Patent Application
20240010416
The present invention relates to a portable food dispenser and drink container system that dispenses the food directly to the user, and more particularly, to a handheld food dispenser system that be used for carrying food and drink in a single apparatus.
Eating food with hands is a bit problem, especially for food items that easily fell apart. The person has to sit somewhere or remain stationary for a quick bite. Most of the time, food is not easy to pick and eat cleanly, especially during travelling, eating and drinking while driving or while working. Eating food while simultaneously doing some work is a hectic task. Another issue is that of maintenance of hygiene. Eating food through hand is not hygienic and cleaning hand thereafter is another hygienic issue.
Besides hygiene, eating food with hands while doing a work leads to distraction from the work. The distraction can occur due to eating food while driving, distraction among pilots and crew while eating food during the flight operation and distraction while working in industries leading to Industrial accidents. Furthermore, the spill can damage electronic circuit boards and can cause major issues.
Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of fatal car accidents worldwide. Eating and drinking in one's car poses a visual, physical and mental distraction. A driver will often avert one's vision from the road when unwrapping food or trying to prevent food from spilling and making a mess in one's vehicle. Eating and drinking can provide a physical distraction which can result in a car accident when trying to unwrap or hold the item while consuming the food or beverage. If a driver operates a stick shift, their odds of having a food related accident can double since eating, shifting, and steering requires increased dexterity.
Certain beverages, such as hot coffee, tea and soups may pose the most serious distracted driving risk. Hot liquids like beverages or soup can spill scalding a driver. A beverage that spills and scalds one's lap can obviously be a serious distraction while driving. Foods that are greasy or salty can create a hazard where the driver is searching the vehicle for something to clean one's hands. Beverages that lack straws require use of hand, eyes and mental concentration to open and/or close the drink. They also pose a spill risk, which means that a driver may focus on cleaning up a potential spill.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) claims that 8% of fatal crashes and 15% of injury crashes in 2018 were reported as distraction-affected crashes.
To address all above issues, the present invention provides a solution to automate food dispensing so that user can eat the food without any distraction caused by eating. The apparatus is easy to carry, easy to hold, easy to store, easy to eat and drink. The system is helpful for drivers/pilots or those who work in critical industrial fields that require full attention. The automatic dispensing of food provides added advantages, such as non-contamination by eating food without touching, food and drink in one container, adding multiple food/drink in one etc.
In a first aspect of the present invention, a portable apparatus for dispensing food is provided. The apparatus comprising: an external casing having one or more internal container having an outer shell/layer and an inner shell/layer, the internal container is positioned inside the external casing and is removable, said one or more internal container comprises: a food chamber to store a stack of food fritters; a drink chamber to store a beverage; a baseplate in the inner shell/layer of the food chamber to place food fritters; wherein a first spring is placed or attached under the baseplate, the said spring pushes the baseplate upward to align the food fritters towards the opening; a lever/button mechanism to release the food from the apparatus directly toward the user or at an elevation towards a user; a lid to cover the apparatus, the lid is an extension to the external casing.
The first spring in the apparatus connects the base plate with the base of the food chamber, such that when the stack of food fritters are loaded, it compresses the first spring to store the potential energy. When the lever/button is pressed, the first spring decompresses to push the food fritters towards the user.
The one end of the first spring is connected to the baseplate and the second end of the first spring is connected to the top of the apparatus, such that when the stack of food fritters are loaded on the baseplate, the first spring get elongated to store the potential energy. When the lever/button is pressed, the first spring decompresses to push the food fritters towards the user.
The apparatus may comprise the lever/button in shape of a slider, the slider when pressed opens the opening of food chamber to release the food fritters towards the user.
The apparatus may comprise the lever in shape of a button which on pushing activates the first spring and opens the opening of food chamber to release the food fritters towards the user.
The apparatus may comprise the lever in shape of a rotatable lever that rotates around the horizontal axis of the top cover and on rotation activates the first spring to release the food fritters towards the user.
