Containing device for powdered or granular foods provided with food containing bowls which can be automatically opened
The present invention relates to a containing device for powdered or granular foods such as sugar in powder or lumps, grated cheese, sweeteners and so on.
The sanitary regulations in force regarding the public commercial concerns, such as bar, restaurant, motor way snack-bar, lunch counter etc. , prescribe that the food containers listed above must be provided with a cover to be closed when the container is not being used. Of course, typical food containers are not closed very often by customers after the use so that the hygienic regulations of those foods are not fulfilled. There are known some devices of the above-mentioned type which allow the food container to be used by two people at the same time and to be automatically closed at the end of the food collecting. Such a feature is particularly advan¬ tageous in the bars where there are many customers next to one another along the counter. One drawback of such known devices, however, is that a complex linkage and tie rod assembly is used which is very expensive and requires a particular care during the assem¬ bling to be carried out exactly and without clearance. In addition, such devices are cumbersome, which prevents de¬ sirable, small-size sugar-bowls from being fabricated.
According to one embodiment of the invention there is pro¬ vided a device including in combination a food container
or receptacle placed within a case provided with a hinged cover, a pair of housings for two collecting utensils (coffee-spoon, sugar-tongs or the like) located in sym¬ metrical positions on both sides of said container, and means for automatically opening the cover when at least one of the collecting utensils is pulled out of its housing, said means causing the cover to close only when both collecting utensils are in the respective housings. Said means for opening and closing the cover are always interacting with each other so that the cover is opened when at least one of both collecting utensils is pulled out of its housing, and in case both collecting utensils are used, i.e. they are outside their respective housings, the cover remains opened until both collecting utensils are introduced into the respective housings again. However, unlike the known art, the present container is advantageously characterized by an automatic control device for opening and closing the cover which allows the space for the linkages to be reduced, and at the same time the manufacturer is free to locate the housings in any positions with respect to the container due to the sim¬ plicity of fabricating and assembling the device of the invention which does not need any particular precision processing. A further advantage of the present invention is that its construction does not need any maintenance and does ensure a long useful life.
A better understanding of the invention will be achieved from the reading of the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings which shows only by
way of a non-limiting example a preferred embodiment of the invention. In the drawings:
Fig. 1 is an elevation side view of the sectioned case showing the inner components of the container in closed position;
Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the container in opened position;
Fig. 3 is a partially sectioned top plan view of the container of Fig. 2;
Figs. 4A e 4B show a top plan view and an elevation side view of one of the two lever assemblies controlling the cover, respectively;
Figs. 5A and 5B show elevation front and side views of the cover of the container, respectively;
Fig. 6 is an assonometric, partially sectioned view of the container with one pulled out coffee-spoon and one put into coffee-spoon;
Fig. 7 is an elevation front section showing a second embodiment of the invention with a collecting utensil being pulled out;
Figs. 8A and 8B are two sections along the lines A-A and B-B of Fig. 7, respectively;
Fig. 9 is similar to Fig. 7 but in closed position;
Fig. 10 is similar to Fig. 9 but in opened position, with the collecting utensils being pulled out;
Fig. 11 is a partially sectioned, top plan view of the container of Fig. 7 showing the driving linkage arrange¬ ment;
Fig. 12 is a partially sectioned, top plan view of a third embodiment of the invention; and
Fig. 13 is a partially sectioned, top plan view of a fourth embodiment of the invention.
With reference to the Figs. 3 to 5B of a first embodiment of the invention, the cover opening/closing driving system is essentially formed of two specular first class levers 20 located at both sides of cover 18 and interacting with a third first class lever having the same rotation axis as the other two levers.
With particular reference to Figs. 4A and 4B, each lever 20 has at one end a cup 14 bearing a collecting utensil, for example a coffee-spoon, and at the other end a coun- terweight 13 which is capable alone to cause cover 18 to open upon pulling out the coffee-spoon from the relative cup 14.
