GB2297536A

GB2297536A - Multi-compartment container with removable compartment

Info

Publication number: GB2297536A
Application number: GB9601730A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andrew Colin Streeter; Carl Peter Pledger
Original assignee: HAZLEWOOD FOODS PLC
Current assignee: HAZLEWOOD FOODS PLC
Priority date: 1995-02-02
Filing date: 1996-01-29
Publication date: 1996-08-07
Anticipated expiration: 2016-01-29
Also published as: GB2297536B; GB9813978D0; GB2323836A; GB9601730D0

Abstract

A container, suitable for holding microwavable food, comprises a first compartment 13 and a second removable compartment 14. Preferably there are only two compartments with the first compartment being integral with the container and the second compartment being received through an aperture 22 in a recessed part 23 of the container, the recess defining a ledge 25 on which an outer rim 26 of the second compartment is supported. Preferably the second compartment is positioned so that the open side of the container has a substantially planar surface (28, Fig 12) and the bases of the compartments are coplanar. A film (29, Fig 15) may be heat sealed over the compartments. Preferably the container is of ellipsoidal shape (Fig 1) with the compartments having the shapes of part of the ellipse. The compartments may be formed of thin thermoformed plastics material. The container may be provided with a cardboard sleeve (10, Fig 16) having aligned projections, eg two pairs, with one pair of projections engaging between the compartments (31, Fig 12). The projections may be formed by vertical cuts (30, Fig 16) made along interconnected parts of the base and side walls, the cut-out parts being pushed into the interior of the sleeve.

Description

CONTAINER AND FOOD PRODUCTS PACKAGE INCLUDING SAME This invention relates to a container for food products, and also to a food products package including such a container. Particularly, though not exclusively, the food products are chilled or frozen foods intended to be heated in a microwave oven.

An object of the invention is to provide a container for food products, and a food products package including such a container, in a convenient and versatile form.

According to one aspect of the invention a container for food products comprises a first compartment means and a removable second compartment means, each intended to receive a food product, in use.

Preferably the first compartment means is integral with, i.e. nonremovable from, the container, and desirably the container has only two compartment means. Conveniently the first compartment means has a volume larger (for example twice as large) than the second compartment means.

Advantageously the container has one or more planar or substantially planar sealing film or films retaining said food products in said compartment means, in use. In a preferred embodiment, a single planar film is sealed, for example heat sealed, over an open side of the container to protect the food products in said compartment means.

Desirably a flange or rim of said removable compartment means or of each removable compartment means is received in a corresponding recessed part of said container so that the surface of the container at the open side thereof is planar or generally so, with said film or films being sealed thereto.

According to a second embodiment of the invention, a food products package comprises a container for food products and an outer cover, the container comprising a first compartment means and a removable second compartment means, and the cover has a part which is received between and engages against the first and second compartment means.

Preferably the container and the or each removable compartment means is made of thin thermoforming plastics material, and the part of the cover received between the first and second compartment means ensures that the package is rigid, and of increased mechanical strength compared to the container alone.

Conveniently the cover is a cartonboard or cardboard sleeve.

As a result, the package can be displayed on its base or either of its sides.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of part of a container of the invention, said part including a first, integral compartment means for a food product, Figure 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of Figure 1, Figure 3 is an end view of the container of Figure 1, Figure 4 is perspective view, to a reduced scale, of the container of Figure 1, Figures 5 to 8 are a plan view, an end view, a side view and a perspective view respectively of a second compartment means of the container, Figure 9 illustrates how the second compartment means can be removably received into an opening in the part of the container shown in Figures 1 to 4, Figure 10 show the second compartment means as part of the complete container, Figure 11 is a plan view of the complete container, Figure 12 is a sectional view of line 12-12 of Figure 11, Figure 13 is an enlarged sectional view of Detail A of Figure 12, Figure 14 illustrates the first step in the heat sealing of a protective film over the complete container, food products in the compartment means not being shown, Figure 15 shows the complete container after completion of the steps of heat sealing and trimming the film, Figure 16 shows the sealed container as part of a food products package of the invention, such package comprising the sealed container received in an outer packaging sleeve, and Figure 1 7 shows the film partly removed from the container for cooking the food products or consuming them.

