EP3750455A1

EP3750455A1 - Temporary cake covering device

Info

Publication number: EP3750455A1
Application number: EP20179734.7A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Vicente Blanch Tormo
Original assignee: Carrero Martin Raquel
Current assignee: Carrero Martin Raquel
Priority date: 2019-06-14
Filing date: 2020-06-12
Publication date: 2020-12-16

Abstract

The present invention consists of a temporary food covering device (especially for cakes), consisting of a lid (1) and a side covering body (2), wherein the lid (1) comprises at least one indentation for accommodating one or more candles (3) or decorative elements.

Description

The present invention consists of a temporary food covering device (especially for cakes). It enables the isolation of the cake's surface from its surroundings, thus preventing its contamination by external elements.

State of the Art

Cakes are desserts eaten in multiple celebrations. More particularly, they are traditionally consumed in birthday parties, in which a cake with lighted candles representing the age of the person is served for he or she to blow them out.
Candles are usually composed of a wick placed inside a wax or paraffin bar (sometimes shaped like a number representing the person's age). As the wick burns, the wax melts, spilling all over the surface of the cake.
Not only that but when blowing out the candles, exhaled droplets of saliva may fall over the cake's surface, which might be unpleasant for other diners.
Apart from candles, decorative elements such as sparklers (usually attached to the cake with sticks or other sharp elements) are also common. Because of health reasons, it is recommendable that these elements do not come into contact the cake.
To solve the aforementioned problems, covers intended to be placed on the cake (thus preventing melted wax and saliva droplets to touch its surface) have been developed.
For instance, document ES 1 232 469 U describes a cake cover comprised of a sidewall and a lid, with the lid including a set of flaps that are introduced in the sidewall's slots. The document also mentions the implementation of a set of holes for the insertion of candles.
The problem present in this document is that attaching the lid and the sidewall is tedious, as every single flap must be introduced in the sidewall's slots. Not only that, but it also is not aesthetically appealing.
Moreover, due to these holes being flushed with the lid's surface, candles have no support. Thus, they may fall from a vertical position.
In order to solve these problems, a temporary food covering device (especially for desserts and more particularly for cakes) with a lid easily attachable to a lateral covering body -with both elements perfectly attaching to one another and with holes for candles, sparklers or any other decorative element- has been developed.

