AND DISPENSING DEVICE

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a foodstuffs storage and dispensing device, in particular a device for providing and mixing solid and liquid foodstuffs; more particularly but not exclusively a device for eating whilst not necessarily sat at a table.

Background

Increasing numbers of people recognise the importance of a decent breakfast, but many people also are short of time, especially at breakfast time.

Cereal and milk are both a good breakfast and a useful snack through the day. However it is difficult to enable eating of cereal and milk when away from dining facilities, for example when the user requires separate containers and typically a further container to mix a cereal; as well as needing appropriate utensils.

Prior Art

US 2011 0 311 692 (SHEPARD) discloses a portable container for use in consuming a mixture of cereal and milk. The container includes an open-top receptacle divided into a cereal side and a milk side by an angled divider wall that includes an opening to permit milk to flow between a container holding cereal and one holding milk.

A spoon-shaped mouthpiece is attached to the outer surface of the lid along the inner side of the discharge opening.

KR 2007 0 117 254 (MOK) discloses a milk pack structure for letting a user eat cereal and milk or beverage together so as to enable a user to eat cereal and milk together outdoors conveniently without any preparation. A partition is inserted into a milk pack to form two layers. The partition, combined with a spoon and a handle, engages with an opening portion of the milk pack to be easily picked up by a user, and is torn off to separate the partition support and the partition combined with a spoon and a handle.

US 5 514 394 (LENAHAN) discloses a packaging assembly that allows two substances, such as cereal and milk, to be held in separate compartments and then mixed when desired by applying hand pressure to the packaging assembly. The packaging assembly is provided with a compressible side wall portion and an impervious membrane having a frangible portion.

The present invention arose in order to overcome problems suffered by existing devices.

Summary of the Invention

According to the present invention there is provided a foodstuffs storage and dispensing device comprising: a housing enclosing a volume for receiving dry foodstuffs; and a reservoir for storing a liquid; a divider is interposed between the reservoir and the volume; wherein the divider is arranged to rupture through movement of the housing, when ruptured the divider allows liquid from the reservoir to enter the volume in order to mix with the dry foodstuffs.

In some embodiments the rupture is arranged to occur when the device is moved from a first storage position to a second usage position. Such movement may comprise integral rotation.

In some embodiments the divider comprises a frangible seal.

In some embodiments the divider is centrally located in the housing. In some embodiments there may be more than one divider between a dry side and a wet side.

The divider may comprise a part of the housing. For example in some embodiments an internal foil divider may be located placed between the volume and reservoir, and arranged for further protection.

The divider may be located intermediate two parts of the housing, for example top and bottom, where the housing comprises a substantially vertical housing in use, similar to a standard milk or juice carton, for ease of transport, storage and construction.

In this way when the top and bottom parts of the housing are counter-rotated, the foil of the divider rips, allowing the solid foodstuffs, or cereal, and liquid foodstuffs, or milk, to mix.

In some embodiments the housing comprises a monolithic unit. In this way the device may comprise an easily portable device, so as to enable the device to be used in a plurality of locations and situations.

In some embodiments the housing comprises a substantially rigid material, for example a cardboard with an impermeable covering such as a thermoplastic coating.

In some embodiments the housing comprises an inner surface, which inner surface is arranged as an impermeable surface, so as to prevent fluid entering into the housing material, exiting the volume or reservoir and/or passing through the housing.

In some embodiments the housing is provided with an entrance which entrance is arranged to allow entrance or exit of foodstuffs from the reservoir or volume.

Such entrance may be provided with a closure means for resealing the device after it has been opened, the closure means comprising a lid with a screw thread.

The lid may also comprise a seal, which seal may be used to ensure that the contents of the device are kept fresh, and/or free from tampering.

The seal may comprise a rip-off or puncturable seal, which may be located in use to cover the entrance, underneath the lid. The seal may comprise a frangible seal arranged to be broken by twisting of the lid.

In some embodiments the reservoir may be insulated, so as to enable the liquid to be maintained at a reasonable temperature for longer periods and enable transport and storage of the device in use.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the Figures in which:

Brief Description of Figures

Figure 1 shows an isometric view of an embodiment of the device according to the present invention in a first position;

Figure 2 shows a reverse isometric view of the embodiment as shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 shows an isometric view of the embodiment shown in Figure 1, in an intermediate position between the first and second positions;

Figure 4 shows a reverse isometric view of the embodiment as shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 shows an isometric view of the embodiment shown in Figure 1, in a second position;

Figure 6 shows a reverse isometric view of the embodiment as shown in Figure 5; and

Figure 7 shows a isometric sectional view of the embodiment as shown in Figure 3.

Detailed Description of Figures

With reference to the Figures there is shown an embodiment of the foodstuffs device 105 comprising: a housing 77 internally describing; a volume 46 for solid foodstuffs; and a reservoir 45 for liquid foodstuffs.

