WO1997006068A1

WO1997006068A1 - Device for packaging and storing ready-made meals

Info

Publication number: WO1997006068A1
Application number: PCT/FR1996/000631
Authority: WO
Inventors: Christian Charles Faraud
Original assignee: Charles Faraud S.A.
Priority date: 1995-08-04
Filing date: 1996-04-24
Publication date: 1997-02-20
Also published as: AU5766596A

Abstract

A device is provided for use in the manufacture of packages and receptacles for packaging, transporting and storing food to be consumed at a later date. The device is used for packaging and storing ready-made meals preserved in individual sealed containers and bags and includes at least one box (1) consisting of a tray (16) with a bottom wall (8) having at least one lower supporting contour lying in a plane, and a double bottom (9) located thereabove and surrounded by peripheral walls (15) connecting said double bottom at least to said bottom wall (8), as well as a cover (7) for covering at least the double bottom (9) and closing said box (1). Said double bottom (9) comprises receiving recesses (3, 4, 5, 6) arranged in at least three separate identifiable areas (2) and sized so that said containers and bags can be fitted into said recesses to provide at least three standard meals.

Description

DEVICE FOR PACKAGING AND STORING DISHES

PREPARED

The present invention relates to a device for packaging and storing prepared meals.

The technical sector of the invention is the field of manufacturing packages and receptacles for packaging, transporting and storing food for later consumption.

The main application of the invention is the packaging and storage of dishes prepared in order to simplify the practical life of the consumer who does not indeed need then kitchen equipment to eat said dishes, except possibly and beforehand to heat or add water to them, and who also wants to obtain a specific effect through consumption, for example: for a worker who often travels away from home, to be able to eat anywhere , without going to a restaurant and respecting a certain lifestyle and a balanced diet; for an athlete to satisfy his additional energy needs but without excess; or for someone who feels too fat to lose weight. We know of course various so-called dietetic methods to achieve this last objective, but in general based:

- either on "instructions for use" or written diets prescribing to respect certain criteria in the choice, preparation and quantity of foods, dishes and their components to be used, but obliging the person to make them himself, which often does not allow a rigorous follow-up and discourages the interested party, who then abandons his regime along the way without having achieved or stabilized the expected result;

- either on dishes each contained in a single sachet, replacing a whole meal, which are often not very encouraging, which lack variety and which must often be accompanied by appetite suppressants, which is not either more very motivating.

In addition, there are many precooked or prepared dishes that are individually packaged in various forms depending on the type of dish considered and its shelf life, such as cans or semi-cans, frozen or deep-frozen packages, or simply plastic containers or sachets for fresh or semi-fresh products, which allow, depending on the case, either home, either in a self-service restaurant, or in individual distribution in specific reception places, such as hospitals but then leaving the free choice to each consumer or to the manager of specific reception places, to compose the menus possibly based on a given written diet, but often then difficult to comply with without resorting to dishes that are not pre-cooked or prepared in advance in individual packages.

Numerous patent applications have been filed in the field of prepared or cooked dishes, such as that FR 2,630,083 published on October 20, 1989, on "a process for the preparation and packaging of food products and packaging of such products", to allow the rapid reconstitution of ready meals with high level organoleptic and gastronomic qualities; or that FR 2,155,659 published on May 1, 1973 on "a sealable metal container with several compartments, in particular for ready meals" and FR 2,179,322 published on November 16, 1973 on "a box for prepared meals presented in portions ”Which in fact relate to the packaging itself, adapted to a given dish, either composed of several ingredients stored separately to be then mixed, or of several portions depending on the number of consumers.

However, and this constitutes the problem posed, which is not only new in itself, but also not obvious in its formulation, which constitutes a real innovation, there is no process and / or device allowing the consumer to have , without complex preparation on his part and without having to follow or consult more or less explicit written notes, whether it be recipes, instructions for use or diets, a simple way offering him to consume various daily menus made up prepared meals, which are complementary, varied, tasty and complete for an optimal daily nutritional balance, depending on the objective sought by this consumer, such as those defined in the main application explained above; moreover, this consumer must be able to transport these dishes easily, from the place of their purchase to his home, then and / or to any place where he is led to move during his meals, and this for a purchase price. very affordable which will not make it more and perhaps spend less than other feeding methods with the same objectives. One solution to the problem posed is a method of packaging and storing prepared and preserved dishes in individualized and sealed containers and sachets; according to the invention:

- We group into at least three lots of containers and sachets whose dishes they contain make up at least three typical menus;

- All of said containers and sachets of these at least three batches are placed in a single tray having a bottom of which at least one lower bearing contour is located in a plane and a double bottom in which receptacle cells have been produced for said containers and sachets, with dimensions compatible with them, distributed in at least three distinct zones each corresponding to a lot and in number preferably at least equal to that of said containers and sachets;

- the containers of the same batch are identified by any means of location; - said tray is enclosed in an envelope covering all of the receptacles arranged in said corresponding receptacles and constituting with said tray a box that can be opened or closed, depending on whether the envelope is maintained on said tray or released of it; - Storing said closed box with others of the same type, for transport and their subsequent use.

In a particular embodiment, to be able to have daily boxes for several days, at least two boxes such as that defined above are grouped together, arranged one on the other and each containing containers and sachets: at least one the type of menus they compose is different from one box to another; and these at least two boxes are assembled together by any connecting means, of the overpack type in thermoformed plastic sheet or printed cardboard.

In a preferred embodiment, to have daily boxes for a whole week, preferably Monday to Friday, in order to leave the interested party who, in general, is then at home on Saturday and Sunday, free to choose the dishes that he can then compose and prepare himself, there are at least five boxes as defined above, arranged one on the other and each containing containers and sachets: as indicated above, one at less of the standard menus they compose is different from one box to another and even, no box contains identical menu menus with any of the others; we likewise assembles these at least five boxes to each other by any connecting means, of the overpack type in thermoformed plastic sheet or printed cardboard, possibly in the form of a suitcase having a carrying handle facilitating its handling. Depending on the objectives and the application envisaged, the at least three standard menus of said box are determined to constitute the three main meals of a person's day, while respecting their daily energy needs and according to said nutritional criteria. predetermined. In a preferred embodiment, all of the prepared dishes contained in said box are balanced, constituting the at least three main meals of a person's day, supplementing and determining the composition of an evening soup contained in one of said sachets. or individualized containers, with all the essential elements necessary for said energy and nutritional needs.

Indeed, the composition of each dish can be defined in order to obtain a caloric balance, as well as vitamins and overall nutritional requirements, but as we can also seek tastes and a variety sufficient to make the consumer want '' go to the end of its menus, this balance may not be respected every day: it is then possible according to the present invention to supplement and add in the evening in a soup, as packaged in a dehydrated sachet for example, which missed in the other dishes of the day. The dishes making up the standard menu for the various midday meals are preferably all packaged to be eaten cold in order to be able to take this meal away from home, without requiring any utensil or heating for this.

On the other hand, as regards the dishes constituting the evening meals, these being taken a priori at home or in a sheltered place, it is possible to incorporate at least one hot dish, such as the soup defined above. , as well as another hot dish requiring for example only reheating in a microwave oven and directly then packaged in a container suitable for this. Regarding the dishes constituting the breakfasts, these can consist of two to eight different ingredients, in order to be able to constitute a very varied and very complete breakfast, such as milk, fruit juices which can be powdered, cereals in sachets, or in cups, pancakes based on puffed rice, mash, etc.

In the case of an application in the field of dietetics for example to allow and ensure a weight loss, the boxes are individualized for each day from Monday to Friday for example as indicated previously, in order to define a progression in the diet since the beginning until the end of the week, the principle being that the body is first emptied and then gradually stalled: we define, for example, low-calorie menus of the order of 1000 calories in total per day, in order to be able to lose at least 2 to 3 pounds in the week, which is only possible by effectively following such a progressive, dietetic and balanced diet, and which is only possible by using methods and devices according to the invention and as defined above and described below; indeed, the consumer only has to respect the indications simply by consuming at each meal only the dishes located in the different corresponding zones of each box and by taking each day one of the five or more boxes, one after the 'other, in a determined order which can be defined by the color or specific indications of the day concerned and appearing on the envelope of said box.

The result is new methods and devices as described below for packaging and storage, according to the invention, of prepared and preserved dishes in individualized and sealed containers and sachets. These methods and devices indeed respond to the problem posed and to the objectives sought, whatever the application envisaged.

One could cite other advantages of the present invention than those cited and mentioned already above, but these already show enough to prove its novelty and interest. The description and the figures below represent two exemplary embodiments of boxes according to the invention, but which are of course in no way limiting: other embodiments are possible within the scope and scope of this invention, in particular by changing the shape and arrangement of the cells, as well as the shape of the packaging box itself and the methods and devices allowing their presentation and / or their grouped storage, such as in a suitcase can receive five daily boxes for weekly consumption, as defined above and specified below.

The attached figures thus each represent a perspective of a packaging and storage device, according to the invention, of dishes prepared and stored in individualized and sealed containers and sachets not shown in the present figures, since they are known elsewhere and do not directly part of the device of the invention, even if reference is made to it for description: such a device comprises at least one box 1 composed of a plate 16 whose bottom 8 has at least one lower bearing contour located in a plane, which outline can be the base of peripheral walls 15, as well as the bottom of certain receptacle cells 3, 4, 5 and / or 6; the double bottom 9 of said plate 16, located above this bottom 8 is surrounded by peripheral walls 15 which connect it at least to the bottom 8, and an envelope 7 covers at least the double bottom 9 and thus makes it possible to close said box 1 and reopen it on demand; the double bottom 9 comprises receptacle cells 3, 4, 5 and 6 distributed in at least three distinct and identifiable zones and the dimensions of which are compatible with those of said containers and sachets which must be placed therein to constitute at least three menu types.

According to Figure 1, said box 1 is a rectangular parallelepiped in the shape of a suitcase having a base 1 1 in which is disposed said plate 16 and a cover 7 constituting with said base, said envelope, and comprising at least one handle 12 for lifting it and transport it: the vertical peripheral walls 15 of said base 11 surround the double bottom 9 and the peripheral edges 14 of the cover 7 form a skirt covering said walls 15 of the base.

To allow the enclosure or the suitcase to be closed, the cover 7 and / or the base 11 of said enclosure or suitcase may include clasp devices 13, of any type, cooperating with each other, in order to hold the two above parts, preferably connected by a hinge ensuring their connection on one side, said clasp 13 ensuring the closure of the side opposite to this hinge.

Preferably, the upper edge 1 0 of the walls 1 5 of said base 1 1 is located above the surface of the double bottom 9, leaving a space available above it in this base 1 1, so that the upper part of the containers housed in the different cells 3, 4, 5, 6 exceeds these and are therefore easier to set up on the one hand and to recover on the other hand.

According to Figure 2 and another embodiment of said boxes 1, said casing 7 is a sheath with four walls forming a hollow cylinder threaded laterally, for example by the left side shown in the Figure, around the plate 16, in sliding against the bottom 8, resting on the lower contour located in a plane as defined above, the double bottom 9 and at least two of the peripheral and opposite walls 15 which connect them: in this embodiment, there is no space available above the double bottom 9, as is possible in the case of a suitcase with a lid: also, the tray 16 is then thicker, with a distance between the bottom 8 and the double bottom 9 more important, in order to contain the total height of the containers and other sachets to be placed in the cells, to be completely erased in the thickness of said tray. So in order to grip said containers housed in these cells 3, 4, 5 and 6, as they do not protrude therefrom, it can be produced in the periphery of said cells, notches 17 making it possible to catch said containers laterally.

In all of the embodiments of said boxes 1, the distinction and identification of the different zones 2 of the trays 16, such as the zone for the morning breakfast 2, the zone for the midday meal 2 ₂ and the zone for the evening meal 2 ₃ , can be produced for example by different colors, or even be obtained by parts of the double bottom 9 which can then be separated and which can be removed individually from the box 1, in order to transport and consume them independently of the whole of this box.

Another identification solution can be to mark it directly on the lids of the different containers and packaging of the sachets containing the dishes for the different menus, but this can complicate the packaging of these, if the same dish can be eaten , sometimes at noon, sometimes at night or even sold independently of box 1.

Each of these pre-prepared or cooked dishes is in fact itself packed in individual sealed and asepticized containers according to known packaging and filling processes, respecting the norms and standards imposed in the food sector, such as for example sachets or cups in polypropylene or aluminum, closed by an aluminum cover: such individual containers are generally of circular section and of frustoconical vertical shape, for example of volume, preferably 100, 130 milliliters and 250 milliliters. Different types of sachets can also be considered to store tea, cereals, coffee, soup or dehydrated soup, appetite suppressants, etc.: any form of container and sachet can appear in each of the boxes , according to the defined standard menus and the choice of dishes and their packaging.

Thus, as shown for example in FIG. 1, but also in FIG. 2, the zone 2 _X corresponding to breakfast can consist of a rectangular cell 3 d for storing therein for example a sachet of cereals and other sachets, d 'an elongated rectangular alveolus 3 ₂ for possibly placing cutlery therein, and a circular alveolus 5] for accommodating therein a 100 milliliter container containing for example milk.

The zone 2 ₂ corresponding to the midday meal may include, for example, four types of cells, including a rectangular 3 ₃ to optionally receive bags of appetite suppressants, as well as circular cells for cups or circular containers of 100 milliliters 5 ₂ , to contain for example whole rice, a cell to contain a container or circular cup of 130 milliliters 6d, for fruits for example, and a cell 4, to receive a cup or circular container of 250 milliliters for a salad, such as with charcuterie rice-tuna. Zone 2 ₃ corresponding to the evening meal, may include three cells 4 ₂ , 5 ₃ and 6 ₂ of different dimensions, as for zone 2 ₂ of the midday meal in order to receive for example the container of the soup, that of a fruit puree without sugar, and that of a decoction of cherry tails. Said suitcase or case 1 is made of disposable materials, such as cardboard at least for the envelope 7 and of heat-deformable material for the tray 16 and its cells, sufficiently rigid to ensure transport and storage by stacking them one on top of the other. other, but in any case non-reusable because of its specific use and the mode of distribution of this type of packaging: it must in fact be able to be sold in any supply department such as in supermarkets, directly taken by the consumer, who has therefore no preparation, nor specific instructions for use to follow and which will then throw the suitcase and the containers once the dishes are consumed, in any device for collecting recyclable garbage for example.

Preferably, to facilitate storage, the dimensions of said boxes 1 are such that several of them arranged side by side or one above the other, occupy almost the entire volume of a storage pallet of standard dimensions, even if said suitcases are grouped in sets of 5 6 or 7 in order to cover a full week of consumer food, as defined above.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. Method of packaging and storing prepared and preserved dishes in individualized and sealed containers and sachets, characterized in that: - containers and sachets are grouped into at least three batches, the dishes of which they contain make up at least three menus types;

- All of said containers and sachets of these at least three batches are placed in a single tray (16) having a bottom (8) of which at least one lower bearing contour is located in a plane, and a double bottom (9) in which receptacle cells (3, 4, 5) have been produced for said containers and sachets, with dimensions compatible with them and distributed in at least three distinct zones (2) each corresponding to a batch;

- the containers of the same batch are identified by any means of location; - Said tray (1) is enclosed in an envelope (7) covering all of the containers arranged in said receptacles (3, 4, 5) corresponding and constituting with said tray, a closed box (1);

- Storing said box (1) with others of the same type, for transport and their subsequent use.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that:

- at least two boxes (1) are arranged one on top of the other and each containing containers and sachets, of which at least one of the standard menus which compose it, is different from a box (1) to the 'other;

- Assembling these at least two boxes (1) together by any connecting means.

3. Method according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that one determines the at least three standard menus of said box (1) to constitute the three main meals of a day of a person, respecting the daily energy needs of the latter and according to predetermined nutritional criteria.

4. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that balances all of the prepared dishes contained in said box (1) and constituting the at least three main meals of the day of a person, supplementing and determining the composition an evening soup contained in one of said individualized sachets or containers with all the essential elements necessary for said nutritional energy needs.

5. Device for packaging and storing prepared and preserved dishes in individualized and sealed containers and sachets, characterized in that it comprises at least one box (1) composed of a plate (16), the bottom (8) of which has at least one lower bearing contour located in a plane and the double bottom (9) located at the above is surrounded by peripheral walls (1 5) which connect it at least to the bottom (8) and an envelope (7) covering at least the double bottom (9), which double bottom (9) comprises receptacle cells (3, 4, 5, 6) distributed in at least three distinct and identifiable zones (2), the dimensions of which are compatible with those of said containers and sachets which must be placed there.

6. Packaging device according to claim 5, characterized in that said envelope (7) is a sheath threading laterally around the plate (16) sliding against the bottom (8), pressing on its lower contour located in a plane, the double bottom (9) and at least two of the peripheral (15) and opposite walls which connect them.

7. A packaging device according to any one of claims 5 or 6, characterized in that said box (1) is a rectangular parallelepiped in the shape of a suitcase, having a base (1 1) in which is disposed said tray (16 ) and a cover (7) constituting with said base, said envelope, and comprising at least one handle (12) for lifting and transporting it.

8. Device according to claim 7, characterized in that the dimensions of the box (1) are such that several of these arranged side by side and one above the other, occupy almost the entire volume of a standard type pallet.

9. Packaging device according to any one of claims 5 to 8, characterized in that it is made of disposable materials.

10. Application of a box (1) composed of a plate (16), the bottom (8) of which has at least one lower bearing contour located in a plane, and the double bottom (9) located above is surrounded by peripheral walls (15) which connect it at least to said bottom (8), and an envelope (7) covering at least said double bottom to close said box, characterized in that the latter is used for packing and storing in three identifiable zones (2), dishes prepared and preserved in individualized and watertight containers and sachets, in number, quantity and variety sufficient and necessary to constitute at least three standard menus corresponding to the three main meals of a day for one person, according to predetermined nutritional criteria.