ES2643937T3 - Cheese portion container - Google Patents

Description

5

10

fifteen

twenty

25

30

35

40

Four. Five

fifty

55

60

65

DESCRIPTION

Bowl for cheese portions Campo

This invention generally relates to food packaging and, more particularly, to food packaging for single portions of cheese. The invention relates to a container according to the preamble of claim 1 and to a method of opening a container and accessing a food product.

Background

Food products sold in individual ration packs to help preserve the freshness of the products stored inside are known in the art. The individual ration package normally provides consumers with a convenient portion of packaged food. The various characteristics of the rationed food will affect the type of container used. The qualities of the stored food product, such as the expiration period, size, fragility, texture, processing and storage requirements, among others, affect the details of food packaging. For example, a food product that has an easily deformable shape may require protection so that the food product does not deform during transport and handling.

A common approach to packaging food products consists of the product individually wrapped. For example, a food product, such as processed or unprocessed cheese, is formed in cheese sections and packaged separately, wrapped in foil. Through an approach, cheese that has been formed in bricks, blocks or cribs is wrapped in a thin, thin, aluminum wrap. The thin aluminum wrap may have a reinforced opening strip that can be grasped to remove portions of the aluminum wrap, which can then be peeled away from the cheese.

It may be difficult for a user to manipulate or remove the aluminum cheese wrapper for a number of reasons. For example, the opening strip can be separated from the aluminum wrap so that the rest of the wrap sticks to the cheese while the strip has separated from the wrap and the cheese. Often, despite the removal of the opening strip, portions or tapes of the aluminum wrap remain stuck to the cheese portions. These tapes can be difficult to remove from cheese. In such situations, the user can fight to remove the tapes from the packaging attached to the cheese to finish unwrapping the cheese. The thin aluminum wrap may also not completely protect the integrity of the cheese from deformation, such as during transport and handling. In addition, thin foil can be difficult for those with limited manual dexterity to easily manipulate even with the help of the opening strip. US-3,580,484, which corresponds to the preamble of claim 1, discloses a pie plate with a flat bottom, a side that extends upward and outward from said bottom and a horizontally arranged flange. The lines of weakness are spaced around the circumference of the side to define a corresponding number of segmental lateral sections. An articulation develops along a straight profile rope extended between the weakness lines that have allowed the side to be separated to release a section for rotation. The rope zone then acts as a lever that raises and bends the lower part in the joint, thereby inducing a separation of the lower part and a pie portion for easy removal of said portion.

Summary

The invention is defined by a container having the technical characteristics of claim 1 and by a method of opening a container and accessing a food product as defined in claim 12. A fragile container is provided for containing a food product, such as cheese, which promotes the protection of the product and the freshness of the product, while allowing a convenient withdrawal of the rationed food product. The container includes a generally rigid base and a vertical side wall to form an interior that has an opening opposite the base. A flange extends outwardly from the side wall to provide a continuous sealing surface for a flexible film to cover the opening and enclose the interior. The fragile container has areas of weakness or grooving lines located on the side wall and the base flange to allow the side walls to break into one or more segmented portions. In addition, some of the segmented portions are joined in an articulated manner to the base to allow the segments to rotate outwards, away from the base, to allow greater access to the food product. The fragile container thus allows a convenient withdrawal of the food product from the container, while the rigid base promotes the protection of the food product and the base in combination with the film promotes the freshness of the product.

To open the container and access a food product disposed in an interior of a base that has a vertical side wall that extends around the periphery thereof, a film covering the opening of the base can be removed to expose the product food Next, a segment of the side wall can be separated from adjacent portions of the side wall and rotated outwardly relative to the base to facilitate access to the food product disposed on the base.

5

10

fifteen

twenty

25

30

35

40

Four. Five

fifty

55

60

65

The container may be formed of plastic material such as a high density polyethylene. Depending on the materials chosen for the container, the cheese will have reduced adhesion to the walls of the container. In addition, the container material may have a non-stick property or may have a coating to provide a non-stick feature. By another approach, the food product can be formulated so that it separates cleanly from the walls of the container and does not adhere to them. Fragile plastic containers provide a stable and generally rigid container that protects the food product during transport and handling. In addition, the user can easily manipulate the package to obtain greater access to the food product.