Description of the invention

The present invention consists of a temporary food covering device (especially for desserts and more particularly for cakes). This temporary cake covering device is comprised of a lid and a side covering body.
The side covering body is intended to cover the cake's side and to support the lid. This side covering body is hollow, with its top and low areas open to place the cake inside.
This side covering body is usually a hollow cylinder, although it can have any other shape like, for instance, a polygon. This enables the covering of any type of cake: from one shape like a heart, to one shaped like a number, and so on.
According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, this lateral covering body is a self-assembling rectangular sheet the ends of which can be attached, thus creating a hollow body. According to an embodiment of the invention, the sheet includes end-to-end joints that enable assembling the sheet in different shapes so that the lateral covering body can be adapted to different cakes. If a polygonal shape is to be obtained, the sheet includes bending lines and can also be bent manually to create a polygonal body such as a square or a rectangular. In this embodiment, the side covering element is made with a semi-rigid, flexible material which can be opaque, transparent, or translucid (laminated cardstock or plastic, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, polypropylene, etc.).
On the other hand, a lid is placed on the side covering body. The purpose of this lid it to cover the cake's top as well as to support different decorative elements such as candles, sparklers, or any element one might wish to put on the cake, thus preventing direct contact between them and the cake's surface.
The material of which the cover is made of does not limit the scope of the invention. That is, any suitable material might be used for this purpose. Depending on the embodiment of the invention, the material used for the lid is plastic (for instance, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, polypropylene, etc.). It can be transparent, opaque, or translucent. Moreover, the lid may also include a decorative screen printing or a sticker on it.
The lid is a flat body with a continuous flap at its external perimeter edge, which extends across the whole perimeter substantially perpendicular to the lid's surface (1). The lid has the same shape as the side covering body, so that when the lid is placed on the side covering body, it is surrounded by the lid's flap, which attaches both elements.
According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the lid and the side covering body are made using one piece of material. In this embodiment option, the flap that extends perpendicularly from the lid's edge is the side covering body. In this embodiment, the material used for the covering device can any material suited for this purpose. For instance, a polymeric material produced via injection process or thermoformed plastic can be used to create the side covering body.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the covering device also comprises a base that attaches to the lower part of the side covering body. The base, which can be a piece of the same nature as the lid, is comprised of a flat body with one continuous flap at its external perimeter edge. This tab extends in a substantially perpendicular manner to the lid's surface, thus surrounding and attaching to the side covering body.
According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the lid's surface comprises at least one crown-like circular indentation. Preferably, the indent creates a crown-like shape on the lid. Although the indentation can be polygonal, it may also be straight or even be a set of indentations (concentric circular crowns, parallel straight indentations, polygonal indentations, and so on).
The indentation or indentations determined the position of the candles, sparklers, and other decorative elements, as they offer not only a jig for setting these elements, but also a lateral support once placed. These elements usually get stuck in the indentation's inner surface. According to an embodiment option, the indentation or indentations' surface has reliefs such as undulations that facilitate sticking candles or other elements.
According to an embodiment option, the indentation includes a set of holes for inserting candles or other elements (sparklers, decorative elements...).
Instead of a continuous indentation, the lid may comprise a set of discontinuous indentations or alveoli (shaped like the bottom part of the candles) in which candles are introduced. This allows setting the candles without the usage of accessories with sharp ends to stick them in the cake or, in other embodiments of the invention, the lid.
According to one embodiment of this invention, the lid comprises one or more indentations, which are also comprised of a set of indentations or alveoli.
Optionally, the covering device may also include a second, transparent lid, which is to be placed on top of the first lid. The second lid is transparent. Its purpose is for users to be able to include images (such as pictures or photographs) in between the two lids.

Brief description of the drawings

To illustrate the following explanations, four sheets of drawings featuring nine figures have been attached to this descriptive report. These figures represent, by way of example and without limitation, the essence of this invention according to the preferred embodiments of the invention. In these:

Figure 1: shows a view of the temporary cake cover device's lid with a circular crown-like indentation according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2: shows a cross section of Figure 1's lid, according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3: shows a view of the temporary cake cover device's side covering body, according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4: shows a view of the lid on the temporary cake cover device's side covering body according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 5: shows a view similar to Figure 4 with candles set at the lid's indentation according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 6: shows a view of the temporary cake cover device with a set of alveoli according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 7: shows a view of the temporary cake cover device's side covering body as a sheet prior to being assembled according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 8: shows a view of Figure 7's assembled side covering body according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 9: shows a view of the temporary cake cover's side covering body as a sheet prior to being assembled and subject to cover cakes of different sizes.

Description of the preferred embodiments of the invention

In view of the aforementioned figures and according to the adopted numbering, we can see different examples of embodiment of the invention featured in them. The embodiment of the invention comprises the following parts and elements.
The temporary cake cover device is comprised of a lid (1) and a side covering body (2).
Thus, Figures 1 and 2 show a possible preferred embodiment of the lid (1). The lid (1) is a flat, circular body comprised of a continuous flap (10) at its perimeter edge, which extends across the whole perimeter substantially perpendicular to the lid's surface (1). The lid's surface is comprised of a crown-like circular indentation (11). The candles (3) are set on this indentation, which prevents them to fall. Candles are usually attached to the lid by means of an accessory placed on the bottom part of the candle that is comprised of a sharp end to stick them to the lid.
Figure 3 shows the side covering body (2) corresponding to the lid (1) showed in the previous figures. This side covering element (2) creates a hollow cylinder.
Figures 4 and 5 show the lid (1) attach to the side covering body (2) without and with candles, respectively. It can be seen how the flap (10) surrounds the side covering body's (2) upper part, thus attaching both elements.
Figure 6 shows an embodiment of the lid (1) in which the lid's (1) surface includes a set of alveoli (12) in which candles (3) are placed. These enable sticking the candles without the need of an accessory with sharp end.
Figures 6 and 7 shows an embodiment of the side covering body (2), which consists of a rectangular sheet with at least a tab (20) in one end (the embodiment featured in the figures comprises two tabs) and at least one slot (21) in the other end, which corresponds to the tab (11). Thus, the tab (20) can be inserted in the slot (21) to create a hollow cylinder inside which the cake is introduced.
As shown in the embodiment, the tabs (20) have a narrower and a wider part, with the former matching the size of the slots (21). Thus: The wider part of the tab (20) is introduced in the slot (21) either laterally or by producing a small elastic deformation on it so that once it is inserted into the slot (12), the wider part will prevent the tab (20) to detach from the slot (21), thereby firmly attaching both ends of the sheet.
Finally, Figure 8 shows an embodiment of the side covering body (2). This side covering body (2) consists of a rectangular sheet that includes a second set of slots (22) parallel to the first set of slots (21) located in the farthest area from the end. Thus, when the tabs (20) are inserted in the second set of slots (22), a hollow cylinder smaller than the one resulted from introducing the tab to the first set of slots (21) is obtained.

Claims

Temporary cake covering device, consisting of a lid (1) and a side covering body (2), characterized in that the lid comprises at least one indentation (11) for accommodating one or more candles or decorative elements.
Temporary cake covering device, according to clam 1, characterized in that the lid (1) comprises at least one of the following elements:
• a crown-like circular indentation.

• an indentation with a polygonal shape.

• a set of straight indentations parallel between one another.
Temporary cake covering device, according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that the surface of the indentation (or indentations) comprises reliefs that enable sticking candles or other elements.
Temporary cake covering device, according to claim 1, characterized in that the lid (1) comprises a set of indentations or alveoli (12) on its surface. These indentations or alveoli are capable of accommodating candles (3), with the alveoli having a shape corresponding to that of the lower part of the candles (3).
Temporary cake covering device, according to claim 4, characterized in that the surface's alveoli comprise reliefs which help holding candles or other elements.
Temporary cake covering device, according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that
• the lid (1) is a flat body which includes a continuous flap (10) at its perimeter edge that extends across the whole perimeter. This flap (10) extends substantially perpendicular to the lid's surface (1), thus surrounding the side covering body (2) when on it.

• the side covering body (2) creates a hollow body, the shape of which coincides with that of the cake to be covered.
Temporary cake covering device, according to any of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the lid (1) and the side covering body (2) are made with one sole piece.
Temporary cake covering device, according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that the lid (1) is round and the side covering body (2) creates a hollow cylinder.
Temporary cake covering device, according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that the lid (1) has a polygonal shape, and the side covering body (2) creates a hollow polygonal body which corresponds to the lid's (1) shape.
Temporary cake covering device, according to claim 6, characterized in that the side covering body (2) is composed of a rectangular sheet with end-to-end joints which form a hollow body when attached.
Temporary cake covering device, according to claim 10, characterized in that the side covering body (2) has end-to-end joints. These are at least one tab (20) in one end and its corresponding first slot (21) in the other end.
Temporary cake covering device, according to claim 11, characterized by that the tab (20) has a narrower part the size of the slot (21) and a wider part on its free end.
Temporary cake covering device, according to any of the claims 11 to 12, characterized in that the side covering body (2) comprises a second set of slots (22) in which the tabs (20) can be inserted to create a smaller hollow body.
Temporary cake covering device, according to any of the previous claims, characterized by comprising a transparent second lid, which is placed on the first lid (1).
Temporary cake covering device, according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that it also comprises a base which is attached to the lower edge of the side covering body (2), forming a closed volume between the cover (1), the side covering body (2) and the base.