Shown in the drawings is a food products package 10 (Figure 16) the package comprising an outer packaging sleeve 11, in this embodiment of rectangular shape and cross-section, around a sealed, food products container 12 (Figure 15). The packaging sleeve can instead be of oval shape to match the shape of the container 12. The invention relates both to the food products package, and also, separately, to the container itself.

The container 12, shown in Figures 1 to 13, is, in this embodiment, formed in two parts, namely a main tray part 13 and a removable smaller tray 14. Both the part 13 and the tray 14 are preferably made of the same plastics material, for example polypropylene, the two components conveniently being manufactured by pressure and plug assisted thermoforming. In the example illustrated, the wall thickness of the larger tray part is between 210 microns and 800 microns, whilst for the smaller tray, the wall thickness is between 210 microns and 950 microns.

Figures 1 to 4 show the tray part 13 in detail, and particularly from Figure 1 it can be seen that the component is a perfect ellipse around its top perimeter 15. The tray part is divided unequally into two distinct areas. The main area is in the form of a compartment 16 of partly ellipsoidal shape. The compartment has a wall 17 depending from the inner boundary of an upper flange or rim 18 which is formed around the whole of the main tray part and extends inwards from the perimeter 15.

A major part of the wall 17 is ellipsoidal, but this is terminated by a straight wall part 19 disposed inwards from one end of the major axis of the ellipse, and lying generally parallel to the minor ellipse axis. The compartment 16 is closed by a base 20. The rim 18 can be flat, i.e.

parallel to the base 20, with its upper face thus defining a planar surface for reception of a protective film, as will be described. Alternatively the rim can have a turned-down edge 21, as shown in the illustrated embodiment.

At the side of the wall part 19 of compartment 16, the remainder of the container 12 is formed with an aperture 22. Like the section in plan of the compartment 16, this aperture is also in plan a section of one end of the larger axis of a perfect ellipse, the major axis of this ellipse being less than the major axis of container 12. The aperture is formed in a recessed part of the container upper surface, this recess 23 being of partly ellipsoidai shape in that it is a continuation of the part of the ellipse of the compartment 16. The inner boundary of the recess 23 is however defined by a straight surface 24 parallel to the wall part 19 and spaced slightly therefrom. Accordingly the part of the recess 23 around the aperture 22 forms a ledge 25, and as will be described, this is to support the smaller tray 14.

This tray 14 has an upper rim 26, with a peripheral wall 27 of the tray depending downwardly from the inner boundary of the rim 26 to a flat base 27a. The wall 27 is shaped to correspond with the shape of the aperture 22 and the size of this smaller tray 14 is such that its main body part can be received through the aperture with its rim 26 being received, and resting upon, the ledge 25 formed in the apertured recess 23, the rim 26 being of corresponding shape to the ledge 25. As shown in this embodiment, the depths of the compartment 16 and the tray 14 are substantially the same, although this need not be the case.More importantly the depth of the recess 23 is the same or substantially the same as the thickness of the upper rim 26 of the tray 14 so that when the smaller tray is received in place on the main tray part 13, the upper surface of its rim 26 is substantially flush with the portion of the main tray part 13 which surrounds it. This is best shown in Figure 12, and in detail in Figure 13, where it can be seen that the surfaces in question lie in a common plane 28 which in fact contains the whole of the upper surface of the rim 18. In fact it will be appreciated that the only upwardly facing surface part which is not in this plane is the upper surface of the recess 23. Figure 9 shows the smaller tray 14 in position for reception into the aperture 22, whilst Figure 10 shows the tray in place, whereupon a complete container 12 is formed.

As previously mentioned, the present invention relates, in one aspect, to this container described above. It will be appreciated that with the embodiment disclosed, the integral compartment 16 could instead also be in the form of a removable tray, receivable in engagement with the container 12 in the same way as with the tray 14, namely by means of a recessed aperture. Additionally it will also be appreciated that more than two compartments/trays could be provided in the container, with between at least one and all of them being removable. It will also be appreciated that the container need not of course be of elliptical shape, but could be circular, triangular, square/rectangular etc.The volumes of the respective compartments/trays could be the same or different, varying from a container with only two equal volume ones, to a container with a large volume compartment/tray and several small volume ones. Typically with the container illustrated, the respective volumes of the larger and smaller compartments are approximately 595ml and 115ml.