Brief description of the drawings

Fig. 1 is a top perspective view of a single use container for cheese portions;

Fig. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the container of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the container of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation view of the container of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation view of the container of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a rear elevational view of the container of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of one of the side walls of the container taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of another side wall taken along line 8-8 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 9 is a top perspective view of the container of Fig. 1, illustrated without a portion of cheese therein, which has a side wall turned outwardly away from the base; Y

Fig. 10 is a top perspective view of the container of Fig. 1, illustrated with a portion of cheese therein, which has two side walls turned outwardly to provide greater access to the portion of cheese.

Detailed description

A container for a food product is described herein and is depicted in Figs. 1-9, which provides greater access to the food product, while promoting the protection and freshness of the product. More specifically, the cardboard 10 has a generally rigid base 16 with a compartment 12 to contain a food product 14, such as a portion of processed or unprocessed cheese, which is sealed inside the compartment using a flexible film 26. The base 16 generally rigid protects the food product and the flexible film 26 in combination with the base 16 promotes the freshness of the product by enclosing the food product. The base 16 is adapted to separate into one or more different segments to facilitate access to the food product, as will be described in greater detail herein.

Turning to more details of the base 16, a vertical side wall 18 extends around the periphery of the bottom of the base 16. A flange 20 extends outwardly from an upper edge 22 of the side wall 18, opposite to the lower part of the base 16, to provide a continuous sealing surface 24 for fixing a film 26. The side wall 18 and the flange 20 have aligned areas of weakness 28 located therein to allow the segments or sections from the side wall 18 and the flange 20 are separated from other adjacent portions, thereby dividing the side wall 18 and the flange 20 into segments 30. In addition, the container 10 has joints 32 located between the base 16 and certain sections 30 segmented to allow segment 30 to rotate downward and outward from the bottom of base 16 when areas of weakness 28 are broken or broken, thereby facilitating access to the int inside the container 10, which has the food product 14 stored therein.

The flange 20 includes a notch 34 directed towards the area of weakness 28 located in the flange 20 and the side wall 18. The notch 34 facilitates the separation of the flange 20 and the side wall 18 into segmented sections 30. A lower surface 36 of The flange 20 can also include clamping surfaces 38 that allow the user to manually grip and pull the flanges 20 more easily separated from each other, thus dividing the side wall 18 and the flange 20 into segmented sections 30.

In Fig. 1 an illustrative container 10 is shown having a compartment 12 with a food product 14 disposed therein. The film 26 seals the food product 14 inside the container 10. More particularly, the film 26 adheres to a continuous sealing surface 24 located on the flange 20. The sealing arrangement between the film 26 and the sealing surface 24 provides for possibility that the container 10 is hermetically sealed. Also, after filling the container 10, the film 26 can adhere to the blank flange 20 to extend the

5

10

fifteen

twenty

25

30

35

40

Four. Five

fifty

55

60

65

period of validity of the food product 14. The gas injection can also be used alone or in conjunction with the vacuum.

Turning now to Fig. 2, which illustrates the base 16, the side wall 18 and the flange 20 of the container 10 from a bottom perspective view. As mentioned, the fragile container 10 has areas of weakness 28 that can be torn or broken to provide additional access to the food product 14. The fragile container 10 may also include a notch 34 directed towards the areas of weakness 28. The notch 34 may provide a separation initiation feature and a visual indication of where to start separating the container 10 into the segments 30. The notches 34 may be of any of a variety of sizes and a single container 10 may include notches 34 of different sizes and locations, as shown in Fig. 3.

The container 10 may also include clamping surfaces 38, which may be located on one side of the flange 20 opposite the sealing surface 24. The clamping surfaces 38 facilitate the manual grip of the flange 20 by a user. For example, after the film 26 has been removed, the user can grab the fastening surfaces 28 on the opposite flanges 20 and then tear or pull the flanges 20, thereby allowing the flanges 20 and the side wall 18 they are separated into segmented portions 30. In one example, the clamping surfaces 38 are positioned close to the notches 34 that direct the user to the areas of weakness 28 that can be broken to provide additional access to the food product 14 in the container 10. holding surfaces 38 may be a plurality of raised or raised ribs 50 protruding from the flange 20. As shown in Fig. 2, the holding surface 38 may include two parallel raised ribs 50 and a parallel groove 54.