The apparatus may comprise the lever in shape of a straight horizontal lever that rotates around the horizontal axis of the top cover and on rotation activates the first spring, the lever releases the food fritters towards the user and the first spring retract the lever in original position.
The food chamber of the apparatus can be loaded instantly through top loading, wherein the vertical food stack patties are loaded through opening of top lid.
The food chamber of the apparatus can be loaded instantly through vertical or horizontal opening via a hinge, wherein the food container is opened through the hinge and the stack of food fritters are loaded through the opening.
The food chamber of the apparatus can be loaded instantly through vertical opening through rotatable cover, wherein a cover of the food chamber is opened by rotating the cover clockwise or anti-clockwise and the food fritters are loaded in the food chamber.
The food chamber of the apparatus can be loaded instantly through vertical collapsing wherein a hinge at the bottom of the chamber is pulled down to load the food fritters.
The apparatus further comprises a lock and skid mechanism to reduce spring tension and friction on food fritters when the lever/button is pressed. When the lever/button is pressed to push the top food fritter towards a user, a second lever holds the rest of food fritters to reduce the friction on the food fritter being released.
The apparatus further comprises a spring tension adjustment screw to adjust tension in the first spring according to the type of food loaded in the food chamber. In some models tension adjustment screw can also located at the side of the food chamber. The apparatus further comprises a bottom cover to cover the base of the apparatus, said bottom cover comprises a memory card slot, a rechargeable battery. The apparatus further comprises a display screen for displaying an advertisement and to play the users own content from Mobile phone or Laptop as a temporary instant screen, a speaker and a Bluetooth adapter.
In a second aspect of the present invention, a portable apparatus for dispensing food, said apparatus comprising: an external case comprising: a food chamber to store a stack of food fritters; a drink chamber to store a beverage; a baseplate in the food chamber to place food fritters; wherein a first spring is placed or attached under the baseplate, the said spring pushes the baseplate upward to release the food fritters; a lever/button mechanism to release the food from the apparatus directly toward the user or at an elevation towards a user; a lid to cover the apparatus, the lid is an extension to the external casing.
The first spring in the apparatus connects the base plate with the base of the food chamber, such that when the stack of food fritters are loaded, it compresses the first spring to store the potential energy. When the lever/button is pressed, the first spring decompresses and when the food is released towards the user by the lever, the first spring pushes the rest of food fritter upward to align with the opening.
The one end of the first spring is connected to the baseplate and the second end of the first spring is connected to the top of the apparatus, such that when the stack of food fritters are loaded on the baseplate, the first spring get elongated to store the potential energy. When the lever/button is pressed, the first spring decompresses to push the food fritters towards the user.
The apparatus may comprise the lever/button in shape of a slider, the slider when pressed opens the opening of food chamber to release the food fritters towards the user.
The apparatus may comprise the lever in shape of a button which on pushing activates the first spring and opens the opening of food chamber to release the food fritters towards the user.
The apparatus may comprise the lever in shape of a rotatable lever that rotates around the horizontal axis of the top cover and on rotation activates the first spring to release the food fritters towards the user.
The apparatus may comprise the lever in shape of a straight horizontal lever that rotates around the horizontal axis of the top cover and on rotation activates the first spring to release the food fritters towards the user.
The apparatus further comprises a lock and skid mechanism to reduce spring tension and friction on food fritters when the lever/button is pressed. When the lever/button is pressed to push the top food fritter towards a user, a second lever holds the rest of food fritters to reduce the friction on the food fritter being released.
In a third aspect of the present invention, a portable modular apparatus for dispensing food is provided. The apparatus comprising: a food chamber module to store a stack of food fritters; a drink chamber module to store a beverage; wherein the food chamber module comprises a baseplate in the food chamber to place food fritters; wherein a first spring is attached to the baseplate, the said spring pushes the baseplate upward to release the food fritters; a lever/button mechanism to release the food from the apparatus directly toward the user or at an elevation towards a user; a lid to cover the apparatus, the lid is an extension to the external casing.
The apparatus may comprise the lever/button in shape of a slider, the slider when pressed opens the opening of food chamber to release the food fritters towards the user.
The apparatus may comprise the lever in shape of a button which on pushing activates the first spring and opens the opening of food chamber to release the food fritters towards the user.
The apparatus may comprise the lever in shape of a rotatable lever that rotates around the horizontal axis of the top cover and on rotation activates the first spring to release the food fritters towards the user.
The apparatus may comprise the lever in shape of a straight horizontal lever that rotates around the horizontal axis of the top cover and on rotation activates the first spring to release the food fritters towards the user.
The food chamber of the apparatus can be loaded instantly through top loading, wherein the vertical food stack patties are loaded through opening of top lid.
The food chamber of the apparatus can be loaded instantly through vertical or horizontal opening via a hinge, wherein the food container is opened through the hinge and the stack of food fritters are loaded through the opening.
The food chamber of the apparatus can be loaded instantly through vertical opening through rotatable cover, wherein a cover of the food chamber is opened by rotating the cover clockwise or anti-clockwise and the food fritters are loaded in the food chamber.
The food chamber of the apparatus can be loaded instantly through vertical collapsing wherein a hinge at the bottom of the chamber is pulled down to load the food fritters.
The apparatus further comprises a spring tension adjustment screw to adjust tension in the first spring according to the type of food loaded in the food chamber.
In the apparatus the user can load food fritters into food chamber module and attach to the spring module through magnetic fit, snap fit or through hinge mechanism.
Alternatively the user can load drink package into the drink container module and attach to the spring module through magnetic fit, snap fit or through hinge mechanism.
The skilled artisan will understand that the drawings primarily are for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventive subject matter described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale; in some instances, various aspects of the inventive subject matter disclosed herein may be shown exaggerated or enlarged in the drawings to facilitate an understanding of different features. In the drawings:
In the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of invention. However, it will be obvious to a person skilled in art that the embodiments of invention may be practiced with or without these specific details. In other instances, well known methods, procedures and components have not been described in detail, so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments of the invention.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well as the singular forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
In describing the invention, it will be understood that a number of techniques and steps are disclosed. Each of these has individual benefit and each can also be used in conjunction with one or more, or in some cases all, of the other disclosed techniques. Accordingly, for the sake of clarity, this description will refrain from repeating every possible combination of the individual steps in an unnecessary fashion. Nevertheless, the specification and claims should be read with the understanding that such combinations are entirely within the scope of the invention and the claims.
In an embodiment of present invention, a portable hand-held apparatus for dispensing food is provided. The apparatus comprising: an external casing and an internal container having an outer shell/layer and an inner shell/layer. The internal container is placed inside the external casing. The internal container can be removed to fill the food cartridge. The internal container has a baseplate in the inner shell/layer of the internal container to place food fritters, patties. A spring is connected to the baseplate with the inner shell/layer of the internal container. A handle is provided on the external casing to hold the apparatus comfortably. The handle is provided with a lever. The apparatus has a lid to cover the apparatus, wherein the lid is an extension to the external casing. The lid prevents the food stored inside the food chamber from exposure to the external environment to prevent decay of food. The lever provided in the handle when pressed, the first spring pushes the food fritters or patties to pop it towards the user. The lever provided in the handle can be any user convenient shape, such as lever can be straight or bend like a reverse L-shape, or T-shape button or a spring button, so that the user can hold the apparatus comfortably and lever can easily be pushed or pressed. In some embodiment, the lever can be in shape of button that when pushed activates the spring. The lid of the apparatus may have a second spring attached to it that connects with the lever. When the lever is pressed, the second spring open the lid and pushes the food towards the user.
The external casing and internal container of the apparatus can be preferably made of transparent material to view the inside content or it can be made of opaque material. The material such as plastic, glass, light metal like aluminum or tin can be used for external casing and the internal container.
The food is sliced into small round circular or semi-circular patties preferably if the system is round shape, and it also can be made into any shape, for example square type, and patties are looks like middle of burger round cooked Pattie size. The food can be processed food or raw food.
This apparatus has external casing, and inside the external casing, food is placed into small round internal container. Either it's hollow with supporting 3 or more spokes or vertically supporting pillar type
The base of the internal container has spring, when food is placed on top of the spring, compressed spring stores elastic potential energy, and when spring expands it is released as kinetic energy.
The apparatus can be hold like a coffee cup with handle and lid, so there is a hand button or lever type mechanism near thumb. When the lever is pressed, it releases incrementally one Pattie at a time towards upward and at same time above container lid will open automatically. The lid prevents the food stored inside the food chamber from exposure to the external environment to prevent decay of food.
When button or lever is pressed or pulled, top of the container lid will open, and at the same time, the compressed spring stores elastic potential energy released as kinetic energy when it expands. Kinetic energy in spring releases and pushed Pattie or patties to upward, and top of the food circular/cylindrical Pattie will be freed and pop up when the container lid opens upward, so that user can pick through mouth without touching food.
In some embodiment, there is spring loaded at the hand lever to push the patty directly pointing towards user mouth to eat.
Pressing the lever down or towards container handle can release one Pattie at a time, and then once close the lid by pressing lever upwards or away from container handle so that spring loaded mechanism will be active for subsequent release or next release.
In another embodiment of present invention, a portable hand-held apparatus for dispensing food fritters and a beverage is provided. The apparatus comprises two chambers placed in an external casing. The first chamber is the food chamber that is used to store food item that need to be dispensed. The food item can be in form of patties, fritters, cake, cutlet, croquettes etc. The second chamber is the drink chamber that stores a beverage for drink. The external casing has a lid to cover the top. The lid prevents the food stored inside the food chamber from exposure to the external environment to prevent decay of food. The first chamber and the second chamber are separate or are joined together through a screw or magnet in a vertical direction.
In the apparatus, the food chamber can be stacked multiple types of fritters/patties in order to meet nutritional requirement of the body and to avoid boredom of food or repetitive same food.
In an embodiment, the apparatus can be in form of reusable apparatus, wherein the food chamber and the drink chamber can be refiled or it can be a disposable apparatus. In case of disposable apparatus, the food container and the drink container are in-built by providing provisions for different chamber in the external casing.
Referring to
In an embodiment of present invention, the apparatus can be in shape of cylindrical, rectangular, cubical, and polygonal or any other geometrical shape. The apparatus has a handle to hold the apparatus comfortably by the user. A lever is provided in the handle of the apparatus. The lid is placed at the top of the container, where the user can open it upwardly by pressing a lever.
The food chamber holds staked food items in the form of patties, cakes, or sushi. The apparatus includes a food eject mechanism to push or eject the food from the food chamber. The food eject mechanism can be a spring-loaded based mechanism or a non-spring-loaded based mechanism.
The spring-loaded mechanism utilizes two springs. The first spring is placed at the bottom of the first chamber, i.e., food chamber, below the staked food to push the food in an upward direction. The second spring is located below the lid to push or eject the food towards the user through the lever.
In the non-spring-loaded mechanism, the staked food is placed on top of a baseplate in the first container. The baseplate is connected to the lever or handle. When a user presses the lever, the food is pushed upward towards the opening provided in the apparatus through the slide mechanism. The lever lifts the baseplate upward such that the staked food on the baseplate movers upward towards the opening on the apparatus.
The staked food can be released in two ways. In the first type, the staked food is directly released from the top of the apparatus. In this method, the lever is connected to the lid and when the lever is pressed it opens the lid to release the staked food. In second type, the apparatus has a horizontal slit hole with a size of slightly bigger than Pattie or fritter size at the front of the external casing opposite to the lever. When the user presses the lever button, the slit hole gets opened to release the staked food. Both the food releasing methods can be used either alone or jointly depending on the embodiments.