With the particular embodiment illustrated, it is intended that different food products would be contained in the compartment 16 and smaller tray 14 respectively. For example the compartment 16 could receive pasta whilst the tray 14 could receive sauce. The tray and compartment can, in use, be eaten out of either as separate food compartments or by mixing the food products together, cooked or uncooked. Typical cooking and consumption of the food products will be described further hereinafter.

With the embodiment described, the tray 14 and compartment 16 are, in use, filled horizontally, either separately or in the complete state shown in Figure 10. Thereafter both to retain the food products in the container and also to preserve the food products, a protective/retaining membrane film 29 is sealed to the top of the container, in particular to the common upper surface of the complete container defined at the plane 28 previously referred to.

The sealing member, shown in Figure 14, is, for example, a web of complex heat sealable or pressure sealable membrane film. This is of a size larger than the dimensions of the tray and is laid and held across the whole of the top plane 28 of the complete container. A tool with a raised surface that matches the pattern of the heat seal area is brought into contact with the upper surface of the film, and heat and pressure are applied to the seal area. A second tool supports the heat seal area of at least the tray 14 and compartment 16 during this process, and as a result the film 29 is sealed onto all the flush surfaces lying in the common plane 28. The film is then cut around the parameter of the container 12 to produce a sealed food products container as shown in Figure 15. The two tools are then separated, leaving the resultant container hermetically sealed by a single piece of film.For clarity, the food products are not shown in the tray 14 and compartment 16 in Figure 14 or any of the views of the complete container, though these would clearly be present prior to sealing. If the sealed food products container is to be sold in this form, i.e. without any outer packaging, the film could carry printed information as to the nature of the food products, storage and cooking instructions and the like.

The present invention also relates to a food products package, as shown in Figure 16, this package comprising a sealed food products container 12, as previously described, received within a cartonboard or cardboard packaging sleeve 11. It can be appreciated from Figure 16 that this rectangular section sleeve is of approximately slightly greater width than that of the container 12, but could be of somewhat shorter length so that at least one end of the container 12 might protrude slightly from the sleeve. The depth of the packaging sleeve is such that the container is a relatively close fit between the upper and lower surfaces of the sleeve.

As well as carrying printed matter as to the food products, including cooking and storage information and the like, the sleeve also serves to make the whole package rigid. It will be appreciated that due to the described thinness of the tray part 13 and tray 14, the sealed container 12 is of low mechanical strength and rigidity and it is possible that distortion or damage could occur if it is not adequately protected during transit and sale. As will be described, this sleeve 11 at least reduces these risks.

The sealed container 12 is introduced by hand or by machine into an erected rectangular sleeve of the general form as shown in Figure 16.

Alternatively the sleeve could be slid onto the container. In either event the sealed container is located centrally in the sleeve as shown in Figure 16. Each side of the sleeve is formed with a pair of longitudinally spaced location parts, the pair in one side being longitudinally aligned with the pair in the other side. Each location part is defined by a pair of vertical parallel cuts 30 extending from about halfway down the sleeve side to the bottom thereof, and then for the same distance into the underside of the sleeve, with respective folds 30a, normal to the cuts, at the ends thereof.

One aligned pair of location parts in respective opposite sides of the sleeve is positioned at opposite sides of a channel-like cavity 31 defined between the straight side wall of the tray 14 and the straight side wall 19 of the compartment 16, this cavity being best shown in Figure 12. The other aligned pair of location parts is positioned adjacent the wall 17 at the end of the container. For each location part, the material of the sleeve between the cuts is pressed inwardly, out of its normal plane, to 'click' over and form an inwards projection 32, once the container and sleeve are correctly relatively positioned. Each of the one pair of projections is a close tight wedge fit in the cavity 31, whilst the other pair engage with or are in juxtaposition with said end of the container.

As a result, the container is both itself made more rigid, as well as there being produced a rigid overall package by the combination of the sleeve and engaged container. In particular bending and/or swinging of the tray 14 is prevented. The package is now unable to separate without the return or removal of the projections. The food products package is then in the form of a complete consumer item for sale through retail outlets.

The pair of projections at the end of the container could, in some instances, be omitted, with only the pair of projections locating between the compartments securely holding the container in the packaging sleeve.

However alternatively, the container could be formed with more than one cavity 31 along its sides, with the packaging sleeve having a suitable number and arrangements of projections to engage in said cavities.

One or both container ends could protrude from the sleeve, and the or each sleeve end could be concavely shaped to facilitate gripping and removal of the container from the packaging. If the container contents are bulky/irregularly shaped, and the sealing member is thus raised regularly or irregularly above the level of the top of the container, the sleeve can be shaped, e.g. curved, appropriately to accommodate the shape of the sealed container.

The container/package is particularly intended for use with chilled or frozen foods which are conveniently, in use, heated in a microwave oven. However the container/package could be for use with food products which can be cooked by a variety of other methods, e.g. by heating the container in boiling water or in a conventional oven. The food products could also be for eating uncooked. As well as the container being eaten out of directly, i.e. unheated, it could contain one compartment intended for heating and another intended to remain unheated, e.g. potato in one compartment that is heated and dipped into cold dip in said another compartment.

Figure 17 shows how, after removal of the sleeve from the sealed container 12, the film 29 can be removed from, for example the tray 14 and subsequently from the compartment 16, although as will be mentioned below the film can be selectively removed from less than all of the trays/compartments, as required.

It will be appreciated that instead of a single film being sealed across all the trays/compartments, a plurality of films, in various arrangements, not all necessarily of the same thickness or material, could be used. in particular the removable tray could be sealed by a first film, with a second, larger film then being sealed over the container. The first film could seal only the tray 14 or could extend on to the surrounding part of tray part 13. The tray part 13 only could itself have a separate film, in addition to a film over the whole container. It will thus be appreciated that with certain sealing film arrangements, the upper outwardly facing surface of the container 12 need not be a single common planar surface.

However the described and illustrated embodiment is the most preferred form in that all the components are designed to interlock harmoniously to form one versatile package in that, the smaller tray fits inside the aperture in the main tray part, the film membrane can run across both the tray and the compartment in intimate contact across the seal area, and the packaging sleeve has locking means that provide rigidity for the container and also lock the sleeve into position.

The versatility of the container is that it can hold two different types of food products separately but with, in one embodiment, a common closure mechanism, i.e. the film 29, and allows the two different food types to be either cooked separately or cooked together and eaten separately or mixed together. As previously mentioned the tray and compartment can each be eaten out of either a separate food compartment or with the food mixed together. Any combination of cooked/uncooked food products is also possible, as are wholly uncooked food products. The main tray part 13 and the tray 14 can be printed with a surface design, or will be self coloured. Preferably the different contents of the tray and the compartment can be made visible by the use of clear materials. As mentioned all the trays/compartments, are preferably of equal depth so as to rest upon a surface, in use.

Other advantages of the two aspects of the present invention are as follows, all or at least some of these being considered to relate to further inventive features: The facility to heat seal two separate trays/compartments in one place/operation to form one container/pack.

The facility to separate one tray from a compartment and to introduce different foodstuffs thereinto.

The ability of the food products package to free-stand without support on its base, or along its narrower side, as well to be stacked in either orientation one upon another.

The film lid can be partly removed to suit different cooking and heating conditions; the container being cooked or heated as two separate containers, one of which is opened.

The one film member acts as two tamper evidence systems.

The production of a recess feature as a thermoformed device; the feature of the cut-out in the recess being at a lower level than the top of the remainder of the container.

The creation of a single common horizontal plane in conjunction with a tray and a compartment.

The ability to cook as one container and subsequently remove one tray from the other is unique in culinary preparation.

The food products package has enhanced mechanical strength through shape and structural design when compared to a conventional tray construction of same height, width and depth and same plastics quality.

Instead of the packaging sleeve 11, the sealed container 12 can be received in a different form of sleeve or other packaging, to form the food products package. In one alternative embodiment, the sleeve comprises upper and lower flat or curved, ellipsoidal or oval cover parts of generally complementary shape to the container, which is a sliding fit therebetween. At respective opposite sides of the sleeve, the cover parts are interconnected by short central side portions respectively, each of which has a depth slightly greater than that of the container. With this sleeve, members equivalent to the projections 32 would normally be omitted.