The container 10 also includes reinforcing ribs 40 located adjacent to the weakness zones 28. By an approach, the weakness zones 28 comprise a grooving line or a thinned area, such as a groove or notch, which allows the user to break or more easily tear the fragile joints of the container 10. To reinforce the side wall 18 around the area of weakness 28, the reinforcing ribs 40 flank the grooving line, the groove or the notch. The reinforcing ribs 40 may provide a clean, straight tear or tear of the weakness zone 28. The reinforcing ribs 40 extend from the upper edge 22 of the side wall 18 to just above a lower edge 23. Of this Thus, the lower portion of the reinforcing rib 40 does not interfere with the stacking of the containers 10 and can help stacking by attaching an inner flange or lip 48 of the compartment 12.

As mentioned, the container 10 may include an articulation 32 located between the base 16 and some of the segmented sections 30. The articulation 32 may allow the segments 30 to rotate downwards and outwards from the base 16. In one embodiment Illustratively, the joint 32 is a groove 44 that extends along portions of the base 16 as shown in Fig. 3. The joint 32 is located along the base 16, adjacent to two segments 30 of the side wall 18 that are relatively straight. By an approach, the side wall 18 has three areas of weakness 26 and two relatively straight segments 30, which can rotate relative to the base 16 once the areas of weakness 26 have been broken. Thus, after removing the film 26 and separating at least two areas of weakness 28 (although it is contemplated that the container 10 may have more than two areas of weakness 28) to create a segment 30, the joint 32 allows the segment 30 rotate outwards and away from base 16, thereby facilitating greater access to the interior of the container. Fig. 7 is a cross section along line 7-7 shown in Fig. 3 and illustrates the groove 44 in the base 16 provided by the joint 32. The groove 44 may be positioned slightly inwardly from the outer edge of the base 16.

In one embodiment of the container 10, the base 16, the side walls 18 and the flange 20 are configured in a cradle shape such that two side walls are substantially straight and of equal length and another side wall has an arcuate shape. As shown in Fig. 3, the base 16 has a generally triangular or cradle perimeter with three corners or joints. The crib-shaped perimeter includes two edges that are relatively equal in length and a third edge with a curved profile. The cradle-shaped container 10 has three fragile joints 56 between the three side wall portions 18 and each of the fragile joints 56 has a weakness zone 26. The weakness zones 26 are near the joints or corners of the container 10 The weakness zones 26 allow the side walls 18 and the flange 20 to be divided into segments 30. The container 10 can include three weakness zones 28 and can be divided into three segments that include two straight segments 30a and an arcuate segment 30b. Also, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the base 16 may include grooves 44 adjacent to the two straight segments 30a to facilitate articulated movement of the two straight segments 30a relative to the base 16. The arcuate segment 30b does not have a slot 44 along the base 16 and, therefore, the movement between the arched or curved segment 30b of the side wall 18 and the flange is limited with respect to the base 16.

To access the food product disposed inside the container, the user opens the food container by first removing the film 26 from the container 10. After removing the film 26, the user then breaks or tears one of the areas of weakness 28 after which can break another weakness zone 28. After breaking two of the weakness zones 28 in the container 10, one of the segments 30 can be rotated so that it can be rotated outward from the rest of the container 10, such as is illustrated in Fig. 9. Such rotation of segment 30 provides a

5

10

fifteen

twenty

25

30

35

40

Four. Five

fifty

55

60

65

greater access to the food product; however, for additional access to the food product, another area of weakness 28 can be broken to segment the side wall 18 and the flange 20 into two additional segments 30 such that the side wall 18 and the flange 20 now comprise three segments 30 as It is illustrated in Fig. 10.

As shown in Figs. 4-7, a plurality of legs 46 can be positioned along the base 16 of the container 10. The legs 46 can assist in stacking the containers on top of each other. More particularly, the legs 46 at the bottom of a container can be coupled with an inner flange or lip 48 of the compartment 12 of another container 10. By an approach, as shown in Fig. 2, the legs 46 extend as far as along the outer edge of the base 16 without extending to the corners or joints of the base 16 thereby allowing articulated movement of the segments 30 and avoiding interference of the legs 46 with each other.

The fragile container 10 may also include stacking ribs 42. As illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, the stacking ribs 42 may be a thin rib of material located on the side wall 18 of the container 10. In one embodiment, the stacking rib 42 begins a slight distance away from the upper edge. 22 and ends at a slight distance away from the bottom edge 23 in the side wall 18. The stacking ribs 42 may be located along the side wall 18 in a variety of locations. The stacking ribs 42 and the reinforcing ribs 40 allow the containers 10 to stack in an organized manner such as during various manufacturing or transport processes of the containers 10. In addition, the stack ribs 42 can also provide a reinforcing feature. such that the side walls 18 are provided with additional stiffness.

Turning now to the materials of the container, the base 16, the side wall 18 and the flange 20 can be composed of a variety of different rigid or semi-rigid materials (which are referred to herein as rigid or generally rigid), such as a material relatively firm that includes a high density polyethylene. The base 16, the side wall 18 and the flange 20 are composed of plastic materials suitable for injection molding. Optionally, the material of the base 16 and the side wall 18 are such that the food product 14 will not adhere to the internal surfaces of the container 10. Although some materials may exhibit the non-stick characteristic, other materials may require an additive or a surface coating to provide such non-stick property to surfaces.

A variety of films or foil are contemplated for use as a film 26. For example, the film 26 may be an aluminum foil with optional printed indications thereon. In yet another example, the film 26 may be a polymeric film having optional moisture resistance characteristics or gas barrier properties, such as polyethylene or nylon. It is anticipated that the film 26 may be a single layer of homogeneous plastic, a multilayer laminate or a plastic or coextruded resin film. By one approach, the film 26 has a portion that can be grasped manually, such as a corner or an outer edge portion of the film 26 that is not adhered to the sealing surface 24 of the flange 20. By another approach, the film 26 includes an extension tongue or portion that can be easily grasped by a user. The portion that can be grabbed manually from the film 26 may be indicated with visual indications such as instructions for throwing or handling. By having a convenient portion that can be grasped manually, detachment of the film 26 from the container 10 can be facilitated.

In the packaging of the food product 14 in the container 10, the food product 14, such as the fluid cheese, can be poured into the compartment 12 of the container 10. Since the food product 14 can return to a solid state for transport and the supply, once the user has opened the container 10, such as removing the film 26 and breaking the areas of weakness 28, the food product 14 will maintain the shape of the container 10 without adhering to the inner surface of the walls of the container 10 In addition, one or more of the film 26, the base 16, the side wall 18 and the flange 20 may also include one or more additives in their respective materials useful for the packaging function, such as anti-blocking agents, sliding agents, flavoring agents. , antimicrobial agents, cheese preservatives, antioxidants, fillers, light barriers, oxygen scavengers and antistatic agents and the like.

Turning now to Fig. 10, the two straight side wall segments 30a have been turned outward to allow easy access to the food product 14 and then the side wall segments 30a have returned to a resting position in a position of approximately 45 ° from its generally vertical orientation. Alternatively, the container 10 may be configured such that the straight side wall segments 30a remain pushed outward and do not return upwards to approximately 45 ° from their generally vertical orientation. By an approximation, the joint 32 located in the perimetral portions of the base 16 can be thinned so that the side wall segment 30a can easily rotate outward more than 90 ° from its generally vertical position. In another example, the legs 46 of the container can move inwardly so that the segment 30a of the side wall can rotate freely without interference. However, if the legs 46 interfere with the rotation of the side wall segment 30a, a deformation in the base 16 can be created so that removal of the food product is facilitated. However, if the side wall segment 30a is allowed to easily rotate more than 90 ° from the orientation

vertical, it is contemplated that the resting position of that segment 30a can be almost flat with the base 16, with the exception of the housing of the flange 20, since it could interfere with the surface on which the container is placed. In this way, the lower part of the legs 46 can be aligned with the outer portion of the flange 20.

5

Claims (8)