In an embodiment of present invention, the food container and the drink container are separate or joined. The fixing of the food container and the drink container is carried out by any fix mechanism, such as screw fix or magnet type quick fix or fix through slot and turn to sit firmly.
Referring to
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In an embodiment of present invention, the apparatus comprises multiple food chamber and multiple drink chambers arranged in any possible configuration to provide user an option with multiple food and multiple drinks.
In an embodiment of present invention, the lever of the apparatus for dispensing food and drinks can be provided as a separate accessory instead of providing it as in-built unit to the apparatus. The lever can be provided as an attachment with a plastic string to the apparatus or by sticking with sticker. The user has to simply screw the lever into the holes behind the spring before pressing. Providing lever as an attachment is useful in avoiding packaging and other issues due to lengthy lever.
In another embodiment of present invention, the apparatus has a hole at near to the base which is connected to extendable straw running adjacent to the container having drink. The user can pull the straw and drink the content. The extendable straw is leak proof, easy to open and is located close to the drink and food separator and outer surface. The straw can be a leak proof short straw with closed cap at the tip attached with a plastic string. The straw is flexible to put and extends parallel to the container surface. When needed, user can open straw by pulling it up and open the cap to drink. After drinking, the user can put back the cap to prevent leaking. Alternatively, the straw is a long solid straw with some slight gap at the base to fill the container top lid, which is connected to the extendable straw running adjacent to the container. The user can pull and drink the content and after use, stick back to the container.
In another embodiment, the apparatus contains heating element at the base of the food container. The heating element can be used to heat the food by using external power adaptor. Alternatively heating element can be in form of a grill that surrounds the internal container and heat up the patties/fritters stored inside the internal container uniformly and evenly in a quick time. The provision of two casings or layers (inner and outer layer) enable a user to hold the apparatus comfortably even though the inside food is too hot or cold.
In another embodiment of present invention, the external casing of the apparatus can further be provided with a display screen. The display screen is wrapped around the whole apparatus or over some area of the apparatus. The display screen comprises a memory unit to store program or digital content and is configured to display the digital content (e.g., image, text, video, audio, etc.). The display screen allows the companies to display their food or other advertisements to attract customers or merchandise. The flexible display screen can be reusable or disposable.
In some aspects, the apparatus of present invention can be used as a disposable container that comes with food and drink sealed container and also comes with even single or dual layer. After use, the user can dispose the apparatus.
In other aspects, the apparatus of present invention can be used as a non-disposable container. The user can buy the empty apparatus separately and can buy the food cartridges from shops or resellers. The non-disposable apparatus can be provided with various accessories like portable heating element or adapter to put the container to heat certain level from frozen state. The reseller or shops can provide the food cartridge in form of patty, fritter, croquettes, and cakes or in any other from and shape. The user can buy and fill the non-disposable cartridges in the apparatus. To maintain hygiene and nutrition level, the reseller can mix various foods and snacks. The Food needs to be prepared in solid form to suit this container. Separate Home kits can be developed for preparing food in patty/fritter format. The drink container can be refilled with various options, such as coffee, tea, milk juices etc.
The food patties/fritters can be prepared with holes in them so as to prevent choking in users, when the user try to aim food patties/fritters directly into the mouth.
The present invention provides various technical advantages and economic significance over the conventional technology. The apparatus of the present invention is easy to carry, hold, eat and drink even when the user is mobile. The various food items can be easily stacked in form of patties, fritters, cake, and croquette according to user's interest or to maintain nutritional values for avoiding eating same thing regularly. The content in apparatus is easy to freeze and heat up. The apparatus can be used to dispense food and drink easily without fear of spilling and fragmenting. The transparent container allows a user to see the food content of the apparatus.
The apparatus provides provision to add water, juice, tea, coffee or any other drinks. Furthermore, the apparatus can be used to add processed fruits, vegetables, medicines by processing them into required shape.
The apparatus can easily be sold through vending machines. The apparatus can be a single use apparatus where the used one can be discarded, or it can be reusable that can be used after every cycle. Business eco system can be built, so that readymade patties companies can used the eco system.
In an embodiment of present invention, the apparatus comprises a pivoted lever to dispense the food patties from the food chamber.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus comprises a slider lever/button mechanism on top of the lid to release the food from the apparatus.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the food patties/fritters can be released manually from the apparatus.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus is provided with a spring tension adjustment screw to counter various types of food.
In some embodiments, the apparatus of the present invention is provided with a holder for holding the apparatus. The holder can be in shape of ring, circle, trapezoidal or any other geometrical shape that allows the user to hold the apparatus with comfort. The holder has a gripping material on the surface to provide a better grip. The ring is attached at the external side of the drink side container preferably located at the middle of the external container to hold comfortably by inserting finger to avoid accidental dropping of the container. The ring is collapsible ring, and when not in use, the ring can be pressed downward or parallel to the container wall. The gripping material can include, but is not limited to rubber, polymeric material or other plastic, metal, alloy, fabric, composite material or other material capable of increasing the adhesion, grip or coefficient of friction between the gripping surfaces.
In order to heat the food the apparatus is provided with a heating element besides the food container.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the food can be loaded rapidly in the food chamber of the apparatus. The food stack can be loaded rapidly in multiple ways through manual or automation methods. One way of loading the food container is through top loading where the top lid of the container is opened and vertically food stack patties are loaded through opening of the top lid. Another method to rapidly load food in the food chamber by providing a vertical or horizontal opening that can be opened through a hinge. The horizontal or vertical opening can be opened through the hinge connecting through the drink chamber and the food chamber can be loaded rapidly. Another method for providing rapid loading of food items in the food chamber utilizes food container where the top layer or cover can be opened horizontally through rotatable way. The top layer or cover comprises threads to cover the top or the apparatus. The cover can be simply removed unwinding the thread. Once removed, the food items can be loaded in the food chamber and the cover is closed. Another method to load the food items rapidly in the food chamber is vertical collapsing model. In vertical collapsing model, there is a hinge in the bottom of the apparatus that can be pulled down and food items are loaded in the food chamber and the container is then closed or sealed.
Referring to
Referring to
In an embodiment of present invention, the apparatus with the push button 2612 may be connected to a Micro/Mini/Standard DC servo, stepper or customized DC motor 2610, so that when the push button/power switch 2612 is pressed, it gets power from rechargeable battery, it activates the DC servo or stepper motor 2610 and the sliding tracks 2614 pushes food towards the user. The DC servo or stepper motor 2610 is placed inside the lid or some models DC Motor can be located next to sliding tracks or under the lid with waterproof cover, and connected to the sliding tracks 2614 for easy dispensing of food fritter/patties without need of any force. The DC servo or stepper motor 2610 is also useful for the apparatus with not only for single food chamber but also multiple food chambers/compartments to aid in switching the opening of the apparatus with particular food chamber with help of small lcd/led screen and also same (DC Motor mechanism method for push button) can apply to other types like Flushed Rotating Lever button, external push button models also.
Referring to
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In another embodiment of present invention, the external casing of the apparatus can further be provided with a display screen, housing for a charging port, a USB port, a memory card and a battery.
The apparatus 3002 further comprises electronic circuitry as a combined or separate attachment module, such as battery 3008, circuit board etc. inside the external casing or in the bottom cap to drive any electronic component of the apparatus. The electric circuitry may further comprise a charging port 3010 and USB port 3012 for providing power supply and to transfer additional information to the memory card of the apparatus. Further the apparatus 3002 further comprise a thermal protection layer 3014 preventing the heat and current from the electric circuitry to enter in food and drink chambers.
