GB2311206A

GB2311206A - Disposable packaging for food and beverages

Info

Publication number: GB2311206A
Application number: GB9606165A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Edward Morgan Fisher
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1996-03-23
Filing date: 1996-03-23
Publication date: 1997-09-24
Also published as: GB9606165D0

Abstract

A disposable pack comprising a container 2, a handle 4 and a removable seal 6 for containing items of food or drink which can be kept fresh until required. The container may also have a covering perforated plate for controlled release of its contents in infusing and the handle 4 may serve as a stirring or spreading device. The container section may have several compartments, each of which is sealed and which may be independently opened of the others. The device is intended for the preparation of beverages, eg tea or coffee, or may contain other food items, eg marmalade, jam, butter.

Description

TITLE: Improvements in and relating to disposable packaging DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to improvements in disposable packaging, particularly but not exclusively for food and/or drink.

Fast food and drink services are increasingly popular in today's society. It is common practice to serve the food and drink in disposable packaging for convenience, such that once the food and/or drink has been consumed, the packaging can be thrown away. The packaging is often produced in a manner which allows the food and drink to be consumed whilst the person is on the move, either by foot, car, train or other mode of transport.

A number of problems are encountered in the serving of food and/or drink in the disposable packaging available up to now. The food and/or drink may not be made to the consumer's taste, which may not be realised until the person has left the premises. The food and/or drink may not be kept sufficiently fresh and spillages may also occur.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved disposable packaging, particularly for food and/or drink.

According to the present invention there is provided a disposable pack comprising a container section and a handle section, the container section having an opening being covered with a removable seal.

The container section may be of any suitable shape or size depending upon the nature of the contents to be contained therein. The container may be made of a rigid material or a compressible material.

Preferably, the handle is integral with the container. Alternatively, the handle may be detachable from the container. The handle is preferably at least 50mm in length, especially being at least 100 mm in length.

It is preferable that the handle is provided with a hook at the free end thereof. Alternatively, the hook may be positioned along the lower side of the handle between the free end thereof and the container section.

The hook may also be adjustable along the length of the handle, for example by the use of a clip-fit hook.

The handle may be extended around the top edges of the container thereby forming a spreading section.

The removable seal is preferably airtight and is provided with a tab to facilitate removal thereof Preferably, the tab extends from the side of the container which is joined to the handle and is at least 5mm in depth, preferably being lOmm in depth.

Preferably, the container has a perforated plate over the opening thereof to allow controlled release of its contents on removal of the seal.

The perforations may be of any shape or size depending upon the nature of the contents of the pack.

The pack may be made of any suitable material but is preferably made of plastics material, especially a thermosetting plastics material which is resistant to high temperatures. The pack may also be made of a transparent material to enable the contents thereof to be visible to the user.

Multiple, separable packs may be joined side by side. Alternatively or additionally the container may have a number of separate compartments. Preferably, each compartment has its own removable seal.

The packs may be coloured according to their contents to enable easy selection thereof.

For a better understanding of the present invention and to show more clearly how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made by way of example only, to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig 1. is a perspective view of a sealed disposable pack according to one embodiment of the present invention; Fig 2a. is a perspective view of the disposable pack shown in Fig. 1 with its seal removed; Fig 2b. is a perspective, enlarged view of an alternative embodiment of the present invention having an adjustable, clip-on hook.

Fig 3. is a sideways view of the disposable pack shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a sealed disposable pack according to another embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 5 is a perspective, enlarged view of the disposable pack shown in Fig. 4 with its seals removed; Fig. 6 is a perspective view to show the joining of the container and handle according to a further embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a sealed disposable pack of yet another embodiment of the present invention; and Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the disposable pack shown in Fig. 7 with its seal removed.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings, a disposable pack comprising a container section 2, a handle 4 and a seal 6, is illustrated. The container is covered with a removable, airtight seal 6 which has a tab 9 along the side of the container joined to the handle 4. The handle is also provided with a hook 7 at the free end thereof.

The container may hold any item of food, drink or otherwise. The container is sealed over the opening thereof in order to keep the food or drink fresh until the user wishes to consume it. The seal can then be removed from the container by use of the tab 9. The removal of the seal is easier than removing the seals of many previous disposable packs due to it having an enlarged tab and also because the positioning of the tab relative to the handle enables the handle to act as a lever. A perforated plate 12 is provided across the opening of the container to allow controlled release of the contents thereof once the seal has been removed.

The handle of the pack can be used to stir or spread the item released from the pack and its hook 7 can be used, for example, to stabilise the pack when placed on a flat surface or to allow the pack to be suspended from the edge of a cup, mug or similar article. The hook 7 may be adjustable along the length of the handle 4 as illustrated in Figure 2b.

