CONTAINER FOR FOOD PRODUCTS

Abstract

A container comprises a cup and a sleeve. The cup comprises a base, a peripheral wall and a cup opening opposite the base. The sleeve comprises a base, a peripheral wall and a detached sleeve opening. The sleeve is connected around an outside of the cup, and is able to at least partially detach from the cup. The sleeve opening is dimensioned to fit inside the cup opening to engage an interior of the cup and define an interior volume between the cup and the sleeve. The engagement can be a partial or complete sealing engagement

Claims

1. A container comprising: a cup comprising a base, a peripheral wall, and a cup opening opposite the base; a sleeve connected around an outside of the cup and configured to at least partially detach from the cup, the sleeve comprising a base, a peripheral wall, and a detached sleeve opening opposite the base when the sleeve is not connected to the cup, wherein the sleeve opening is dimensioned to fit inside the cup opening to engage an interior of the cup and define an interior volume between the cup and the sleeve.

2. The container of claim 1, wherein the sleeve further comprises one or more openings on the peripheral wall.

3. The container of claim 2, wherein the one or more openings are located on the sleeve at a position such to fit within the peripheral wall of the cup when the sleeve opening is positioned inside the cup opening.

4. The container of claim 2, wherein the one or more openings span between 10% and 50% of the circumference of the sleeve.

5. The container of claim 1, where the cup comprises a rim extending around the cup opening.

6. The container of claim 1, wherein the sleeve detaches from the cup through a circumferential perforated connection or a tear-away strip.

7. The container of claim 6, wherein the perforated connection and/or the tear-away strip is located a distance from a top of the peripheral wall.

8. The container of claim 1, wherein the cup and/or the sleeve is/are conical between the openings, and the bases, respectively, such that the openings are wider than the bases.

9. The container of claim 1, wherein the cup is a thermoformed plastic.

10. The container of claim 1, wherein the sleeve comprises paper material.

11. A method of using the container of claim 1, the method comprising: detaching the sleeve from the cup; and placing the sleeve opening inside the cup opening to form an interior volume between the cup and the sleeve.

12. The method of claim 11, where in the sleeve comprises one or more openings on the peripheral wall, and the method further comprises tilting the sleeve such that any liquid in the interior volume can drain out of the one or more openings in the sleeve.

13. A method of forming a container, the method comprising: providing a cup comprising a base, a peripheral wall, and a cup opening opposite the base; providing a sleeve comprising a base and a peripheral wall; and connecting the sleeve around the cup such that the sleeve can at least partially detach from the cup at a detached sleeve opening; wherein the detached sleeve opening is dimensioned to fit inside the cup opening to sealingly engage an interior of the cup and define an interior volume between the cup and the sleeve.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising forming one or more openings in the peripheral wall of the sleeve.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of connecting the sleeve around the cup such that the sleeve can at least partially detach from the cup at a detached sleeve opening comprises: forming a circumferential perforation line and/or a circumferential tear-away strip in the peripheral wall of the sleeve; and connecting an inside of the peripheral wall above the perforation line and/or a circumferential tear-away strip to an outside of the cup peripheral wall.

16. The container of claim 2, wherein the one or more openings are located at or near the sleeve opening.

17. The container of claim 10, wherein the paper material is coated with plastic.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising tilting the sleeve such that the one or more openings are covered by the cup peripheral wall.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein connecting an inside of the peripheral wall above the perforation line and/or a circumferential tear-away strip to an outside of the cup peripheral wall comprises using an adhesive.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0025] FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of a container;

[0026] FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of the container of FIG. 1A;

[0027] FIG. 1C shows a top view of the container of FIG. 1A;

[0028] FIG. 1D shows a side view of the container of FIG. 1A;

[0029] FIG. 2A-2E show perspective views of a container with cup and sleeve being detached; and

[0030] FIGS. 3A-3C show partially see-through views of a cup engaged with sleeve to define an interior volume and performing draining and shaking functions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0031] FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of a container 10; FIG. 1B shows an exploded view of container 10; FIG. 1C shows a side view of container 10; and FIG. 1D shows a top view of container 10.