Referring to
In an embodiment of the present invention, the food chamber in the apparatus comprises a single spring or a double spring. In case of single spring, one spring is present at the center of the container to support the base on which food stacks are placed. In case of dual spring, one spring is present at the center of the food chamber and the second spring is provided at the food chamber outer shell end to balance food stack base with two springs for more stability to counter wear and tear of single spring mechanism or both springs are located at sides or close to external shell/layer for more stability to counter wear and tear of single spring mechanism and also even if one spring fails still it can work with the second spring. The dual spring are preferably provided with re-usable apparatus.
In an embodiment of present invention, a lock and skid mechanism for reducing spring tension is provided. The mechanism reduces friction on food patties with regard to slider button or lever. In one implementation of lock and skid mechanism, when a user pressed the lever to push the patty towards the user, at the same time underlying another lever can hold the rest of food patties to reduce the friction on top of the patty. Once the top patty is released towards the user, the underlying lever is released.
In another implementation of lock and skid mechanism, the food patty can be lifted at the top and push through lever without any friction. At the same time, the second lever can keep all the food patties intact or locked position without pushing in upward direction to make sure that no friction on the top most food patty, so that the patty can be pushed easily.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus or the food container is modular and can be assembled into a single unit. The whole apparatus can be provided with multiple modular parts that can be assembled to form the apparatus. The various modular part of the apparatus may comprise food chamber, spring mechanism, drink chamber. The modular components can be attached through with the help of internal hinge mechanism or other methods so that the modular components can be easily attachable or detachable. The use of modular apparatus finds its implementation in disposable or non-disposable apparatus. In case of non-disposable apparatus, a user can open the container and load the food chamber and the drink chamber quickly. The drink chamber can be loaded with half or semi-circle can with disposable lid. In the food chamber, the user can quickly load food patties from the pack purchased from various food manufacturers after peeling the cover and for locking by push from both left and right sides towards middle spring mechanism chamber to lock it securely or to click to start using food container.
In case of disposable container, food and drink manufactures can pre-load both food and drink contents and sell it as a disposable container as a complete package. Food patties are already pre-loaded, so no manual intervention is needed. However, for drink chamber, the user needs to just pull the lid or pushing the straw through hole to consume the drink. After consuming the drink, the whole container can be disposed.
Referring to 34B, the apparatus for dispensing food and drink comprises a hollow semi-circular shaped food chamber module 3420, the inside of which can be used to store the food stack. A base plate 3422 is provided inside the food chamber module 3420 to place the food stack over it. The base plate 3422 has an arm extension 3424 extending from below the base plate 3422, the arm extension 3424 has an engagement member 3426 for locking into an extension of a vertical spring 3430 of a vertical spring module 3432. The vertical spring module 3432 is a bar shaped vertical module that comprises a slot for the vertical spring 3430 to move upward and downward. The top of the vertical spring has a locking member 3428 that fitted into the engagement member 3426 of the arm extension 3424 of the baseplate 3422 in the food chamber module 3420, so that the movement of the base plate 3422 is regulated by the movement of the vertical spring 3430. The drink chamber module 3436 is a hollow semi-circular chamber in which packaged drink content is placed. The food chamber module 3420, the vertical spring module 3432 and the drink chamber module 3436 is fitted together to create a single unit of the apparatus. The top of the apparatus is fitted with a top plate module 3438 that comprises a lever, a handle, a cap for the drink chamber. The top plate module 3438 is attached over the apparatus by combining the food chamber module, the vertical spring module 3432 and the drink chamber module 3436. The bottom of the apparatus comprises a thermal protecting layer 3440 and a bottom cover 3442. The bottom cover 3442 comprises a housing for accommodating a rechargeable battery 3444, a USB port 3446, a charging port 3448, a display port 3450. The thermal protecting layer 3440 is placed at the base of the food chamber module 3420, the vertical spring module 3432 and the drink chamber module 3436 when combined together. The bottom cover 3442 is attached to the bottom of the apparatus. The top plate module 3438 and the bottom cover 3442 are connected to the apparatus through any attachment means, such as screw or a locking mechanism.