One application for which the pack illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 is particularly suitable is the preparation of drinks, especially coffee and tea. For example, tea leaves can be sealed in an airtight condition in the container until preparation of the drink. The seal is then removed and the container placed in a cup of hot water. The perforations in the plate 12 prevent the tea leaves escaping from the water, but allow the water to circulate around the retained tea leaves. The handle 4 of the pack can be used to stir the liquid and once the tea drink is to the user's taste, the pack can be withdrawn from the liquid and simply disposed of. Hence, it has a number of advantages over, for example, the use of tea bags in that the tea is kept fresh right up until the user removes the seal (tea bags tend to degrade and lose their flavour as soon as the seal is broken from a packet of tea bags) and the pack enables the stirring of the liquid until a suitable strength of tea is obtained.

It is to be appreciated that the pack could be used in a similar manner for other beverages such as coffee, cocoa and granulated soup.

Referring to Figures 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings, another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. The like parts to Figures 1 to 3 have been given the same reference numeral and only the differences will be described in detail. The container is divided into a number of sections 'a', 'b', 'c', each section having its own removable seal with a tab.

The sections of the container may have different items of food or drink which can be selected by the user.

For example section 'a' may contain coffee, section 'b' may contain long life or powdered milk and section 'c' may contain sugar. The user may select to have for example coffee with milk and no sugar, or black coffee with sugar depending on the user's particular preference. Other items of food and drink could also be contained in the different sections.

Figure 6 of the accompanying drawing shows a further embodiment of the present invention. The handle 4 is detachable from the container 2 at a point 11 by any suitable means, such as by perforations, a line of weakness, or tabs being provided at the end of the handle which fit into complementary slots provided for in the container or vice versa. The detached handle may be used to remove the contents from the container and to spread them onto a surface. For example, marmalade may be contained in the sealed container. Removal of the seal exposes the marmalade which can be removed from the container and spread onto bread or toast using the detachable handle 4. Alternatively, two or more compartments of a container may be filled with, for example, jam and butter respectively.

Referring to Figures 7 and 8 of the accompanying drawings, yet a further embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. The handle 4 is extended around the top edges of the container such that it forms a spreading section 11. The container is made of a collapsible plastics material such that the bottom of the container can be pressed upwards once the seal has been removed thereby pushing the contents out of the container. The spreading section can then be used to spread the released contents onto an item of food, such as bread. Again, the container may comprise a number of different compartments, each having its own removable seal. The container may also be provided with a perforated plate 12 over the opening thereof to allow controlled release of the contents.

It is to be appreciated that the disposable pack according to the present invention could be used for a wide variety of purposes and is not intended to be limited by the examples given herein. The container and handles of a pack may be of any suitable size and shape depending upon its intended purpose. For example a pack containing tea leaves, sugar and milk may preferably resemble the shape of a spoon. Additionally, the container or compartments thereof could be produced in various colours to make selection by the user easy. The pack may be made of a transparent material to enable the contents thereof to be visible to the user.

The disposable pack is particularly useful where space is limited such as in trains and aircraft. It may also be used in conjunction with drinks vending machines; the machine dispensing a cup of hot water together with a disposable pack according to the present invention containing the ingredients for a drink of the purchaser's choice. This enables the drink to be prepared to the consumer's particular taste.

Claims

1. A disposable pack comprising a container section and a handle section, the container section having an opening being covered with a removable seal.

2. A disposable pack as claimed in claim 1 wherein the pack is made of a rigid material.

3. A disposable pack as claimed in claim 1 wherein the pack is made of a compressible material.

4. A disposable pack as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the handle is integral with the container.

5. A disposable pack as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the handle is detachable from the container.

6. A disposable pack as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the handle is at least 50mm in length.

7. A disposable pack as claimed in claim 6 wherein the handle is at least lOOnim in length.

8. A disposable pack as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the handle is provided with a hook.

9. A disposable pack as claimed in claim 8, wherein the hook is provided at the free end of the handle.

10. A disposable pack as claimed in claim 8, wherein the hook is provided along the lower side of the handle between the free end thereof and the container section.

11. A disposable pack as claimed in claim 8, 9 or 10 wherein the hook is adjustable.

12. A disposable pack as claimed in claim 11, wherein the hook clip-fits onto the handle.

13. A disposable pack as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12 wherein the handle is extended around the top edge of the container to form a spreading section.

14. A disposable pack as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the removable seal is airtight.

15. A disposable pack as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the removable seal is provided with a tab.

16. A disposable pack as claimed in claim 11 wherein the tab extends from the side of the container which is joined to the handle.

17. A disposable pack as claimed in claim 15 or 16 wherein the tab is at least 5mm in depth.

18. A disposable pack as claimed in claim 17 wherein the tab is at least lOmm in depth.

19. A disposable pack as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the opening of the container is covered with a perforated plate.

20. A disposable pack as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the container is divided into at least two compartments.

21. A disposable pack as claimed in claim 16 wherein each separate compartment is provided with its own removable seal.

22. A disposable pack as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the pack is made of a plastics material.

23. A disposable pack as claimed in claim 18 wherein the plastics material is thermosetting.

24. A disposable pack as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the pack is made of a transparent material.

25. A disposable pack as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the pack is joined to another similar separable pack adjacent thereto.

26. A disposable pack as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and with reference to and shown in Figures 1, 2a, 2b and 3, 4 to 5, 6 and 7 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.