10 fifteen twenty 2. 25 3. 30 4. 5. 35 6. 40 7. Four. Five 8. 50 9. 10. 55 60 A container (10) having an interior (12) for storing a food product (14), the container (10) comprising: a base (16); a vertical side wall (18) that extends around the periphery of the base (16); a flange (20) extending outwardly from a portion (22) of edge of the side wall (18) opposite the base (16) to provide a continuous sealing surface (24) for fixing a film ( 26) to enclose the container (10); at least two areas of weakness (28) in the side wall (18) and the flange (20) defining a segment (30) of the side wall (18); Y an articulation (32) between the base (16) and the segment (30) to allow the segment (30) to turn outwardly away from the base (16) when the areas of weakness (28) are broken to facilitate access inside (12) of the container (10), wherein the container (10) is in combination with a food product (14) arranged inside (12) of the container (10) and characterized in that a film (26) is sealed to the flange (20) to enclose the product food (14) inside the container (10), wherein the seal between the film (26) and the flange (20) is airtight, and The base (16), the side wall (18) and the flange (20) are composed of plastic materials and formed by injection molding. The container (10) of claim 1, wherein the flange (20) includes a notch (34) directed towards the areas of weakness (28). The container (10) of claim 1 or 2, wherein the flange (20) also includes a fastening surface (38) on the underside of the flange (20), wherein at least a portion of the surface (38 ) of fastening is positioned near the notch (34). The container (10) of one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the joint (32) comprises a thinned area of the base (16). The container (10) of one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the base (16) has a cradle-shaped perimeter such that two edges of the base (16) are linear and relatively equal in length and a third edge that is arched. The container (10) of claim 5, wherein the side wall (18) has a pair of substantially flat segments (30a) adjacent to the two linear edges of the base (16) and a curved segment (30b) adjacent to the edge arched base (16) and areas of weakness (28) are located in the joints (56) between the three segments (30a, 30b) of sidewall. The container (10) of claim 6, wherein the joint (32) is positioned between the two substantially flat side wall segments (30a) and the base (16) and the movement between the third side wall segment (30b) curved is limited with respect to the base (16). The container (10) of claim 6 or 7, wherein the flange (20) adjacent to each of the pairs of substantially flat side wall segments (30a) has an arcuate region directed inward towards the segment (30a) side wall The container (10) of one of claims 6 to 8, wherein there is a thinned area between the substantially flat side wall segments (30a) and the adjacent flange (20). The container (10) of claim 1, wherein the base (16) is a generally triangular base having three corners and the container (10) comprises at least three areas of weakness (28) in the side wall (18) positioned near each corner of the triangular base (16) and which extend into the flange (20), the areas of weakness (28) being able to break to form three segments (30a, 30b) of the side wall (18); Y joints (32) between the base (16) and at least two of the segments (30a) to allow the segments (30a) to rotate outwards from the base (16) when the areas of weakness (28) have been separated to facilitate access to the interior (12) of the container (10). The container (10) of claim 10, wherein a third segment (30b) of the side wall (18) has a curved shape and does not have an articulation (32) at the base thereof such that the third segment ( 30b) has a limited range of motion with respect to the base (16). 5 10 fifteen twenty 25 30 35 A method for opening a container (10) of one of claims 1 to 11 and for accessing a food product (14) disposed in an interior (12) of a base (16) having a vertical side wall (18) that It extends around its periphery, comprising the method: removing a film (26) covering the opening of the base (16) to expose the food product (14) inside (12) of the base (16); separating a segment (30) from the side wall (18) from adjacent portions of the side wall (18); rotate the segment (30) of the side wall (18) outwards with respect to the base (16) around a joint (32) between the base (16) and the segment (30) to facilitate access to the product food (14) arranged on the base (16), where The step of removing the film (26) from the side wall (18) includes removing the film (26) from a flange (20) of the side wall (18) extending around the side wall (18) at one edge opposite (22) of the base (16); Y the step of separating a segment (30) from the side wall (18) from adjacent portions of the side wall (18) includes separating the portion of the flange (20) adjacent to the segment (30) from adjacent portions of the flange ( 20), where a seal between the film (26) and the flange (20) is airtight, and The base (16), the side wall (18) and the flange (20) are composed of plastic materials and formed by injection molding. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of separating the segment (30) from the side wall (18) from adjacent portions of the side wall (18) includes the breaking of lines of weakness (28) positioned at opposite ends of the side wall (18). The method of claim 12 or 13, wherein the step of separating the portion of the flange (20) adjacent to the segment (30) of the adjacent portions of the flange (20) includes the breaking of lines of weakness (28) positioned at opposite ends of the flange portion (20). The method of one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the method further includes the step of separating a second segment (30) from the side wall (18) of adjacent portions of the side wall (18) and the rotation of the second segment (30) of the side wall (18) outwards with respect to the base (16) to facilitate access to the food product (14) arranged on the base (16). The method of claim 15, wherein the step of separating a second segment (30) from the side wall (18) of adjacent portions of the side wall (18) includes the step of breaking a line of weakness (28) which joins the segment (30) and the second segment (30) of the side wall (18).