[0032] Container 10 includes cup 12 and sleeve 20 connected outside cup 12 and at least partially surrounding cup 12. In some embodiments, container 10 can include a lid, for example, a layer over the rim or another attaching lid, though none is shown in FIGS. 1A-1D. While container is shown as having a circular cross-section, other versions could have a different cross-section, for example, oval, rectangular, etc.

[0033] Cup 12 includes base 14, peripheral wall 16, cup opening 18 and rim 32. Cup is typically formed of plastic, though could be paper, metal, composite or any other material that is structurally stable enough to hold the food contents. In some embodiments, cup could include an inner coating material, for example a water-proof coating such as a polyethylene extrusion coating.

[0034] Sleeve 20 includes base 22, peripheral wall 24, openings 30, perforation lines 34a, 34b, tear strip 36 and upper part 40. Sleeve 20 is typically formed of a paper material, for example, 210 gram per square meter (gsm) cast-coated solid bleached board but could also be a plastic, composite or other material. Perforation lines 34a, 34b and tear strip 36 extend substantially horizontally around sleeve 20 and allow sleeve 20 to at least partially detach from cup 12. In the container 10 shown in FIGS. 1A-1D, sleeve 20 detaches from an upper part 40, which remains attached around cup 12. Other embodiments may not include an upper part 40, with sleeve 20 completely detaching from cup 12. Some embodiments may only include a single perforation line (without a tear strip), no perforation lines, a tear string or cord, or other method of allowing sleeve 20 to detach around a horizontal position from cup 12.

[0035] Openings 30 are located on a side of sleeve 20, near the sleeve opening 26 when detached. In the embodiment shown, seven openings 30 are present, extending in an arc shape around about 20% of the circumference of the sleeve. Openings 30 would typically extend between 10% to 50% of the circumference of the sleeve, though could be more or less, for example, 15%-30%, or 15%-25%. The size, shape and configuration of openings 30 would be dependent on the food products with which container 10 would be used as well as the sleeve configuration and material. For example, a container for use with rice may contain smaller sized and/or different shaped openings than one for use with noodles to ensure that the food product would not be able to exit or clog openings when draining. Similarly, some food product may require more openings (e.g., more than one row or arc) to ensure that drainage is still possible even when some openings become clogged. The term openings is used in general to refer to a passage, hole, slit or other type of opening through the sleeve 20 between an outside and an inside (typically on the peripheral wall) and which is of sufficient size to allow liquid to flow through.

[0036] In some embodiments, openings 30 could be covered by a tear away layer. This could be for sanitary reasons and/or to ensure that openings 30 remain clear for use when needed. Such a layer could be simply adhered over openings 30 and removed when sleeve 20 is detached from cup 12 for use.

[0037] Sleeve 20 is connected around cup 12, as shown in FIG. 1A, with base 22 and peripheral wall 24 of sleeve 20 surrounding base 14 and peripheral wall 16 of cup 12. In the connected state, some or all of an inside of base 22 and peripheral wall 24 of sleeve 20 could be in contact with an outside of base 14 and peripheral wall 16 of cup 12, or could be offset without any direct connections.

[0038] Peripheral wall 24 of sleeve 20 can extend to rim 32 of cup 12 (as shown in FIG. 1A), or could be situated below rim 32, with sleeve 20 having shorter walls. Connections between the sleeve 20 and cup 12 can be through adhesive, clamping, welding, or any other suitable means. In the embodiment shown, upper part 40 would typically be securely connected to cup 12, for example with adhesive connecting an inner side of upper part 40 to an outer side of cup 12 peripheral wall 16. The detachable part of sleeve 20 (below tear strip 36) would not be directly connected to cup 12 to enable easier detachment. Some embodiments could include additional connections, for example, in the part of sleeve 20 below tear strip 36. Some embodiments may not specifically adhere or clamp sleeve 20 to cup, but may size sleeve 20 such that it normally stays connected to cup 12 through friction, but may be removed when pulling vertically with a certain force (e.g., a force not likely to occur from normal handling for filling, storage, transport, etc.).

