EP3322643B1

EP3322643B1 - Container for stacked foodstuff

Info

Publication number: EP3322643B1
Application number: EP16742532.1A
Authority: EP
Inventors: John Humbert Baer
Original assignee: Kellogg Co
Current assignee: Kellanova
Priority date: 2015-07-15
Filing date: 2016-07-14
Publication date: 2021-06-23
Anticipated expiration: 2036-07-14
Also published as: AU2016294519A1; MX2017017167A; AU2016294519B2; WO2017011616A1; ES2890139T3; CA2990467C; EP3322643A1; US20170015467A1; CA2990467A1

Description

FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to a container for foodstuff and more particularly to a container for use with stacked foodstuff.

BACKGROUND

A variety of foodstuff and snacks are produced in a stacked and/or nested configuration. For example, chips, cookies, crackers, and other foodstuff can be produced such that a first or bottom side of one foodstuff mates or nests with a second or top side of another foodstuff. Accordingly, such foodstuff can be arranged in a stacked configuration.
Stacked foodstuff can be packaged and stored using a variety of packages and packaging configurations. For example, bags, trays, and canisters can all be used to package stacked foodstuff. In order to protect the integrity of a stack of foodstuff, a rigid package may closely surround the foodstuff contained therein. One such package is a cylindrical container or canister. For example, foodstuff may be stacked within a cylindrical package in order to maintain the integrity (e.g., size, shape, etc.) and organization of the foodstuff while concurrently providing a robust and easy-to-handle package. The documents US 2014/110283 and EP 0 995 688 are known. The document US 2014/110283 discloses a packaging insert for use with ice cream, frozen yogurt, or other foods or substances. The packaging insert comprises a first portion contiguous to a second portion along a first line, a third portion contiguous to the second portion along a second line, and a fourth portion contiguous to the third portion along a third line. Document EP 0 995 688 discloses a tubular container including a tubular body open at both ends, and a divider affixed within the body. The divider divides the body into two tubular compartments each accessible through one of the open ends of the body.
While cylindrical containers adequately maintain a stacked configuration of foodstuff disposed therein, such containers must be relatively long to accommodate a desired quantity of foodstuff. Further, such containers are difficult to use once more than approximately half of the foodstuff is removed, thereby making it difficult to extract the foodstuff located proximate to a bottom portion of the container.

SUMMARY

This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.
A container for foodstuff is provided and includes a housing having a cylindrical inner surface extending from a proximal end to a distal end about a first longitudinal axis, the inner surface defining a heigh ranging from 6,35 cm (2.5 inches) to 35,36 cm (14 inches) and a width ranging from 12,7 to 17,78 cm (5 to 7 inches), a ratio of the height to the width being less than 2:1; a divider disposed within the housing, the divider having first, second, and third radially extending fins defining first, second, and third pie-shaped chambers within the housing, each of the first, second, and third fins including an inner edge and an outer edge, the inner edges contact one another at a joint, and the outer edge of the first fin contacts the inner surface of the housing at a first contact location, the outer edge of the second fin contacts the inner surface of the housing at a second contact location, the outer edge of the third fin contacts the inner surface of the housing at a third contact location; and first, second, and third stacks of ellipsoidal foodstuff respectively disposed within the first, second and third chambers, each of the first, second, and third stacks of ellipsoidal foodstuff being stacked in a direction along respective second, third, and fourth longitudinal axes parallel to the first longitudinal axis, and wherein a first ellipsoidal foodstuff includes a first major axis and a first minor axis, the first minor axis intersecting the joint and the major axis intersecting at least two of the first, second, and third contact locations.
In one configuration, the divider is removably disposed within the housing. In addition, the first, second, and third fins may be symmetrically disposed about the longitudinal axis. The joint may be substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis of the housing.
The first, second, and third foodstuff may be nested within each of the first, second, and third chambers. The foodstuff disposed within the first, second, and third chambers may be the same or, alternatively, at least one of the first, second, and third foodstuffs may be different than the rest of the foodstuffs.
The second foodstuff may include a second major axis and a second minor axis and the third foodstuff may include a third major axis and a third minor axis. The second and third minor axes may intersect the joint and the first minor axis and the second and third major axes may intersect at least two of the first, second, and third contact locations.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

DRAWINGS

The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected configurations and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a top view of a container for foodstuff in accordance with the invention showing three separate stacks of foodstuff received within respective chambers of the container;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the container of FIG. 1 showing the foodstuff removed for clarity;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the container of FIG. 1 taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1 .

Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example configurations will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Example configurations are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those of ordinary skill in the art. Specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of configurations of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example configurations may be embodied in many different forms, and that the specific details and the example configurations should not be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular exemplary configurations only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular articles "a," "an," and "the" may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "comprises," "comprising," "including," and "having," are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. Additional or alternative steps may be employed.
When an element or layer is referred to as being "on," "engaged to," "connected to," "attached to," or "coupled to" another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected, attached, or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly on," "directly engaged to," "directly connected to," "directly attached to," or "directly coupled to" another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., "between" versus "directly between," "adjacent" versus "directly adjacent," etc.). As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
The terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections. These elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as "first," "second," and other numerical terms do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example configurations.
With reference to the figures, a container 10 is provided and includes a housing 12 and a divider 14 that cooperate to receive and contain one or more stacks 16-1, 16-2,...16-n (referred to herein as stacks 16) of foodstuff 18. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the container 10 may receive three stacks 16 of foodstuff 18. It will be appreciated, however, that the container 10 receive more or less than three stacks 16 of foodstuff 18 depending on the particular shape of the divider 14. As will be described in more detail below, the container 10 allows for the convenient and sanitary storage and handling of the stacks 16 of foodstuff 18.
The housing 12 may be formed from a rigid or semi-rigid material. For example, in some configurations, the housing 12 may be formed from one or more of cardboard, plastic, or metal.
The housing 12 may define a generally hollow cylindrical construct having an inner surface 20 extending from a proximal end 22 to a distal end 24 along a central, longitudinal axis A1 (FIG. 3). The proximal end 22 may be open, while the distal end 24 may be closed. In this regard, the proximal end 22 may be sized and shaped to receive a lid (not shown) or other suitable closure mechanism.
As illustrated, the housing 12, including the inner surface 20, defines a cylindrical construct. The inner surface 20 may define a first dimension (e.g., a height) extending in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis A1, and a second dimension (e.g., a width, a length, etc.) extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis A1. In this regard, the first dimension of the inner surface 20 may include a height HI (FIG. 3) extending from the proximal end 22 to the distal end 24, and the second dimension of the inner surface 20 may include an inner radius R1 (FIG. 1). The inner radius R1 is between approximately 6.35 cm (2.5 inches) and 8.89 cm (3.5 inches) such that a diameter D1 of the housing 12 is between approximately 12.7 cm (5 inches) and 17.78 cm (7 inches). In some configurations, the inner radius R1 may be substantially equal to 5.08 cm (2 inches) and the diameter D1 is substantially equal to 10.16 cm (4 inches). The height HI is between 6.35 cm (2.5 inches) and 35.56 cm (14 inches). In this regard, the ratio (e.g., an aspect ratio) of the height HI to the diameter D1 is less than 2.0. An aspect ratio that is less than 2.0 can improve the stability of the container 10. In particular, an aspect ratio between 0.5 and 2.0 can improve the stability of the container 10 when the container 10 is resting on the distal end 24. In this regard, an aspect ratio between 0.5 and 2.0 can allow the distal end 24 to rest on a support surface (e.g., a table, the ground, the floor, etc.) without tipping, such that the longitudinal axis A1 maintains a perpendicular orientation relative to the support surface. In particular, an aspect ratio between 0.5 and 2.0 may allow the longitudinal axis A1 to form and/or maintain an angle between zero degrees and forty-five degrees relative to the normal of the support surface without causing the container 10 to tip over.
The divider 14 is formed from an oil-resistant material. For example, the divider 14 may be formed from a rigid or semi-rigid material (e.g., paper, cardboard, or the like) having an oil-resistant coating (e.g., wax, paint, or the like). In some implementations, the divider 14 is formed from a flexible material. The divider 14 may be removably disposed within the housing 12. Allowing the divider 14 to be removed from the housing 12 allows the stacks 16-1, 16-2,...16-n to be mixed within the housing 12 once removed.
The divider 14 may include three or more fins 28-1, 28-2,...28-n (referred to herein as fins 28). As illustrated, the divider 14 may include three fins 28. Each fin 28 includes a proximal end 30, a distal 32, an inner edge 34, and an outer edge 36. In some configurations, each fin 28 may define a generally rectangular shape such that the proximal and distal ends 30, 32 define a height H2 (FIG. 3) therebetween, and the inner and outer edges 34, 36 define a width W2 (FIG. 1) therebetween. In some configurations, the height H2 may be substantially equal to the height H1 of the housing 12, and the width W2 may be substantially equal to the radius R1 of the housing 12.