The volume 46 and reservoir 45 are separated by a divider 9 interposed between the reservoir 45 and the volume 46; wherein the divider 9 is arranged to be rupture through movement of or in the housing 77, from a first position as shown in Figure 1 to a second position as shown in Figure 5, wherein such rupture allows liquid foodstuffs from the reservoir 45 to enter the volume so as to mix with the solid foodstuffs in the volume 46.

The housing 77 is formed in plasticised cardboard, being substantially rigid with some flexibility.

The housing comprises an impermeable inner coating 88, so as to prevent egress of moisture or ingress of air to the volume 46 and reservoir 45.

The divider 9 may comprise an aluminium foil seal component. In this way the divider may be relatively easily ruptured, broken or separated, so as to allow free or partial passage between the volume and reservoir or vice versa. In some embodiments an upper face 47, towards the reservoir 45, may be provided with an impermeable coating.

In this way, prior to separation the divider 9 comprises an internal part of an impermeable interface 3 between a top part 1 of the housing 77, top part 1 which in variant embodiments may contain the reservoir or volume, and a bottom part 2 of the housing which in variant embodiments may contain the volume or reservoir.

In the pictured embodiment the interface 3 comprises a twisted part of the housing 77, which part 3 comprises an intermediate section of the four sides 8 comprised by a continuation of the housing material with living hinges peripherally to top 29, side 31 and bottom edges 92, as well as on the diagonal 30.

These living hinges divide this central section into two right-angled triangles to right and lower 11 and upper left 12.

And in this way the living hinges enable the top part 1 to be twisted against the bottom part 2 and the interface 3 to minimise vertically.

In order to rupture the divider 9 mutual movement of the parts is required, so as to exert forces on the divider 9 that are sufficient to cause rupture; wherein vertical movement of the device as a whole does not enable sufficient vertical internal forces to rupture the divider 9.

The housing further comprises a flat base 99, substantially parallel the divider 9.

If the device gets knocked over, there will be no contamination as the divider 9 remains intact at all times until ripped.

The divider 9 comprises a thin aluminium foil seal stretched across the inner faces of the interface between the parts, and may include spot gluing to the inner surface 88 of the housing 77, so as to cause easy rupture points.

The interface 3 is biased to two positions, namely:

A first pre-use position as shown in Figures 1 and 2 which position has the two parts 1, 2 in a first mutual position, where the parts have four vertical walls 8, forming a square in section, with an interface 3 formed by the four panels 11,12 intermediate the top and bottom parts, which panels comprise five living hinges, with four living hinges extending around a perimeter, and a fifth diagonal living hinge; and

A second use position as shown in Figures 4 and 5 after the two parts 1,2 are rotated through 90 degrees, so as to form four largely continuous vertical side walls leading from a base 99 to a tented top 5, which top includes a mouth perforation 4, comprising a threaded extending collar 13 and screw top lid 10.

The device thereby comprises an origami style housing arranged such that when the top part of the housing is rotated away from the bottom part, the housing elongates so as to form a vertical carton shape with four substantially ridged sides 8 separated by four substantially rigid corners 7, the interface 3 straightening and the divider 9 separating.

The divider’s seal is ripped open as the interface opens up the space between the top 1 and bottom 2 parts, and subsequently allows the cereal to fall into the milk, mixing the two ingredients.

The device may be formed as a standard 1 Litre TetraPak (RTM) milk carton.

It may be envisaged that the milk is contained in the bottom part 2 of the device 105 and the cereal in the top 1, so that once arranged for consumption and tilted from an upright position to be consumed in a known manner for bottled drinks, the milk would flow out of the device along with the cereal, whereupon the foodstuffs can be subsequently consumed directly from the mouth 4.

The invention has been described by way of examples only and it will be appreciated that variation may be made to the above-mentioned embodiments without departing from the scope of invention as defined by the claims, in particular but not solely combination of features of described embodiments.

Claims

1. A foodstuffs storage and dispensing device comprising: a housing enclosing a volume for receiving dry foodstuffs; and a reservoir for storing a liquid; a divider is interposed between the reservoir and the volume; wherein the divider is arranged to rupture through movement of the housing, when ruptured the divider allows liquid from the reservoir to enter the volume in order to mix with the dry foodstuffs.

2. A device according to claim 1 wherein the rupture is arranged to occur when the device is moved from a first storage position to a second usage position.

3. A device according to claim 2 wherein the movement comprises integral or mutual rotation.

4. A device according to any preceding claim wherein the divider comprises an interface between parts of the housing.

5. A device according to claim 4 wherein the interface comprises a plurality of living hinges.

6. A device according to any preceding claim wherein the housing comprises a substantially rigid material.

7. A device according to any preceding claim wherein the housing comprises an internal impermeable layer.

8. A device according to claim wherein the divider comprises a frangible seal

9. A device according to any preceding claim wherein the divider is centrally located in a vertically arranged housing.

10. A device according to any preceding claim comprising a mouth with a closure means.

11. A device according to claim 10 wherein the closure means comprises a screw thread lid.

12. A device according to claim 10 or 11 wherein the mouth comprises a seal to

5 ensure that the contents of the device are kept fresh, and/or free from tampering.

13. A device according to any preceding claim wherein the reservoir is insulated.