Patent Application
20210282414
This invention relates generally to bread cups, and more particularly to a bread cup with a lid and method of manufacture.
Bread cups are commonly known in the art as being hollowed-out after baking, without a separately formed lid. For example, a bread “bowl” may use its own crust as a lid, which is difficult to easily open and close. Goldstein, U.S. Pat. No. 10,440,964, teaches an automated system and method for manufacturing a cone-shaped food product holder, using a conveyer which advances a bread dough strip at a constant linear velocity, forming the cone shape. Other examples in the prior art may have container molds which are openable to access baked bread, such as in a standard domestic bread maker.
The prior art teaches bread molds and bread cups. However, the prior art does not teach a bread cup and method of manufacture which includes a separately formed lid adapted to hold a condiment. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further advantages as described in the following summary.
The present invention teaches certain benefits in construction and use which give rise to the objectives described below.
The present invention provides a bread cup for holding a food material and a condiment container. The bread cup comprises a cup body made of bread, the cup body having a base and an upwardly extending side wall that extends upwardly to a top perimeter, the cup body forming an interior bore that is adapted to receive the food material. The bread cup further includes a lid made of bread that has a top surface and an opposed bottom surface that together extend outwardly to a lid perimeter, the lid perimeter being sized and shaped to rest upon the top perimeter of the cup body for covering the interior bore of the cup body. A condiment receiving bore is formed in the top surface of the lid, the condiment receiving bore being sized and shaped to receive the condiment container therein.
A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a bread cup having advantages not taught by the prior art.
Another objective is to provide a method of manufacturing a bread cup.
A further objective is to provide a bread cup that has a lid with a condiment receiving bore.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.
The accompanying drawings illustrate the present invention. In such drawings:
The above-described drawing figures illustrate the invention, a bread cup 10 for holding a food material 12 and a condiment container 14, and method of manufacturing the bread cup 10.
The lid 30 is also made of bread and includes a top surface 32 and an opposed bottom surface 34 that together extend outwardly to a lid perimeter 36. The lid perimeter 36 may be sized and shaped to rest upon the top perimeter 26 of the cup body 20 for covering the interior bore 28 of the cup body 20. In this embodiment, the lid 30 is disk-shaped, and includes a platform 38 on the bottom surface 34 that rests on a lip 27 of the top perimeter 26 of the cup body 20. However, in other embodiments, the lid 30 may be any shape suitable for covering the top perimeter 26 of the cup body 20. The lid 30 further comprises a condiment receiving bore 33 formed in the top surface 32 of the lid 30, the condiment receiving bore 33 being sized and shaped to receive the condiment container 14 therein.
The male insert 60 is shaped to fit into the cup-shaped main shell 42, and may include an upper plate 62 with a central raised platform 64, and an elongate post 66 that extends downwardly from the central raised platform 64, discussed in greater detail below.
The bread dough 68 is then baked within the cup mold 40, and once baked, the male insert 60 is removed from within the cup-shaped main shell 42. The first and second halves 44a and 44b of the cup-shaped main shell 42 are then separated to allow removal of the bread cup 10. Additional steps may be included in the method of producing the bread cup 10, e.g., a proofing process for proofing the bread dough 68, a flavoring process, a cooling step to facilitate removal of the bread cup 10 from the separated first and second halves 44a and 44b, etc. Other steps may also be added to the method, which should be considered within the scope of the present invention.
For the purposes of this application, “bread” and similar terms such as “bread dough” are hereby defined to include any base material suitable for baking in a mold, including cookie dough, pie crust, cornbread, pasta dough, etc., or any other similar materials known in the art. While one example of a material is discussed above, it should be understood that alternative baking materials may be used in the method of manufacture, which is considered within the scope of the present invention.
As used in this application, the words “a,” “an,” and “one” are defined to include one or more of the referenced item unless specifically stated otherwise. The terms “approximately” and “about” are defined to mean+/−10%, unless otherwise stated. Also, the terms “have,” “include,” “contain,” and similar terms are defined to mean “comprising” unless specifically stated otherwise. Furthermore, the terminology used in the specification provided above is hereby defined to include similar and/or equivalent terms, and/or alternative embodiments that would be considered obvious to one skilled in the art given the teachings of the present patent application. While the invention has been described with reference to at least one particular embodiment, it is to be clearly understood that the invention is not limited to these embodiments, but rather the scope of the invention is defined by claims made to the invention.