The inner edges 34 of the fins 28 contact one another at a joint 38. As will be explained in more detail below, the joint 38 may allow each of the fins 28-1, 28-2,...28-n to flex relative to one or more of the remaining fins 28-1, 28-2,...28-n. For example, the joint 38 may allow each of the fins 28-1, 28-2, ...28-n to rotate about its respective inner edge 34 relative to one or more of the remaining fins 28-1, 28-2,...28-n.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, in an assembled configuration, the joint 38, including the inner edges 34, may be substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis A1 of the housing 12. As shown in FIG. 3, the longitudinal axis A1 may be the central axis of the housing 12. The outer edge 36 of each fin 28 contacts the inner surface 20 of the housing 12 at a contact location 39 (e.g., 39-1, 39-2,...39-n). Accordingly, the fins 28 may extend radially within the housing 12, such that the divider 14 defines more than one chamber 40-1, 40-2, .. . 40-n (referred to herein as chamber 40) within the housing 12. In particular, if the divider 14 includes three fins 28, the housing 12 may include three chambers 40. In some configurations, the fins 28 may be symmetrically spaced about the longitudinal axis A1 of the housing 12, such that the divider 14 defines equally sized chambers 40. In particular, as illustrated in FIG. 1, in some configurations the divider 14 defines three equally sized pie-shaped chambers 40-1, 40-2, 40-3. While the outer edge 36 of each fin 28 is described and shown as contacting the inner surface 20 of the housing 12 at contact locations 39, the outer edge 36 of each fin 28 could alternatively be spaced apart from the inner surface 20.
Each stack 16 may include more than one foodstuff 18. For example, each stack 16 may include a plurality of chips, crackers, cookies, and/or other similar foodstuffs 18. As illustrated in FIG. 3, each foodstuff 18 may include an upper side 42 and a lower side 43. In the stacked arrangement, the upper side 42 of one foodstuff 18 may mate or nest with the lower side 43 of an adjacent foodstuff 18. Accordingly, as illustrated in FIG. 1, each stack 16 of foodstuff 18 may extend along a respective longitudinal axis A2 (e.g., A2-1, A2-2,...A2-n). In the assembled configuration, the longitudinal axes A2 of the stacks 16 are parallel to the longitudinal axis A1 of the housing 12.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, in some configurations, each foodstuff 18 defines an oval shape having a major axis A3 and a minor axis A4. The stacks 16 of foodstuff 18 may also be arranged within the housing 12 such that the major axes A3 intersect one another and the minor axes A4 intersect one another. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the major axes A3-1, A3-2 of foodstuff 18 located in the stacks 16-1, 16-2, respectively, may intersect one another proximate to the contact location 39-1, while the major axes A3-2, A3-3 of foodstuff 18 located in the stacks 16-2, 16-3, respectively, may intersect one another proximate the contact location 39-2, and the major axes A3-3, A3-1 of foodstuff 18 located in the stacks 16-3, 16-1, respectively, may intersect one another proximate the contact location 39-3.
The minor axes A4-1, A4-2, A4-3 of the stacks 16-1, 16-2, 16-3, respectively, may intersect one another proximate the longitudinal axis A1 of the housing 12. In this regard, the minor axes A4-1, A4-2, A4-3 of the stacks 16-1, 16-2, 16-3, respectively, intersect one another at the joint 38 of the divider 14. Accordingly, in some configurations, the major axes A3-1, A3-2, A3-3 may cooperate to define a substantially triangular shape, while the minor axes A4-1, A4-2, A4-3 may define two substantially equal sized portions 60, 62 of the chambers 40-1, 40-2, 40-3, respectively.
The configuration and orientation of the housing 12 (e.g., radius R1, height HI), the divider 14 (e.g., the fins 28), the stacks 16 (e.g., axes A2), and the foodstuff 18 (e.g., axis A3, axis A4) helps to provide a package (e.g., at least 28 g ( 8 ounces) that facilitates convenient shipping and handling of the container 10 and sharing of the foodstuff 18 by more than one person. For example, the arrangement of the housing 12, the divider 14, and the stacks 16 allows for the separation and protection from breakage of multiple stacks 16 of foodstuff 18 within the housing 12, while the removable nature of the divider 14 allows for mixing of the stacks 16 of foodstuff 18 within the housing 18. Accordingly, in one method of use, when the divider 14 is positioned within the housing 12, the fins 28 and the inner surface 20 of the housing 12 help to maintain the integrity of the stacks 16 such that one person can obtain foodstuff 18 from stack 16-1, while another person obtains foodstuff 18 from stack 16-2, and yet another person obtains foodstuff 18 from stack 16-3. In this regard, the container 10 may be sized (e.g., diameter D1) such that the container 10 can receive more than one hand (e.g., two hands, three hands, etc.) simultaneously when the divider 14 is disposed without the housing 18. The configuration of the divider 14 (e.g., the flexible material and/or the joint 38) can allow each of the fins 28-1, 28-2,...28-n to flex relative to the remaining fins 28-1, 28-2,...28-n such that the container 10 can better accommodate one or more hands within the chambers 40-1, 40-2,...40-n during use. In another method of use, the divider 14 may be removed from the housing 12 in order to allow mixing of the foodstuff 18 disposed in the stack 16-1 with the foodstuff 18 disposed in the stack 16-2 and/or the stack 16-3.
The foodstuff 18 disposed within the stacks 16-1, 16-2, 16-3 may be the same foodstuff. For example, each stack 16-1, 16-2, 16-3 may contain the same flavor of a particular chip and may have the same size and shape. Alternatively, at least one of the foodstuffs 18 may be different than the others in terms of at least one of size, shape, and/or flavor. Finally, all three stacks 16-1, 16-2, 16-3 may contain different types of foodstuff in terms of size, shape, and/or flavor with some or all of the foodstuff 18 being disposed in a stacked and nested arrangement.
The foregoing description has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular configuration are generally not limited to that particular configuration, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected configuration, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, provided that they fit within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