The third first class lever is provided at one end with cover 18, as shown in Figs. 5A and 5B, and at the other end with a plate 17 provided with two projecting edges 16 extending parallel to the rotation axis of the lever
itself and located under the counterweights 13 so as to be engaged from the latter and caused to rotate downwards upon pulling out the coffee-spoon. The rotation of the projecting edges 16 at one end of the third lever causes cover 18 at the other end of the same lever to open.
Cover 18 has the function of protecting the food in the closed position and to allow the food to be collected in the opened position, as shown in Fig. 2.
In operation, upon pulling out one or both coffee-spoons from housings 15, even one at a time, the counterweights
13 cause on one hand bearing cups 14 to rotate upwards and on the other hand engage and push downwards the projecting edges 16 of plate 17 integral with cover 18 causing the latter to rotate to the opened position, as shown in Fig. 2. Thus, two people may collect the contents of the container.
If one coffee-spoon is introduced into its housing and the other coffee-spoon is still used, the relative bearing cup
14 rotates downwards overcoming the action of the respec- tive counterweight 13. However, cover 18 remains opened as the other counterweight prevents the relative edge 16 from rotating. Only upon introducing the other coffee-spoon into its housing the rotation of the relative bearing cup 14 causes the counterweight to rotate and to disengage the respective projecting edge 16 so that cover 18 may close by gravity.
Of course, all of the materials employed in the manufac¬ turing of the container described above are compatible with food products and all of the components of the con- tainer such as bowl, collecting utensils, bearing cups, cover, etc. contacting the food are easily removable for
cleaning purposes.
A second embodiment shown in Figs. 7 to 11 provides a dif¬ ferent linkage system which allows levers 20A controlling cover 18 to have a lower length also in case of large-size sugar-bowls, thus avoiding any problems of undesired ben¬ ding of the otherwise heavy levers and improving the ope¬ ration of the whole assembly. Thus, it is provided a dif¬ ferent arrangement of the bearing cups 14 which are closer to each other than in the embodiment described above. The linkage system controlling the opening of cover 18 upon pulling out at least one collecting utensil from its housing is very easy also in this second embodiment. There are provided also in this case two specular first class levers 20A hinged at pins 22 integral with the frame of the container and provided with a bearing cup 14 at one end and with a counterweight 13A at the other end. The operation of such linkage system is the same as that already described with reference to the first embodiment. In this second embodiment the only difference is that the rotation axes 22 of levers 20A do not coincide with but are orthogonal to axis 24 about which cover 18 rotates. The two levers 20A are also fully independent from and do not interfere with each other. Such a linkage system 20A controls cover 18 through slot- ted tie rods 26 connected to an arm 17A integral with the cover and to the counterweighed end of a rod 20A, respec¬ tively. In this way, upon pulling out a collecting utensil the respective counterweight 13A pulls the relative tie rod 26 downwards which causes through lever 17A cover 18 to rotate about axis 24 and to open.
As can be seen in Figs. 7, 8A and 8B the counterweighed
ends of levers 20A and tie rods 26 engage to each other in the slots formed in each tie rod 26 so that, upon pulling out one collecting utensil, cover 18 opens due to coun¬ terweight 13A acting on the corresponding tie rod 26 (Fig. 8B) , while the other rod 20A remains in its resting position without interfering with the relative tie rod 26 (Fig. 8A) .
According to a third embodiment of the present invention shown in Fig. 12 there is provided a container equipped with only one collecting utensil instead of two. The operation of the linkage system 20 is the same as that described in the first embodiment but counterweight 13 and projecting edge 16 may be secured to each other.
There is also provided a fourth embodiment of the inven¬ tion, shown in Fig. 13, in which a container is provided with two separate bowls for the food product and only one collecting utensil. The respective covers 18 are both con- trolled by pulling out the sole collecting utensil through a linkage system similar to that described in the third embodiment in which both levers 20B connected to the re¬ spective covers 18 have first ends provided with counter¬ weights 13 and second ends connected to each other and secured to the sole bearing cup 14 between the bowls.
The present invention has been described and illustrated according the some preferred embodiments thereof but it is understood that modifications and changes may be made by anyone skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention.