WO2001013771A1 - Food container - Google Patents

Food container Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2001013771A1
WO2001013771A1 PCT/GB2000/003193 GB0003193W WO0113771A1 WO 2001013771 A1 WO2001013771 A1 WO 2001013771A1 GB 0003193 W GB0003193 W GB 0003193W WO 0113771 A1 WO0113771 A1 WO 0113771A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
cup
container
food
flap
compartment
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/GB2000/003193
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Paul Howard Karslake
Alan Joscelyn
Original Assignee
Buwutot Limited
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Buwutot Limited filed Critical Buwutot Limited
Priority to AU67073/00A priority Critical patent/AU6707300A/en
Priority to GB0204082A priority patent/GB2368779A/en
Publication of WO2001013771A1 publication Critical patent/WO2001013771A1/en

Links

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
    • B65D21/00—Nestable, stackable or joinable containers; Containers of variable capacity
    • B65D21/02—Containers specially shaped, or provided with fittings or attachments, to facilitate nesting, stacking, or joining together
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47G—HOUSEHOLD OR TABLE EQUIPMENT
    • A47G19/00—Table service
    • A47G19/02—Plates, dishes or the like
    • A47G19/06—Plates with integral holders for spoons, glasses, or the like
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47G—HOUSEHOLD OR TABLE EQUIPMENT
    • A47G23/00—Other table equipment
    • A47G23/02—Glass or bottle holders
    • A47G23/0208—Glass or bottle holders for drinking-glasses, plastic cups, or the like
    • A47G23/0216—Glass or bottle holders for drinking-glasses, plastic cups, or the like for one glass or cup
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
    • B65D5/00—Rigid or semi-rigid containers of polygonal cross-section, e.g. boxes, cartons or trays, formed by folding or erecting one or more blanks made of paper
    • B65D5/42—Details of containers or of foldable or erectable container blanks

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a food container and in particular to a disposable food container made of a plastics material or a flexible sheet material such as cardboard .
  • US-A-4 , 620, 631 discloses a device for holding two containers, such as a beverage container and a food container.
  • the device is formed of a strip of flexible material that is bent into a loop for receiving one of the containers and its ends are bonded to the outer surface of the other container.
  • a disadvantage of the above proposal is that a flat strip flexible wrapped around a container does not provide secure location of the containers relative to one another, especially if the containers themselves have flexible walls. As such containers are required to stack, they are also conically tapered and this adds to the difficulty of securely carrying both containers using the one hand.
  • the present invention seeks to provide a disposable food container that can be carried securely at the same time as a cup, using only one hand.
  • a disposable food container having a compartment for holding food and carrying means for coupling the container to a cup so that the cup and container may be carried n one hand, characterised in that the carrying means comprise a flat flexible flap formed as an extension of one of the side walls of food compartment and a hole in the flap for receiving the cup, the flap, when in use, making contact with the cup only around the edge of the hole.
  • disposable drinks containers such as paper or plastics cups
  • the container may conveniently be provided with a pair of spacer wings to straddle the sides of the cup, so that cup may be gripped through the wings.
  • spacer wings make it easier to carry the cup if it contains a hot drink as the wings afford additional thermal insulation.
  • the wings act primarily as spacers and are not replied upon to support the weight of the container on the cup.
  • the container may be provided with a pair of wings that can be interlocked with one another to form a spacer ring between the cup and the container.
  • the container should be formed of paperboard or card, but it is alternatively possible for it to be formed of a plastics material.
  • Figure 1 is a rear view of a container of the invention.
  • Figure 2 is a perspective view of the container of Figure 1 when coupled to a cup so that they may together be carried in one hand. Detailed description of the preferred embodiments
  • FIG. 1 there is shown a food container 10 having a food compartment 20 of any desired shape.
  • a flap 12 having a hole 14 extends upwards from the food compartment 20.
  • Two further wings 16 extend laterally from the food compartment 20.
  • the flaps may either be formed from the same blank as the compartment 20 or they may be formed separately and later secured to the compartment 20, for example by means of an adhesive.
  • the food container 10 is coupled to a conventional paper cup 18 in the manner shown in Figure 2.
  • the flap 12 is folded over and the paper cup 18 is inserted into the hole 14.
  • the wings 16 straddle the cup 18 and to carry the cup, it is gripped between the two wings 16.
  • the wings 16 act as spacers to keep the food compartment 20 distant from the cup 18, which is important as the food and the drink are often at different temperatures. If the drink is hot, the wings 16 also act as thermal insulation.
  • the wings 16 are not relied upon to support the weight of the container 10, it is possible to form the wings 16 to that their ends simply interlock with one another. In this way, when interlocked, the spacer flaps may form a cylinder or ring disposed between the food compartment 20 and cup 18 to keep the two apart.
  • the container may have two or more but in practice even one compartment is sufficient to allow a person to eat food from the compartment 20 and drink from the cup 18 using a straw, while leaving one hand free to hold a hamburger.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Details Of Rigid Or Semi-Rigid Containers (AREA)
  • Packages (AREA)

Abstract

A disposable food container (10) is disclosed having a compartment (20) for holding food and carrying means for coupling the container (10) to a cup (18) so that the cup (18) and container (10) may be carried in one hand. The carrying means comprise a flat flexible flap (12) formed as an extension of one of the side walls of the food compartment (20) and a hole (14) in the flap for receiving the cup (18), the flap (12), when in use, making contact with the cup (18) only around the edge of the hole (14).

