Patent Application
20100276449
The invention relates to containers, and more specifically to portable substance containers that may be intended to contain liquids and powders, and that may be disposable.
Portable containers are widely used by a variety of industries to store substances and to allow substances to be transported from one location to another. For example, the catering industry uses containers to transport food and beverages, often in large quantities, from preparation or storage areas to an event. The food containers are often disposable and therefore may be thrown away after the event. Therefore, after the event, the food containers do not have to be returned to the caterer or picked up by the caterer.
Many known beverage containers used by caterers, however, are not disposable. Therefore, the caterer must return to the place of the event, after the event ends, to retrieve the emptied beverage containers. Many known disposable beverage containers are either too small for the catered events or not robust enough to contain large amounts of the beverage over a long period of time. The non-robust containers can tip over or buckle under the weight of the beverage. Moreover, many known disposable beverage containers are difficult for the user to fill and/or empty. Therefore, there is a need for a container assembly that may be disposable, may be robust enough to contain large amounts of a substance, easy to operate and/or maintain its shape for a substantial period of time.
The article described herein is a container that may be shipped flat, later assembled, used to store substances such as liquids or powders, and to allow the substances to be transported. The substance container may be manufactured from corrugated packaging and may be disposable. The substance container may be used by catering companies and/or for take-out or for in store dispensing of beverages. The container may also be used to contain substances such as alcohol, soda, water, juices, cooking or motor oil, liquid or powdered chemicals and detergents.
A substance container may be used for containing substances such as liquids or powders. The container assembly includes a body. A top panel of the body includes a flap that folds into the back panel of the body. A first aperture is located on the front panel to accommodate a dispensing assembly. A second aperture is also located on the top panel to accommodate a filling assembly. The filling assembly does not protrude past an uppermost plane represented by a top surface of the body.
Other systems, methods, features and advantages of the invention will be, or will become, apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the following claims.
The invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings and description. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views. In the drawings:
The substance container 100 may be used for the transportation or storage of substances. The substance container 100 may be implemented in a variety of manners, for example, for the take-out or in-store dispensing of substances and/or for catering. For example, the substance container 100 may contain liquids such as hot or cold beverages including coffee, alcohol, soda, carbonated beverages, water and juices. The substance container 100 may also contain other liquids such as oils, soaps or liquid chemicals used by a variety of industries. The substance container 100 may also contain other substances including powders such as powdered soaps, detergents and chemical agents. The substance container 100 may also contain food additives, powders and concentrates, such that when liquids such as water or milk, are added and mixed with the substance, foods or beverages may result, such as sports drinks, hot chocolate, flavored drinks, soups and sodas.
An outer surface 130 of the body 110 may include marketing indicia. To market the contained substance, the substance container 100 may include advertising or logos that promote the sale of the product located within the substance container 100. For example, a coffee salesman could deliver samples of coffee to perspective customers using a substance container 100 with the name and logos of the coffee maker printed on the substance container 100. Moreover, a salesperson could advertise a product unrelated to the substance contained within the substance container 100. For example, the salesperson could provide coffee to perspective customers or a focus group using a substance container 100 that includes the logos and marks of the salesperson's company, for example, an insurance company.
To maintain the contained substance, such as coffee, at a certain temperature over a period of time, an interior surface 140 of the body 110 of the substance container 100 may include insulation such as metalized polyester or foil. The metalized polyester or foil may be laminated or otherwise affixed to the interior surface 140 of the substance container 100. In addition, the thickness of the bag 120 used to contain the substance and/or a fluting caliper of the corrugated material of the body 110 can be varied to help insulate the substance for varying durations.
Below the dispensing assembly 150, a cavity 180 is formed between side panels 190, 192 with an opening in the front panel 160. The cavity 180 may extend as far back as a rear panel 194. The cavity 180 may not extend the full width of the front panel 160. Approximately one-inch strips of the front panel 160 remain around the cavity 180 to add stability. The cavity 180 may provide room for a cup being filled under the spout or the storage of items such as sugar, cream and stirrers.
The side walls 190, 192 may include a double panel thickness to provide strength and stability to a structure of the substance container 100. The double panel thickness is created by folding over the sidewalls 190, 192, as described in more detail below. The substance container 100 may also include apertures 195 located on the side panels 190, 192 that operate as handles to allow the substance container 100 to be carried.
The top panel of the substance container 100 may include an top surface 196 and a recessed surface 198. The bag 120, or at least a portion of it, such as a filling assembly 200, may extend upwardly above the recessed surface 198 though an aperture 205. The filling assembly 200 allows the bag 120 to be filled with substances such as liquids or powders. The bag 120 rests on a bottom support 210. By way of example, coffee may be poured through the filling assembly 200 into the bag 120. The coffee may then be dispensed through the dispensing assembly 150. To aid in the dispensing of the coffee from the bag 120, the bottom support 210 may be positioned at an angle θ inclined towards the dispenser unit 150.
By way of example, various types of film structures may be used to manufacture the bag 120 such as metalized polyester/linear low density polyethelyne, metalized polyester/metalized polyester, metalized polyester/polyethylene, EVOH/metalized polyester, EVOH/polyethylene, NYLON/polyethylene, NYLON/NYLON, NYLON/EVOH, NYLON/metalized polyester, BARRIER ICE, BARRIER ICE/polyethylene, and metalized polyester/BARRIER ICE. By way of example, testing parameters of the bag 120 may include a minimum test duration of three hours, heat retention testing, a taste test, such as with coffee or tea, material and product compatibility, perimeter seal integrity, fitment assembly seal integrity, fitment hot product integrity and ease of use.
By way of example, in a three and five gallon capacity application, an exemplary bag size includes 27 inches I.D. in length and 18½ inches I.D. in width with the fitments located 8 7/16 inches from the edge of the bag 120 along the width. The bag 120 can include a one piece assembly or two or more pieces sealed together using a perimeter heat seal 300 or other type of sealing mechanism. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the bag size can be changed without interfering with the type of fitments used or the placement location of the fitments to the bag 120. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other bag types or other mechanisms other than those described could also be used with the substance container 100.
The substance container 100 includes the front panel 160, side panels 190, 192 and rear panel 194. A glue tab 400 extends along side panel 192. When the substance container 100 is partially assembled in a fold-flat configuration for shipping, shown best in
The side panels 190, 192 include tabs 402 and 404 respectively, which fold to provide stability the top surface 196 of the top panel. Likewise, the side panels 190, 192 include tabs 406 and 408 respectively, which fold to provide support to the recessed surface 198 of the top panel. The top surface 196 includes a tab 410 that folds to form a surface perpendicular to the recessed surface 198 when the substance container 100 is assembled. The recessed surface 198 includes a tab 412 that folds to abut the tab 410 when the substance container 100 is assembled (shown best in
To support the bag 120, the substance container 100 includes the bottom support 210. The bottom support 210 folds towards rear panel 194. The bottom support 210 includes flaps 414, 416 that fold to abut the rear panel 194 to form a double panel thickness at the rear panel 194. The rear panel 194 includes bottom panel 418 that folds to create a bottom surface of the substance container 100. The side panels 190, 192 include flaps 420 and 422 respectively, which fold to abut the bottom panel 418 (shown best in
To complete the bottom surface and cavity 180 of the substance container 100, the bottom panel 418 includes a cavity back panel 424 that include flaps that include flaps 426 and 428. The cavity back panel 424 folds to create a back surface for the cavity 180. The cavity back panel 424 may also be eliminated and the rear panel 194 of the substance container 100 may be used as the back surface of the cavity 180. Flaps 420, 422 further include flaps 426 and 428 respectively, which fold to create a support for the cavity back panel 424 (shown best in
The cavity back panel 424 may also include a tab 434 that fits into a slot (not shown) of the bottom panel 418 to help maintain a position of the cavity back panel 424.
Once the substance container 100 is fully assembled, the flaps 414, 416 position the bottom support 210, for example at an inclined angle θ (
The side wall 1540 may include a double panel thickness to provide strength and stability to a structure of the substance container 1300. The double panel thickness may be created in the manner described previously. Alternatively, the side wall 1530 may also include a double panel thickness.
While various embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that may more embodiments and implementations are possible that are within the scope of the invention.
This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/640,122 (pending), which is continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/804,466, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,150,377, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/151,385, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,289, which are all incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11640122 | Dec 2006 | US |
| Child | 12835341 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10151385 | May 2002 | US |
| Child | 10804466 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10804466 | Mar 2004 | US |
| Child | 11640122 | US |
