WO2011070510A1

WO2011070510A1 - Box for transporting pizzas and the like

Info

Publication number: WO2011070510A1
Application number: PCT/IB2010/055637
Authority: WO
Inventors: Filippo Lizzio
Original assignee: Filippo Lizzio
Priority date: 2009-12-10
Filing date: 2010-12-07
Publication date: 2011-06-16
Also published as: ITTO20090183U1

Abstract

A box for transporting foodstuffs such as pizzas and the like wherein the front and rear walls (2, 3) of the base (1) have a height greater than that of the side walls (4, 5) so that, in the condition of closing of the lid (6), between the latter and the tops (14, 15) of the side walls (4, 5) longitudinal slits (29, 30) are defined for releasing the vapour or humidity produced in use by the foodstuff contained within the box.

Description

"Box for transporting pizzas and the like"

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Field of the invention

The present invention relates to boxes for transporting foodstuffs, in particular hot foodstuffs such as pizzas and the like and also cold foodstuffs with a high degree of humidity, such as fresh pasta, etc .

State of the prior art

Boxes of the above sort traditionally consist of a body made of cardboard or similar material, typically in the form of a monolithic sheet with the folding lines designed to define a base having a front wall, a rear wall, and two side walls, and a lid that can be positioned above the base for closing the box. Said lid can consist of a sheet separate from the box, or else connected in an articulated way to the rear wall.

In order to transport hot or else cold foodstuffs with a high degree of humidity boxes of the above sort are necessarily provided with openings for releasing the vapour produced in use by the foodstuff contained within the box so as to prevent degradation of the foodstuff itself by the condensed vapour.

The breathing openings were normally provided in the past in the walls of the base of the box, with an absolutely modest degree of effectiveness for the purposes of a complete release of the vapour.

At the end of the nineties the present applicant had the clever idea that, it the breathing openings were made in the lid instead of in the walls of the base, exit of the vapour and hence elimination of the condensate from the box could be achieved in an appreciably improved way.

Examples of embodiments of this sort are described and illustrated, for example, in the documents Nos . EP- 0989067B1, O-03/029108 and WO-09/136377 , all filed in the name of the same present applicant.

Even though these solutions are all extremely effective for overcoming the technical problem defined above, they involved to some degree a certain complexity of creation of the box, but above all of assembly by the user. The boxes in question are in fact normally supplied to businesses, such as pizza parlours, etc., which use them to sell foodstuffs to end consumers, in a flattened configuration for evident convenience of transport and storage. The boxes must then be assembled each time, starting from their plane development, an operation that does not require any particular skill, except for a minimum of manual skills, and a certain degree of care that is not always applied .

Summary of the invention

The object of the present invention is to overcome the aforesaid drawback and to provide a box for transporting foodstuffs of the type defined above that on the one hand will be extremely simple and inexpensive to produce, at the same time guaranteeing an optimal outflow of the vapour or in any case of the humidity of the foodstuff contained in use inside it, and on the other will not be very unlike similar conventional boxes to assemble.

According to the invention the above object is achieved thanks to the fact that the front wall and the rear wall of the base of the box have a height greater than that of the side walls so that, in the condition of closing of the lid, between the latter and the tops of the side walls longitudinal slits are defined, which constitute the aforesaid openings for releasing the vapour. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the side walls of the base have respective top longitudinal flaps, which are designed to be folded substantially horizontally towards the inside of the base so as to delimit the aforesaid longitudinal slits for releasing the vapour, and are arranged so that they can be progressively raised and closed partially in the direction the lid as a result of the heat produced in use by a hot foodstuff contained inside the box.

These longitudinal flaps of the side walls provide in practice a function of protective barrier for the heat of the hot foodstuff, without at the same time preventing exit of the vapour produced thereby.

Brief description of the drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge clearly in the course of the ensuing detailed description, with reference to the annexed drawings, which are provided purely by way of non-limiting example and in which:

Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a box for transporting foodstuffs according to the invention, represented with the corresponding lid partially closed;

Figure 2 is a view in side elevation of the box with the lid completely closed; and

Figure 3 shows the plane development of the sheet for forming the box.

Detailed description of the invention

With reference to the drawings, the box according to the invention basically comprises a base 1 having a front wall 2, a rear wall 3, side walls 4, 5, and a lid 6.

In the preferred embodiment represented, the box is obtained starting from a single sheet of cardboard or similar material (for example, plastic material) dinked and having lines of folding that delimit the walls 2,

3, 4, 5 and the lid 6. In particular, with reference to Figure 3, designated by 7 and 8 are the lines of folding of the front wall 2 and rear wall 3, designated by 9 and 10 are the lines of folding of the side walls

4, 5, and designated by 11 is the line of folding between the rear wall 3 and the lid 6. Moreover provided are lines of folding 12, 13 that define, along the free ends of the side walls 4, 5 respective longitudinal flaps 14, 15, formed at the rear with appendages 16, 17 designed to engage, in the way that will be clarified in what follows, corresponding rear openings 18, 19 formed in the proximity of the ends of the rear wall 3. On the opposite side the side walls 4, 5 have respective tabs 20, 21 with tongues 22, 23 that can engage within respective openings 24, 25 of the front wall 2, which in turn has, along its free side, a longitudinal flap 26 with a central notch 27 that can be engaged by a tongue 28 projecting from the side of the lid 6 opposite to the line of folding 11.

