CA2872946C

CA2872946C - Portable safety dish with sliding lock

Info

Publication number: CA2872946C
Application number: CA2872946A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Nelson WILLIAMSON
Original assignee: Nelson Khalil and Kayden Corp
Current assignee: Nelson Khalil and Kayden Corp
Priority date: 2012-05-17
Filing date: 2013-05-17
Publication date: 2020-07-14
Anticipated expiration: 2033-05-17
Also published as: CA2872946A1; WO2013173737A2; CN104684816A; CN104684816B; WO2013173737A3

Abstract

A safety dish forms a secure food container and has a dish for holding food, a cover for enclosing the dish and food, and a lock mechanism for securing the cover to the dish to prevent unauthorized access to the food and/or tampering with the food. A correct input of a combination is required to access the food contents of the container via a sliding lock mechanism. The safety dish and locking mechanism is preferably formed from dishwasher- safe and microwave-safe materials.

Description

SPECIFICATION
Portable Safety Dish With Sliding Lock Inventor: Nelson Todd Williamson Background [0] While many food containers have lids that snap or "lock" onto the container to retain the food inside the container (e.g., Tupperware@ and VERSAtainerTm), these containers do not secure the food from unauthorized access or tampering.

[02] The issues of tampering and access have been addressed in the prior art with respect to bottles for medications and the like through the use of child-proof caps and single-use tamper-indicating rings, tabs, foils and the like, as well as locking medicine cabinets.

[03] While medications have been determined to be worthy of such means for protection from tampering and access, the prior art has not considered meal dishes to be worthy of protection from tampering and unauthorized access.
Brief Summary

[04] The disclosed embodiments provide a portable food container that includes a lock mechanism to secure the stored food from unauthorized access and/or tampering. The food container has a lower dish portion that holds the food, a cover, and a lock mechanism to secure the cover to the dish. The cover can optionally include a handle to aid in portability and handling, and the dish, cover, lock and handle are preferably microwave-safe and dishwasher-safe.

[05] As used herein, the term "dish" refers to any dish, plate, bowl or the like used to hold a meal, pie, cake, or other food item. The terms "cover," "top"
or "lid" refer to any device used to cover the open-top of the dish to prevent access to and tampering with the inside of the food container.
Brief Description of the Drawings

[06] Figure 1 illustrates an isometric view of an embodiment of a food container;

[07] Figure 2 illustrates an isometric view of a cover of the embodiment of Figure 1; and

[08] Figure 3 illustrates an isometric view of the lower dish of the embodiment of Figure 1.
Detailed Description

[09] With reference to Figures 1-3, an embodiment of a safety dish 310 is illustrated. Figure 1 illustrates an isomeric view of the embodiment of safety dish 310, wherein a multi-dial combination lock mechanism is formed integral with the components of the safety dish 310. While illustrated as generally square, the lower dish 320 and cover 350 can take any practical shape, including but not limited to ovals, ovoids (egg-shapes), circles, rectangles, triangles, pentagons, etc. The sidewalls of lower dish 320 can be angled or vertical or curved. A toothed pin 340 (obscured in Figure 1) of the multi-dial combination lock mechanism is mounted to slide mechanism 346 secured to cover 350. The slide mechanism 345 comprises an actuation element that a user engages and is positioned to move the toothed pin 340 into and out of a set of rotating dials 380 of the multi-dial combination lock mechanism. The rotating dials 380 are mounted in a rotatable manner on a hollow support shaft (not shown) having a C-shaped cross-section. The opening in the C-shaped support shaft is sized to accommodate the toothed pin 340. The hollow support shaft and the rotating dials 380 are mounted on an adjacent edge portion of lower dish 320 so as to mate with the toothed pin 340 to form the multi-dial combination lock mechanism. The lid or cover 350 can optionally include a portion or tab (not illustrated) on the side opposite the slide mechanism that fits into recess or retainer (not illustrated) on an adjoining portion of lower dish 320 so as to prevent prying open of the lid from the side opposite the locking mechanism. While illustrated as having rotating dials 380 on the lower dish 320 and toothed pin 340 and slide mechanism 345 on the cover 350, it is also possible to have the rotating dial 380 portion of the lock on the cover 350 and the toothed pin 340 and sliding mechanism 345 portion of the lock on the lower dish 320.