A container (10) for foodstuff, the container comprising:
a housing (12) having cylindrical inner surface (20) extending from a proximal end (22) to a distal end (24) about a first longitudinal axis (A1), the inner surface defining a height HI ranging from 6,35 cm (2.5 inches) to 35,36 cm (14 inches) and a width D1 ranging from 12,7 to 17,78 cm (5 to 7 inches), a ratio of the height HI to the width D1 being less than 2:1;

a divider (14) disposed within the housing, the divider having first, second, and third radially extending fins (28-n) defining first, second, and third pie-shaped chambers (40-n) within the housing, each of the first, second, and third fins including an inner edge (34) and an outer edge (36), the inner edges contact one another at a joint (38), and the outer edge of the first fin contacts the inner surface of the housing at a first contact location (39-1), the outer edge of the second fin contacts the inner surface of the housing at a second contact location (39-2), the outer edge of the third fin contacts the inner surface of the housing at a third contact location (39-3); and

first, second, and third stacks (16-n) of ellipsoidal foodstuff (18) respectively disposed within the first, second and third chambers, each of the first, second, and third stacks of ellipsoidal foodstuff being stacked in a direction along respective second, third, and fourth longitudinal axes (A2-n) parallel to the first longitudinal axis (A1), and wherein a first ellipsoidal foodstuff includes a first major axis (A3-1) and a first minor axis (A4-1), the first minor axis intersecting the joint and the major axis intersecting at least two of the first, second, and third contact locations.
The container of Claim 1, wherein the divider is removably disposed within the housing.
The container of Claim 1, wherein the first, second, and third fins are symmetrically disposed about the longitudinal axis.
The container of Claim 1, wherein the joint is substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis of the housing.
The container of Claim 1, wherein the first, second, and third stacks of ellipsoidal foodstuff are stacked or nested within each of the first, second, and third chambers, respectively.
The container of Claim 1, wherein the ellipsoidal foodstuff is nested.
The container of Claim 1, wherein a second ellipsoidal foodstuff includes a second major axis (A3-2) and a second minor axis (A4-2) and a third ellipsoidal foodstuff includes a third major axis (A3-3) and a third minor axis (A4-3), the second and third minor axes intersecting the joint and the first minor axis, the second and third major axes intersecting at least two of the first, second, and third contact locations.