According to the fundamental characteristic of the invention, the front wall 2 and the rear wall 3 have, in the plane development of Figure 3, a width greater than that of the side walls 4, 5. As will be seen in what follows this results, in the assembled condition of the box, in a greater height of the front wall 2 and rear wall 3 as compared to the height of the side walls 4 and 5.

The procedure of assembly of the box is described in what follows.

First the front wall 2 is folded about the line of folding 7 so as to be set orthogonal to the plane of the development, hence by folding the flap 26 inwards. Next, the side walls 4, 5 are set upright by folding them about the respective lines of folding 9, 10. Then the tabs 20, 21 are folded against the front wall 2 and the tongues 22, 23 are folded and inserted inside the respective openings 24, 25 of the front wall 2.

Next the longitudinal flaps 14, 15 are folded inwards, in a ^' position substantially horizontal or slightly inclined downwards. Finally, the rear wall 3 is set upright by folding it about the line of folding 8 so as to obtain engagement between the appendages 16, 17 of the longitudinal flaps 14, 15 within the openings 18, 19. The lid 6 can then be folded parallel to the base 1, about the line of folding 11, and closed by introducing the tongue 28 into the notch 27.

The above assembly operations are simple and elementary, and in any case altogether similar to those of normal conventional boxes for take-away pizzas.

In the assembled condition represented in Figures 1 and 2 the front wall 2 and rear wall 3 hence have, as has been said, a height greater than that of the side walls 4, 5. By way of example, in the case where the height of the side walls 4, 5 is in the region of 3 cm, the difference in height upwards of the front wall 2 and rear wall 3 may be in the region of 1 cm or even less .

Consequently, and as emerges clearly from Figures 1 and 2, in the condition of closing of the box between the lid 6 and the top of the side walls 4, 5 two longitudinal slits 29, 30 are defined, which, as will be seen, constitute respective openings for releasing the vapour or the humidity of the foodstuff contained in use inside the box.

The longitudinal flaps 14, 15 at the tops of the side walls 4, 5 are, as has been said, tucked towards the inside of the box horizontally, or with a slight inclination downwards, so as to delimit the aforesaid longitudinal slits 29 and 30 at the bottom. In use, the vapour produced by a hot foodstuff (for example a pizza, a roast chicken, a kebab, etc.) or the humidity released by a cold foodstuff (typically fresh pasta or the like) will tend to rise and, instead of condensing against the inner wall of the lid 6, will be able to come effectively out of the box through the breathing slits 29, 30. In the case of a hot foodstuff, the heat generated by it inside the box will moreover tend to cause the longitudinal flaps 14, 15 to return upwards, on account of the combined effect of an albeit slight softening thereof with their albeit modest intrinsic elasticity so as to close them partially in the direction of the lid 6. If on the one hand this effect progressively reduces the gap through the breathing slits 29, 30, without however closing them completely, on the other hand it provides an effective action of thermal barrier that enables reduction in cooling of the hot foodstuff contained in the box, thus keeping it at an optimal temperature for its subsequent consumption.

It will emerge clearly from the foregoing that the box according to the invention basically achieves three important advantages:

extreme simplicity of construction and low production cost, i.e., not higher than that of conventional boxes, thanks to a limited amount of material necessary for its production;

- extreme ease of assembly, once again not unlike that of conventional boxes, even for operators who are not particularly skilled or careful; and

guarantee of keeping the foodstuff contained inside them in the best conditions of fragrance and absence of contamination by the vapour produced by a hot foodstuff or else by the humidity released by a cold foodstuff, as well as maintaining the heat in the case of hot foodstuff.

Of course, the details of construction and the embodiments may vary widely with respect to what has been described and illustrated herein, without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the ensuing claims.

Claims

1. A box for transporting foodstuffs such as pizzas and the like, comprising a body made of cardboard or similar material defining a base (1) having a front wall (2), a rear wall (3), two side walls (4, 5), and a lid (6) that can be positioned above the base (1) for closing the box, and openings for releasing the vapour produced in use by the foodstuff contained within the box, said box being characterized in that said front and rear walls (2, 3) have a height greater than that of said side walls (4, 5) so that, in the condition of closing of the lid (6), between the latter and the tops (14, 15) of the side walls (4, 5) of the base (1) longitudinal slits (29, 30) are defined that constitute the aforesaid openings for releasing the vapour.

2. The box according to Claim 1, characterized in that said side walls (4, 5) have respective top longitudinal flaps (14, 15) designed to be folded substantially horizontally towards the inside of the base (1) for delimiting said longitudinal slits (29, 30) and provided in such a way as to that they can be progressively raised and partially closed towards the lid (6) as a result of the heat produced in use by a hot foodstuff contained inside the box.

3. The box according to Claim 2, characterized in that said longitudinal flaps (14, 15) have respective rear appendages (16, 17) that can engage within corresponding openings (18, 19) of the rear wall (3) of the base ( 1 ) .

4. The box according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said lid (6) is connected to the top of the rear wall (3) in an articulated way.