[10] With reference to Figure 2, an isomeric view of a cover 350 of the embodiment of safety dish 310 is illustrated. The cover 350 preferably includes a rim portion 355 for engaging an upper wall of the lower dish 320.
One edge of cover 360 includes a planar portion 342 that includes a linear slot 344 for engaging slide mechanism 345. While illustrated as extending from the edge, planar portion 342 may also be formed integral with the edge.
Furthermore, slot 344 may also be replaced by similar sliding mechanisms, such as mechanisms using retaining rails instead of a slot. The slot 344 terminates at one end with a retainer element 346. The actuation element of slide mechanism 345 is connected via a support element (not shown) to toothed pin 340, through slot 344 in the present case. The actuation element of slide mechanism 346 is positioned so as to enable a user to slide the toothed pin 340 into a first position that engages the rotating dial 380 portion of the multi-dial combination lock mechanism when the cover 350 is in a position sealing the lower dish 320, and slide the toothed pin 340 into a second position free from the rotating dial 380 portion of the lock so that the cover 350 may be removed from the lower dish 320 for access to the contents stored in the safety dish 310. Further, while positioned to be slidable, the toothed pin 340 must be secured to the cover 350 in a secure manner so as to prevent bypassing the security of the safety dish 310.

[11] The lower dish 320 of the embodiment of the safety dish 310 is illustrated in Figure 3. The lower dish 320 may have no walls or can optionally include one or more inner walls 325 so as to form a plurality of food storage compartments. In this manner, separate food items can be kept separate during transport and storage of the safety dish 310. Such walls 325 can also provide additional strength and rigidity to the lower dish 320. The lower dish 320 can also optionally include a lip portion 330 on one or more sides to aid in handling of the dish. An optional recess or retainer element as discussed above with respect to Figure 1 can be formed as part of lip portion 330 to engage a portion or tab on cover 350 to prevent prying open of the cover 350 from the side opposite the locking mechanism. One edge of lower dish 320 includes a planar portion 382 for supporting the rotating dial 380 portion of the lock mechanism. Although not illustrated, the rotating dials 380 are supported on a hollow, C-shaped support shaft that is rigidly attached to or extending from planar portion 382. While illustrated as extending from the upper wall of lower dish 320, planar portion 382 may also be formed in any suitable manner that rigidly and securely positions the rotating dial 380 portion of the lock mechanism in the correct position for engaging the toothed pin 340 for securing the cover 350 to the lower dish 320. However, a preferred embodiment of planar portions 382 and 342 form a lip to aid in handling of the safety dish 310. The lower dish 320, cover 350, and elements 340, 345, 346 and 380 of the lock mechanism are formed of sufficiently rigid materials, such as plastic (e.g., Lexane polycarbonate), glass (e.g., Pyrex borosilicate glass), or ceramic (e.g., Ceramcore), to resist tampering. The materials of these elements are also preferably formed from dishwasher-safe and microwave-safe materials.

[12] In general, the materials used for the safety dish should have sufficient strength and stiffness to prevent the cover or lock from being ujimmied" open.

Further, while the disclosed combination lock will suffice for ordinary situations such as preventing theft from a common workplace lunchroom refrigerator, such locks are susceptible to defeat from a brute-force approach of trying all permutations or from inspection while in a dishwasher to discover the combination. For greater security, more secure locks should be used.

[13] In a basic embodiment, the safety dish comprises a dish with a base, side walls, and a first portion of a locking mechanism; and a cover for the dish, the cover dimensioned to engage a top of the side walls to enclose a food storage area, and the cover further comprising a second portion of the locking mechanism, wherein the first and second portions of the lock mechanism form a multi-dial combination lock, with one side of the lock mechanism comprising a toothed pin mounted on a sliding mechanism.
Preferably, the first portion of the locking mechanism comprises a hollow support shaft with a C-shaped cross-section fixed to a side wall of the dish;
and a plurality of rotating dials mounted to rotate on the hollow support shaft, with each dial having notch. The second portion of the locking mechanism preferably comprises the toothed pin mounted on the sliding mechanism, wherein the second portion is positioned on the cover so as to allow the sliding mechanism to move the toothed pin into and out of the hollow support shaft of the first portion when the cover is engaged with the top of the side walls of the dish and the notches of the plurality of dials are aligned.
Variations of this embodiment include those wherein the sliding mechanism comprises a planar support; a linear slot formed in the planar support; an actuation element; and a support element joining the toothed pin to the actuation element through the linear slot. Other variations may comprise corresponding tab and retaining elements on the cover and dish on a side of the safety dish opposite the locking mechanism. Preferably, the dish, cover and lock mechanism of these embodiments are formed from dishwasher-safe materials.