Referring to
Referring to
In an embodiment of present invention, the apparatus of the present invention contains a single chamber or a plurality of chambers. The apparatus may contain a single chamber for storing food or drinks or in other implementation, the apparatus may contain a plurality of chambers for storing food content or drink container.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the spring mechanism in the apparatus for dispensing food and beverages comprises a downward spring connected to a base plate at one end on which food are stacked over each other and to the top cover on the second end. Referring to
In an embodiment of the present invention, the shape of the apparatus is not restricted to a circular shape, and the apparatus can be in any geometrical shape.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the food/patties/fritters can be picked manually from the apparatus. The apparatus comprises a food chamber and a drink chamber. The apparatus has an opening at the front form where the user can manually pick up the food/fritter/patties. The apparatus comprises an external case that provide housing for accommodating a food chamber and a drink chamber that are placed inside the case and are separated with each other. The food chamber has a base plate on which food are stacked over each other. The bottom of the external case has a first spring over which the baseplate of the food chamber is placed. The first spring is in pressed state to store the potential energy, such that when the first spring is released it moves in the upward direction to move the food items towards the top of the apparatus. The apparatus has a lid on the top of the apparatus to cover the external case at top. The external case has a slit opening at the front side from where user can manually pick the food items. The opening on the external cased can be sealed with a protective sticker or film to protect food from being exposed to outer environment. The user has to remove the sticker or film before using the apparatus to pop food out. A flexible straw lid is provided on the top of the apparatus that extends and runs into the drink chamber. The flexible straw lid can be retracted back when not in use and extended when a user wants to drink from the apparatus. Using the flexible straw lid, the user is able to drink the content stored in the drink chamber.
In some aspects, the apparatus of present invention can be used as a disposable container or non-disposable container. For disposable as well as non-disposable container, rapid loading can be done with either through vertical collapsing model or using rotatable opening model. The user can load readymade food stack with tin foil, and the wrapper is removed at one side or all sides. Similarly, drink chamber can also be inserted through below rapid loading. The top of drink chamber can be opened and hole or straw can be used externally. The food stack/patties/fritters can be ejected one by one using various mechanism, such as push/pull springs. This way the product and its ecosystem can easily be adapted to the markets and the users.
In other aspects, the apparatus is provided in disposable, such that the user can directly purchase form vendors. For disposable container, there is no need for user to insert food items and to refill the drinks. This is done on part of manufactures along with food vendors. The disposable apparatus comes with single or dual shell, depending on the requirement.
For container with non-spring models, food patties can be pushed through outside small lever and can be picked with hand or ejected through various lever type mechanism.
In another embodiment of the present invention as disclosed in
In another embodiment, the drink chamber can be used to store semi-liquid type food items like soups, smoothies, puree.
For additional details relating to the present invention, materials and manufacturing techniques of the level of ordinary skill in the art can be used. The same may be true for aspects based on the method of the present invention with respect to additional actions commonly or logically used.
Also, optional features of the described variations of the invention can be described and claimed independently or in combination with any one or more of the features described herein. Similarly, a reference to a singular element includes the possibility that there are pluralities of the same element. More specifically, the singular form (“a,” “and,” “said,” and “the”) is not expressly required by the context as used herein and in the appended claims. As long as it includes a plurality of instructions. It is further noted that the claims may be drafted to exclude optional elements.
Therefore, this statement should serve as a preceding basis for the use of exclusive terms such as “simply”, “only”, etc. or “negative” limitation in connection with the description of the elements of the claims is intended. Unless defined otherwise herein, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The scope of the invention is not limited by this specification, but only by the plain meaning of the terms used in the claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 18/042,463 filed on 22 Feb. 2023, which claim benefit to a PCT application Ser. No. PCT/IB2022/058145 filed on 31 Aug. 2022 which claim benefit to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/240,858 filed 3 Sep. 2021 the contents of which are considered part of the disclosure of this application and are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 18042463 | Jan 0001 | US |
| Child | 18447336 | US |