[0039] As can be seen in FIG. 1C, cup 12 can be conically shaped between the rim 32 and base 14, with a larger diameter at rim 32 than at base 14. Sleeve 20 would typically have a similar conical shape, with a larger diameter at opening 26 than at base 22. This conical shape can help promote engagement between the sleeve 20 and cup 12 when used for draining and/or shaking (see FIGS. 2E-2F), thereby minimizing any leakage from where sleeve 20 opening 26 contacts the inner side of cup 12 peripheral wall 16.

[0040] FIGS. 1C and 1D shows example dimensions of a container 10. In the example shown, cup 12 has a height H.sub.C of 101 mm and a rim 32 diameter D.sub.R of 95 mm. Sleeve 20 upper part 40 extends a height H.sub.S of 14.75 mm from rim 32, with a height of tear strip H.sub.RS being 4.75 mm, and center opening 30 located about 10 mm below perforation 34b. Openings 30 form an arc with a radius R of 46 mm, and individual openings have a diameter D.sub.O of 3 mm. These dimensions are given as examples only, and various configurations and adjustments could be made depending on the container and expected usage.

[0041] FIG. 2A-2F show perspective views of a container 10 with cup 12 and sleeve 20 being detached and used for draining and/or shaking.

[0042] A user would typically start with opening a lid of the container (not shown) and remove any sachets containing the additives (seasonings, etc.). Hot or boiling water would be added to the container (already filled with a food product), and wait for a few minutes, e.g., 3 minutes. The lid could be reclosed for the waiting. After the requisite waiting time, the user would remove the lid (if on), and then move on to the following steps for further preparation of the food product. In some cases, the user may prefer to detach the sleeve from the cup (as shown in FIGS. 2A-2C) prior to filling with hot water.

[0043] FIG. 2A shows the tear strip 36 being torn away from sleeve 20. Tear strip 36 could include an end 42 which is easy for a user to grab (e.g., not connected, slightly elevated and/or with different texture) for easy and secure grasping by a user. Tear strip 36 tears horizontally around the entire circumference of peripheral wall 24 on each of perforated lines 34a, 34b. In some embodiments, the tear strip could remain connected to upper part 40 (e.g., at an end) so that a user does not have more loose parts to hold and/or dispose of.

[0044] FIGS. 2B-2C show the sleeve 20 being removed from the initial position around cup 12 by moving sleeve in a vertical direction downward after tear strip 36 has been removed, thereby detaching sleeve 20 from cup 12. Because upper part 40 is secured to cup 12 (e.g., through adhesive or other means), upper part 40 remains in place around cup 12. This can give a user an insulated place to grip cup 12, which is particularly useful when container 10 is filled with hot water.

[0045] FIG. 2D shows sleeve 20 being placed in an inverted position to engage cup 12, as shown in FIG. 3A. Sleeve 20 opening 26 is dimensioned to fit inside cup 12 opening 18 and engage an inner side of cup 12 peripheral wall 16 to define an interior volume between cup 12 and sleeve 20. This engagement can be a fully or partially sealing engagement, such that the sleeve 20 opening 26 connects to an inside of cup 12 peripheral wall 16 to keep at least the food contents within the interior volume, and in some embodiments all liquid as well. Some embodiments could include a rim or other type of edge or reinforcement of sleeve 20 opening 26 to promote the engagement and/or sealing between the sleeve 20 and the inner peripheral wall 16 of the cup 12. Some embodiments may engage such that some liquid is allowed to flow between cup 12 peripheral wall 16 and sleeve 20 opening 26, depending on type of materials used and specific configurations of sleeve 20 and/or cup 12.

[0046] FIGS. 3A-3C show partially see-through views of cup 12 engaged with sleeve 20 to define an interior volume. FIG. 3A shows straight engagement, with FIG. 3B showing tilting for draining and FIG. 3C showing tilting for shaking.

[0047] As can be seen in FIG. 3A, sleeve 20 can engage with cup 12 such that it extends to approximately the level of the furthest openings 30 when connected straight. In a cup of about 96 mm in height, this can be approximately 15 mm, though dimensions will vary based on the container and food product.

[0048] FIG. 3B shows sleeve 20 being tilted such that openings 30 are located above rim 32 when sleeve 20 is engaged with cup 12 inner peripheral wall 16 to define the interior volume. This can allow for smooth drainage of any liquid from within the defined interior volume through the openings 30 without contacting cup 12. The size and configuration of openings 30 are such that the food product within container 12 cannot escape through the openings 30 during draining of any liquid.

[0049] After the desired amount of liquid has been drained off through the configuration shown in FIG. 3B, sleeve 20 can be tilted the other way such that openings 30 are covered by the inner side of cup 12 peripheral wall 16 as shown in FIG. 3C. This can allow for shaking of the cup 12 and sleeve 20 to ensure that any flavorings, sauces, seasonings (or other additive) is evenly distributed over the food products within container 10. Such additives can be added by removing the sleeve 20 (fully or partially) between the draining and shaking. By tilting sleeve 20 to cover openings 30, none of the additives can escape through the openings during the shaking or other motion to distribute the additives. As can be seen, such tilting can be, for example, around 10 degrees, though could be more or less depending on the specific configuration.

[0050] After this step, sleeve 20 can be removed from cup, and the food product can be eaten. As sleeve 20 is already detached from cup 12, it can be easily recycled separately, making for a more overall environmentally friendly packaging. As mentioned in the background, in past packaging systems, consumers would often not take the time to separate parts of the container after use, simply throwing away the whole thing. By already detaching the sleeve to use in draining and/or shaking for food preparation, the current container makes the recycling easier as the consumer has already gone through the separation steps in the food preparation. Thus, the container configuration ensures that the consumer does not simply forget to separate parts and promotes a more environmentally friendly packaging system.

[0051] Additionally, the configuration of the sleeve 20 opening 26 to fit inside the cup opening 18 as well as the dimensions and flexibility of materials, allows the engagement of the sleeve with the interior of the cup to allow for easy and effective distribution of any additives into the food product, such as seasonings, sauces, toppings, etc. In the prior art such additives were simply stirred into the food product, which resulted in a less even distribution of such additives, for example, leaving noodles on the bottom of the container with little to no seasoning and/or spilling food product when the container was full and/or attempting to stir in the additive to all parts of the food product. The configuration of container 12 allows for even distribution of any additive by forming an interior volume (and covering openings by tilting as shown in FIG. 2F), and allowing a user to shake or otherwise move the container 10 to mix the additives and food product within.

[0052] The configuration and placement of openings 30 on sleeve 20 also allows for easy draining of any liquid through openings 30 while ensuring the food product stays inside container 12. Past systems either relied on a user to simply tilt the container and try to drain liquid out of the top of container, thereby risking food product escaping with the liquid, as well as not being able to fully drain all the liquid. By including openings 30 in sleeve 20, the consumer is incentivized to remove the sleeve from the cup, use it for draining and then dispose of it separately.

[0053] Additionally, forming the openings 30 in a sleeve 20 allows for easier draining of all liquid and use of the same cup 12 with a variety of different food products, and simply altering the sleeve 20 (particularly the openings 30 of sleeve 20) for different food products, thereby simplifying and minimizing the costs of manufacturing. The ability to fully drain allows for preparation of less watery dishes more flavorful food in such a container.

[0054] While the invention has been described with reference to quick-cooking food product, such as noodles, rice, beans, and lentils, it could be used with any range of pre-cooked carbohydrates (processed via deep frying and/or steaming and post-drying), that could be instantly rehydrated by addition of hot or boiling water. Further, the container could be used with other types of products that may need draining and/or shaking without cooking or rehydrating, for example, salads.

[0055] The invention also covers the containers when in use and containing a foodstuff. Therefore, the container of the invention preferably comprises from 25 to 250 grams, more preferably from 40 to 200 grams and even more preferably from 50 to 150 grams of a foodstuff. In particular, the container of the invention preferably comprises from 25 to 250 grams, more preferably from 40 to 200 grams and even more preferably from 50 to 150 grams of carbohydrate base.

[0056] While the invention has been described with reference to exemplary or preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention is not limited to the particular or preferred embodiments or preferred features disclosed, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.