[14] A safety dish in the form of a locking food container has been described.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the scope of the invention disclosed and that the examples and embodiments described herein are in all respects illustrative and not restrictive. Those skilled in the art of the present invention will recognize that other embodiments using the concepts described herein are also possible. Further, any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles "a," "an," or "the,"
is not to be construed as limiting the element to the singular.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A safety dish, comprising:
a dish comprising a base, side walls, and a first portion of a locking mechanism, wherein the locking mechanism comprises a toothed pin;
a cover for the dish, the cover dimensioned to engage a top of the side walls to enclose a food storage area, and the cover further comprising a second portion of the locking mechanism;
and a sliding mechanism, wherein the sliding mechanism comprises:
a planar support;
a linear slot formed in the planar support;
an actuation element; and a support element joining the toothed pin to the actuation element through the linear slot, wherein the first and second portions of the locking mechanism form a multi-dial combination lock, with one side of the locking mechanism comprising the toothed pin mounted on the sliding mechanism.

2. The safety dish of claim 1, wherein the first portion of the locking mechanism comprises:
a hollow support shaft with a C-shaped cross-section fixed to a side wall of the dish; and a plurality of rotating dials mounted to rotate on the hollow support shaft, with each dial having notch; and wherein the second portion of the locking mechanism comprises the toothed pin mounted on the sliding mechanism, wherein the second portion is positioned on the cover so as to allow the sliding mechanism to move the toothed pin into and out of the hollow support shaft of the first portion when the cover is engaged with the top of the side walls of the dish and the notches of the plurality of dials are aligned.

3. The safety dish of claim 1, wherein the second portion of the locking mechanism comprises:
a hollow support shaft with a C-shaped cross-section fixed to the cover; and a plurality of rotating dials mounted to rotate on the hollow support shaft, with each dial having notch; and wherein the first portion of the locking mechanism comprises the toothed pin mounted on the sliding mechanism, wherein the first portion is positioned on the dish so as to allow the sliding mechanism to move the toothed pin into and out of the hollow support shaft of the second portion when the cover is engaged with the top of the side walls of the dish and the notches of the plurality of dials are aligned.

4. The safety dish of claim 1, wherein the dish further comprises at least one divider wall to separate food items.

5. The safety dish of claim 1, further comprising corresponding tab and retaining elements on the cover and dish on a side of the safety dish opposite the locking mechanism.

6. The safety dish of claim 2. further comprising:
a tab on a side of the cover opposite the second portion of the locking mechanism; and a retainer on a side of the dish opposite the first portion of the locking mechanism, the retainer dimensioned to engage the tab when the cover is attached to the dish.

7. The safety dish of claim 1, wherein the dish, cover and lock mechanism are formed from dishwasher-safe materials.

8. The safety dish of claim 2, wherein the dish, cover and lock mechanism are formed from dishwasher-safe materials.

9. The safety dish of claim 4, wherein the dish, cover and lock mechanism are formed from dishwasher-safe materials.

10. The safety dish of claim 1, further comprising a lip formed on a side of the dish opposite the first portion of the locking mechanism to aid in handling of the safety dish.

11. The safety dish of claim 1, wherein the cover further comprises a utensil storage compartment.

12. The safety dish of claim 11, wherein the utensil storage compartment is positioned in the food storage area so as to prevent access and tampering with stored utensils.

13. The safety dish of claim 12, further comprising utensils dimensioned for storage in the utensil storage compartment and formed from microwave-safe and dishwasher-safe material.