Description

Food Container
Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a food container and in particular to a disposable food container made of a plastics material or a flexible sheet material such as cardboard .
Background of the invention
There are currently available cardboard containers that are used by fast food outlets to store potato chips. When buying a meal to take away, a person will often buy a hamburger, potato chips in a container, and a drink in a cup. Carrying all these items while trying to eat is not an easy task.
US-A-4 , 620, 631 discloses a device for holding two containers, such as a beverage container and a food container. The device is formed of a strip of flexible material that is bent into a loop for receiving one of the containers and its ends are bonded to the outer surface of the other container.
A disadvantage of the above proposal is that a flat strip flexible wrapped around a container does not provide secure location of the containers relative to one another, especially if the containers themselves have flexible walls. As such containers are required to stack, they are also conically tapered and this adds to the difficulty of securely carrying both containers using the one hand.
Object of the invention
With a view to mitigating the foregoing problem, the present invention seeks to provide a disposable food container that can be carried securely at the same time as a cup, using only one hand.
Summary of the invention
According to the present invention, there is provided a disposable food container having a compartment for holding food and carrying means for coupling the container to a cup so that the cup and container may be carried n one hand, characterised in that the carrying means comprise a flat flexible flap formed as an extension of one of the side walls of food compartment and a hole in the flap for receiving the cup, the flap, when in use, making contact with the cup only around the edge of the hole.
As earlier mentioned, disposable drinks containers, such as paper or plastics cups, are usually conical and taper downwards, to enable them to be stacked when they are empty. It might be thought therefore that if a flexible flap formed with a hole is slid as far up the cup as possible, it will immediately fall away from the cup when released. However, when the flap is weighted to one side and lies with its plane inclined to the central axis of the up, it is found that the cup becomes jammed m the hole in the flap. Surprisingly, despite the fact the cup tapers downwards, this jamming action is capable of supporting the weight of a bag of potato chips or a hamburger.
In US-A-4 , 620, 631 the carrying means constituted by the flexible strip surrounding the cup are used to grip the cup and if the containers are not held firmly, the cup must be gripped more firmly and this can result m the cup being squeezed excessively causing its contents to spill. By contrast, in the present invention, once the cup has been slipped into the hole of the food container the cup can be carried in the normal way and the food container will automatically hang from it. The edge of the hole and the outer surface of the cup form a self-tightening coupling that prevents the food container from slipping downwards relative to the cup.
As the purchased food is normally hot whereas the drink may be cold or even iced, it is preferable to be able to maintain a space between the food container and the cup as they are being carried. To this end, the container may conveniently be provided with a pair of spacer wings to straddle the sides of the cup, so that cup may be gripped through the wings. As well as keeping the food 'and the drink out of thermal contact with one another, such wings make it easier to carry the cup if it contains a hot drink as the wings afford additional thermal insulation. The wings act primarily as spacers and are not replied upon to support the weight of the container on the cup.
Alternatively, the container may be provided with a pair of wings that can be interlocked with one another to form a spacer ring between the cup and the container.
It is preferred that the container should be formed of paperboard or card, but it is alternatively possible for it to be formed of a plastics material.
Brief description of the drawings
The invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a rear view of a container of the invention, and
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the container of Figure 1 when coupled to a cup so that they may together be carried in one hand. Detailed description of the preferred embodiments
In Figure 1, there is shown a food container 10 having a food compartment 20 of any desired shape. A flap 12 having a hole 14 extends upwards from the food compartment 20. Two further wings 16 extend laterally from the food compartment 20. The flaps may either be formed from the same blank as the compartment 20 or they may be formed separately and later secured to the compartment 20, for example by means of an adhesive.
In use, the food container 10 is coupled to a conventional paper cup 18 in the manner shown in Figure 2. The flap 12 is folded over and the paper cup 18 is inserted into the hole 14. The wings 16 straddle the cup 18 and to carry the cup, it is gripped between the two wings 16. The wings 16 act as spacers to keep the food compartment 20 distant from the cup 18, which is important as the food and the drink are often at different temperatures. If the drink is hot, the wings 16 also act as thermal insulation.
Because the wings 16 are not relied upon to support the weight of the container 10, it is possible to form the wings 16 to that their ends simply interlock with one another. In this way, when interlocked, the spacer flaps may form a cylinder or ring disposed between the food compartment 20 and cup 18 to keep the two apart.
Of course, instead of a single food compartment 20, the container may have two or more but in practice even one compartment is sufficient to allow a person to eat food from the compartment 20 and drink from the cup 18 using a straw, while leaving one hand free to hold a hamburger.
It has been found m practice that the engagement of the cup 18 within the hole 14 holds the food container firmly in place in relation to the cup and that one can suspend the food container from the cup.

Claims

1. A disposable food container (10) having a compartment (20) for holding food and carrying means for coupling the container (10) to a cup (18) so that the cup (18) and container (10) may be carried in one hand, characterised in that the carrying means comprise a flat flexible flap (12) formed as an extension of one of the side walls of the food compartment (20) and a hole (14) in the flap for receiving the cup (18), the flap (12), when in use, making contact with the cup (18) only around the' edge of the hole (14) .
2. A food container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the container (10) is provided with a pair of spacer wings
(16) to straddle the sides of the cup (18), so that cup (18) may be gripped through the wings (16) .
3. A food container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the container (10) is provided with a pair of wings the ends of which can be interlocked to form a spacer ring between the cup (18) and the container (10) .
4. A food container as claimed m any preceding claim, wherein the container (10) is formed of paperboard or card .
5. A food container as claimed m claim 4, wherein the flap (12) is formed from the same blank as the food compartment (20)
6. A food container as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the food compartment (20) and the flap (12) are formed of a plastics material.
PCT/GB2000/003193 1999-08-21 2000-08-21 Food container WO2001013771A1 (en)

Priority Applications (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU67073/00A AU6707300A (en) 1999-08-21 2000-08-21 Food container
GB0204082A GB2368779A (en) 1999-08-21 2000-08-21 Food container

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9919758A GB2353517A (en) 1999-08-21 1999-08-21 Container for holding food and a drink cup.
GB9919758.4 1999-08-21

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2001013771A1 true WO2001013771A1 (en) 2001-03-01

Family

ID=10859520

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/GB2000/003193 WO2001013771A1 (en) 1999-08-21 2000-08-21 Food container

Country Status (3)

Country Link
AU (1) AU6707300A (en)
GB (2) GB2353517A (en)
WO (1) WO2001013771A1 (en)

Families Citing this family (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE10112164A1 (en) * 2001-03-12 2001-10-18 Octagon Handels Gmbh Packing unit has holder fastened to container on outside, and in it is fitted drinking beaker, and in plan view container has polygonal shape with holder fastened in corner region
MXJL03000008A (en) * 2003-04-02 2004-10-06 Augusto Cham Hernandez Ricardo Clamp-equipped container for light solid products.
ITMI20030229U1 (en) * 2003-05-13 2004-11-14 Scandroglio Gianfranco CONTAINER FOR FOOD PRODUCTS
WO2013020554A1 (en) * 2011-08-05 2013-02-14 Charlotte Nielsen A condiment device
USD785467S1 (en) 2014-07-21 2017-05-02 C Deans List LLC Combination food and beverage carrier

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2427697A (en) * 1943-03-05 1947-09-23 Weidler Walter Cup or glass supporting plate
US2582183A (en) * 1947-09-22 1952-01-08 Weidler Walter Cup or glass-supporting plate
US3640380A (en) * 1969-11-20 1972-02-08 Marketers Inc Portable food and drink carrier
US4491220A (en) * 1984-03-02 1985-01-01 Daviss Gilbert P Container for holding popcorn and a drink cup
US4620631A (en) 1985-06-10 1986-11-04 Bartelt Thomas P Device for holding containers

Family Cites Families (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4685583A (en) * 1984-10-04 1987-08-11 Noon Kelly D Disposable beverage cup handle
US5704671A (en) * 1995-07-11 1998-01-06 Van Der Wal; Saskia J. Beverage container holder and blank therefor

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2427697A (en) * 1943-03-05 1947-09-23 Weidler Walter Cup or glass supporting plate
US2582183A (en) * 1947-09-22 1952-01-08 Weidler Walter Cup or glass-supporting plate
US3640380A (en) * 1969-11-20 1972-02-08 Marketers Inc Portable food and drink carrier
US4491220A (en) * 1984-03-02 1985-01-01 Daviss Gilbert P Container for holding popcorn and a drink cup
US4620631A (en) 1985-06-10 1986-11-04 Bartelt Thomas P Device for holding containers

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB9919758D0 (en) 1999-10-27
AU6707300A (en) 2001-03-19
GB2368779A (en) 2002-05-15
GB0204082D0 (en) 2002-04-10
GB2353517A (en) 2001-02-28

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