EP4252593A1

EP4252593A1 - Food holder

Info

Publication number: EP4252593A1
Application number: EP22165222.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Dean Chapman; Benjamin Broerman
Original assignee: Freshlink Product Development LLC
Current assignee: Freshlink Product Development LLC
Priority date: 2022-03-29
Filing date: 2022-03-29
Publication date: 2023-10-04

Abstract

A food holder is adapted for holding food (6) and sauce (7), and includes a serving module (1) and a sauce module (2). The serving module (1) includes a main body (3) that is in a wave shape, and that defines a plurality of food receptacle spaces (30) spaced apart from each other in a first direction (L1) and adapted for carrying the food (6). Each food receptacle space (30) has an opening that faces upwards. The sauce module (2) includes a top rim portion (21) and a vessel body portion (22). The top rim portion (21) is connected to an end of the main body (3), and surrounds an upright axis. The vessel body portion (22) extends downwards from an inner periphery of the top rim portion (21), and defines a sauce space (20) having an opening that faces upwards and that is adapted for containing the sauce (7).

Description

The disclosure relates to a food holder, and more particularly to a food holder that can simultaneously hold food and sauce.
A popular food such as a Mexican taco, is a soft shell or hard shell maize tortilla stuffed with taco fillings and sauce, and both the soft shell taco and the hard shell taco are traditionally eaten by hand. Referring to Fig. 1, US 20050023234 A1 illustrates a conventional food holder that is used for serving hard shell tacos and that includes a plurality of food receiving regions 9. Each food receiving region 9 includes a bottom portion 91 and two fringe portions 92. Each of the fringe portions 92 has an upper part 921 and a lower part 922. The conventional food holder achieves the function of holding food items by having specific angles between the lower parts 922, the upper parts 921, and the fringe portion 92 that are designed to retain taco shaped food items.
However, the conventional food holder only has the food holding and serving function, and does not have the function of accommodating a sauce or condiment that may accompany the meal. The food holder is not anti-slip and the food item can easily fall off the food receiving regions 9. Thus the conventional food holder still has room for improvement.
Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a food holder that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art.
According to the disclosure, the food holder is adapted for holding food and sauce, and includes a serving module, and a sauce module. The serving module includes a main body that extends in a first direction, that is undulating in a wave shape, and that defines a plurality of food receptacle spaces spaced apart from each other in the first direction and adapted for carrying the food. Each food receptacle space has an opening that faces upwards. The sauce module includes a top rim portion and a vessel body portion. The top rim portion is connected to an end of the main body, and surrounds an upright axis. The vessel body portion extends downwards from an inner periphery of the top rim portion, and defines a sauce space having an opening that faces upwards and that is adapted for containing the sauce.
Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a conventional food holder disclosed in US 20050023234 A1 ;
Figure 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a food holder according to the present disclosure;
Figure 3 is a sectional side view of the embodiment;
Figure 4 is a sectional frontal view of the embodiment taken along line IV-IV in Fig. 3; and
Figure 5 is a perspective view of the embodiment being used to hold food and sauce.

Referring to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, an embodiment of a food holder 1 of the present invention is adapted to simultaneously carry food 6 and sauce 7 (see Figure 5). For example, the food 6 can be hard shell tacos, tortilla based wraps, or other handheld food items, but are not thus limited, and the food 6 may be consumed with the accompanying sauce 7 or other condiment such as ketchup, mayonnaise or other sauces and condiments. The food holder includes a serving module 1, and a sauce module 2 connected to the serving module 1.
The serving module 1 includes a main body 3, a handle 4, and a plurality of protrusions 5. The main body 3 extends in a first direction (L1), and is undulating in a wave shape.
The main body 3 has a plurality of trough portions 31 that respectively constitute wave troughs of the main body 3, a plurality of crest portions 32 that respectively constitute wave crests of the main body 3, and a plurality of connecting portions 33 that interconnect the trough portions 31 with the crest portions 32, respectively. The main body 3 further has an upper surface 34 facing upwards. Specifically, upper surfaces of the through portions 31, the crest portions 32, and the connecting portions 33 cooperatively define the upper surface 34. The crest portions 32 and the connecting portions 33 cooperatively define a plurality of food receptacle spaces 30 being spaced apart from each other in the first direction (L1) and adapted for carrying the food 6, and each food receptacle space 30 has an opening that faces upwards.
The sauce module 2 is connected to one of the crest portions 32. In this embodiment, it is the one of the crest portions 32 that is at an end of the main body 3 that is connected to the sauce module 2, and this one crest portion 32 has a top section that is formed with a recess 321 extending in the first direction (L1). Each of the remainder of the crest portions 32 which are not connected with the sauce module 2 has a top section formed with a concavity 322 that extends in the first direction L1. The upper surface 34 has a plurality of anti-slip portions 341 distributed in the food receptacle spaces 30 for contacting with the food 6. The protrusions 5 are divided into two groups that are spaced apart from each other in a second direction (L2) orthogonal to the first direction (L1). Each group includes multiple protrusions 5 spaced apart in the first direction (L1) and protruding downwards from wave troughs of the main body 3.
The anti-slip portions 341 extend in the first direction (L1) as strips disposed on the trough portions 31, the crest portions 32, and the connecting portions 33, and are spaced apart in the second direction (L2). The anti-slip portions 341 have rough texture.
The handle 4 extends from the other end of the main body 3 which is distal from the sauce module 2 in a direction away from the sauce module 2, and curves downwards. The handle 4 has a rough-textured portion 41 disposed on an upper surface of the handle 4 and facing upwards. The rough-textured portion 41 may be one of various uneven surface designs capable of increasing friction when the handle 4 is held, and since there are many known rough textures, details are not further described herein.
The sauce module 2 includes a top rim portion 21 that is connected to the end of the main body 3, and surrounds an upright axis. In this embodiment, the sauce module 2 is connected to the end one of the crest portions 32 of the main body 3. The sauce module 2 further includes a vessel body portion 22 extending downwards from an inner periphery of the top rim portion 21. The vessel body portion 22 defines a sauce space 20 that has an opening facing upwards and adapted for containing the sauce 7.
Referring to Figs. 3, 4 and 5, when the food holder of this embodiment is used, the food 6 can be served from the food receptacle spaces 30 and the sauce 7 can be served in the sauce space 20, which allows diners simultaneous access to both the food 6 and the sauce 7. In addition, through the design of the recess 321 and the concavities 322 of the crest portions 32 of the main body 3 of the serving module 1, the food 6 carried by the serving module 1 is partially exposed on the main body 3, thereby facilitating accessibility of the food 6 to the diners. The anti-slip portions 341 are designed to increase friction with the food 6 to reduce the risk of dropping the food 6. When the user picks up the food holder of the present invention, the food holder is less likely to slip off, by virtue of the user holding the rough-textured portion 41 of the handle 4. The protrusions 5 are designed to be positioned under the bottom edges of the wave troughs of the main body 3, and are made of rubber or silicone rubber, so as to increase friction between the main body 3 and a placement surface, making the food serving module 1 of the present invention more stable when placed.
In other embodiments of the present invention, the anti-slip portions 341 are not limited to being strips, for example, the anti-slip portions 341 may be circular or they may be in other shapes. As long as friction between the food 6 and the main body 3 can be maintained, the effect of preventing the food 6 from slipping out of the food receptacle space 30 can be achieved, and therefore, the anti-slip portions 341 are not limited to the embodiments described above.
In summary, the food holder 1 of the present invention achieves the function of conveniently carrying the food 6 and the sauce 7 through the serving module 1 and the sauce module 2. The handle 4 and the rough-textured portion 41 thereof facilitate the food holder to be held firmly by the user. Also, through the structural design of the anti-slip portions 341, the food 6 does not easily slip off when it is served. The design of the recess 321 and the concavity 322 facilitates diner accessibility to the food 6. The protrusions 5 are adapted for stabilizing the food holder when it is placed. Therefore, the object of this disclosure can indeed be achieved.
In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects, and that one or more features or specific details from one embodiment may be practiced together with one or more features or specific details from another embodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the disclosure.

Claims

A food holder adapted for holding food (6) and sauce (7), said food holder including a serving module (1) that includes a main body (3) extending in a first direction (L1), undulating in a wave shape, and defining a plurality of food receptacle spaces (30) that are spaced apart from each other in the first direction (L1) and adapted for carrying the food (6), each food receptacle space (30) that has an opening that faces upwards,
characterised in that said food holder further includes a sauce module (2) including:
a top rim portion (21) that is connected to an end of said main body (3), and that surrounds an upright axis; and

a vessel body portion (22) that extends downwards from an inner periphery of said top rim portion (21), and that defines a sauce space (20) having an opening that faces upwards and that is adapted for containing the sauce (7).
The food holder as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said main body (3) has an upper surface (34) that faces upwards, and that has a plurality of anti-slip portions (341) distributed in said food receptacle spaces (30) for contacting with the food (6).
The food holder as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that said anti-slip portions (341) have rough texture.
The food holder as claimed in any one of claims 2 and 3, characterised in that said anti-slip portions (341) extend in the first direction (L1) as strips.
The food holder as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 4, characterised in that said anti-slip portions (341) are spaced apart in a second direction (L2) orthogonal to the first direction (L1) .
The food holder as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that said serving module (1) further includes a handle (4) that extends from the other end of said main body (3) which is distal from said sauce module (2) in a direction away from said sauce module (2), and that curves downwards.
The food holder as claimed in claim 6, characterised in that said handle (4) has a rough-textured portion (41) disposed on an upper surface of said handle (4) and facing upwards.
The food holder as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that:
said main body (3) has a plurality of trough portions (31) that respectively constitute wave troughs of said main body (3), and a plurality of crest portions (32) that respectively constitute wave crests of said main body (3); and

said sauce module (2) is connected to one of said crest portions (32) of said main body (3), said one of said crest portions (32) having a top section that is formed with a recess (321) extending in the first direction (L1).
The food holder as claimed in claim 8, characterised in that each of the remainder of said crest portions (32) which are not connected with said sauce module (2) has a top section formed with a concavity (322) that extends in the first direction (L1).
The food holder as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that the serving module (1) further includes a plurality of protrusions (5) that are spaced apart in the first direction (L1) and the second direction (L2), and that protrude downwards from wave troughs of said main body (3).