Claims

1. A container for food products comprising a first compartment means and a removable second compartment means, each intended to receive a food product, in use.

2. A container as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the first compartment is non-removable.

3. A container as claimed in Claim 2 with the first compartment integrally formed as part thereof.

4. A container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the second compartment means has an outer rim at its open side, said rim being received in a recessed part of the container, so that the surface of the container at an open side thereof is planar or generally so.

5. A container as claimed in Claim 4, wherein one or more sealing films are sealed over said surface of the container.

6. A container as claimed in Claim 5, wherein a single planar sealing film is sealingly provided over all compartment means.

7. A container as claimed in Claim 6, wherein said single planar sealing film is sealed to a peripheral rim around the open side of the container.

8. A container as claimed in Claim 7, wherein the sealing film is also sealed to each surface of the container at said open side thereof disposed between adjacent compartments.

9. A container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, comprising said first and second compartment means only.

10. A container as claimed in Claim 9, wherein the first compartment is non-removable.

11. A container as claimed in Claim 9 or Claim 10, wherein a peripheral rim around an open side of the container is of ellipsoidal shape, the interior of each compartment means having the shape of part of said ellipse.

12. A container as claimed in Claim 11, wherein the second compartment means is received through an aperture in a recessed part of the container, the recess defining a ledge on which an outer rim of the second compartment means at an open side thereof is received to retain the second compartment means at said opening.

1 3. A container as claimed in Claim 12, wherein the depth of the recess is equal or substantially equal to the thickness of said rim of the second compartment means, so that the surface of the container at an open side thereof is planar or substantially so.

14. A container as claimed in Claim 13, wherein a single sealing film is sealingly engaged at said open side of the container to extend over both compartment means.

15. A container as claimed in Claim 14, wherein the sealing film is heat sealed.

16. A container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the compartment means has respective base surfaces lying in a common plane.

17. A container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the volume of the first compartment means is larger than the volume of the second compartment means.

18. A container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said second compartment means as well as a main body part of the tray defining said first compartment means are both of plastics material.

19. A container as claimed in Claim 18, wherein the material is thin thermoforming plastics material.

20. A food products package comprising a container for food products and an outer cover, the container comprising a first compartment means and a removable second compartment means, and the cover has a part which is received between and engages against the first and second compartment means.

21. A package as claimed in Claim 20, wherein the first and second compartment means have respective straight side walls, which are in a facing, spaced apart arrangement, said part being a projection of the cover which is engagedly fitted between said facing side walls.

22. A package as claimed in Claim 20, wherein a straight channel is defined between said side walls, and respective projections of the cover engagedly fit in said channel at the opposite ends thereof.

23. A package as claimed in either Claim 20 or Claim 21, wherein the cover is in the form of a sleeve, in which the container is at least partly received.

24. A package as claimed in Claim 23, wherein said sleeve is of rectangular cross-section, defining a base and opposite, mutually parallel side walls, said part being formed by interconnected parts of the base and one side wall respectively being pressed into the interior of the sleeve to fit between and engage the first and second compartment means.

25. A package as claimed in Claim 24, wherein another such part is formed by interconnected parts of the base and the other side wall respectively being pressed into the interior of the sleeve, the two parts being aligned along the length of the sleeve.

26. A package as claimed in any one of claims 20 to 26, wherein the first and second compartment means are formed of plastics material, the part or parts, or projections, fitting therebetween and engaging therewith adding rigidity to the container.

27. A food products package comprising a container as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 19, received in a cover sleeve which has projection means engaging the container to retain it in the cover.

28. A food products package as claimed in Claim 27, wherein the projection means are each formed by cuts in the sleeve which produce a hinged projection which can be pressed out of the sleeve to retain the container therein.

29. A food products package as claimed in Claim 28, wherein a first pair of opposed projections are fitted between and engage the first and second compartment means, while a second pair of opposed projections extend into the interior of the sleeve at or adjacent one end of the container.

30. A container for food products, substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to, and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

31. A food products package, substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to, and as shown in Figure 16 of the accompanying drawings.